It’s a shame that it can take so long to know if I’ll be okay or not, but I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better.
Well it’s been 35 days off Finasteride now. I haven’t crashed, and my erectile dysfunction has improved a lot, but I’m probably only at about 70-80% of the function I had before. I’m hoping things will continue to improve over the next 2 months, and then I will update again. I’ve been lifting weights very frequently and continuing to eat healthy, and trying to get more cardio as well.
The sides I still have are mild insomnia, waking up 2-3x per night, but with Melatonin I’m able to fall asleep again when this happens. Getting an erection during sex has been so much easier, but in the past few weeks I’ve started occasionally going soft during sex. I still feel like I can’t get hard enough to do certain positions like cowgirl, and I lose erections quickly if I don’t start having sex. My libido and sensitivity have also improved, but not returned to their normal state.
For the first 4 weeks off the drug I was just getting better and better, but for the past 2 weeks I feel that I’ve gotten slightly worse again, although nowhere near as bad as it was a month ago. I’m hoping this is just the ‘zig-zag’ recovery pattern that many people describe. I’ve also been getting morning erections almost every day, which is the most encouraging sign.
Even still, I’m feeling a bit anxious about the recent times I’ve gone soft during sex. I’ve been doing a better job of controlling my anxiety, especially since I haven’t crashed, but I’m still afraid of things getting worse again. I got blood tests done and my testosterone came back high, my DHT mid range normal. Also had a good phone conversation with Dr. Irwin Goldstein. Just hoping for the best, and a full recovery soon. I’m not sure if anyone will even see this thread now, but wish me luck bros. Good luck to everyone else as well.
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You should try and put a stop to that. Even completely healthy men can have problems if they have anxiety and uncertainty in the bedroom.
It sounds to me like you’re on a positive road. (a positive road?! I think I meant moving in a positive direction and added in road to recovery).
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It happen to me in 2009, I was having sex and then suddenly get soft, loosing totally the erection, it was the reason for my first time visit to an urologist.
I never had that problem before in my life.
After that day it started to happen more frequently, by 2012 I was already totally impotent, the scary part was that I was recently remarried in December of 2011.
Libido vanished, panic attack, and extreme anxiety surge.
I still have that mark in my mind, even after recovered from those side effects, I think that I will never be recovered from the psycological impact of PFS.
I give thanks to God every day of my life for the wife that I have and for the support that she provided me every day. l own her my recovery and my life.
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It’s true, it would even happen occasionally long before I used Finasteride so it’s not really that abnormal.
I just looked back at your first post and the timeline you talked about - it’s interesting that it took so long for your symptoms to develop, and it seems like you never really had a crash event where they appeared suddenly. It’s different from most other accounts I’ve read, but then almost everyone’s account is different.
The problem that the symptoms appears slowly and you don’t even notice them, then you realized that you are fuck when you reach rock bottom, that is when the mental side appear, anxiety, panic attack … etc …also and you want end yourself, it is really a nightmare.
In my experience, I didn’t knew what was going on with me, I didn’t make the connection with finasteride (propecia) at the moment, I was looking for the cause of the problem and started to blame thing around me like maybe the deodorant that I was using, the soap, the water that wasn’t filtered, maybe my something in my workplace, maybe a Varicocele that I had at that time …etc…and because I stoped propecia long ago and I wasn’t making the connection with the real culprit of the problem.
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It’s now been 67 days since I took Finasteride. Overall, I’m a lot better, but still don’t feel like I’m back to normal. Sexual sensation is at 100%, I can even orgasm from oral which was never possible on the drug. I’m no longer afraid of going soft during sex or not being able to get it up. However, my libido is still low, and things just aren’t the same as they used to be. At one point I could have sex 3-4x in one night, now I’m lucky if I can do 3x, which doesn’t happen very often anymore. I’m still having problems with sleep, and have been on and off Melatonin, which does help a lot when I need it. My recovery seemed to plateau after 1.5 months or so, and I haven’t noticed much change since then. Overall, I’m actually very grateful, because things could be worse, but I still feel like this drug has left its mark on me. I can accept where I’m at, though. I’ll update again if I ever get back to 100%, or if things get worse. Thanks for the support and good luck to everyone.
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Wow man not even 3 months and that is already a very good improvement! Definitely keep us updated I’ve heard some guys go back 100% after 9 months or so, good that you stopped that poison. For now just avoid any supplements ect. and let your body slowly heal I think you have a good chance to keep getting better!
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Thanks man! That’s true, my doctor said it should take 3 months max so that’s the way I’ve been thinking, but you’re right.
