Tryingnottoworry's story (Prostatorrhea & two 5mg pills)

Member Stories
#10

Urgh, first day off the stuff and my body starts getting worse. I’m still mostly impotent, slight testicle pain, dizzyness, a really bad headache, my throat is getting sore, and I almost feel like vomiting. Actually yesterday when I suddenly got light headed is when all the symptoms hit me. They seem to fluctuate slightly throughout the day, and I feel like I’m at my worst right now.

I’m hopeing that since I only took two 5mg pills this should all be gone soon. The FAQ says to give it a week to a month for everything to return to normal. Does anyone know if it sounds like I’m having a preticilarly bad reaction to this stuff? I sure hope none of it is perminant.

#11

Well now I’m on day 2 of being finasteride free. I felt like an absolute zombie for most of the day. My head hurt, my neck hurt, my testicles still hurt, I had no energy, I had no will to do anything, and I just felt sick inside. My impotence was about the same, and I still felt dizzy. I don’t find it hard to concentrate, but maybe I just have a variant of the “brain fog” with the headache and dizziness.

Suddenly around 7pm, the sickness I felt inside and my lack of willpower suddenly started letting up. I could get up and move around again, it felt great. My other symptoms were still about the same, but my impotence is starting to wear off and my ejaculate is getting less watery. (yay for prostatorrhea :neutral_face:) Even though I was curious what would happen, after reading other people’s early days of dealing with this I decided against trying to masturbate. I simply don’t want to risk damaging any tissue by making it do something it doesn’t want to. Instead I concentrated as hard as I could to try and get an erection, and although weak, it was getting much better than it was the day before (where it felt like it was dead). I was also able to start eating again, where earlier I couldn’t bring myself to swallow more than a few bites of food.

So my upwards recovery seems to be happening, and although it’s fluctuating where I’ll feel better or worse from hour to hour, it still seems to be moving towards improvement. This is making me very hopeful, but I know the true test is to see if it lasts and doesn’t relapse in a month. I’ll keep updating this for any changes I have later on, and I’ll be praying for each and every one of you. None of you deserved this crap, and it’s a crying shame that it happened. I know I’m not out of the woods yet, but I’ve felt the pain you guys go through on a daily basis, and I give you all the sympathy I can.

#12

Day 3! Pretty much solid improvement all around. My headache is pretty much gone, my neck hurts a lot less, my testicle pain has gotten much better and completely goes away from time to time. Erections are getting easier to start and easier to maintain, though it makes my testicles hurt for a little bit whenever I have them. I noticed I had these weird little hard gelatinous chunks in my poo, not really sure what that’s about. My appetite is still here, though still not quite up to how it’s supposed to be.

Even though my symptoms were starting to clear up, I still felt sick inside for most of the day (but far less sick than yesterday). Late at night I talked with my girlfriend and the warm fuzzy emotions I felt seemed to make my sick feelings go away. The same sort of thing happened yesterday, so I think there’s something more to it than just a coincidence. It’s like it was something psychological that triggered a hormonal response, which in turn made me feel better. Maybe it was the “kick” my system needed to get moving again.

So things are still looking up, and I’m feeling more and more normal every day. The chart Mew posted about how long it takes to get your DHT levels back has me at about 35% of the way there, but I’m feeling about 70% overall, so I’ll take that as a good sign.

#13

Day 4, and things are going strong. All symptoms have improved, some have gone away completely. My headache is gone, my neck pain is almost non-existent, my testicle pain was ranging between very slight pain to no pain at all. Impotence issues are clearing up more and more, and best of all my libido came back! Erections are getting much easier to have and stay up longer, and caused almost no pain to my testicles. I felt only a little dizzy and sick inside for part of the day, but it seems to be getting much much better.

My appetite is still a little on the low side, but I’m having a much easier time eating food again. I seem to feel the effects of hunger before I feel the actual hunger pains themselves, but like everything else this is improving too.

I feel like I’m able to function pretty much normally throughout the day now, which is great because I hated being a zombie. I’d say I’m probably somewhere around the 85% mark, and I only want that to go up.

