Yet another guy that propecia ruined (at least sexually)

Member Stories
#1

  1. USA

  2. forgot what search engine lead me here (or link from another site)

  3. 20

  4. 5’9, 155pounds, excersice about twice a week at the gym for just over an hour a time.

  5. I eat pretty healthy, some but not a lot of read meat, eat turkey and chicken. Eat fastfood only once a month ir that.

  6. Took Finasteride for hair loss

  7. took it for about 14 months

  8. started a few months before turning 28

  9. stopped at 29

  10. taper off

  11. Used Propecia

  12. 1 mg a day, about 5 or 6 days a week

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? after about 10 months

  14. Low libido, problems getting and maitaining erections.

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
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[x] Testicular Pain
[x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] 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
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? None, thats why I am here on this forum…

  2. 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)? Not taken any.

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

Took propecia for just over a 1 year for hair loss when i was 28. Before taking it I had NO sexually problems.

I was healthy, strong libo, regular sex, no problem with erections. Then and now I eat healthy, have very little junk food, am in decent shape, no drug use, drink only on the weekends (but sometimes drink a little too much then :slight_smile:

After taking propecia for about 11 months I noticed that my erections were not as strong when I was with my gf. Somtimes during sex they were getting softer and not staying all the way hard. This was NEVER a problem before. So I decided to taper off and quit all together just over 2 months later.
My sexual drive took a massive dive about a month into the tapering off. Erections happend once or twice a week instead of everyday. This has continued for about 17 months since then.

I was having hard time getting an erection when in bed with women, and when i did it wasn’t the same hardness, and after cumming I was done for the whole night. Before if I came, I could be ready to go again in 20 minutes.

I thought it was getting a little better this fall, erections were a little harder (though still after cumming I could not get hard again), but now it seems to gotten really bad again. I had a sad sexually experience being with a girl who was ready and helping me out, and I could not get hard, ugh.

I wish I had known everything (and about this forum) before taking this garbage (how can they even be allowed to sell it!?). I read Merck’s warning that users can suffer sexual side effects I knew that but they gave the impression that it could ONLY happen when taking it, NOT after you stop. No I find out that sexually side effects might be permanent.

I am now 30, less than 3 years ago I had high libo, no erection problems, after taking propecia for a little over a year and then quiting for over 1 1/2 years I very low libo, and hardtime having and maintianing erections and decreased ejaculate.

Like everyone else I just want to go back to the way it was before.

Recovery after 5.5 years naturally
My recovery - all natural (but took 5+ years)
#2

That’s why we’re working on allowing the actual facts about this drug to be known by the medical community, so consumers like you are aware of the potential dangers taking this medication can cause. I recommend you seriously familiarize yourself with the data we uncovered that was unavailable due to Merck deeming it unworthy or reporting to their customers in the Finasteride Studies area, and informing a law firm that you have sustained prolonged, perhaps permanent damage from a drug that was promised to you by the medical community that was perfectly safe for consumption. Hormones may be an issue so check them out witha doc, and go from there. It takes a little while for fin to dissipate and your body to restore DHT, so allow for at least a month since quitting, maybe two, before embarking upon this mission. Good luck and good health. Mew will take it from here…

#3

Well its been over 3 1/2 months since my post. Nothing has changed, heck it might have gotten slightly worse.

I have started taking horny goat weed. I have read mixed reviews so I am not expecting anything but at this point I am going try new things.

I will update here after taking this for a month to see if there are any positive results.

#4

Well after a month of Horney Goat Weed I have not had any changes. I take it twice a day (though I have missed a few times). I am going to take it for another month but its doesnt seem to be helping me.

I have now dealt with this for over 2 years. I hope there are others who took fin for about a year then started having problems then stopped and evetually recovered even after going for 2 years or more with problems…

#5

For supplements to have any noticeable effect you cannot take them for a month straight and expect to get anything from them. You need to alternate T boosting supps along with E lowering supps over the course of a week to keep your body guessing. Don’t take them for more than two days in a row. Taking them for another month when you are not getting results is likely not going to do anything. I’m having great results using the alternating method. You have to keep your body guessing.

#6

Horny Goat Weed isn’t a T boosting supplement, it’s a natural PDE5 inhibitor like Viagra, only weaker. Nonetheless, its a good idea to cycle supplements so as not to build a tolerance.

#7

Never said it was…

I could have been a bit clearer, but you are correct, Horny goat weed is NOT a T boosting Supp.

To get any kind of effect, you need to be cycling T boosting Supps.

#8

I have been meaning to post this for a while and now I finally am.

