Stupid question and documenting my experiences for people in the future who might get the same and freak out

Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.

Where are you from (country)? Slovenia

How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)
Don’t rightly remember to be honest, probably Reddit?
What is your current age, height, weight?
26, 184cm, 80kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1.25mg per day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hairloss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
3 months
Date when you started the drug?
August 2022
Date when you quit the drug?
November 2022
Age when you quit?
26
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
A month or so
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Weird discoloration of fingernails
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.

Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Some vitamins, D3, C, B, etc., and lots of excersise and weight lifting

If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?

Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Hello lads, i feel bad even posting this since i don’t have it anywhere near as bad as some of the stories i’ve read, but i don’t know anyone with experience on the matter, so i figured i might ask here. Story first, metalhead with previously long, thick, luscious blonde hair, which i used to get compliments on all the time. So when i saw that it’s a losing battle at the young age of 26 i obviously freaked out. 6 months of ‘‘depression’’ followed, found out about Finasteride and the possibility of keeping my hair, tested the waters with Saw palmetto for a while, didn’t feel anything negative or positive from it, so i figured i’ll probably be okay with Finasteride. Got myself a perscription from a dermatologist and jumped right in. At first i felt great, no changes to be honest except losing no hair, then the mental sides kicked in, got really anxious and worried about random stuff, and got severe depression (now i know what depression feels like atleast xD), where nothing that previously interested me seemed fun anymore, also boners took longer to form, a lack of brain-penis connection but stuff still worked, so i figured i’d ride it out since i’ve read that side-effects sometimes go away while on therapy. Well, the depression didn’t go away so i decided on the wise move of ‘‘If i can’t enjoy anything anymore, what’s the point of having glorious hair?’’, got out the clippers, shaved down to a 0, realised i still look good and sort off moved on. All of the mental symptoms and whatever else slowly faded away over the coming months, i’m now 4 months off, i’ve had some mad eyebrow shedding during those months, was sure i’d be eyebrow-less by now, but somehow they haven’t really changed and the shedding has stopped a month or so ago and they seem to be regrowing what they’ve lost. BUT, there is a really small symptom that i assume is from Finasteride since i never had anything like it before which is maybe (?) getting better but still there. I just want to ask if anyone experienced anything similar and if this could be from Finasteride or if it’s something else. Again, i apologize for even writting this because i don’t think i have PFS, but i have no one else to ask. I got weird discoloured bands at the distal edges of my nails, they grew for a while and were becoming more and more noticable, with redness at their base, but they stopped growing and the redness has lessened, they might slowly be growing out but i’m not sure. Has anyone experienced anything similar? And if so, did it fix itself or did you have to do something to fix it? Thanks and sorry for the dumb question. I hope a cure is found as i can’t imagine what it must be like getting stuck in the depressed state i was in when on Fin, best of luck to you all.
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY

  1. Name of the therapy/substance:
    • Dosage:
    • How often you took it:
  2. Status
    • Still using [ ]
    • Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
    • Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
  3. Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
  4. Response when you started:
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]
  5. Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]
  6. Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]

Hi @Kerrigor - welcome to the forum!

If I understand you correctly, you’re asking about finasteride/PFS can cause discolored nails? I haven’t heard about that symptom before.

New ridges on the nails seems pretty common though (i got that myself). I think it stems from dry skin (which many of us have as a result of finasteride).

Anyway… my advice? Count yourself extremely lucky that you avoided more severe symptoms. There are many people here who are unable to work, unable to form relationships, unable to have sex, unable to think straight, the list goes on…

Live your life and never touch 5ARis again!

2 Likes

Is it Terry’s Nails you’re describing? I got that about six months in and still have it ten months later.

No, i don’t think it’s terry’s nails, though the discoloration is at the same part of the nail where terry’s nails would be, but it isn’t dark red, it’s more of a weird white-ish/lighter colour that seems to recede a bit with prolonged water exposure but then in like a week it seems to grow back to where it was. I feel like my nails are growing much faster than they used to for some reason unknown to man.

Oh yeah, i’m done with 5ARis for good. Fuck that. And yeah, i do seem to have drier skin than i did before. I don’t think it’s discoloured nails per sae, it’s like my nail bed starts higher up on the nail than it previously did, and then there’s a band at the distal edge of the nail that seems to only have some sort of thin skin attached to it’s bottom. I thought it might be nail separation at the start but that doesn’t seem to be the case, it’s still attached, sort of, to that thin band of skin, which does recede a bit if i keep my nails under water for long but then it also sort of grows back to the point where it was at. The nails don’t seem loose or anything i’ve just never had anything like this happen so i was kinda worried that i might have triggered some underlying bullshit with Fin. But it might actually be getting better, fingers crossed, for my pathetic little problem and for all you guys.