Most existing studies on FIN fail to do two things:
- Continue observation after cessation.
- Observe a cold-turkey cessation.
However, looking through many of the patient reports (including my own), this is where intense PFS symptoms (like anhedonia) kick in.
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Negative Experience with Endo
Today I had an appointment with a new endo, and he said:
- “I understand that you think the fin caused it”
- “I’m trying to maintain some humility here”
He essentially patronized me by acting like he was listening, and in the end, essentially said that he doesn’t think it’s real.
This was the 5th doctor to tell me it’s not real and that it’s in my head. My urologist even got angry with me and started saying there’s no possible way fin could cause anhedonia.
Honestly, most in the medical industry deny its existence. This is, despite the fact that I’ve lived 30 years with a totally normal penis and then the day after I quit fin cold turkey it was like a switch turned off connecting my brain to my penis.
That temporal correlation is extremely strong, and I’m sick if being gaslit because mainstream studies disseminate disinformation by failing to observe a critical phase of the drug treatment protocol.
It genuinely disgusts me.
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Discussion with GPT-4
Even asking GPT4 (trained on more data than any of us could hope to be) the response is:
Q: “Of the existing major large scale double blind studies on finasteride, which actually extended observation past cessation of treatment, and made sure that situation occurred cold, turkey?”
A: “To my knowledge up to April 2023, most large-scale, double-blind studies on finasteride, particularly those pivotal in its approval for conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and androgenic alopecia, typically do not extend observation significantly past cessation of treatment. This is a common limitation in many clinical drug trials due to various factors such as funding, duration of study, and follow-up challenges.
In terms of studies where participants stopped treatment abruptly (“cold turkey”), this is not usually a designed feature of clinical trials as it can pose ethical concerns and complicate the interpretation of results. Sudden cessation could potentially induce or exacerbate withdrawal effects, which would need to be carefully monitored.
While some smaller scale or observational studies may have looked at effects post-discontinuation, they might not meet the criteria of ‘major large-scale double-blind studies’ that you’re referring to. To get detailed and accurate information on such studies, a thorough review of the medical literature would be necessary, including searches in databases like PubMed or Cochrane Library for the most recent and relevant research.”