Symptoms

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)? USA

  2. 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?) Google

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 37, 5’10", 178lbs

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of exercise? Yes, weight lifting, running

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? meat eater, some what healthy

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? hair loss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? Off and on for 8 years from 2001 - 2009

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 26 years old 9/2001

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 35 10/2009

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? propecia

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg day

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? months

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? ED, depression/anxiety, prostate problems

Put an X beside all that apply:

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

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

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

Misc
[ X] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? None yet. scheduling doctors appointments.

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

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

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug. I realize this drug may have had a severe effect on my life as It has made me depressed and anxious as well as ruined my relationship and sex life. I wish I could take back the day I ever starting taking it. I am just realizing I need to see a doctors help with this but don’t have much confidence I will succeed.

#2

So let me start by saying that a few years ago I thought I might have PFS. If you read my post above you can see how long I used it for. Some of the symptoms came and went so eventually I forgot about PFS and figured my issues may have been the result of some recreational steroid usage. I also dabbled in use of steroids before I used propecia and always recovered no problem!

I haven’t used propecia for two years. I have never felt the same and and no longer blame the symptoms I endure as having anything to do with my minor use of steroids. I now again attribute it to propecia usage. I have blamed my symptoms on everything from stress to my short time uses of steroids to pelvic floor issues, you name it I entertained it but I keep coming back to propecia. Especially so since reading this board and being amazed at the common symptoms I share with other members. Now I have prostatitis??? FML I work nights so i even convoked myself it was because of my sleep schedule!!!

I used to be the type of person who could brush off things and just will them away and never worried too much. Now I am a nervous wreck, depressed, somewhat impotent and I am finding no comfort in the medical or psychological communities. What is going on here? I often wonder how this could happen? I have ruined a 6 year relationship over this!!!

I had some bloods and a seaman test done just to try and set my mind at ease and although they seem low to me my urologist thinks I’m fine and brushed me off almost. He even dismissed the idea that he ever even heard about PFS and later went on to say he helped with the MERK trails and said almost nobody experienced major sides from propecia. BTW here are my bloods below… the only ones he ordered…

Testosterone ng/dl is a 506 range is 240-950
Free Test nl/dl is a 15 range is 9-30
FSH is 2.9 miu/ml range is 1.4-18.1
LH is 3.9 miu/ml range is 1.5-9.3
Prolactin is 6.1 ng/ml range is 2.1-17.7

My sperm count 13.8 (should be over 15 or 20) , morphology 2 (should be over 4) and viscosity 1+ are all low! Of course the urologist just seemed to shrug this off. I’m going to another urologist in 10 days for a second opinion. After reading some of the post on this site I should probably see my primary care and try and get a referral for a endocrinologist and get more specific bloods done including DHT.

I just want to be myself again! Wish I never took this drug and stopped the first time instead of trying it again and again.

#3

Welcome to the forum. Try to get the recommended blood tests found here:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=92

Did you see a progression of symptoms over the time you took finasteride? How long were the on/off breaks? Regarding doctors, have a look at the doctors familiar with PFS in the USA:

viewforum.php?f=12

#4

Dude your story is almost the same as mine, I thought it was because of steroids, so much so that I was dumb enough to take it again back in 2010… and now here I am. The side effects where 20X worse the second time I used it, (though they were pretty bad the first time as well).

#5

Broken what are your sides now. I took propecia off and on for 8 years sometimes with close to a year break and sometime a month or two break. It’s been over 2 years since I took it and my sides keep getting worse. Lately it is what has been called prostatitis but I have no infection and the last three months my Ed is worse than ever and I have very little sensation in my penis with ejaculate think and in small amounts