Yes, it sounds stupid, but I’m just running out of ideas here.
- Where are you from (country)?
US - 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 - What is your current age, height, weight?
23, 5’11", 155LBS - Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
YES-Weight lifting: Not much, average of 2.5 sets each session, with around 3 sessions/ week
Small amount of jogging about every other day - What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
Could be better- eggs, chicken sandwiches, sweets, milk, hardly any fruits/veggies - Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
HAIRLOSS/THINNING - For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
9 Months - How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
22-October 2012 - How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
23-July 2013 - How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Taper off - What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Generic Proscar (?) - What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1.25 MG/DAY - How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
Same day, felt a weird feeling in my penis, can’t describe it 'cuz I forgot. After I masturbated, though, I felt the most intense orgasm ever, strangely enough. - What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[X ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ X] Confusion
[X ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X ] Depression / Melancholy
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
[ X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] 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?
Juice fast, lots of resting, exercising every day for a period of time, iron, testosterone supplements, lots of other supplements -
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)?
N/A
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
-
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I’ll start at the beginning. First of all, going into the drug, I thought all ED/sex drive/ other side effects were listed largely due to the amount of older people taking the drug. People in their 50s, for example, more commonly lose their hair and erections. They might try blaming it on the pill, so I thought I had nothing to worry about.
Anyway, the first pill I took I felt a weird feeling in my penis, but it really wasn’t a bad (or good) feeling. When I masturbated that same day, I felt the most amazing orgasm, so I thought taking the pill was a win/win for me. A couple months later, I had ED once when a stripper was giving me a lap dance, but I tend not to get a boner unless a girl’s actually into me. Next, after having a panic attack in the middle of class for no reason, combined with the info I uncovered online, I considered quitting. Finally, when I had the absolute worst pains of my life around my anus area, I decided to quit, but tapered off so that I’d be OK once I stopped. But who would’ve known that tapering off with decreasing dosages is just about the same thing as quitting cold turkey when it comes to finasteride.
Anyway, I was feeling A-OK all the way up to the time I was taking .625 mg every other day for the last week. The week before I was actually basking in my success in picking up this hot girl(#2) that was into me, an I was into her. A month before that, I was having the wittiest and most interesting conversations with another girl(#1) that I liked. Anyway, hot girl #2 was the last girl I was ever interested in, because during the last week I was taking finasteride, I was just thinking the most negative thoughts in the world one day while I was relaxing. I completely lost interest in both girls, just like that. My life was stress-free at this point too, so I have no clue what happened. I was just starting to hook up with girl #2 and was looking forward to more, but all of a sudden that part of me just dissolved into thin air.
I talked to her and the other girl, but things just petered out with texting both girls. I simply had no desire to text them back or meet them, and the last couple meetings with girl #2 was just me trying to be nice. It’s as if a part of me just died with that pill. Or at least a part of the brain just shut off.
Anyway, today I feel just about the same as I did a year ago. In addition to the lack of a sex drive( I consider myself more asexual than straight), I just lost a drive for life in general. I don’t like hanging out with anyone. Drinking doesn’t get me giddy like it did, so I hardly do that. Plus, it takes me too long to get buzzed now, and I can hardly feel a difference when I’m drunk. “Brain fog” is very prevalent; I never feel any different than a “blah” state of mind. I just feel like I’m faking my way through life now. I see absolutely no reason to live, because the spice is no longer there. I’m depressed, of course. Something I never even dreamed of experiencing.
Erection-wise, I only get them when I’m about to have sex(thank god for that ability) with my gf and in the mornings. By the way, I don’t even seek or think about sex anymore. However, they’re just different. They’re softer and not as big and hard. They’re hard for me to get spontaneously. Also, I can’t even feel if I have a boner. I’ll wake up with a boner and it’ll feel like I’m soft.
I have no desire to masturbate, and I really have no idea why I still do it about once a week or less.
I’m always tired, and I feel like my eyes have to concentrate harder. I have tinnitus and floaters in my eyes which I never had before, at least not persistently. I easily forget things now and I feel dumber, and I feel like I have no passion to devote myself to . Nothing has made a dent in terms of finding a cure.
Topic
So, I know this is all the way at the bottom of the post, but has anyone ever gone back on finasteride? My life was actually good when I was taking it, so would taking it again restore my body’s fucked perception of DHT input or something? If anything, more hair wouldn’t hurt with all this bullshit going on. I couldn’t really find an in-depth answer online anywhere.