Things that used to excite me, interest me or make me happy no longer do. I rarely laugh unforced anymore. I can’t even cry. I wish I could sometimes.
I know a lot of this is because of depression. But then why can’t I cry? This is so f’ed up…
What’s interesting about us is that most people who have anhedonia are usually so depressed they are about to jump out of a window. I have anhedonia (sexual anhedonia and regular anhedonia) as it’s described in wikipedia, but I am NOT depressed. I went to a psychiatrist who really wanted to help me, but he said I had a very usual case because I showed no real signs of depression.
I wish I could give you some advice other than hang in there, try to be healthy and hope that tomorrow will be a better day. That’s what keeps me going.
Horrible to hear, that you have no emotions at all. Do you have any reasons for that, or do you simply not know where it comes from? Maybe it is the side effect of any medicament you took or you are still taking, did you think about that? Maybe you should see your doctor (maybe even the one who prescribed those medicament to you) and figure out together the side effects of it, because I can really imagine the pain it causes you to realize you have no feelings at all, and to live with this realization.
You really should try to do something against that, because, to my mind, it harms your personality to a great level, if you are incapable of feeling anything, from excitement to pain. It even does harm your relationships to people if you are not able of showing emotions and not able of having emotions.
Please, you should really see a doctor because of this, maybe it is something that is easily explainable and even if not, it surely is something that can be treated, handled and blown away, but you really have to do something against your emotional detachment.
God bless you labrea. All the best on your way to a healthy life.
Who is this guy? His posts are way off base. Almost as if he doesn’t know what site he is at…
Really guy, c’mon now. Read a bit before typing.
terbrit, this is a problem from the finasteride for many of us. We take the medication and have some kind of “emotional blunting” that I hope isn’t permanent. It becomes very hard to give and feel affection. I feel like I’m going through life “flatlining” for lack of a better word. Not happy, not really depressed, just stuck in the middle.
I know I don’t have many answers to the original poster’s problem, but to tell him to go do something about it doesn’t help solve anything. Don’t you think if we knew what to do about our predicament, we would do it? Who wants to go through life with no feelings? I can’t even begin to tell you how many doctors I’ve seen for help.
Listen - I know this symptom sucks real hard, and when it happens to you you don’t know where to turn, so I want to say my piece about this (as I’ve said before, but I know for newcomers all these posts blend in).
Basically, I think this symptom is a low dopamine issue, whether it be spawned tangentially via low testosterone, a catecholamine production issue at the adrenals, whatever. When I cut through the brain fog I know it was the alert dopamine feeling which eliminated it, and many members here have reported positive effects using dopamine reuptake inhibitors, etc. IMO this is a cascade of neurochemical insufficiencies, probably brought on by a shut down HPA.
In earnest I won’t tell you what to take as there is no definite cure drug beyond Xyrem right now, but in the very least it’s good to have a substantial explanation behind your confusion and desperation, even if it is not unquestionably valid. If I were you I’d watch my sleep, if like me it is poor I would get a sleep study and explain Xyrem to your doctor (how it reversed these symptoms in men in your situation). You need to be 100% honest with your doctor and force him to open his eyes to this finasteride situation, otherwise don’t waste your time with idiot MDs and track someone down who won’t resist you at every single step.
Also, if you can try to develop an exercise regimen. Although I don’t build as much muscle as I would normally, this has been an important help for me as well. Anyway what I’m saying is don’t just sit around. Good luck.
Thank you for your replies. You people are amazing to be helping others like me. I do feel very helpless and as you said, I do sit around too much.
I just feel that all of this is so huge and out of my control. I will look in to Xyrem. I will say that last night I had some fava beans and felt much better. It was also the first night that I fell asleep with out a sleeping pill. I woke up in the night and took it, but I still was able to fall asleep for about an hour.
Are there other things I can try to boost dopamine other than fava beans or Xyrem? Any vitamins for this?
I experience this Symptom as well i think. I know i want to travel and i want to finish my degree but i just basically go through the motions working every day, never really getting much pleasure. Like you i dont think i am depressed, i just dont really feel anything. I think for me i assumed it was waiting. Waiting for myself to feel better and for things to look up. I do feel like i am wasting my youth though but i will never ever beat myself up for it, because i realise this is not my fault.
