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)? Spain
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? 45 y.o. / 1.60 cms / 58 kgs
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.)? 1 mg/day -
What condition was being treated with the drug? - hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 3 years fist: 1996-1999 then 1.5 years: from August 2021 to November 2022.
Date when you started the drug?1996-1999 then from August 2021 to november 2022.
Date when you quit the drug? November 2022
Age when you quit? 45
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? From the first weeks… I kept on as the prospect said nothing about spasms, stiffness of muscles…
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Spasm are now less usual and less strong
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
[x ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ x] Loss of Morning Erections
[ x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[x ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ x] 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
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ x] 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
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[x ] Lowered body temperature
[x ] Other (please explain) : Shaking hands / finger movements I think ulcerative colitis is also related as microbiota lost and inflammation are also related to the illness
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? :Ashwaganda
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)?
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance: Propecia
- Dosage:
- How often you took it: daily
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [x ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]: 3 years on the 90´s 1.5 years now
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [x ] I have just improved with the muscle spasm…
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
-
Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ x] less spasm / Less rigidity/ tremors in hands and fingers are ± the same
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
Worsening since restarting finasteride August 2021:
I have memories of having pain in my forearms and fingers for a few days after starting finasteride. As Prospect din´t say anything about those symptoms I didn´t related it with finasteride.
About 6 months later (January-Feb-2022) the spasms and stiffness in the hands and arms began more strongly → beginning of the problems of tremor of the hands and movement of the fingers.
During the summer of 2022 I was stumbling all the time because I was dragging my feet and one day it was even difficult for me to walk normally. He looked like a robot…this has been gone since I stopped finasteride.
Current symptoms
Tendency to symmetry, but left worse. During the day I have shaky hands, especially the left. Small horizontal movements in the ring finger, thumb, index finger and sometimes little finger, especially left thumb and middle finger in both hands. One day when I argued with my wife, I had movement in my thumb for two hours.
Stiffness in the thumb, little finger, index finger and wrist, especially when waking up and decreases during the day. → problems writing well.
I have the feeling that I cannot relax the muscles. If I get more nervous, they become more and more rigid… and I end up having very strong anxiety. Suddenly I have a hopeful thought and the muscles begin to loosen up.
Sometimes I feel stiffness in the muscles of the face and jaw → small tremor in the jaw if I am nervous, and it seems as if each beat transmits an impulse to the hands and muscles of the face. → improves with nighttime use of the bruxism sleeve.
Movement in the little toes sometimes during the day or night.
When trying to sleep: Since I stopped finasteride the spasms when I try to sleep have decreased in number and intensity especially the first two months.
Types of movements: -knee twist / trunk twist / wrist twist / hand twist up or down / finger twist up or down (when I’m awake they are horizontal) / jaw spasm that tends to close / finger contraction.
↑↑Anxiety.