This medicine sure wastes little time...

Symptoms Sexual
#1

Hello everybody,

what a drug, what a drug. I’m 19 and have been losing hair for a few years - it’s been thinning on top to be precise and recently there’s been some recession in the temples. I’ve used Rogaine, but since it doesn’t seem to bring back hair that has already been lost, I decided, after a long period of refusing to do so due to being afraid of side effects, try out Propecia, Gefina to be exact. What could possibly be worse than losing my hair, right! (A rolleyes smilie would go here) I bought the clipper and clipped a 5 MG pill to four pieces. I took one yesterday and another one today.

And yeah, I think I got the side effects.

Yesterday, there was this strange feeling of ‘numbness’ to my penis a few hours after taking the drug. Nevertheless, it remained completely healthy and was working as God intended today. Hey, I thought, no biggie, let’s take another one. Well, that same feeling of numbness came back, this time accompanied with a certain ‘coldness’ too, as if my balls and dick are not connected to the rest of the body. I got worried and decided to have a wank to see if everything is okay (hey, give me a break, okay : D). The only problem was that I couldn’t get my dick to stand up while looking at porn and had to actually start jacking it quite forcefully in order to get a full erection. It seemed a little weaker than usually and my penis felt, for the lack of a better word, ‘stuck’. I ejaculated about ten minutes later and my semen is mostly liquid now.

So yeah, I think after less than 48 hours, we are done with Project Propecia. There is no way getting my hair back can in no way be worth what I have experienced today and, I’m afraid, will continue to experience for atleast a while now. I don’t know, maybe two pills haven’t had the time to do tremendous amounts of permanent damage, even if temporary as can be seen. I sure hope so. I just… I just can’t believe that it’s happened already. Two pieces of a 5 MG pill split in four! Two days! Loss of libido and watery semen. Attaboy.

I swear I will thank my lucky stars if this passes. I just… it can’t be permanent, right? Not yet… there is no way my body has fully adapted to the drug yet, right? Right? :frowning:

#2

The chances are that you will recover fine. Take it easy for a while and don’t stress your system too much by forcing masturbation, too much stress, sugar, caffeine, or alcohol. Get some moderate exercise and enough sleep.

#3

As Martin put it correctly- those of us here are extremely rare cases. But, don’t take this lightly. There have been cases of people taking Fin for 2 doses and getting permanent side effects. I certainly wouldnt “force” masturbation. Matter of fact you should probably hold off masturbation for a few weeks if you can. As Martin said, take very good care of yourself over the foreseeable future (if it were me I’d say from now on for the rest of your life). Don’t over masturbate, drink too much, use drugs, etc.

Report your side effects please to the Finish medical association, your doctor, etc. Please and thank you.

#4

Follow the advice given by the posters above and NEVER take finasteride again, no matter how bad you feel about losing your hair.

Keep us updated and spread the word about how dangerous finasteride is.

#5

I have been pretty optimistic about my chances of recovering since my genitals haven’t felt cold anymore since I quit Finasteride, and I’ve been able to get weak erections with just looking at a photo and a full erection (that went away quickly) with stroking my penis, and obviously I’m ready to patiently wait for this recovery, but now this ‘crash’ talk has me more worried (I checked the FAQ). So let me get this straight: the side effects can come back after they have already gone away? And this time they may well be permanent? I realize it doesn’t happen to everyone, but hey, the side effects don’t happen to everyone either, and heeere we are. Maybe what you have told me - taking care of myself, not drinking too much, not masturbating, eating well etc. is the key, but is there any way to avoid this crash “better”? I haven’t even recovered yet, but I’m already pretty terrified about the prospect of having to continue to live with this loss of libido for a long time…

#6

The advice given is the best way I can advise to avoid a crash “better”. The bottom line is yes, the side effects can come back after they seem to get better. This is why we’re advising you to take it easy and pay attention to your health now. Just do this and don’t stress yourself. You’re still in a stage where most likely the sides will resolve.

