Symptoms & Experience

Member Stories
#1

EXPERIENCE
-Took Finasteride for 6 years rather inconsistently (up to 5mg a day and occasionally skipping any dosage for months at a time).
-Quit for good four months ago.
-Now having MAJOR issues with impaired cognitive function.
-Retook 3 exam modules for my CPA certification 2 months after quitting Finasteride and my scores dropped by 15% when compared to average score of first attempts.

SYMPTOMS WHILE TAKING DRUG (Note that severity of problems increased over time):
Impaired Cognitive Function(Increased issues with spelling, memorization, absorption, following cause and effect relationships, Basic Computational Math)
Mood Swings
Mild to Severe Depression
Severe Apathy
Severe Fatigue
Restlessness in Evening Despite Fatigue
Difficulty Sustaining/Creating New Relationships
NO Sexual Dysfunction

SYMPTOMS FOUR MONTHS AFTER QUITTING:
Severe Joint Pain
Vertigo/Loss of coordination
NO sexual dysfunction

TREATMENTS PROVIDING NO RELIEF OF SYMPTOMS:
Clonazepam, Alprazolam, Duloxetine
Change of Diet - Juicing of fresh organic fruits and vegetables. Greatly reducing ingestion of processed foods.
Supplements - Fish Oil, B-Complex, Naicin, Flaxseed Oil, Ginko

TREATMENTS BRINGING TEMPORARY RELIEF:
Amphetamine salts - Provide temporary relief of all symptoms. Still have impairment of cognitive function even while on the drug. Brain fog is the MAJOR problem I desperately need to resolve.

TEST RESULTS:
Home Lab - Took blood sample around 4pm. Heart rate increased because I got nervous pricking my own finger.

TSH - 3.04 uIU/mL 0.35-5.50

#2

Brain fog, 3000mg vit c should help you after a week or two supplementing

#3

I’ll give it a shot. I do juice fresh fruit and therefore get a hefty intake of Vitamin C through general dietary consumption. I’m prone to thinking my thyroid is causing most of the problems. Does anyone have suggestions as to a safe level of T3 I could try to troubleshoot? My TSH is relatively high at 3.04? Joint pain, fatigue and brain fog are really getting out of control. Couldn’t even follow the forum directions for newbies!

#4

Try a celiacs diet, supplementing with zinc and b12, if b12 has no effect on you, you may have complications. Refrain from tap water. Getting worse before you get better is highly possible.
I am not a doctor and this is just a suggestion. It is completely your decision in what treatment you take.

#5

Bro get off the amphetamine salts now. They will make you much worse in the long run. Stop stimulants and change your diet to a paleo diet (google it), no breads, pastas, sugars, alcohol, etc. You need daily exercise, moderate with buildup until you can sustain 45 minutes of continuous activity (more leads to cortisol buildup, so don’t go longer). Most of us have to do slow exercises now. Keep it slow, maybe 5 minutes a day if you cannot handle more. It took me a year to build up to 45 min of continuous activity.

Get some sleep, use melatonin in moderate doses to keep you asleep through the night, 1-2 mg. don’t drink water before you sleep so you can get into the deep sleep uninterrupted.

Many of us are still having cognitive function problems. I was in finance before quitting last year and dropping out of an MBA program. Now I cannot comprehend a lot of what I used to do. Take it easy on yourself because stress only makes it worse.

Search for the thyroid threads on here and get a full panel done including Free T3 and RT3. check out stopthethyroidmadness.com. The test you took was very limited in diagnosing thyroid function problems so there’s a good chance you have an issue. Low Allopregnalone is also associated with brain fog.

#6

Doc only sent me to the lab for a TSH and reflexive T4. No Free T3, T4 or reflexive T3. This is a bummer dude.

#7

Yea, seems on the light side. Maybe try to get into see Dr. Mariano? I think he orders alot of tests.

#8

I really think staying positive is crucial. I do have some physical symptoms but they are manifestations commonly linked to psychological problems such as depression. Gonna approach life in a focused, considerate and resilient manner to see if I can bring about change for the better. This drug defaulted my system to give 60% effort in all areas which caused trauma but discovering this group has brought comfort.

#9

He’s up in Northern California and I’m down in San Diego county so the distance is a little too great. Has he responded to your inquiries about fin side problems on his blog/forum yet?

#10

I was a bit surprised the global site search “iodine” returned no results. So I figured I would create a thread.

I tried everything to get over debilitating brain fog, shaking/tremor, vertigo and fatigue (ie diet alteration, too many supplements to name, racetams, apple cider vinegar, adderall, anti depressants, T3 etc.). I recently turned to iodine supplementation out of desperation and I am so happy I gave it a shot. I read this folk horseshit remedy had the ability to “reset glandular function” and return the body to a healthy equilibrium. I didn’t have much faith in this 157th attempt but two weeks in and I feel better than I have in 5 years. The first few days I didn’t notice much of a change but I really do feel shades of my old self coming back into focus.

The adderall worked fairly well for a bit but the dosage increased as fatigue began to beat the medication. The increased dosage greatly impaired my ability to get any meaningful rejuvenating sleep so I had to stop. I thought this was my cure but it was simply a temporary crutch.

I know the Lugol’s iodine is somewhat controversial to ingest but two drops twice a day in any fluid and I feeling fantastic. I think I am going to switch over to trans-dermal application soon as I read this is much safer.

If it’s good enough for Chernobyl it’s good enough for me. I can provide updates if anyone is interested.

#11

Iodine? I thought there was plenty of stuff about that over here. Good that it’s working for you but be warned that you might also get worse from it at some point, don’t ask me how. Some member did. I’ve read that Chris Kresser doesn’t recommend it for some reason i can’t remember (gee, ain’t i great) but my mind is telling me that if iodine makes you better, then the problem is quite likely in thyroid. Something makes you hypothyroid and lack of iodine could be either the result or the cause. Read Stop the Thyroid Madness for good intro/detailed info about causes of hypothyroidism.

im glad your having good days now though! :slight_smile:

#12

Interesting that you are doing well on iodine.

I had bad joint pain a few months after coming off fin. About a year coming off fin I finally had bloodtests that showed I was low in Vit. D. Since I have been supplementing my joints have gotten much better.

I need to get another round of blood tests to confirm that my body is actually converting the Vit. D but I have found that weight lifting plus Vit D helped my joints significantly.

I think my biggest problem now is that I get fatigued a lot in the afternoon and I think my adrenal glands are out of whack. I am still figuring out what to do about that…