PROPECIAHELP: Persistent Finasteride Propecia Proscar side effects info & discussion forum

I have been reading this forum for the past 7 months or so and wanted to share my story with everyone. I started using Propecia in early 2002 and quit on January 16, 2010. The first five years I used the drug I didn't notice any problems, my sexual function was great and I didn't have the brainfog or other symtoms, except for dry skin and lower body temp in the winter. In late 2007, I started to have some problems maintaining an errection during sex. I kinda ignored it at first because it didn't happen all that often and I wasn't in a steady relationship. In the spring of 2008 I went to a urolgist and explained the situation to him. He gave me a prostate exam and throught my prostate felt kinda soft and prescribed antibiotics. I also ordered some viagra off the internet since he wouldn't give me any, said I was too young as I was only 25 at the time. I didn't take all the antibiotics because I really didn't think I had a prostate problem and started using the viagra. The viagra worked well and I never suspected propecia was the problem so I kept taking it. In August 2008 I got a really bad prostate infection, felt like I always had to pee but couldn't get a good flow going. I took the rest of the antibiotics and felt better in a week or two. In February 2009 I got another bad prostate infection but ignored it and it eventually went away. Finally in June 2009 I went to a different uroglist and explained my problems to him. He was very nice and prescribed some antiobiotic that started with a D, I forget the exact name. It didn't work at all and I went back a month later. This time he prescribed cipro for 15 days, and it kicked in and worked great. My sexual function came back, no more weak errections, I felt great. This lasted until January 2010 when everything fell apart. I was with a girl in early January, shortly after New Years Eve when I did drink a lot, and could not get it up at all. This had never happened to me before. I felt terrible. I was also having a weak urinary stream and didn't feel like myself. A few weeks later the same thing happened again, I could not get it up at all. When I tried to masturbate it was it was a struggle to get it up but I managed weak errections. Low sperm volume, my prostate felt clogged all the time it was terrible! I started doing some research on propecia and came across this site. I was scared to death and quit cold turkey on January 16th.

The first few days off propecia were hell but about day 4 I started to feel better and by day 5 and 6 I felt great. I was horny all the time, could feel the scalp burning from DHT returning, strong morning errections came back. I though I was cured. Then came the crash, after about a week of feeling great. I went back to the second doctor I visted and told him what happened. He didn't say too much but felt another round of cipro would help things as he felt it was a prostate issue. He did say that finisteride can cause sexual sides and felt I should stay away from it. I did another course of Cipro and felt better, I was also taking viagra which helped with the errections. He tested my T and it came in at 5.2 which he said was normal. On a side note, I didn't have major problems with sleeping or brain fog except for maybe a few days after I quit taking propecia.

The next four months were very up and down for me with good days and bad days. My sex drive was definitly lower than when I was on propecia but my errections and urinary flow were improving. March and April were a real rollercoaster, some good days and some bad days but I was feeling some improvement. I was trying a variety of things to help my recovery such as creatine, horney goat weed, quercetin, etc. Overall I think they helped a little but the effects seemed to wear off if I took them for a few weeks. Creatine seemed to work great for a few days then wore off. By May my errections were much better but the sensation in my penis seemed to be lacking. My urinary symtoms were much better and my sex drive was improving but still no where near it once was. In June things continued to get better with more good days than bad, my sex drive was coming back, sensation was improving and errections were almost back to 100%. I felt like I made some real improvement by late June. This past month has been pretty good, my errections are back to normal, sex drive is still 75% of where it once was, sensation is 90% of where it once was, semen volume is better than it has ever been, urinary symtoms are 100% better. My prostate no longer feels cloged up. This is after 6 1/2 months of quiting.

My overall thoughts on the drug and what it did to me. I think when I was on the drug my problems were prostate related, I think the lack of DHT caused my prostate to get smaller and weaken (over many years) which in turn caused inflamation, weak errections, poor urinary flow. When I quit the drug I think my body's T, DHT, free T, levels got all out of wack. This caused the sex drive and sensation issues. I am not a doctor I am just speculating here. After a few months my body is readjusting to the higher DHT level's and I am seeing improvement, my hair is also thinning out which is a good sign. The first major improvement was with my prostate and I think that is because my DHT levels have improved. I think the sex drive, sensation issues will continue to improve with time. Lastly, I think this drug effects everyone differently. Some people seem to have problems the moment after they start taking it while others develop problems over time. I have done a lot of research and thought a lot about this over the past few months and I still don't understand why I took this drug for 5 years without problems. I do think over time most people that take propecia will develop problems, not the 2% Merck claims. As of today I feel pretty good, proably 90-95% recovered. I think the last 5-10% will come very slowly with time. Feel free to ask my any questions, I may have left a few things out of this long post.

this is very good news and its nice to see an almost fill recovery. I have many symptoms but the one that bothers me the most is the sensativity issue. I can not feel a thing. I do hope this returns as it makes sex impossibe.

