Used Minoxidil and Finasteride Topical

Member Stories
#1

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)? USA

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?) Searched Through Google

What is your current age, height, weight? 45, 6’2, 205.

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Finasteride Topical

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 4 sprays a day

What condition was being treated with the drug? Baldness

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? One Week

Date when you started the drug? July 2022

Date when you quit the drug? July 2022

Age when you quit? 44

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Quit Cold Turkey

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? One Week…about five days in.

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Low Libido, ED.

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
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[X ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Nothing as of yet

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)? No pre blood tests. Post Blood tests showed testosterone levels around 650 ng.

Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience? No

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

Ordered the minoxidil finasteride topical from online. Was microneedling my scalp prior to using the product so I believe finasteride went systemic and starting causing these symptoms. Only thing I’ve been doing for the past year is lifting heavy and trying to heal with time. The ED isn’t as bad as the low libido.

So, am preparing to consult with one of the urologists on the list that recognizes PFS so that I can figure out what course of action I need to take. Will have to do full labs and am going to ask about the doppler test so that I can be sure.

Will definitely keep everyone posted whenever I find out more information.

Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY

  1. Name of the therapy/substance:
    • Dosage:
    • How often you took it:
  2. Status
    • Still using [ ]
    • Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
    • Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
  3. Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
  4. Response when you started:
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]
  5. 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 [ ]
  6. Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]
1 Like
#2

Don’t beat yourself up about the microneedling. It would go systematic anyway.

There’s only 2 options, either it penetrates the skin or it does not. In the latter scenario it wouldn’t be useful to apply at all.

1 Like
#3

Got my appointment booked with Urologist. Wow, it’s gonna be about 6 months out so am looking at next February until the initial visit. Probably worth the wait though.

Anyhow in the meantime just keeping up lifting heavy. Helps having my own olympic weight set at home. Gym fees can be a complete rip off. Side note, I recently gave up drinking coffee after 20 years and started using amino acid energy drink mix that has caffeine. Stuff tastes fantastic.

Of course I decided to try out the aminos after reading the post from alteredlife and decided to give it a try. only been using it for a couple of weeks so no big results so far. Am reluctant to start all the other herbs and supplements (Tribulus, etc.) until I consult with the urologist. Don’t really want to start ingesting a whole bunch of things all at once without some sort of professional medical guidance.

As far as my symptoms…the ED after about a year seems to still slightly be there. However, it’s not crippling or debilitating the way it was a month after I stopped the topical. Spontaneous E’s happen…sometimes but only if I’m concentrating really hard ant about 70-80%. I think all this is somehow related to the low libido which is the major thing I need to address. There was also shrinkage which thankfully went away and now am back to normal.

So again, in the meantime just going to keep my regimen going. lift heavy, multivitamin, aminos, and got to try and get more cardio activity. that’s another thing I really have to work on. being sedentary can’t be great for the system. anyhow, will probably be a while before I report back on what I find out from Uro who again is one of the ones who was on the PFS doctor list. Later e’rbody!

#4

Just checking for a second to say, had to move the Urologist appointment up being that I had some prior engagements at the beginning of the year so will maybe try to get set up with the doctor around summertime.

Anyhow, a bit of good news. I seem to be slowly…and I mean slowly making progress in the sexual dysfunction area since this all happened over a year ago. ED is not quite as dramatic has it has been for the past year and a half. And am somewhat more responsive as today I had my first round of success with the “other” problem regarding low pressure. Couldn’t believe it as it has been months since anything didn’t just dribble out. I was pretty sure I may had messed something up permanently but after this evening, it looks like I still have ability for trajectory.

not using that amino acid stuff anymore, only because I found out it had way more caffeine than a cup of coffee which by the way I’m starting to slowly go back to. Also plan on doing a round of blood tests through discount labs which have the series needed to look at all the parameters for erectile dysfunction…even though I feel like I’m slowly making a decent recovery. stay strong!