This can't be happening....

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)? Australia

  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, proscar sideaffects

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 31 yo, 180cm, 70 kg

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? My job is physical work. I walked my dogs most days.

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

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

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? about 3 - 4 weeks

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 30

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 31

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

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

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1 - 1.25

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

  14. 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
[x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[x] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] 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
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] 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? Testosterone - gell / shots

  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 started the drug on December 17th last year, within a few weeks i couldn’t think properly or see straight. One day driving home i couldn’t focus on whats going on around me, it was like i was on drugs. I decided to quit alcohol/ multi vits / proscar and give my body a bit of a de tox. Within days i felt better. At the time i wasn’t sure if was the pills or the stress of life or what ever.

So later in June (about 5 months later) I tried it again. Into the 2nd day my morning wood was a semi, Its weird as i cant remember having any morning wood problems before when i was on it. 3rd was wasn’t as good as the last. Well i thought that’s it, these pills aren’t for me. I stopped taking them. The next 3 days i had similar woods. The 4th day nothing. Later that night i realized i couldn’t get an erection, completely dead dick. A few more days had passed, still nothing. Freaking out i got on the web looking for answers and found this site, I just about broke inside reading the stories, felt nauseous and sick to the core.
Getting advice i from this site i saw a doc (10 days in) and got a blood test done. Also picked up testigel. The testigel had an instant affect on my body, 2 days in i was getting weak morning wood and could sorta masturbate. I only took the gel for 5 days as it was making my skin crazy (its like alcohol based or similar) but had great affects on my body. It had restored about 40 - 50% of my function. I left it at that to give my body a chance to repair. 4 months passed and my body stayed on that level until it just stopped working again about 5 weeks ago. I went back to the doc and got a shot of testosterone (sustanon amp 250mg) and instantly started working again. Like 60 - 80% of my old function for the first 10 days and i felt good. Then just plateaued big time to near complete ED. A few weeks on my body has picked up a bit and now sit about 30% of the old me. I have no labedo.

I decided to break this up as the ED is only half of the picture

When i had the first crash i turned into an insomniac for about a week. Could not sleep at all. I was like a walking zombie. It slowly got better but still to this day my sleep patterns are messed up.
I can’t think properly either, especially since that second crash i had my brain has been broken. My mind isn’t sharp and i struggle to process even simple problems. My vision is fuzzy and my eyes are sore everyday because of this focusing issue. This is making me look tired even though i get about 9h sleep a night. If i get less sleep my brain struggles.
I’m also emotionally numb, i read someone posted that here and thought that’s soooooo me. Not sure if its a side affect or a mechanism i use to cope.
I’m always fatigued and wish death upon myself every day.

Yay for finasteride!!

#2

You sound very simlar to me in what you have been left with. I wish i could tell something that has worked for me.

#3

Thanx Tim. I also forgot to mention that I’m booked in with an endo doctor in a week. ill take the short blood test with me. I still have the old one i had done when this nightmare started. FSH LH and T were low. Ill post all when i get new tests done.

Would HCG/CLOMID be the first thing to try? Where would be the best place to start?

#4

the lack of emotions is horrible :frowning:
sorry to hear your experiencing this too

#5

The longer you delay the harder it will be to restore your testicles. Treatment should start now, but I would hold off on HCG. Clomid alone should raise your T, it raised mine from 110 to 1174 in two months. So it can do it, but you need to start it immediately.

#6

How much Clomid did you take? I have been on 50 mg twice a week, for six weeks now, and I feel only very, very marginal improvement.

#7

Thanx Dury, i didn’t want to mess with my hormones too much and give my body a chance to repair.
Since my symptoms has only become worse. The wagon has left without me, time to catch up.

I’m always fatigued and my brain fog / vision is messed up. I take Multi vits and fish oil, anything else i should be taking?

I read zinc and copper helps?

Anyway ill get a new blood test done soon and check some of these levels + ask for clomid.
Thanx for your input.

#8

It is best not to overdue clomid, as it blocks receptors needed for sexual desire within the brain. Read the thread “My Recovery Via Clomid” under Recoveries. Need to update this thread as to my own, marginal outcome. 100 mg per week is plenty, it took me three months before my testis really started to kick back in and make lots of T.

As to zinc, it does act as an androgen receptor agonist (aide). However, at higher doses it reduces 5 alpha reductase activity, something that may be undesirable given our adverse reactions to finasteride. I would only take it if a test showed I was deficient in it.

#9

Hey,

Sorry to hear your story. Your endocrinologist will be useless. You’ll make best progress with an anti-aging doctor. Trust me, I’m a doctor in Australia.

JN

#10

That sounds reasonable. I’m seeing Shippen now and he seems to be pulling treatments out of that school. However getting evaluated by an endo, preferably a university based one, who understands PFS isnt a bad idea.

#11

Funny you said that, I was prescribed Cialis. Wouldn’t prescribe anything else. Not the outcome i wanted but understand 100%. Our stories sound a little far fetched and even then with little experience dealing with sufferers and having no training in this area i understand.
What experience do you draw on? Where do you turn to for answers?

Can Cialis help us? I will give it a go, I’ve got nothing to loose.

But the thing is I didn’t go their for boner pills. I need help with my brain fog, its destroying me from the inside out. My life is on hold till then.
I take multi vits + fish oil but its not fixing the problem. Only helping. Any other suggestions?

I’m hoping if i kick start my hormone system the rest will fall into place.

Guess I’m looking for an anti aging doctor now.

#12

Saw this post and wanted to give you guys a bit of good news as well as state some observations I have made here. I am not the most scientific guy on this forum but I can say that I have noticed a trend (and this is just my observation - i have not data to support it)

  1. Alot of the mirical success stories come from people who were not on the drug long AND/OR (and here is the kicker) discovered this site first, and began to notice symptoms after that. BE LEARY OF THE NATURAL FOODS DIET CURES. (just my oinion - dont mean to offend anyone)

  2. Here is the Good news : For myself and others the first wave of symptoms included "fatigue, brain fog, depression, vision issues (and a bunch more) cleared up for the most part, after a couple of years. In my case I cant say why, becasue i tried so so many things in rapid succession, but it think i may wellhave stabalized without any of it. (not sure)

  3. After you get over the “big 3” above (fatigue, fog, depression) you then zero in on whats left. the sexual sides. This is where I am today,but in all fairnesss: 2 years ago I would have given anything just to “not wake up tired” everyday, so I cant complain to much.

Currently I am on :Clomide, Arimidex, testorine cream on genitls for numbness, small dose of viagra, and 2 thyroid meds, Zinc and a bunch of supplimnets. Next year I am going to begin removing things and re-evaluate. I am a patint of Dr. Goldsteins. If anyone here thinks my pharm-cocktail is particulary volitile…PLEASE CHIME UP. I am not confortable with the amount of drugs I am on…but I also do not want to go back to brain fog hell.

hope this helps someone.

#13

The crazy thing is questioinguy, your post is encouraging.
Then i think about it.
Years to wait is a long time for partial recovery.
Kinda depressing.

This problem still feels like a bit of a dream.

I still wake up thinking today will be different.
Today my body has snapped out of it.
Expecting a solid morning wood and thinking everything else will be fixed too.

But i wake up and check for wood (normal routine) and find fuck all or maybe a semi.
The rest is obvious.

I pray a cure is just round the corner for all of us.