#14

Day 5 now, a few things got better and a few things got worse, but nothing drastic. My neck pain is gone, and my testicle pain is even less frequent and less noticeable. The sick feeling I’ve been getting every day was much better, however I felt really dizzy throughout most of the day, and it lasted longer than usual. I had to lie down several times during the day to gather my bearings. I’ve had diarrhea-ish bowel movements several times today, but I don’t think I had any of those weird gelatinous chunks in it.

Erections seemed a little more difficult to get than they were yesterday, but it may be because I’m really tired. I guess I’ll have to see how things work in the morning. Pre-ejaculate is pretty much back to its usual consistency, so that’s got to be a good sign. The numbness is starting to go away, and my libido hasn’t gone down any since yesterday.

So some improvements, some non-improvements, but overall I’d say I’m still on the right track. According to the DHT recovery chart, I’m probably at around 60%, and I feel like I’m at around 87%. I really hope these dizziness and semi-impotent problems stop soon.

#15

Day 6. This was definitely the best day of all, as pretty much every symptom was either gone or minor. Testicle pain was very brief and subtle, libido is improving, diarrhea stopped, and my appetite is coming back. The sick feeling I’ve been getting was gone, and I only felt dizzy for a short time later in the day, and it felt much less disorienting.

Erectile function is still improving, though it seems to be improving slower than everything else. I’m assuming it’s because it probably has a more direct connection with a lack of DHT than the other symptoms did, and I’m only at around 70% on the DHT recovery chart.

Overall I feel like I’m at 92% or so, and I can definitely function normally now. I’m hoping tomorrow brings me closer to 100.

#16

Day 7, another mixed bag. Dizziness only occurred for a few minutes and was very breif, so that’s good. I feel like I’m pretty much over that side effect. Testicle pain was pretty rare, and very dull and minor. Appetite is starting to come back a little more, and I’m starting to feel hunger pains again.

Things got a little worse on the sexual side though. My erections were very slow to build up and required constant concentration to maintain. They did seem pretty full, but the moment I cleared my mind it went back to being flaccid. Prolonged attempts made my testicles start to ache again, but much less than they did almost a week ago. Sensitivity was a bit weaker, and it felt more numb than it did the day before. Libido seems to be low at the moment too, and I think it has the most to do with it (If I can’t get turned on, I can’t get an erection). I haven’t noticed or felt any penile/testicle shrinkage or any change in ejaculate consistency, so I’m hoping this will get better tomorrow.

Everything still seems to be fluctuating, but at least my most apparent problems are gone. Sexual problems aside, I’d figure I’m at 97% (and about 50% for sexual only, but it changes so frequently). I’m so glad I can function again, but the ups and downs are frustrating. I’m trying desperately not to worry, but everything seems so scary and uncertain.

#17

Day 8, baaaaaaad. About an hour after my last post, I suddenly felt my erectile function and libido crashing down. I tried as hard as I could to hold an erection, but it soon became impossible. I tried to manually work it up (got about halfway) and ended up ejaculating. The sensation was very weak and dull. Strangely though, everything else operated normally. The ejaculation was fairly intense, the amount of semen was normal, and its thickness was exactly how it always was.

Within a few minutes my libido and erectile function hit zero. Even my emotions went completely flat, and all I could feel was fear and anxiety. I cried for hours and prayed my heart out, it was absolutely terrifying. After a few hours of being too worked up to sleep, things started shifting around again. My erectile function and libido started coming back online, but at the same time my dizziness and sick feelings started coming back too. I finally felt okay enough to sleep.

I woke up with a morning erection, which was a good sight to see. I tried manually working myself up again and it worked much better. The sensation from the ejaculation was very close to how it normally feels, and the pressure/amount/consistancy of the semen was about normal. Throughout the day I felt about 1/3rd as bad as I did during the 2nd day I came off finasteride. I took some zinc, multivitamins, and took a long walk. I’m not feeling great right now, but at least nothing’s at zero. I’d say I’m probably back to 70% overall.