#7

Haha, oh boy. Since my last post I have both recovered and kind of already crashed : D I got pretty much back to normal in the last few days, in just about three days in total. Could normally get a full erection again, sex drive was (is?) back, even had a wank once and the semen was thick and white again, all that jazz. Then today I was feeling particularly horny and had to masturbate again, everything went well. Now, however, I’m getting a feeling in my testicles that resembles the one I had on the first day of taking Finasteride (coldness mainly). I also noticed some difficulties in getting a full erection a few minutes ago, so here we go I guess. I’m pretty optimistic that I will recover again soon enough, since the first recovery happened so quickly, but we’ll see. Will definitely have to cut back on masturbating now, in case that is what has caused this thing that I presume is a crash of sorts.

#8

Why are you here?
Give your self a chance to recover (weeks to months) before you start hanging around here, no good will come of it.

#9

You know you have a point. Reading the stories here have probably added to my paranoia and nervousness about using the drug, plus I realize that I may come off as an annoyance since you guys actually seriously continue to suffer from the side effects of this “medicine” for a long time and I’m here with my “Well I’m back to normal after two days!”. Sorry about that. Be that as it may, as soon as I got the side effects, I wanted to see what kind of experiences other Finasteride users have had with theirs, as well as find out about what could potentially happen in a worst case scenario, and I came across this place via Google. That’s why I’m here, but I see your point and I will try to avoid coming here too often.

#10

Okay, so here’s what’s going on after about a month of quitting propecia.

I have not fully recovered. Basically, I do have a sex drive and a libido, but every time I masturbate, it definitely seems to have a “draining” effect. Obviously it does for every normal male, I suppose, but the difference is that I cannot really get all that horny again after ejaculating whereas I could pre-Fin. Things are not all that bad; the libido does come back (or has so far) after a few hours, or atleast the next day.

I previously thought I had erectile dysfunction, but that doesn’t seem to be it, I do think I’m suffering from low libido if anything, as every time I think about something sexual, if I manage to get a “good” feeling in my brain about it, my penis reacts one way or another (and the more time has passed from previous ejaculation, the less is needed for me to get horny). Managing to get myself into these kind of thoughts is the real task most of the time.

I am, of course, grateful for the fact that the libido returns, aswell as my ability to get an erection which is pretty much as pre-Fin most of the time. I’d rather be back to 100%, but I suppose I could come to grips with being like this for a long time to come if forced to.

In a nutshell, it feels as if Propecia has lowered the level of testosterone in my body, or whatever it is that causes us to get horny, but not enough to bring that level down for a long time or for good. After ejaculation, my body doesn’t have enough of it to get aroused again quickly and needs quite a bit of time (but still thankfully less than 24 h every time so far).

And of course, thinking “Oh my god will I even be able to get an erection!” every time I try to get one probably doesn’t help either. I usually can though, thankfully, but not if it’s soon after ejaculating. I suppose I could try not masturbating for a while, but like I said, I am still horny enough to want to do it sometimes several times a day so that might be a problem. We’ll see.

I feel normal after some time has passed after ejaculating - as a matter of fact, I feel “normal” all of the time (thankfully no brain fog, anxiety or anything), but sexual thoughts cross my mind very little and that on the other hand isn’t normal, so that’s a bother. Evidently things are very well for me compared to some (most?) here, but my recovery is still not 100% either and that is why I’ll continue to update.

#11

If i were you i would just get on with my life and leave these forums behind.

#12

Hello again,

still not totally clear of side effects after almost two months of quitting the drug and only taking it for two days. Things are relatively well (and quite frankly very well compared to most here - please understand I do not intend to sound brash, I just want to point all of this out) in the sense that I’ve slipped back to my pre-Fin rhythm of masturbating two-three times a day, the penis stays hard for the whole duration, it’s quite easy to get erect etc. Sperm is totally as it should be if I haven’t done it for about a day or so, and if I have, there’s not as much of it, but I remember it being like this before Fin too.