Here is my first post:
http://www.propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2221#p11993

Basically one propecia for a year and then one day crashed after I started to taper off.
As my first post notes I was a healthy happy guy, who didn’t take drugs, smoke, etc and NEVER had any sexual problems and always had a high libido.

After the crash I though I would recover in two weeks or so (believing Merck) but I didn’t. Was 5 years of not being able to get it up or not very well. This was embarrassing and depressing in the decent amount of situations I was in with gals in bed and ready to go. I told maybe 3 people about this situation, all girls that I was in bed with but even then I didn’t mention how it might be permanent. I was depressing and takes a toll on your life.

I read a lot of forum posts on what people were trying, clomid and other treatments. I wanted get back to normal but after this nightmare with propecia frankly I was scared to take anything else and didn’t want to mess myself up further.

I did begin to eat healthier and cut down on sugar more. I did hit the gym more. This being said I was already relatively healthy person and did not eat much fast food or have lots of sugar. It was only a slight change in diet. I thought the exercise might help but so many times I was on the machines hoping to start feeling my penis again but it didn’t happen. I had to keep myself from crying in the gym (and I probably have cried only like 3 times in a decade).

I started propecia in '06 and quit in '07. In the fall of '11 I broke up with this gal who was not very understanding and I was a not in a good place emotionally. About a month later I was over at this new gal’s place I had just met. Was later at night and I was not expecting anything to happen, at least not go that far, but we end up in her bed. I am not saying I am some super suave guy but as I said I had been in this situation a number of time in the past years but had problems of differing severity. Maybe it was the surprise factor and knowing that if I didn’t go all the way it would not be something she would be wondering about (again since we had just met earlier in the week), but as we were in bed making out I got hard and we did it. The next morning we did it and then in the late morning we did it again! This was amazing. Back before Propecia this would be normal but after this was stunning. My erections were relatively good. I previously had sex but as many of you know the experience was underwhelming, only half hard, orgasms feeling only ok, or sometimes even hurt. Very depressing. That is of course when I could get it up. There were a lot of situations I could not. I could not even feel my penis.

This relationship when on for about a month. I could generally get it up and stay up. For the first time I felt at least partly normal in 4.5 years. I was not recovered though but had a touch of confidence for the first time since before propecia.

Later I got in to a relationship with another gal (awesome) and continued to do decently well and improve. For the first year There were still times that I had problems. Now in the past year I have improved to the point where in sexual situations I get hard and stay hard. I would say 85% recovered. I want to say higher but I used to get hard sometimes at a bar/party just talking to a girl, again I had a high libido and NEVER had problems before.

So there is hope. That being said has been over 5 years in the making. I know some of you who have suffered for a few years don’t want to hear, hey just wait another two years and it might get better but at least for me it did. I do think waiting it out is better than risking more drugs but I can understand the people who choose a different route. I tried mineral and vitamins and natural libido boosters. They didn’t seem to help and I have not taken them in about 2 years but maybe they helped start it. I don’t know.

I would also say I also used to try to avoid cumming so I could save it up and pray that when i was in bed with a girl that it would help me. I think though once I started having sex a little more regularly my body was start producing more seaman eventually. For the first few years my amount went down and was watery like many others here. Mine has gotten better though not the same as it was before propecia.

I hope this post helps some keep hope alive. Oh, and Merck, I still hate you for taking 5 years of my life away.

#9

note to moderator: I meant to post here but last night put this post on my old thread here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2221#p74978, pls delete. thanks.

I have been meaning to post this for a while and now I finally am.

Here is my first post:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2221#p11993

Basically on propecia for a year and then one day crashed after I started to taper off.
As my first post says I was a healthy happy guy who didn’t take drugs, smoke, etc and NEVER had any sexual problems and always had a high libido.

After the crash I thought I would recover in two weeks or so (believing Merck) but I didn’t. Was 5 years of not being able to get it up or not getting it up very well. This was embarrassing and depressing in the more than handful amount of situations I was in with gals in bed and ready to go. I told maybe 3 people about this situation, all girls but even then I didn’t mention how it might be permanent. It was depressing and took a toll on my life.

I read a lot of forum posts on what people were trying, clomid and other treatments. I wanted get back to normal but after this nightmare with propecia, frankly I was scared to take anything else and didn’t want to mess myself up further.

I did eat healthier and cut down on sugar more. I did hit the gym more. This being said I was already relatively healthy person and did not eat much fast food or have lots of sugar. It was only a slight change in diet. I thought the exercise might help but so many times I was on the machines hoping to start feeling my penis again but it didn’t happen. That can’t feel your penis thing is horrible. I had to keep myself from crying in the gym (and I probably have cried only like 3 times in a decade).

