Hi I am Toby. To make it easy i have pasted the questions from the sticky
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How did you find this forum?
used to be on yahoo group -
What is your current age, height, weight?
36, 173, 79 -
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)?
varied diet - no fish -
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
hair loss -
For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
only 0.25mg per day for 3 months -
How old were you when you started Finasteride?
28 -
How old were you when you quit?
28 -
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
taper off -
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
proscar -
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
0.25mg per day -
How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
first side effects are the anti androgen ones like weight gain, spots, chest hair, beard growth, erection problems but none of the mental ones -
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
[1/2] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[1/2 ] Loss of Morning Erections
[1/2 ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[xx] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[xx ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[xx] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[xx ] Confusion
[xx ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[xx ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[xx] Slurring of Speech
[xx ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] Depression / Melancholy
I WOULD ADD ONE - LACK OF ABILITY TO PLAN, STRATEGISE OR BE INVENTIVE IN THOUGHT - REALLY NOTICED THAT CHANGE.
Physical
[X] 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)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[xxxx] 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)
nausea and what i call mouse trails when moving the head quickly or if scenery changes quickly. Good example is if i use the mousepad on the laptop to scroll by sliding my finger on the right had side but it does not scroll because i have not place my finger in the right place, my brain takes ages to compute that the page has not moved and my eyes roll a bit making me feel sick. Same when driving and looking out sideways at a fixed landmark. all seems a bit woosy. I explain to friends it is a bit like that first 10 seconds after you wake up but all my life.
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
none - thought it could be depression by coincidence and tried anti-depressants but while they helped a bit with mood they never restored mental function and loss of this is what causes the depression so don’t see the point of taking. -
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)?
i will get the tests together. of course i have mislaid everythign and dont know where it is. but i will try to find it all. but nothing too revealing.
- Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
yeah - is there one doctor in London who i can see to discuss this with. Someone who is actually more of an expert than me- i just want someone to take care of it - i cannot fight anymore - i am just too tired.
- Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
i took o.25mg per day of Fin for 3 mnths back in 1999. I spent months researching before embarking on treatement. I was very sensible and took all the precautions. i had all the signs of it not working eg. body hair, beard growth, acne, greasy skin, lack of libido, difficulty urinating etc. So i decided to stop. This was early on in the days of the treatment and so there was not much long term side effect data out there. the reason i stopped was because it was clearly not giving me hair regrowth. this was the point. many people had noted that the ones who lost weight, skin cleared up etc. were the ones who grew hair so i just gave up
i am going way back now and i cannot remember really but slowly afterwards i noticed that alongside the physical changes, i was noticing mental side effects. I was not sure what was going on. Anyway - it has just got worse and worse. Not better at all.
I used to be the sharpest one in the box, but now i find signing up to the forum a bit of a challenge - got to do A then B but forst C and then go there to verify and then post but click here to do disable html etc. I know what it is like to be 80 because i feel like that. Not only did i study pharmacology but also i work in software development so you can imagine how frustrating everyday is for me when things intangible like software does not work right and one has to bug fix - bascially i cannot do it anymore.
given Merck will not provide medial assistance to its victims, which i doubt it will ever do, i have come to terms with the fact that i am half the man i used to be. i try to imagine that it would be no worse ifi had a serious car crash and had some minor brain damage. it happens to people and you just have to get on with life.
But i recently came across some interesting facts on Dopamine and i never got that tested for. I am wondering whether dopamine agonists might have a positive effect.
Of course the whole finasteride experience has ruined my faith in the medical world. I was dewy eyed but now realise docotrs just read drug packet information sheets and the drug companies will twist and decieve in order to sell any drug they can. i am terrified that playing around with dopamine might be opening up a pandora’s box. it is used to treat parkinsons i beleive - could using it trigger something.
I would really like to meet a doctor to discuss this. Why is there not a researcher in london that needs a long term sufferer to experiment on - please if you are out there - can you come and help. I am someone who has spent all my life fightning for others but i cannot anymore - i am too exhausted. Everyday is such an effort because of my body chemistry and now after so many years i just cannot do anything but put myself at the mercy of those more fortunate in these stakes.
thanks for listening.