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4 years for me…
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It’s now been about 4.5 months since I stopped using Finasteride. Unfortunately, I’m still not 100% better, and my sexual function seems to cycle between improving and then getting worse again. I’ll go 1-2 weeks with almost no problems, and then 1-2 weeks where getting and maintaining erections can be a real struggle. Right now I’m in one of the worse cycles. My pleasurable sensation during sex isn’t great, and I’ve lost my erection during sex multiple times within the past few weeks. That being said, I’d still say my sexual function is better now than it was on Finasteride. However, the time when it was best (besides before using the drug) was roughly 3 weeks after I stopped. I still haven’t hit that high point of pleasure and erectile function again. I’m also not getting as many morning erections as I was a month or two ago. I got my blood tests done again, and my testosterone and DHT were about 15% lower than the May 1 test (650 and 29 respectively, vs 750 and 31 in May). They’re still within the normal range, but low for a 22 year old.
It’s been emotionally hard, as I was hoping to make a full recovery within the 3 month grace period, and it looks like that’s not going to happen. I might still get better in the next year or two, or this could be my new baseline from here on out. I suppose it’s also possible that I’ll get worse. It’s hard to see a trend in my sexual function over the past few months - I can’t tell whether I’m overall improving or declining, and if I had to say, I’d describe it as a sort of meandering plateau. One thing I’m extremely grateful for is that there have been no new symptoms - no testicle pain, no muscle loss, no difficulty urinating, no mental side effects. It’s seems entirely limited to sexual function. I’ve also been able to gain a significant amount of strength and muscle from weight lifting during that time.
Yesterday I went to see a urologist in the hopes of getting some advice on what else I can do. Luckily, the doctor was knowledgable about PFS and strongly anti-Finasteride. He told me there’s nothing he can do to reverse any damage Finasteride caused, but he did have some good recommendations that I’d like to implement. He suggested that I completely abstain from watching porn, limit orgasms (from masturbation or sex) to only 3/week, get regular exercise, abstain from marijuana and alcohol, and use a supplement such as Neugenix or Megaman to increase free testosterone. He also prescribed some low dose 20mg Sidenafil, which I haven’t had the opportunity to try yet. I’ll report back about how that works. I’m definitely glad I found a good doctor who’s sympathetic to the condition.
Some other comments: I’ve tried using marijuana again a few times since I quit Finasteride, after the 3 month period was up and my sex function was in a good period. One night after smoking weed, I tried to masturbate and got an hourglass shaped erection. It looked like there was a band around the middle of my penis under the skin. That really freaked me out, but when I continued masturbating I managed to get a full erection and the hourglass shape went away. After that incident I decided to put off trying weed again for a few more months. The urologist checked my penis and testicles and said that there weren’t any plaques, but that my testicles are a bit small for my age. I honestly cant remember if they used to be bigger. But I’m guessing that means the hourglass penis shape is not due to plaques, but has something to do with bloodflow. I also strongly encourage anyone who thinks they’re getting better to hold off trying weed or alcohol again until they’re really sure.
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That’s awesome that you have a supportive doctor. Who is this urologist who is vehemently anti-finasteride? We keep a list of physicians who accept PFS to prevent members from wasting time and money. Not that they are typically successful with treating this condition, but even band-aid treatments for particular symptoms are a godsend for some.
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Dr. Bruce Thompson of Kaiser Permanente San Diego. I told him about this forum as well and he said he’d check it out.
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Wow surprised the doctor believes are condition is real! I also have Kaiser as well and all the doctors there think I’m a maniac lol.
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Can you comment on your fast? I’m looking to cure my symptoms that seem to be getting worse after trying fin almost 3 years ago.
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It’s been almost one year to the day that I stopped using Finasteride (4.11.2019). I thought I would give an update on my situation, in the hopes it will reassure those who are new to the forum.
After taking Finasteride for 7 months, I developed ED, decreased sensation, and flaccid penis shrinkage. After discovering this site, I decided to quit cold turkey. I improved greatly for about three weeks, but then my improvement seemed to plateau, or even reverse a little. Since then it has basically been the same. I wouldn’t describe this as a ‘crash’, because I didn’t develop any new symptoms, or deteriorate to the condition I was in while taking the drug.
I still struggle with some ED and numbness, but I’d say I’m about 85-95% recovered depending on the day. My penis returned to its normal size, although it took 6+ months. I feel very lucky to have had the recovery that I did, and my symptoms are mild enough that I can live a normal life. I sometimes take Sildenafil for my ED, but most of the time I don’t need it. I’ve been able to put this nightmare behind me.
I probably won’t post on this forum again, although I may check in from time to time. Thank you so much to everyone for the support and information, and best of luck to every one of you.
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Did you do something that helped you? Or was it time
Exercise is definitely a plus, but I didn’t do anything exceptional. Mainly I think it was just luck I didn’t crash coming off it.