It feels as if my body is trying to re-learn how to ride a bicycle. It keeps falling off, but it keeps getting back on too.

#18

…side effects happen, for most men they go away in a few weeks time. If by then you still have those issues this is a forum for you. I don’t think we need day-to-day accounts.

Best thing you can do for your emotional state is avoid reading our site and look into SAFE treatments for prostatorrhea. Adopt a healthy active lifestyle, exercise and see what happens in a month. You can expect a bit of a roller coaster as you get better but right now there’s a good chance you will.

#19

yes it is the same for me and this is the most question i have : why from 30 minutes of difference i can be at zero libidi etc and after can work well?..it looks like a psychological issue but i know it is not,so it isn’t the hormones volume inside mt body cause fom 30 minutes does not change,so maybe it is a receptor problem or a brain problem…we must investigate it .

#20

Yeah, it seems psychological…

#21

Well guys, I am not saying what he’s going through is “psychological” - I’m saying that it’s normal to have Propecia side effects, and for them to linger for up to a month.

Anything after that, and you have long-term health damage…AKA us.

#22

Wasn’t that an even longer period?

#23

I’m still trying to get over my glorious two whole days on Finasteride 5mg, and I’m on day 17 of being off of it. I’ve had so many freaking side effects from testicle pain, erectile disfunction, loss of libido, emotional flatness, dizziness, brain fog, etc. It’s starting to get better, but I’m still on the rollercoaster.

About a week ago my anxiety shot up to ridiculous levels, my emotional state suddenly started going flat, and I went totally impotent. While I was wallowing around in bed crying my eyes out, I accidentally bashed my head on something (it was dark!). The pain felt somewhat pleasant, like having a nice yawn after a stretch. I figured it felt good because it made me feel something besides anxiety, so I didn’t pay it much attention. Soon afterwards my anxiety started letting up, my emotions came back, and impotence started to wear off (though not completely).

Today I suddenly had the same happen, and I couldn’t do a thing to stop it from consuming me. I started freaking out because I thought I was relapsing (after almost feeling normal again), and I pretty much went into an anxiety attack. My brother came over to give me a few words of encouragement, and then punched me in the shoulder a few times (for good measure). Very soon after my anxiety plummeted and my emotions and erectile function started coming back online, and like before the pain felt good.

Now I’m no masochist or emo cut-to-feel sorta guy, so this kind of weirded me out. Pain has never been something I ever felt anything good from, and whenever I did have an anxiety attack (non-fin) pain would only make it worse. I had my brother punch me again, and like before, it pushed my anxiety back down.

I’m not really sure what to make of it. If I had to theorize I’d say some imbalance in my hormones is causing my anxiety to boil out of control, and physical pain somehow overrides the effect. I’m certainly not advocating we start beating ourselves up, but does anyone have any idea what could be happening?

#24

Well it’s been about a month since I’ve been off finasteride, so I figure I’ll post an update.

About a week and a half ago my side effects started to rapidly alternate throughout the day. I’d have brain fog and chest pain, then it would switch to dizziness and glaring vision, then to weakness and nausea, then emotional blunting and erectile disfunction, and so on and so forth. Eventually I started feeling better most of the time, and feeling sick less and less.

After going through this mix of symptoms, everything started coming back online. The past week has been pretty good, the only major symptoms were penile/orgasm sensitivity and weird digestive problems where I would have to poop very soon after eating and feeling nauseous until I cleared everything out.

The last 3 days were especially strange since my erectile disfunction went the other way and I had these massive almost nonstop erections that would pop up faster than even pre-fin. Even though I had poor sensitivity and weak orgasms, it was like I was on viagra or something. Eventually it started to settle down and now it’s just a little sub-par.

So things have been going good for me, until later in the day yesterday. I was suddenly hit with glaring vision, weakness, nausea, and very minor testicle pain. Secondary Hypogonadism is a terrifying possibility, and like my namesake, I was trying not to worry. It’s just so hard when you’ve come so far into recovery, only to get knocked back down with a freakin’ relapse.