It almost seems to me as if Finasteride follows some sort of pattern in men that it affects. I’ve read many stories about guy getting sexual sides and then things like depressive moods and anxiety have started turning up, most usually while still on the drug. I only took the drug for two days and it has left me in a state where my sexual urges, while still quite “normal”, are not quite the same as they were before Propecia. I suspect that had I continued longer, I would have gone down the route of the sexual sides getting more persistent and then getting depression and so forth.

How could I best describe things? I feel normal enough to some days not really even think about it. I’m totally the same me as I was before ever touching the drug - upbeat, humorous, attentive - but yes, not as many sexual thoughts. Not once during these two months do I recall having had thoughts that have led to a full erection. The regular masturbation is more out of habit than actual desire to jerk off, although I do get an actual urge every once in a while. Sometimes I go to bed thinking about girls and sometimes I couldn’t care less. Lowered libido certainly seems to be my sticking point here, thankfully it’s probably the least serious of all the sides you can get from this drug.

Thought this might be interesting as comparison to the experiences of long-time users, in the sense that we can see what short term vs. long term use can do.

#13

here’s my two cents… don’t take any random hormones or anything to further complicate your system. start eating as healthy as you can and exercise on a regular basis. it sounds like you are in the PFS version where only your libido is effected… however, this can change based on treatments you take. especially if you take something to effect your hormones then start masturbating a lot, this will screw you up and you don’t want to go down this path. hormone treatments don’t fix the problem and sometimes people just get worse and worse after each treatment they try to do.

if i was in your shoes, i would do a raw food diet and just wait and exercise… i’ve read at least 3 recoveries of people taking this approach, plus my own situation where my diet largely effects it. i know one guy i read about, it took him a year on the raw food diet to get better. but, not sure if he did other things as well to help. i think you should do organic raw food + liquid cod liver oil + probiotics + plant based digestive enzymes and see where your at in one month. this is the safest approach, but you will feel better… it’s like the best diet known to man. at least do this before you decide to do any kind of other “treatment” and possibly risk all your sexual health.

#14

While the raw food diet is better than the average diet, naming it “like the best diet known to man” is subjective. Many on this board derive the greatest benefits from simply eating paleo.

#15

the only difference is that paleo has cooked meat. their both really good for you and both will do amazing things. raw foods give your body digestive enzymes that it needs to more essentially have an easier time digesting. paleo gives you mostly raw foods as well… and the raw food is one of the best diets known to man… eating only foods from nature is sooo good for you. whatever dude, subjective or not subjective, you can’t disagree with that.

#16

Paleo diets are modeled after diets before agriculture was invented 10,000 years ago and exclude dairy products, legumes, and grains.

Raw food diets allow grains, legumes, and dairy products and exclude meats that cannot be eaten or are unpleasant for modern man to eat raw.

The trade off of paleo’s cooked meats for raw’s grains, legumes, and dairy is significant.

#17

raw food means eating food in its form straight from nature… it’s essentially the same thing as the paleo diet. you can only eat dairy if its in its “raw” form, as in not milk you buy at the store. yeah on raw food you can eat whole grains and beans in their natural form. both diets are like 80% veggies and meat so it’s going to give the same effect. just because the addition of beans/grains isn’t going to make a big difference. the same way how the paleo diet won’t make a big difference in that it has cooked meat. the problem with the diet of today is that the grains are processed to make a bunch of crap, it’s not the same as whole grains. either way, your going to get the same effect because of the mass amount of veggies/fruits… small additions like what your mentioning isn’t going to make a big impact. trust me… i’ve actually done this diet stuff.

#18

This is your subjective opinion. Please continue if it works for you but dairy, grains, and legumes are not part of the paleo diet. Furthermore, if you look at the practicality of eating raw meats, many are inedible raw for most people. Ever eat raw liver? Raw kidney? How about a raw steak? Do you trust yourself to eat a 100% raw chicken? Avoiding cooked meats such as these means avoiding a large protein and fat source central to the primal diet. The energy source of the paleo diet comes from about 65% animal, 35% plant.

livingpaleo.com/the-food-pyramids/

I think most of us are capable of putting the adjective raw together with dairy and understanding processed and homogenized is not the same thing.

