Finasteride sides - Doctor appointment log & help request

[chrisis]

Hi,

I've finally booked an appointment with a doctor next Wednesday, with regard to persistant side effects after taking finasteride for 2 months.

I am starting this topic with twofold purpose:

1) to log exactly what happens in my appointment, and any further appointments, and
2) to seek advice from others about what I need to be saying and asking for, specifically.

If anyone on the forum can help me with 2) I will provide 1) to help other people in the same position, either now or in future.

Thanks!

For any naysayers, it's the first time I've been to a doctor in my adult life. Let that speak for itself.

*No arguments please*

[UK_]

Get a full bloodwork done regarding hormones and post it up on propeciahelp.

What are your full symptoms?

[Maradona]

Hi,

I've finally booked an appointment with a doctor next Wednesday, with regard to persistant side effects after taking finasteride for 2 months.

I am starting this topic with twofold purpose:

1) to log exactly what happens in my appointment, and any further appointments, and
2) to seek advice from others about what I need to be saying and asking for, specifically.

If anyone on the forum can help me with 2) I will provide 1) to help other people in the same position, either now or in future.

Thanks!

For any naysayers, it's the first time I've been to a doctor in my adult life. Let that speak for itself.

*No arguments please*

If you are experience sexual sides there is hope with hormone replacement therapy. It is likely that your androgen receptors at your - you know what - have become under sensitive and will only respond to a high amount of testosterone or DHT.

This is the easiest way to cure PFS but it will also have an impact in your hair.

My dick did heal pretty well without therapy and functions normally now except for complete loss of morning wood and random erections.

However, the other side effects are far more difficult to cure. For example I have lost coordination, can no longer run and move as I used to and have experienced the opposite in the prostate which is inflamed all the time.

I'll give it a year but please ask him all the options you have to treat this.

However I don't think I'll hear anything new because propeciahelp.com pretty much has the best info you can get.

Hopefully you can get a full blood test evaluation that would really help a lot.

Good luck.

[chrisis]

Oh the irony of trying to cure this and potentially causing hair loss!

My symptoms are lower libido, less sensitivity in the penis, and my ejaculate being less forceful with much lower volume. Every time I do anything sexual it seems like I'm wondering how difficult it will be, rather than just enjoying it.

I can do "stuff", it's just not the same.

[UK_]

Thing is with testosterone therapy (TRT) is that your body will shut down its own production of Test and you will be on it for life.

HCG might be useful (ask your doctor first), steroid users use this to kick-start the production of natural testosterone after the end of a heavy cycle on roids. You have to kick-start your body into producing more testosterone, test is the single component that can address sexual issues & the lack of sensitivity may have something to do with reduced desire which is all to do with the neurosteroids in your brain.

The thing is, DHT is several times stronger than testosterone, which is why its not a good idea to block it.

Finasteride is a bastard of a drug and it has probably had an impact on the neurosteroids in your nervous system which is causing the numbness and lack of sexual desire.

[UK_]

If you are experience sexual sides there is hope with hormone replacement therapy. It is likely that your androgen receptors at your - you know what - have become under sensitive and will only respond to a high amount of testosterone or DHT.

This is the easiest way to cure PFS but it will also have an impact in your hair.

My dick did heal pretty well without therapy and functions normally now except for complete loss of morning wood and random erections.

However, the other side effects are far more difficult to cure. For example I have lost coordination, can no longer run and move as I used to and have experienced the opposite in the prostate which is inflamed all the time.

I'll give it a year but please ask him all the options you have to treat this.

However I don't think I'll hear anything new because propeciahelp.com pretty much has the best info you can get.

Hopefully you can get a full blood test evaluation that would really help a lot.

Good luck.

The fact that you have no morning erections is a clinical indicator that your issues are physical and not simply psychogenic -

and yes propeciahelp is a god-send for people suffering from PFS.

I hope they can find a cure for this, they have only recently started studying these issues so there could be hope.

Sorry to keep posting on ur diary page Chrisis, hope the appointment goes well.