I went to bed earlier than usual, and woke up in the middle of the night still feeling awful. Usually I’m a very heavy sleeper, and it takes me awhile to completely wake up, but I was awake like someone flipped an ON switch in my head. Unable to sleep and still feeling the same as yesterday, I started to feel really depressed. After about 4 hours of moping around, my nausea transitioned into hunger, and I started feeling much much better. It’s a freakin’ rollercoaster!!

At times I feel like I’m getting over everything, and other times I feel like I’m sliding back down. I’m not sure whether to take that as a good sign or a bad sign, or maybe it won’t make a difference in the long run. I just hope I get better and stay better. No hypogonadism! Bad! No biscuit!

I have a doctor’s appointment on Friday, so I’ll probably see if I can get a blood test done. I’m not sure what he’ll tell me, but I’ll make sure I’ll post what goes down.

#25

Well crap, they scheduled someone over my doctors appointment, so I’ll have to come back on Monday.

I’ve had a few more changes in the last few days. All non-sexual side effects went away, which is allowing me to actually function at work. My erectile function keeps fluctuating from darn near impotent to working normally, and my libido/emotions are operating in a similar fashion. Sensetivity is still pretty bad, but gets slightly better from time to time throughout the day.

I’ve been sort of stressing myself out over the whole emotional blunting problem. It’s really frustrating when I’m talking with my girlfriend and not being able to feel the huge amounts of affection I’m used to. Even though this is one of my least debilitating sides, it probably pains me the most inside. For about 3 hours yesterday I could suddenly feel again, but it eventually faded back into an almost borglike state. Even when I can hardly feel anything, I still manage to leak tons of precum in situations where I should be feeling emotion. Maybe there’s something worth considering here, being that I have a condition that can actually measure my emotional state, but it seems to work even when I’m feeling emotionless inside. Maybe I actually really am having emotions, but there’s some breakdown in the neural pathways that’s preventing me from feeling them. I don’t know! (ohh prostatorrhea, I’ve learned to love you!)

I’ve been perodically making myself get erections since this whole mess started to both make sure I’m ensuring bloodflow and to check how things are working down there. Some days it feels pleasureable, others it feels painful. Sometimes I start to get a slight burning sensation and it feels pretty dry, and I’ve found applying vaseline to it helps tremendously.

It’s been a few days since I’ve ejaculated so I decided to give it a go this morning. I was surprised how much better the orgasm felt than before, as it almost felt normal. I did notice my muscle contractions (although fairly intense) seemed like they were out of rhythm with eachother. The amount of ejaculate was normal, but to my dismay, was quite watery. Soon afterwards my penis shriveled up like a scared turtle and felt pretty much dead. After about 2 hours it eventually began to un-shrink and now it’s just regular flaccid.

I’ve started to get these little bursts of feeling 100% about once or twice a day, and it feels so good to have myself back, if only for a little while. My symptoms continue to fluctuate, and it feels like I’m in a roulette game. Am I going to land on lucky red 27? Or maybe good ol’ black 14? Or maybe I’ll lose it all on 00. Only time will tell.

#26

I guess I’ll post another update. I couldn’t get to my doctors appointment due to scheduling problems, but I’ll try again this week.

Things have still been fluctuating for the last few days. My emotional blunting/libido keeps switching on and off to varying degrees. A few days ago I suddenly felt extremely stressed out, like my cortisol was jumping through the roof or something. The next day my libido and emotional state improved dramatically, but has been unstable since.

Last night before I went to sleep I felt great. My numbness was almost all gone, and I felt like I was just about over this whole mess. Today I woke up feeling almost completely numb. I had no libido, I had no emotion, and I could barely even feel pain. I knew I wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. I tried to see what I could work with: genital sensetivity was terrible, orgasm was almost non-existant, and ejaculate was extremely low (maybe 1/4 the usual amount), but at least it wasn’t watery.