I have been off for only 2 months so i hope after 6 months i see and improvment too. What i find the biggest challenege is what to say to the doctor. What do i say is wrong and what do i ask him to do to help me get better. Its all too confusing. im 32 and have 2 children. part of me thinks i should just give up on sex and focus on them.

Very good news.. I envision the same thought of thing happening to me, fingers crossed.

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19/ London.

The sensativity issue is very scary and it is something that I never experianced while taking Fin, only after I quit. It was the worst in March/April after 2-2 1/2 months off. It has gotten better the past few months but that and my sex drive are still not back to 100%, but I am very greatful to have made the improvement that I have in the past 6 months. I think the key to improvement for most people is simply time. For me the recovery has really been an improvement in the ratio of good days to bad days. Now I feel pretty normal most days but I still have days where my sex drive feels low and the sensativity is not good. Also, when I first quit I drank very little alcohol, maybe a drink once a week or so. If I drank at all it made things much worse. Now I can go out have a few drinks and still feel ok the next day. I still don't push it and keep the drinking in check.

My advice on talking to your doctor is to mention it but don't expect them to have any great answers because most of them don't understand what happened. I found a really good uroligist on my second vist to the doctor and he was very understanding but his advice was to try the Cipro and see what happens. I think the Cipro helped me with the prostate imflamation but I have heard of people having problems with Cipro so its each persons call to make.

Hi joe-91 and GN9904 thanks both for your comments and joe for your private message. Unfortunately I cannot reply as I have not been a member long enough.

I am sure sensitivity will come back. I have read a lot that there is no long term damage caused to cells etc so fingers crossed. I have seen my doctor and have had tests done. Not sure what use they were but i do no T is being checked. I get the results this week. This is the only side effect at the moment that bothers me – the rest i can deal with. Regrds erections this was a problem for me but I take yohimbe 1 hour before and this has really worked for me. In fact its better than before fin. I can live with doing this if all else is ok. Problem now is i can have sex for hours but not feel a thing - still someone is happy.

GN,

Did you have any anatomical effects as far as shrinkage of your penis/testicles, penile rotation, etc.? If so, has this resolved or improved for you? Also, as you continue/continued to recover, did you experience stretches of really good days where you were almost 100 percent and then regress for a few days and so on? Thanks.

I didn't notice much shrinkage but when I was at my worst, late Jan/early Feb my penis did not feel full, as some have said before it felt rubbery and not how it should be. Also the head of my penis would not be full when I did manage to get an errection. The errection was very rubbery, would bend easily. That went away a few months ago. I don't think my testicles ever shrunk. Infact the Dr. actually checked for that and he said they were normal. Most of my problems seemed to be prostate related. When I first started to recovery, after the initial short term recovery that only lasted a week, I would have 2-3 good days every two weeks or so. Infact at Easter time I felt almost back to 100% but then I would have a strech of bad days. Now I feel normal most days but I still battle the sensitivity and sex drive some days, but I have many days where I feel 100% or close to it. I sometimes wonder if my sex drive was elevated when I was on propecia because T was not being convereted to DHT which maybe gave me more free T. I don't know the answer to that since I was on propecia for so long and don't really remember how I felt back in 2001.

I have the same problem with the head of my penis... in fact it's probably the most disturbing thing about my penile transformation. It looks so tiny now compared to the rest of the penis, and it doesn't fill out with the rest of the penis when becoming erect. Glad to hear it reverted to normal for you.

Great story. I will bookmark this thread and re-read it often I'm sure.

I just lost almost all sensitivity with my latest crash. Has anyone lost sensitivity and got it back. Or is it once its gone its gone.

If there is one thing that has greatly improved for me it is penile sensitivity, when I first crashed it was terrible. Even when I was walking or sitting down normally I just felt off because I knew my penis was numb, it felt wrong, like a rubbery block rather than a sensitive sexual organ. I never get that throughout the day now, I have had it a few times recently when I have felt bad but nothing on when I first crashed, so yes this can be reversed. I also had great trouble ejaculating 5/4 months ago, now sensitivity is almost as it should be - it does fluctuate but generally there has been very good improvement. Urinating and blow jobs have been my best indicator is your numbness an issue when your flaccid and erect?