I started propecia in '06 and quit in '07. In the fall of '11 I broke up with this gal who was not very understanding and I was a not in a good place emotionally. About a month later I was over at this new gal’s place I had just met. Was later at night and I was not expecting anything to happen, at least not go that far, but we end up in her bed. I am not saying I am some super suave guy but as I said I had been in this situation a number of time in the past years but had problems of differing severity. Maybe it was the surprise factor and knowing that if I didn’t go all the way it would not be something she would be wondering about (again since we had just met earlier in the week), but as we were in bed making out I got hard and we did it. The next morning we did it and then in the late morning we did it again! This was amazing. Back before Propecia this would be normal but after this was stunning. I had sex with different women in the past few years but as many of you know the experience was underwhelming, only half hard, orgasms feeling only ok, or sometimes even hurt. Very depressing. That is of course when I could get it up. There were a lot of situations I could not. I could not even feel my penis.

This relationship went on for about a month. I could generally get it up and stay up. For the first time I felt at least partly normal in 4.5 years. I was not recovered though but had a touch of confidence for the first time since before propecia.

Later I got in to a relationship with another gal (awesome) and continued to do decently well and improve. For the first year There were still times that I had problems. Now in the past year I have improved to the point where in sexual situations I get hard and stay hard. I would say 85% recovered. I want to say higher but I used to get hard sometimes at a bar/party just talking to a girl, again I had a high libido and NEVER had problems before.

So there is hope. That being said has been over 5 years in the making. I know some of you who have suffered for a few years don’t want to hear, hey just wait another two years and it might get better but at least for me it did. I do think waiting it out is better than risking more drugs but I can understand the people who choose a different route. I tried minerals, vitamins, and natural libido boosters. They didn’t seem to help and I have not taken them in about 2 years but maybe they helped start it. I don’t know.

I would also say I also used to try to avoid cumming so I could save it up and pray that when i was in bed with a girl that it would help me. I think though once I started having sex a little more regularly my body was start producing more seamen eventually. For the first few years my amount went down and was watery like many others here. Mine has gotten better though not the same as it was before propecia.

I hope this post helps some keep hope alive. Oh, and Merck, I still hate you for taking 5+ years of my life away.

#10

I posted my story before but I have been meaning to post in recoveries.
I want to give hope to all that are suffering. I know how it is. It is the worst but don’t give up.

From 2013:
Here is my first post:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2221#p11993

Basically on propecia for a year and then one day crashed after I started to taper off.
As my first post notes I was a healthy happy guy, who didn’t take drugs, smoke, etc and NEVER had any sexual problems and always had a high libido.

After the crash I thought I would recover in two weeks or so (believing Merck) but I didn’t. Was 5 years of not being able to get it up or not very well. This was embarrassing and depressing in the decent amount of situations I was in with women in bed and ready to go. I told maybe 3 people about this situation, all women that I was in bed with but even then I didn’t mention how it might be permanent. I was depressed and takes a toll on your life.

I read a lot of forum posts on what people were trying, clomid and other treatments. I wanted get back to normal but after this nightmare with propecia frankly I was scared to take anything else and didn’t want to mess myself up further.

I did begin to eat healthier and cut down on sugar more. I did hit the gym more. This being said I was already relatively healthy person and did not eat much fast food or have lots of sugar. It was only a slight change in diet. I thought the exercise might help but so many times I was on the machines hoping to start feeling my penis again but it didn’t happen. I had to keep myself from crying in the gym (and I probably have cried only like 3 times in a decade).

I started propecia in '06 and quit in '07. In the fall of '11 I broke up with this gal who was not very understanding and I was a not in a good place emotionally. About a month later I was over at this new gal’s place I had just met. Was later at night and I was not expecting anything to happen, at least not go that far, but we end up in her bed. I am not saying I am some super suave guy but as I said I had been in this situation a number of time in the past years but had problems of differing severity. Maybe it was the surprise factor and knowing that if I didn’t go all the way it would not be something she would be wondering about (again since we had just met earlier in the week), but as we were in bed making out I got hard and we did it. The next morning we did it and then in the late morning we did it again! This was amazing. Back before Propecia this would be normal but after this was stunning. My erections were relatively good. I previously had sex but as many of you know the experience was underwhelming, only half hard, orgasms feeling only ok, or sometimes even hurt. Very depressing. That is of course when I could get it up. There were a lot of situations I could not. I could not even feel my penis.

This relationship went on for about a month. I could generally get it up and stay up. For the first time I felt at least partly normal in 4.5 years. I was not recovered though but had a touch of confidence for the first time since before propecia.