Aside from all this crappyness, I do have a few good things to report. My erectile function seems to be back to 100%, I’m not having any noticeable digestion problems, and I haven’t had any mental issues for the past week. I bought a juicer and have been juicing fruits and vegetables everyday, so I hope that’s been helping.

Anyways, I just wish I could feel again. I’m starting to get really down.

#27

Wellllllll, I’ve been gone for a month, and things are looking kinda lousy for me.

I went to my doctor and spilled the beans, and he basically told me I’m probably getting these symptoms from stress, and that finasteride is a “very weak inhibitor.”. He said getting blood tests would cost a ton (and I’m near broke and without insurance), and that if I really wanted to I could get my Testerone tested and it would tell me everything I need to know.

The rest of the appointment basically devolved into me trying to convince him I’m not getting this from stress, and going on about how important 5AR2 and DHT was. I showed him this site and he said something like, “Well, people on the internet say lots of stuff that usually isn’t true. You need to talk to doctors.”. Yadda yadda yadda, I’m sure you guys know how this goes. So no tests, no wisdom, just doctor bills.

Around the middle of September (my birthday!), I made a pretty much complete recovery. It was very very gradual, but everyday I felt a little better than before (aside from an occasionally toned down libido). For 2 weeks this recovery lasted, and then only a few days ago, things started to go haywire again.

It started when my testicles started to very lightly hurt, and then a few hours later I was hit with impotence and emotional blunting, followed by dizziness the following day. Then, for a few magic hours, things went back to normal (like 100% normal). Soon my testicles started to hurt again (though not as bad) and the impotence and then dizziness came back (less severe as well). My testicles are getting very breif pains now, and they seem to be getting less frequent (as well as all subsequent symptoms).

So now, I’m just a little broken. Erections are slow, but can still be brought up to full power and sustained, and emotions and libido keep coming and going throughout the day, but aren’t falling off completely. I suppose the most worrisome thing is that I’m getting this after a recovery. I’m really hoping this is just part of the process and not a full blown relapse.

I’ve had a few lifestyle changes too. I’ve stopped eating pretty much anything that could be considered junk food. I bought a juicer and have been drinking craploads of vegetable and fruit juice for the past month and a half. It takes a lot of work to keep doing it, but it’s more productive than just moping around depressed all day. I’ve also been taking omega 3 capsules and calcium magnesium zinc tablets. Finally, I’ve been doing my very best not to be so danged worried all the time and just deal with everything day by day.

I’m hoping for the best, for all of us.

#28

Fantastic news!! 3 months off and I’m feeling wonderful again!

It looks like my crash (the 2nd one) turned out to be short lived. The typical symptoms were all there (dizziness, ED, vision problems, weakness, emotional blunting, etc.), but it certainly didn’t come back in full force. After about two more weeks everything came back online. I can have erections pretty much whenever I want to, women look attractive again, I have energy and a sense of contentment inside of me once again, all that good stuff.

I still notice a few small problems that are still trying to work themselves out, but it’s nothing too signifigant, and I’m still feeling better everyday. I’d say I’m at 99.9% and I really hope this is it for me. A recovery after 3 months is pretty much the longest you can go with the syndrome and still consider it, “what’s supposed to happen.” Please God, make it last!

Welp, I’m gonna go pray for everyone some more. I hope all of you guys get better soon too!!

#29

My body keeps doing weird stuff :confused:

I’m still getting little bouts of ED, drops in libido, numbness, fatigue, and minor prostate pain but I’m otherwise doing pretty good. Lately my vision has been getting sharper than it normally is (better than pre-fin normal). Maybe it’s the rediculous amount of carrots I’ve been juicing?

In addition my mind seems to be working more sharply than it usually is. Like when I listen to music I can deconstruct the layers of instruments in my head and comprehend the mechanics of the song much more thoroughly, whereas before it would all mash together. My memory seems to also be on overdrive, both short term and long term.

Unless juicing has some freaky magical benifits, it’s almost as if my body went too far trying to correct the almost retarded state fin put me in. I’m happy my mind is working really well, but dangit, I want to feel again!