Who here is able to lead somewhat normal lives and experience some joy in life events despite these side effects?

General Discussion
#1

Or do you feel like finasteride holds you back from experiencing life?

I have been off finasteride for just over 2 years, and although I’m not the same person as I was, I can still get on with things daily. However I don’t get excited about events quite as much as I used to.

And there are times in which I have moments of panic, where I can’t believe whats happened to me. I usually snap out of those moments but when I do experience them I usually get depressed for a while. So my experiences can vary. Sometimes I look forward to doing things, like going travelling, but then there are times where I get down and feel like finasteride is holding me back from life. That is the worst feeling.

It would just be nice to know briefly what other people go through here- whether they can still get on with studying, focus on careers, get girlfriends (probably a hard part), go travelling etc…

#2

For me - yeah, normal for the most part.

I guess i cover up any “issues” i have pretty well given its just my sexual function that has been reduced. Ultimately the toll has all been mental (coping with “soft ons”, watery ejaculate, loss of libido and penis pain and atrophy) as it’s more of a personal thing, really.

#3

I live a very normal life; healthy social life, great group of friends, a beautiful and understanding girlfriend that knows about my issues. However, I still have episodes where I am depressed about what has happened and generally I am incredibly worried that things will never reverse - but I hold hope that 1 day I will be near enough normal. Aside from the sexual things, fatigue and an overall shit feeling grabs hold of me too (possibly related to cortisol/ thyroid) as well as bad anxiety which is very annoying, and obviously anxiety can genuinely hold people back in life very easily.

Does anybody else just find the propecia thing very bizzarre? what I mean is, I think to myself ‘what the fuck? how has this happened? and what is going on?’ I never saw myself having something like this effect my life. Nobody would ever know.

#4

Yes, it all feels very surreal to me. Hard to believe sometimes that it has happened and is still happening.

In answer to the original question- I feel that I lead a pretty normal life. I have a great wife and 2 young children, a solid career, etc. Everything in my life has progressed really well, including my general contentedness about life, and I don’t even (anymore) get terribly depressed about my sexuality until I stop and think through it. I try not to too much (except when I’m on here) as it can make me very angry and sad. But when not dwelling on it, my life is for all intents and purposes pretty good. Literally the one exception is my sex life with my wife, and my own sense of virility/sexuality.

#5

I have kind of given up hope for a normal life. 2.5 years later I still can’t handle the stress of working, I’ve lost a lot of intelligence, can’t have sex often, I go through periods of impotence, have shrinkage, and when I do have sex I cannot enjoy it, the act has become very unpleasant.

I don’t get joy out of life anymore. I just exist. No feeling, numb to everything…

#6

You seem to have most bases covered, buddy. What is your sexual issues? How often can you have sex?

#7

It comes down to how much you have been affected by the drug. I, like many others here, am in survival mode. Were it ‘just’ sexual sides, even full blown impotence, I would carry on with life regardless. But when you get the horrible mental and physical sides it makes life unpleasant a lot of the time.
Then of course you have the regrets, what would I be doing now if I hadn’t taken fin, taking it for so long with impacts on libido and happiness while on the drug. Having recovered fully before I knew about all this and what fin was doing, and knowing what recovery feels like…
It feels like we are in limbo waiting for the world to recognise this condition and see if it can be solved. Sometimes I wish I could go to sleep for 5 years and wake up to find a solution.

#8

Ditto…

#9

It’s all heartbreaking, and it’s fairly useless to say who is worse off than the next, but when I read this, my heart just sinks for you guys that have more than sexual sides (b/c from my vantage point, those are difficult enough!). It just makes me even more enraged at this drug and drug company. I hope you can regain some of your life sometime soon- I keep hoping that a cure is not as far off as it sometimes feels. Hang in there.

#10

I’m in treading water status also. Just barely getting what I need to get done on a daily basis. I agree, this wouldn’t be as bad if it were just sexual side effects but its not. I feel sick, bloated, gassy, fatigued, weak and depressed on a daily basis. Lately for some reason I get headaches all the time to boot. Just a few days pain free would be great.

#11

I feel like a 65 year old man in a 34 year old body. I feel that propecia has taken away my youth. I don’t get excited doing the same things I use to love. My motivation sucks when it comes to doing things. My memory is down the drain. What I don’t inderstand is how this could happen in today’s day and age and nothing is done about it. How could a drug company get away with doing something like this? There is a class action law suit in Canada and another one possibly getting started here, but yet you see nothing on the national news about it. The Government or FDA does nothing. We are alone on a island by ourselves, well that’s how I feel at least. Everyday I try to keep my head up high and get on with may day, but it’s always there. Before this happened I was such a different person. Sometimes I dream of being that person I was again.

#12

This. Yeah I"m alive and getting through the day, but the prospect of less achievement (fatigue issues), less enjoyment (sexual or otherwise), and a general malaise makes my outlook on the future bleak.

#13

I have a girlfriend, a loving family, and I’m going to school.
But it doesn’t matter to me. It’s Not that i’m ungrateful for the people in my life. I just can’t feel a thing for anyone. I want to feel normal again and feel connection with people, but I can’t. It wouldn’t bother me if they all died. It’s so fucked up but I wouldn’t be able to shed a tear.

I used to enjoy jogging, studying and hanging out with friends. Jogging is hard for me now due to motivation, energy issues, and worst of all, when i jog, my testicles retract up into my pelvic cavity because they have shrunk so much. Hanging out with friends is pointless. I don’t get that feeling of connection and I feel like I don’t fit in anymore. I can’t drink or party at all or my body crashes for days. Even after 1 drink I feel horrible for days.

I still have sex but it is not the same. Some days i go completely flaccid in the middle of the act. Other days I mechanically do it but get no pleasure. There are still some good days but on a scale of 1 to 10 my sex life is a 4 compared to what it used to be.

Regardless of all this i’m not upset the way i should be. I feel like a zombie numb to life drifting through. I’m a 23 year old male and I know I shouldn’t be feeling this way and that it sucks. I have all the thoughts telling me how horrible this is and how my future is fucked and how pointless it is to be living, but I don’t get any emotional response to go with the thoughts. Everything is just flat.

#14

The impotence and loss of sexual sensation is brutal and humiliating; but, the sense of shame invoked by the inability to hold down work due to fatigue and loss of vitality is immeasurable.

#15

I’m probably not one of the hardest hit, but I’ve seen the bottom of the well, and it is dark down there. I didn’t know how much I had to lose, so now that I have my mind and sanity back, I feel like I might get something done in my life after all. Overall, I think I’m doing all right. Starting a new job soon. (Still can’t believe how I got through interviews feeling like I’d just had a lobotomy.)

I identify with what UK20 said about the strangeness of it all. Sometimes I’m wondering if someone is going to call me and say ‘it’s was a joke’, and that my participation in ‘pharmaceutical industry conspiracy hidden camera show’ has been completed, and that I’ll go back to the way I used to be.

#16

Unfortunately, I cannot really lead a normal life even though I try. I am suffering from the side effects for 7 (!!) years. My medical condition did not change (not even a 1% recovery occured for such a long time). I force myself to go to work every day from 8am to 6pm. My personal life is ruined. I feel really bad, it feels like I am paralyzed regarding my sexual life (ED, no libido, no sensation in the penis, sleeping problems etc.).

I was reluctant to take any “strong” medications such as TRT etc. to counteract my condition. However, I well now start with such a medication.
Hope I can improve my quality of life somehow.