Whole grains may actually be harder to digest for many people due to high fiber content, gluten, and other reasons even though they provide less insulin strain on the body. A lot of men here have digestion and bloating problems after fin, possibly due to altered liver enzymes or the inhibition of 5AR3 in the stomach and digestive system:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5867&p=47663#p47663
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5168

Smarter people than you created the paleo diet specifically to exclude grains, legumes, and dairy. No one should blindly trust a poster on the internet, especially someone who has their facts wrong and writes “trust me”.

#19

okay martin, buddy, you are taking this way out of proportion here and missing my point, but like I said, the addition of beans, legumes, and whole grains in the raw food diet aren’t going to make that big of a difference compared the paleo diet. most people on the raw food diet don’t eat raw meat for the exact reasons your saying, they will stick with things like nuts, seeds, or sprouts like legumes for protein.

the whole point of my post and my point in that paleo and raw food will essentially give the same benefits is because both are way more nutritious than regular diets.

please don’t try to use studies that you don’t understand regarding 5AR3 in the digestive system that may be effecting us to not be able to digest whole grains. that’s a really broad statement with absolutely no backing. the study your referring to has to do with 5AR3 not being able to process carbohydrates properly, not specifically whole grains and not every whole grain contains gluten. paleo diet consists of carbohydrates which wouldn’t work well with the study you posted about 5AR3’s affect on the digestive system. Diets that would work with your study would be Atkins and leaky gut since they don’t have carbs.

do you know why raw food diet is so good? because the raw foods consumed don’t put any pressure on the digestive system to digest the foods. everytime you eat cooked foods, your body is forced to use its storage of digestive enzymes to digest the foods. raw foods have all the digestive enzymes all ready in them, not requiring to stress the body any more than it needs to be.

but like I said earlier, the elimination of regular foods and not foods straight from nature will have exceptional results either way. both paleo and raw food diet will do great things for you. i don’t know if you are trying to have an argument by saying that somehow raw food diet is way worse than paleo or what, but they will both do amazing things. either of them would be a better choice than a typical american diet.

i’ve been actively researching food as the main part of my treatment plan for the past 7 months straight… yeah, don’t trust random people on the internet, but research what i’m saying and you’ll get the same information this isn’t some random conspiracy.

**edit, I also want to add that each of these diets, both paleo and raw food, have to be adjusted accordingly to each person. you say that paleo is good, yet it’s 65% meat as you say and doesn’t accommodate the correct amount of carbohydrates according to regular “doctors” and I know paleo has issues with raw foods use of legumes and all that because they think its a waste product and shouldn’t be consumed. each person has specific needs, more or less, we should have a combination of paleo/raw food to adjust the specific requirements that each body needs.

#20

I’m not missing your point Bryce, I specifically stated that your first point was factually incorrect - the paleo diet is not essentially the raw food diet. Your second point, that both raw food diets and paleo diets being better than the average diet, is taken and agreed with. However the benefits are not essentially the same for people that cannot digest grains, dairy, and legumes well.

The bottom line is I am weary of reading your half-baked personal opinions that clutter this forum, from chicken causing varicocele to raw and paleo diets being the same. Get your facts straight before you post. For someone who has been researching this for the last 7 months you should be aware of the major differences between the popular diets on this forum, no?

There is a lot of speculation on this board about the digestive system, from candida to auto-immune theories. We don’t know the full extent of finasteride’s damage in our bodies, but we do know it affected liver enzymes and at least some of the 5AR enzymes are found in the gut, and if they were inhibited then they could have affected digestion. Grains, legumes, and dairy are known to cause bloating and digestion problems. Many of these problems are reported anecdotally here. Trying to lump in diets which include these items with diets that specifically exclude them does not give a reader objective information to try and eliminate foods which may further worsen their condition.