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19/ London.

Flaccid. Its real scary, Joe. I am a lot worse than when I first crashed. I went from having two/three weeks of nocturnals and being 80 percent recovered to basically completly neutered in one month. I've noticed the past two days that I've gained more fat in my stomach area and breasts. I went from one of the worst crashes, to still functional and somewhat recovering, to probably one of the worst cases on here now. I haven't slept in two days. I don't no where to go from here.

My advice is to be extremely cautious in the months/year post crash or post symptoms. I was a little careless with diet, stress, etc. and lost control of my body. I didn't eat or drink horribly, but even the slightest things can potentially trigger a crash.

I think for most guys things tend to fluxuate over time. Now, after being off propecia for going on 8 months, I have a lot more good days than bad days. I can get an errection when I want to, my semen is much thicker and the volume has increased a lot, sensitivity is pretty good, urine flow is pretty good. I still have days where my prostate feels clogged and my errection doesn't feel as hard as it should be but I have a lot more good days than bad days and I find I don't really think about my situation much anymore. I haven't visited the board in a few weeks actually, whereas back in March/April I visited daily. From my experiance, I think the first 6 months were the worst and things were very up and down during that period. I think it takes the body some time to get used to the increase in DHT, decrease in free T, and all the other chemical changes that occur. I was on this stuff for 8 years so it takes the body time to readjust. I am not a doctor but I think if you go 6-8 months and have no improvement than you proably need to see one of the Doctors mentioned on the board and explore treatment options but I would suggest giving your body time to recover on its own. Lastly, I am still not 100% and I think the last 5% of the recover will come very slowly proably 1% every 3 months or so. I think this has to do more with consistently feeling like a man in his late 20s early 30s should feel and that is consistently horny, no prostate issues, etc. This has been a very difficult ordeal but I feel very fortunate to have recovered to the point I am at today. I have also learned some valuable lessons about prescription meds, trusting the FDA, trusting doctors for that matter. Good luck to everyone out there in your journey to recovery!

GN9904 through your healing process how often did you masturbate or etc. or did you just abstain the whole time you was dealing with this. did your flaccid state hang as it normally did or was it limper than usual ?

same question as Johnson above me. how frequently do you masturbate, or did you abstain for an extended period of time during your recovery period?

I'm trying to find the fellow on this forum who suggested abstinence for a period of time (30 days or more) as a way to recover from this.

I continued to try and masturbate several times a week. I did this because I think it helped my prostate a bit and because I wanted to keep trying and see if things would improve. The two biggest problems I had at first where getting an errection, it would take longer to acheive and it would be weak and easy to bend. The second was I felt like when I came I could not get it all out. I would suggest to keep trying but not to over do it. I think stopping altogether is a bad idea but that is just my opinion based on my experiance.

the times I did masturbate , I had lack of sensation and PE I never had PE before in my life since this 3 months of this problem. also my testicles seem to have loss size. I never took propecia, just saw palmetto for about a month in gnc supplements and libido supplements.

you took SPalmetto. Trust me it is the bigges shit of all. I will soon writ how I am feeling. my situation is becoming worse and worse.I am feeling more and more I have got parkinson or alzhiymer.Honestly if suicide was not against my religion I would have commited it by now.Everday is a big challenge for me, energy wise and attention wise. Let me say there is no solution to this shit through conventional ways, maybe stem cell can cure us.
I took saw palmetto for 5 to 6 months.

but my symptoms of loss of sensation and etc. seemed to happen before I took saw palmetto , Im trying to figure out what caused my HPTA to go off wack.

johnson - though not everyone may agree with me, it appears that many of the people on this forum have had a variety of health issues (myself included) before starting fin or SP in the first place, and these medications pushed the imbalance of the HPTA or other health axises further out of alignment. Did you happen to have any other health issues? You could have had hypothyroidism, insulin issues, etc - any drug use? a variety of things can interplay with the bodies health systems.

golf I strongly disagree. I did not have any issue. I had God gifted power. 7/24 wood. My wife was sick of me ,almost daily sex for 18 years. There is something wrong with Saw palmetto b/c of which Denish health ministry banned it. They said it is recognised human endocrine disruptor through their studies. Dr.crsyler is very much agains SP. johnson, did you have any MRI for your pitutary? you might have some other issues.

sps