Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.
Where are you from (country)? UK
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 search
What is your current age, height, weight?
25 5’11 170 lbs
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
0.25mg/day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
Approx 1.5 years in total on and off
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
January 2015
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
August 2017
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
Had gyno after a few months and depression/struggled to do university work more than normal but didn’t chalk it down to finasteride, also difficulty getting and maintaining erections.
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.
Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[
] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
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
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] 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?
Vitamin D and 5-htp helped a lot with the depression
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?
Only had serum testosterone tested which came back at 550 ng/dl. I plan to get a full hormonal panel done soon.
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
My neck is like a pencil now whereas before I had a thick neck, my Adam’s apple is also way less pronounced.
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
When I was 19 I developed some kind of digestive issue where I felt extreme nausea any time I ate, this went on for about 8 months and caused me to lose a lot of weight, my hair also began to fall out during this time and I developed bald patches. I decided to get on minoxidil to thicken up my hair but after 6 months of shedding I was way worse off than I was before and was freaking out.
This is when I started on finasteride (January 2015), which worked a treat 3 months later and my hair had never been thicker. But at a cost, I didn’t put 2 and 2 together at the time but I was feeling depressed for no reason and I’d never been depressed in my life before. I also started developing gyno at some stage (I’m not quite sure of the dates).
I noticed it was a lot harder to concentrate for my university exams and my memory began to deteriorate, sometimes I would be in the middle of a sentence and just stop dead because I’d completely lost my train of thought, this has improved now thankfully.
I’ve still got issues with working memory and verbal memory, I’m very forgetful and frequently forget names, names of items, work instructions, where I left things etc. When I quit finasteride in 2017 I noticed collagen and fat loss in my face and especially around my eyes, I hate the way I look now and i feel like I’m having a mild panic attack when I look at the damage that’s been done to my face. My hair has also been shedding all over my head including sides and back and is now at the point where I’m very close to shaving it all off. My vision is also fucked I’ve got floaters and visual snow constantly, which makes it very hard to see in the dark and impossible to enjoy being outside at night.
Finasteride has had a huge impact on my dating life as my confidence is shot in all areas, I don’t even trust my memory any more, my brain feels like there’s a lag in thought processing, like I’d be about to make a remark during a conversation but I’d forget one of the words I need for the sentence and I’d just be sitting there like an idiot trying to piece the sentence together or someone would be telling a story and ask me something about it and I’d say “how would I know I wasn’t there” and it turns out I was there, then sometimes the memories piece themselves together slowly or other times i just don’t remember at all.
I’ve got HGH ordered online and I’m hoping that it can help with the collagen loss in my face, also with the memory issues and maybe vision as well (not hopeful of this).
I’m also going to get a full hormonal blood panel done soon so I’m hoping to get some clues from that. I had my testosterone level tested recently and it came back as 550 ng/dl which isn’t great for an active 25 year old imo. I’m pondering getting on trt (with regular blood tests) to see how that makes me feel. I doubt any doctors here in the uk would prescribe someone with my test level trt so I may have to self prescribe and just follow up with the doctor every so often.
Regarding my facial changes I’m looking at getting a facial fat transfer along with stem cell microneedling to try and rejuvenate my face, as I look like a 50 year old drug addict and get depressed when I look at myself. I’ve found a couple of plastic surgeons who look promising but the procedure is around 8k so I’d need to know it will work and this pfs shit won’t result in a weird reaction like the fat not taking or the collagen not repairing itself. Has anyone had any experience in this?
Here are two pictures, first showing me at 20 before I took finasteride, notice the round cheeks and smooth skin.
The second was at 24 and you can see how my cheeks have fallen, I have rough, thin skin all over my face, my nasiolabial folds are pronounced and I’ve got huge lines on my cheeks and I also have rings under my eyes.
I know I may not have “full blown pfs” as I somehow don’t have any erection difficulties anymore, although I’m not as horny as I used to be and my refractory period has gotten a lot longer since finasteride.
Thanks for reading and if anyone would like to give their thoughts you’re more than welcome