[FlightTL]

I like this website:

In it, the author has saved all his hair and is almost 75 or so years old. He details scalp exercises and an anti-inflammatory diet.

http://www.hairloss-reversible.com/

I hope your side effects vanish completely and you are healed.

[Maradona]

The fact that you have no morning erections is a clinical indicator that your issues are physical and not simply psychogenic -

and yes propeciahelp is a god-send for people suffering from PFS.

I hope they can find a cure for this, they have only recently started studying these issues so there could be hope.

Sorry to keep posting on ur diary page Chrisis, hope the appointment goes well.

I think it depends on people. Chrisis I will give it a full year before jumping on any treatments for PFS.

I don't think waiting will have an impact on your recovery.

The reason I say this is because of what UK mentioned. Your body will become dependent on it and you will have to be on TRT for life. So it's a big decision to take and maybe you might not need it later.

For example, it took some time for my erections to get stronger. Also my prostate it's not as bad as before. Before I had to pee all the time and only drops ! Could not sleep because I had to wake up 3 to 4 times a night.

Now I wake up one time at night and my flow of urine is better but far from pre-fin. I used to sleep like a bear on the winter before fin 12-14 HOURS no joke !

[NotBelievingIt]

Morning erections, sans a true medical drug side effect, are entirely about when you wake up in the sleep cycle as well as whether you actually get to REM sleep.

If you don't have any sleep based erections then yes, there is a problem. Short of monitoring for it ( LOL ) you have no idea whether its happening or not. It should though.

[Maradona]

Morning erections, sans a true medical drug side effect, are entirely about when you wake up in the sleep cycle as well as whether you actually get to REM sleep.

If you don't have any sleep based erections then yes, there is a problem. Short of monitoring for it ( LOL ) you have no idea whether its happening or not. It should though.

I don't want to go into details but I haven't spotted a morning erection ever since I dropped fin.

Prior to fin, I would be embarrassed to walk around in the morning, lol. Please notice I wake up at night because of my prostate problems as I cannot get a full night sleep and I don't notice an erection.

[FlightTL]

How about trying to strengthen the penis(longer and harder) and sperm quality with natural foods or substances:

-Omega 3 fish oil
-green tea
-green veggies--especially broccoli
-blue-berries
-chili-peppers
-olive oil and nuts
-coffee in moderation
-bananas
-onions

[SoothSayer]

There is a good chance your doctor will be in disbelief (those less so than in recent years). It might be smart to print out a copy of Dr. Irwig's studies and Dr. Traish' study so that the doctor will not immediately blame you for the syndrome which has happened all too many times in the past.

Other than that - I don't know what other advice to offer you. You will likely get a hormone test in conjunction with some other tests. Neurological testing might be warranted as you said you have a lack of sensation and numbness in your penis. Keep an open mind but keep expectations low because it can be so discouraging to meet with a doctor who is supposed to have all of the answers and find they don't have much to offer.

[UK_]

The problem regarding PFS is far more complex, those natural remedies may have a slight impact for a few days but even with the most involved techniques patients often relapse after a week or so. The body realises that you are trying to upregulate a certain androgen/chemical, so it works against you to find its own 'balance'.

The best explanation researchers have at the moment is that finasteride has either reduced or killed off a portion of androgen receptors in the body, that the drug has resulted in a lower intracellular activity of the compound 5AR and/or that the body has somehow developed a kind of resistance to some androgens. They need to compare androgen ratios between FIN users and healthy users, the fact that SOME people respond well to higher doses of TEST indicates a receptor issue.

There are a lot of explanations, but, when it comes to the endocrine system, the body has a mind of its own, I think it has treated finasteride as a virus/bacteria or some foreign object and learnt the way it enacts on cells and the endocrine system holistically, therefore the body then imitates the actions of the drug for years after quitting, possibly indefinately.

^^that last paragraph is my own theory so feel free to shoot it down, give me your input with reference to journals.

[UK_]

This study in rats shows the neurogenic issues associated with DUT use:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02759.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false

[nikemata]

I heard it that Fin will turn you transgender. Is this true? I hope not.