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Where are you from (country)? USA
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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?)
Found via the “Hairlossresearch.org” sight. -
What is your current age, height, weight?
21, 5’11’’, 150 lbs. -
Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
No, I did not excersise regularly while on propecia. -
What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
try to eat healthy, but eat bad stuff on occasion. -
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? about three months, a little more.
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? I am 21 and started taking this drug about 3 and a half months ago (August).
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?Quit at 21, in december
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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? propecia
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg/day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? The first week I noticed a strange tenderness in my lower right stomach area, that went away to be replaced by mental slowness and moderately reduced libido and semen amount. Also, toward the end of use I experienced a return of the weird lower right stomach tenderness/pain which ended after stopping the drug. Immidiately after stopping the drug, hair began to fall out aggresively and continues to due so (more aggressively than while on the drug–even though the drug did nothing to stop my already aggressive hairloss). The last few weeks of using the drug, the crown of my scalp began to feel very inflamed and tender, and continues to do so some 4 weeks after discontinuing the drug.
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What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? See 13 for side effects that began while on the drug. Libido came back, though not fully. Everything has come back during my crash. Marked below are the continued effects as well as the new ones.
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[x] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x] Confusion
[ ] 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] Depression / Melancholy
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
[x] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[x] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets” (definately something weird going on with my bowel movements)
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[x] Increased hair loss
[x] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[x] Other (please explain)
strange soreness in lower right stomach area (is not appendicitis since I have already had my appendix removed)
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? none yet
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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)?
no tests done yet -
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
read my story in 17 -
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Okay,so this is what happened. I began taking propecia to combat my aggressive hair loss. The very first week I started taking it I noticed a strange soreness in my lower right stomach area. The soreness quickly abated, and a mental slowness/dullness took its place–accompanied by noticeably reduced libido and sperm. I dropped off the drug when noticed, toward the end of the first 3 month dosage, the return of that strange tenderness in my lower right stomach. Immediately after discontinuing the drug my hair loss kicked into top gear and inflamation and soreness skyrocketed on my scalp. I can feel it even now as I type–a feeling of severe inflamation and tenderness around the crown area (even though my hair thinning is diffuse). However, libido seemed to have maybe gone up a little or at least not suffered very much (my libido while on the drug was only moderately effected, maybe even only mildly). Then, after about three weeks off the drug I began to sporadically take the pill again off and on over the course of 2 or 3 weeks, depending on how bad it made me feel in my lower right stomach area (how sore or tender, that is). In this manner I could only tolerate the pill for a few days at a time. After the 2 or 3 weeks I decided to stop for good and search other means of inhibiting DHT, but then the crash happened. After a week or so taking my last pill it happened. Two days ago in fact. I began experiencing strange vision bluriness, tenderness in my breast areas, and very noticeable mental slowness and impairment, including increased anxiety and depressive feelings. Also, when I ejaculated, something felt very off. The semen had trouble exiting my penis, some of it being so clumpy that it got stuck and was a bit painfull, only coming out when I tried to pee it out. Of course, my semen is much less than pre-fin and never really recovered even after stopping initially (although I did get random erections after stopping the first time). On the first day of the crash, peeing felt pretty weird, almost a little painful. Also, my stomach seemed to have gone crazy, gurgling and turning around all day long, and my bowel movement felt airy and wierd, while the poo was in clumps. The second day I noticed my prostate area seems to be feeling very sore and almost numb. Lots of oil on my face though, a ton more than usual. I am starting to feel more tired and my joints hurt. And some bad pimples have sprouted as well, that get super inflamed and don’t seem to go away. I am writing this on the third day of my crash and am quite desperate for any opinions on whether attempting to reverse some things is of benefit if done early on?
Please help me, and curse those money hungary, inhuman pigs at Merck (they know very well that this sight exists, yet give no warnings of possible permanent side effects).