I don’t have any particular expertise in that area, and I have researched occasionally without finding any worthwhile answers (I’m only aware of using DA precursors). However, there was an individual who recovered from a simmilar situation as ours’ with certain vitamins and supplements.
forum.mesomorphosis.com/mens-hea … 52051.html
You can also increase dopamine with some prescription drugs.
I’ve had the same problem since stopping. I also have daily headaches and pressures that dont want to go away(frustrating). Problems with sleep too.
Running/jogging helps. You have to force yourself to keep moving forward every day you get up. I thought about seeing Shippen as soon as possible.
Keep hope and remember we will beat this thing!
If it helps everyone here, you are all not alone. There are so many people who write as if it were me doing the typing. One of the hardest thing to deal with is that I lost the ability to love and feel loved. Anyone ever feel that way? I wish there was some way to undo the damage done.
I’m sure many of us can relate to the not feeling love thing. I know I can for sure. I can faintly feel it now, but I have to really let myself. I’m hoping with my current regiment I can get back close to where I was. I need to go raw again but just don’t have the will power now. I was able to feel easier on that protocol.
This issue with feelings and love makes it so hard to have a successful relationship. I don’t know how the people here with girlfriends do it.
I noticed that I have days where I can almost feel something and then days like right now that I feel absolutely nothing. The times where I feel no emotions at all are times where I feel no libido, so there is a connection between the two.
Tonight was a really bad night. I woke up feeling stressed and full of anxiety, but emotionally completely flat at the same time.
Well, in my experience, I was able to basically fake a relationship just to have sex. This varies from girl to girl, but you guys know what I’m talking about. I know right now I couldn’t have a deeply fulfilling and rewarding relationship because of my handicap in the feelings department. The funny thing is, even in order to successfully fake a relationship, you need all of those emotional faculties in play to do it right. My point is, I can see how some guys can pull it off, depending on the girl and the type of relationship it is.
cdnuts, my hat is off to you for your honesty and candor when it comes to talking about such a difficult subject. I always wanted to be “one of the good guys”, the kind of guy who respected women and respected their feelings. That’s why I feel so bad about faking certain aspects of the relationship. I feel like I am living a lie and it’s not fair to the girl because a lot of them have big dreams about the future and we can’t really be a part of those big dreams because of our problems. Who wants to be a fraud? For me, I can’t really feel orgasms, they feel less satisfying than peeing, so sex is really pointless for me. What I like is the companionship in a relationship, but I know I can never take the relationships to the “next level”
I wouldn’t consider it being a fraud. I consider it a means to an end. I’m not taking anything you say personally, don’t get me wrong, I’m just trying to be as frank as possible. Because of these obvious handicaps we face, sometimes I just want a woman around to have sex with, and that’s it. I can’t give all that’s fully needed for her on an emotional level. I am a man. I still need to have sex to feel like a man. So I do what I have to. It is unfortunate for not only them, but for myself as well. I like the feeling (or at least remember what it felt like) of being in a good relationship. Life just seems fuller, better. But, It’s not something that I am fully capable of doing right now, so I do what I have to do to make myself feel as complete as possible. This may seem like a stretch, but I consider this front to women another unfortunate side effect of this drug. Nothing more.
I can’t really satisfy a woman physically or emotionally, at least you can do the physical part. Blah, this sucks 
You can always satisfy them physically! You don’t even need to be operating at full speed. That’s what toys and hands and mouths are for!! Once you get into it, things will usually start working even if you think it wouldn’t or that it can’t. You can’t focus on the “oh shit it’s not working” part of it. You need to focus on her and her reactions to what you are doing. Don’t worry about getting hard. Even if it’s not your best, she won’t know, but if you get her finished she will keep coming back for more, guaranteed.
LOL. Mouths specifically. 
I got almost no emotions either…
my grandad and uncle both died this month and i didnt feel a thing :S
I don’t feel much at all :S its so strange…