Later I got in to a relationship with another gal (awesome) and continued to do decently well and improve. For the first year There were still times that I had problems. Now in the past year I have improved to the point where in sexual situations I get hard and stay hard. I would say 85% recovered. I want to say higher but I used to get hard sometimes at a bar/party just talking to a girl, again I had a high libido and NEVER had problems before.

So there is hope. That being said has been over 5 years in the making. I know some of you who have suffered for a few years don’t want to hear, hey just wait another two years and it might get better but at least for me it did. I do think waiting it out is better than risking more drugs but I can understand the people who choose a different route. I tried mineral and vitamins and natural libido boosters. They didn’t seem to help and I have not taken them in about 2 years but maybe they helped start it. I don’t know.

I would also say I also used to try to avoid cumming so I could save it up and pray that when i was in bed with a girl that it would help me. I think though once I started having sex a little more regularly my body was start producing more seaman eventually. For the first few years my amount went down and was watery like many others here. Mine has gotten better though not the same as it was before propecia.

I hope this post helps some keep hope alive. Oh, and Merck, I still hate you for taking 5 years of my life away.

Update Oct 2015

Everything is good. As mentioned above took about 5.5 years to become better.Then another 1.5 years to become normal. Past 2 years has been good. I get strong erections and can get hard touching it or being in a intimate situation. Also it actually feels good when I cum and doesn’t hurt like it did in the first few years when I stopped taking propecia.

Again I started eating healthier (though was not un healthy to begin with). I did more exercise though last 2 years have not been to the gym.

I hope this gives people hope. I suggest not taking other drugs but that is your decision. Bottom line it took over 5 years before I started recovering and nearly 2 more to be totally normal. But again now I am good.

5 Likes
#11

First and foremost congratiulations to your recovery .

Like you propably expected I have a few questions

Did you have Genital shrinkage ( Penis or Balls/Scrotum) ?

would you say that time was the only heal factor or that a diet and excercise was essentiel to your recovery ?

Did you take supplements if so can you name it . I mean you said that you wanted to heal naturally but I am talking about supplements like vitamin B , Vitamin D , Folic Acid something like that .

#12

Great to hear. You have made my day.
I believe that a reasonably healthy lifestyle and time are tye try cures. Did you drink alcohol? I usually avoid it but I drink on occasion.
Enjoy your recovery,
Dave

#13

Great, thanks for sharing this. Did you give up alcohol or do anything like that for an extended period? I did at first but didn’t see any benefits so haven’t continued.

#14

Sometime my penis seemed to be in semi permanent “after cold swim” status. That is not the case for past 2 years.

As for exercise I am not sure if it helped or not. As I mentioned in story I was in the gym working out hoping I would begin to feel my penis again then wanting to cry when I could not. My gym membership 3 years ago and I didn’t renew it. I can’t say it helped but I don’t think it would hurt. I went to the gym for hour or so at a time. Not hard work outs. Basic lifting and some running.

I took vitamin B, zinc, L-Arginine, a little bit of horny goat weed (this not that much).

I took these after doing some research on what might help erections. I am not sure if they helped or not. I stopped taking them for the most part 2 1/2 years ago.

Might be just time. As I said I did eat a bit healthier and less sugar but was not dramatic change as I was a eater of poor nutrition food in the first place. I was in a bad place at times but I didn’t give up hope. Wish I had better answer.

#15

mamoo & davey:

I cut down on alcohol a bit but not much. I am a weekend social drinker. I would not say it had much and affect. Better not to drink too much. I do still drink.

#16

Good advice with or without PFS.
Thanks for updating us on your progress. It gives hope to the rest of us.
Take care of yourself
Dave

#17

Urghhh this is my biggest issue right now. There are days (like today, for example) where it will be 75 degrees and sunny outside and yet my dick looks like I just swam 100 laps in an ice cold pool. This worst part of this is that once it gets like this it usually stays for the rest of the day. The only things that seems to reverse this is sleep or a warm shower.

But this happens at totally random occurrences. Tomorrow could be 30 degrees and windy out and my dick will look just fine.

#18

Wrote this too fast. Supposed to read: “I wasn’t a eater of poor nutritional food in the first place”

#19

Sure , I knew it otherwise it would be out of context. My last Question is did you drink coffee and/ or so called energy drinks high in caffeine or other soft drinks or did you only drink water or tea ?

quote=“pine909”]

Wrote this too fast. Supposed to read: “I wasn’t a eater of poor nutritional food in the first place”
[/quote]

#20

do you get spontaniouse erections/without touching it?
what about mornning erections?