- Where are you from (country)?
Brazil.
- 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?
29, 5’8", 170.
- Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
No.
- What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
Ray Peat kind of diet (more about it below).
- Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Hair loss.
- For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
Three pills. I kid you not.
- How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
I was nearing 27. It was around 10/05/12.
- How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
I quit one week later.
- How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey.
- What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Generic brand I think, just called “Finasterida”. I might have to check this.
- What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1mg a day.
- How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side
effects?
On the day I took the first pill.
- What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
- Body looks more feminine.
- Penis is contracted when soft. There’s still a bulge in my pants, but when I look at my naked member it seems to have diminished to a very disagreeable size.
- I’ve been way unproductive since taking the pill. Two years later and my work output is still suffering considerably. I seem to have lost focus, become more passive.
- Nausea, pain in fingers and gums when I smoke. Didn’t happen before.
- Depression, anxiety and OCD seem to have gotten more intense. This can be related to other factors, but fin is probably related to a degree.
Put an X beside all that apply:
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 to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] 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] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[X] Weight Gain
[X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[X] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[X] Joint Pain
[X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X] Other (please explain)
When I was on my second or third pill a strange thing happened. I was lying in bed at night and when I tried to say something, any word, there was a delay between my “willing” to say it and the actual word coming out of my mouth. A very, very noticeable delay. Pretty scary.
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Ray Peat/Danny Roddy diet. Basically coffee, milk, sugar, salt, gelatin, meat, liver, shrimp, potatoes, carrots, orange juice, guavas. I feel way good, physically and mentally, when I follow this plan. Sadly I’m not very disciplined, I often eat junk, drink alcohol and so on, which doesn’t help.
Recently I have dabbled a bit in thyroid supplementation, with good and bad results.
- 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)?
- 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 think the above info sums it up well enough.
I took three pills, during a week, two years ago. They immediately made me look and feel awful. I’m still suffering side-effects, mostly physical. Nutrition has helped a great deal, but there’s still things to address.