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)? United States
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?) Reddit
What is your current age, height, weight? 27, 6’3", 190 lbs
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg/day
What condition was being treated with the drug? Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 8 years
Date when you started the drug? January 2018
Date when you quit the drug? June 2025
Age when you quit? 26
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? taper off
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? Very recently, symptoms started in March/April 2025 after viral infection
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-like symptoms, including severe brain fog, body weakness, tiredness, and post-extertional malaise
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
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] 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
[x] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[x] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[x] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[x] Other (please explain)
Exercise Intolerance
Post Exertional Malaise (PEM)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? I was prescribed low-dose naltrexone at Mayo Clinic for Chronic Fatigue syndrome and it has helped alleviate some of my brain fog and reduced crash severity, but not by a lot.
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)? I have had numerous blood tests done but not any hormone-specific tests. I plan to have those done soon and will share.
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience? While my symptoms do tend to lean towards Chronic Fatigue syndrome, any exposure to 5ar inhibitors or endocrine disruptors such as Nizoral shampoo or zinc-based sunscreen leads to a crash where my symptoms get worse. Also, when I quit finasteride in June, I noticed my symptoms alleviate for around 10 days before crashing back into the worsened state, as many have mentioned in this forum.
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
had no issues taking finasteride for several years, but had a very severe viral infection (possibly mono or covid) in February 2025 that took several weeks to wear off. Even after the infection went away, my brain fog and fatigue persisted and gradually got worse as I continued to go to the gym, work, and take classes as I used to do before. After over-exertion, I would have post-exertional malaise that would crash me to a lowered state for several weeks before reaching a new baseline.
In May 2025, I decided to see if finasteride was contributing to the issue as fatigue and brain fog are known side effects of the drug. I slowly tapered off the drug over the course of two months and each time I would lower the dose/frequency, I would feel better for a day or two before again going back to the same symptoms. When I finally quit finasteride entirely, I felt substantially better for around 10 days and thought that I had solved the problem, but after that I again crashed and went back to dealing with the brain fog and fatigue again.
Since then I have learned to avoid 5ar inhibitors and endocrine disruptors as they cause me to crash and can take around a week to reach baseline again. I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and prescribed low-dose naltrexone in August 2025 and have been taking that since then. While I have seen moderate benefits from this, I don’t feel it is solving the root problem. I think there must be something finasteride related to what I’m going through based on how much better I felt when I first quit it.
Thank you for reading, hopefully some people can relate to what I’ve went through. Open to any thoughts or questions you might have.