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Where are you from (country)? UK
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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?) I searched propecia side effects on Google
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What is your current age, height, weight? 28, 6’2", 160lbs
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Yes, I went to the gym 3-4 times per week, a lot of strength training and cardio. I’ve always been very active. I’m slim, 13-14% boy fat and lean muscle mass.
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? I try to eat a balanced diet, I eat a lot vegetables (especially brocolli and spinach) I drank a lot of full fatmilk (which I’ve recently cut down on). I rarely eat organic though. Red meat 2 times per week, a white meat/fish for other days (especially salmon and tuna) and sushi once every fortnight.
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? I was starting to lose my hair around the age of 24, my family has a history of MPB so I wanted to stop that from happening to me.
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 3 years and 3 months
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 24
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 28 (just after my 28th birthday) 17 February 2013 is when I quit.
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold turkey
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Proscar (cut into 1/4s)
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25mg
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
I remember when I first started taking it, acne occured on my chest but disappeared within about 3 months, apart from that I had no other issues. I think the pill may have made me feel more aggressive maybe a year into taking it but I didn’t put it down to Proscar at the time.
I felt the slow onset of side effects approximately 3-5 months before quitting about 2 years and 9 months. It was a slow onset of side effects, nothing immediate.
- 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
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[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
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled) - Sometimes its small and narrow and sometimes it changes to normal size
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness - This fluctuates between large dropping testicle and shrinking testicles
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[x] Lowered body temperature
[x] Other (please explain)
Cystic acne on the back of both my shoulders that was apparent on proscar and got progressively worse with time.
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
As I quit 3 weeks ago I have yet to make a decision on what action to take yet for treatment. I plan to get a full hormonal check soon. I’m concerned doctors in the UK have no idea of this serious syndrome yet and won’t take me seriously.
I have been taking long walks in the sun, eating very healthy (more home made soups, plenty of fruit (especially bananas and citrus), I was a weekend/social smoker and regular drinker (a couple beers every other night and more on weekends) but both of these I have also given up after quitting.
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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)? Once I get these done I’ll post them up.
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
I feel quite scared although I’m staying as positive as one can in such a situation. I really hope people can donate to research and also stick together through this on the forum to get to the bottom of this awful awful syndrome. It really is horrible and no person deserves these feelings.
- Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I began taking Proscar in 1/4s in November 2009, prescribed by my doctor at the time. At that time there was no warning that side effects can persist after the drug is ceased, if I had known this I would never have taken it.
I never felt any negative side effects from the drug in the first 2 and a half years apart from acne on my chest which cleared up after a few months.
I would say about 1 year into the drug I became a slightly more aggressive, easy to get upset and sensitive (although no crying). I passed it down to the extra testosterone that may have been floating in my system as to why I felt a little bit more aggressive and I could also lift more in the gym. But it was nothing extreme.
About 2 years and 9 months into the drug I felt side effects slowly come on. This was also around the same time I broke up with my girlfriend (which makes me think that traumatic life events can trigger side effects) it was also around the time I started hitting the gym hard (4-5 times per week, strength training). I also took a very strong multivitamin which contained Saw palmetto (I didn’t think much of it at the time as it was part of a blended mix pill but I was thinking that may have brought on the onset of some of this too). I don’t think the two mix, but I may be wrong.
I wasn’t sure if I should have put this down to the drug, my own normal body and/or the feeling of breaking up with my girlfriend. At the time I passed it off.
After this, I felt other side effects come on, one of the main ones was blurry vision and fatigue, stronger acne on shoulders and mood swings. I also had the occasional night sweat and flu like symptoms. I also was unable to concentrate and I was slurring my words slightly, not being able to say what I was thinking correctly.
After a few months I started seeing another girl but I realized by libido would fluctuate between very low and moderate, I also realized I couldn’t maintain and erection with a new girl I saw. That was when I realized all these issues must be linked to proscar.
At first I thought I had MS, these symptoms seem the same but it took time for me to link it to the only drug I was taking, it’s amazing how long one can live in denial.
Once I quit the drug, the next few days I was completely impotent, no libido, depressed, horrible anxiety, blurry vision, tip of my penis was cold, scrotum and penis size change. Just a dark dark place. A complete crash that scared me so much.
After about a week I felt much better, clear thoughts, morning erections, moderate libido (I’ve never had a huge libido in public, I get a stronger libido in the evening) able to get an erection in the evening at home (although no spontaneous erections) a zest for life and for taking on challenges, I felt happy again.
This lasted for about 5-7 days and then it hit me again on the 19th day. I felt the tip of my penis becoming cold again, I woke up with the worst blurred vision yet. Throughout that day I couldn’t keep my trail of thought, I was unresponsive to my coworkers and just feeling very very low.
By that evening, I was completely impotent again. A 28 year old completely impotent, with dark thoughts, anxious, very depressed and crying uncontrollably is just one of the worst feelings I can describe. I also had a strange sleeping pattern where I’d wake up every couple of hours. I was so worried.
The next day I felt still slightly anxious, mildly depressed, almost cut off from the world with no strong emotions of feelings. Zombie like. One strange thing, after walking in the sun for a few hours I was on my way back home and I felt a spontaneous erection (I had no sexual thought, it just occurred) I thought that was strange but it felt good to know it still worked. That night I had the same sleeping pattern, a couple hours sleeping then some time awake, then another couple hours sleeping. This strange sort of insomnia didn’t feel great, I’ve never experienced it before and it made me scared.
I’ve woke up this morning feeling a bit better, so much so, that I feel I can write my thoughts coherently. My trail of thought is still quite weak though and I feel spaced out. I am suffering blurry vision still, I’m still slightly anxious but my mood feels 50% lifted, not so much depression. My libido is low. On a positive, I felt a few morning erections and I dreamt last night too although only bad dreams about Propecia. The only other times I was able to remember dreams was pre-propecia, very rarely on propecia and the week after quitting.
The sun is outside and I’m going to take a walk soon. I think the suns ability to produce Vitamin D and NO must help even just a slight bit. I know this could get much worse but even though I have suffered depression and anxiety in the past, I’m a positive person and everybody’s rate of recovery is different. We must give time for our bodies to heal and we must push the medical community to take this seriously. It’s seriously ruining lives. Nobody should live years or even a lifetime with this condition. Nobody.
I currently take a good quality multivitamin and Omega 3 with DHA and have been for about a month and a half. I have also taken a top quality whey protein for the past 4 months which includes over 5g of BCAAs and other amino acids.
My question is do you think taking the Omega 3 is a good or bad idea? My thought is it may reduce DHT which may be needed, but it may not be a huge amount and the other benefits of an omega 3 outweigh this?
Thanks for taking the time read my story and if anybody wants to chat or my support (or to give me support) please PM me. We’re in this together. Stay positive the body is a miraculous thing.