My Finasteride Nightmare

[Topcat87]

Hi folks I've been a long time lurker on hair loss forums, started going bald about 5 years ago - I went through all the phases, taking endless pictures of my bald spot with my phone, trawling the forums for help on the issue etc.

In 2012 I decided to take the plunge and start popping finasteride pills 1 every day as recommended - I was less worried about my hair loss but it would prove to be the worst decision of my life, I was a healthy 25 year old who worked around the clock had a partner and was generally very happy.

I started taking the drug in April 2012 and did so religiously for 8 months, the strange thing was I didn't notice any symptoms for the first few months everything just seemed the same. However after a while there were signs that something just wasn't right with me, I had lost 'some' interest in sex and could go a while throughout the day without ever thinking about it - which was strange because I used to think about the opposite sex every few minutes before I took Finasteride. I didn't think anything of it at the time and thought my body would just adjust after a while and things would be okay.

Well that didn't happen as after around 5 - 6 months of usage I came to realise that I just wasn't my normal self anymore, I was more depressing to be around, I would isolate myself from other people and get depressed over the smallest thing, I was also beginning to get erection problems, my semen was like water and my penis was constantly cold and shrivelled, I also felt less pleasure during sex which I was rarely having at this point.

I reached around the month 7 point when I visited my doctor about the depression who prescribed me citalopram which is an SSRI, I bought the prescription but decided against taking them for now thinking I could benefit more from counselling or talk therapy, I quit the finasteride in month 8 when I found the website propeciahelp.com.

After quitting my nightmare really began, i experienced the dreaded 'crash', I couldn't get an erection to anything, I had no morning erections but the worst symptom was something called brain fog, it felt as if someone was holding a freaking plastic bag over my head all the time, I couldn't think straight or clearly and it was all coupled with the worst depression I would not wish on my worst enemy. No matter what type of porn I watched or female I met in person I couldn't for the life of me get sexually aroused, it felt as if the engine was trying to start but it was completely shot, I would masturbate but my penis would remain flaccid, I would get semi erections and my penis looked defeated, curved and nothing like the way it was before finasteride.

The side effects of this drug in my experience were horrific, to this day even 4 years on I am not recovered and don't think I will ever be the way I was before I took Finasteride. I still have genital numbness, difficulty in achieving erections, depression etc etc...

Before I took this drug I was told side effects only happen to 2% of people - I thought there's no way I'm going to be in that group - I was also told the symptoms would go away when I stopped using - that has not been the case, I'm still suffering to this day.

I feel it necessary to put my experience out there for any young guys considering taking this drug. Any questions please let me know...

[BaldingEagle]

Hi folks I've been a long time lurker on hair loss forums, started going bald about 5 years ago - I went through all the phases, taking endless pictures of my bald spot with my phone, trawling the forums for help on the issue etc.

In 2012 I decided to take the plunge and start popping finasteride pills 1 every day as recommended - I was less worried about my hair loss but it would prove to be the worst decision of my life, I was a healthy 25 year old who worked around the clock had a partner and was generally very happy.

I started taking the drug in April 2012 and did so religiously for 8 months, the strange thing was I didn't notice any symptoms for the first few months everything just seemed the same. However after a while there were signs that something just wasn't right with me, I had lost 'some' interest in sex and could go a while throughout the day without ever thinking about it - which was strange because I used to think about the opposite sex every few minutes before I took Finasteride. I didn't think anything of it at the time and thought my body would just adjust after a while and things would be okay.

Well that didn't happen as after around 5 - 6 months of usage I came to realise that I just wasn't my normal self anymore, I was more depressing to be around, I would isolate myself from other people and get depressed over the smallest thing, I was also beginning to get erection problems, my semen was like water and my penis was constantly cold and shrivelled, I also felt less pleasure during sex which I was rarely having at this point.

I reached around the month 7 point when I visited my doctor about the depression who prescribed me citalopram which is an SSRI, I bought the prescription but decided against taking them for now thinking I could benefit more from counselling or talk therapy, I quit the finasteride in month 8 when I found the website propeciahelp.com.

After quitting my nightmare really began, i experienced the dreaded 'crash', I couldn't get an erection to anything, I had no morning erections but the worst symptom was something called brain fog, it felt as if someone was holding a freaking plastic bag over my head all the time, I couldn't think straight or clearly and it was all coupled with the worst depression I would not wish on my worst enemy. No matter what type of porn I watched or female I met in person I couldn't for the life of me get sexually aroused, it felt as if the engine was trying to start but it was completely shot, I would masturbate but my penis would remain flaccid, I would get semi erections and my penis looked defeated, curved and nothing like the way it was before finasteride.

The side effects of this drug in my experience were horrific, to this day even 4 years on I am not recovered and don't think I will ever be the way I was before I took Finasteride. I still have genital numbness, difficulty in achieving erections, depression etc etc...

Before I took this drug I was told side effects only happen to 2% of people - I thought there's no way I'm going to be in that group - I was also told the symptoms would go away when I stopped using - that has not been the case, I'm still suffering to this day.

I feel it necessary to put my experience out there for any young guys considering taking this drug. Any questions please let me know...

Same thing happened to me and I used to push people to take fin on this site.

Playing with hormones is a bad idea.