code red.

[medmax84]

Starting yesterday I began suffering from pretty bad finasteride side effects. Testicular pain began yesterday and today I was unable to maintain a decent erection.

Honestly, I'm panicking a little bit. I didn't take it today, and I am strongly considering quitting propecia.

Can anyone offer any words of advice?

Should I try reducing my dose or should I take this as a sign that I need to quit? Is it all in my head?

What a horror show. :freaked:

 

[madhatter]

How long have you been taking finasteride for? I experienced the testicular pain for about 2 minutes the first day I took it and that was it. I'm only nine days in now, but haven't had any other sides with the exception of some acne on my forehead.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Starting yesterday I began suffering from pretty bad finasteride side effects. Testicular pain began yesterday and today I was unable to maintain a decent erection.

Honestly, I'm panicking a little bit. I didn't take it today, and I am strongly considering quitting propecia.

Can anyone offer any words of advice?

Should I try reducing my dose or should I take this as a sign that I need to quit? Is it all in my head?

What a horror show. :freaked:

Max, as a med student you should know mostly all drugs will have side effects during initial use. I would give your body some time to adjust to it. I would wait at least one month( unless you cannot wait even that long) before you quit or lower the dosage. I have used Propecia for over 2.5 years and the testicular pain is something that can come and go on Propecia even if you take it long time. I did experience it occasionally. As far as my manhood as Davidoff always referred to I really never had a problem there. I did have about with nipple tenderness a few months ago but now its gone. Watery semen is definitely common. Until your body adjust to the drug you may have some sides. Its really up to you how badly you want to keep your hair and how badly you are willing to put up with the sides for a certain period of time. Just remember the more you panic, the more anxiety you will have and more side effects you might have. But if you are too worried about the sides, I would quit. Try Proxiphen instead along with your minoxidil. Otherwise, stick with it for now.

 

[medmax84]

It's hard to stay objective when you have trouble in an area that you never experienced. A week before starting this stuff my gf was commenting on how easy and effectively I got turned on... and I guess it's true the testicular pain could possibly be leydig cell hypertrophy due to compensation for the reduced DHT (leydig cells are found in the interstitium of the seminiferous tubules) but it is really disconcerting that it is so difficult to get an erection.

Has anyone else had trouble a week in that went away after a period of time? I am going to AT LEAST reduce dosage to EOD to see if that helps or reduces the problem.

The experience is very humbling. Thanks for setting me straight, but you're right your mind does amplify things a bit. I got angry today and went to the gym and lifted really hard... now my stuff hurts even more which is consistent with heightened production of testosterone in the testes. Maybe my body will finish adjusting over the course of the next week. I'll decrease to EOD and see if my body adjusts.

I just don't know what I'll do if I can't perform later tonight or tomorrow when my SO is over.

 

[treadstone]

Does your GF know you're on finasteride? Might be less psychological pressure (on top of any physiological problems) to perform if everyone knows what the score is.

Anyways, I would suggest sticking with it for a little bit. One way to increase your risk of sides early on is effing around too much with your regimen (skipping days, changing your dosage, etc).

 

[medmax84]

Does your GF know you're on finasteride? Might be less psychological pressure (on top of any physiological problems) to perform if everyone knows what the score is.

Anyways, I would suggest sticking with it for a little bit. One way to increase your risk of sides early on is effing around too much with your regimen (skipping days, changing your dosage, etc).

I'm just going to EOD for a few days to try to let my body adapt more slowly to the new drug. If I notice sides reduce, I will go to 1 dose/day.

Thanks though.

 

[medmax84]

False alarm... drunk and just had great sex with the gf. testicular pain was there tho.. hope it goes away.

 

[ali777]

I was on low dose of finasteride for almost a month... I've kinda gone off it again. I feel like my body and mind work better without it.

I say again because I was on full dose for about 10 days in June, and I had the testicular pain that was becoming really annoying. On low dose I didn't have any testicular pain, but I felt a bit different.

Anyway, both times one effect I felt 3-4 days after quitting finasteride was increased libido. If I had a gf, I could :hump: 5 times a day.

For some of us, sex is not the same with the finasteride in the blood. One month might be a short time to comment, but that's just me.

 

[DoctorHouse]

False alarm... drunk and just had great sex with the gf. testicular pain was there tho.. hope it goes away.

The other day you must of experienced anxiety performance worrying too much about the possible sides with Propecia.

 

[Dblbass128]

Starting yesterday I began suffering from pretty bad finasteride side effects. Testicular pain began yesterday and today I was unable to maintain a decent erection.

Honestly, I'm panicking a little bit. I didn't take it today, and I am strongly considering quitting propecia.

Can anyone offer any words of advice?

Should I try reducing my dose or should I take this as a sign that I need to quit? Is it all in my head?

What a horror show. :freaked:

get the f*** off it

 

[medmax84]

False alarm... drunk and just had great sex with the gf. testicular pain was there tho.. hope it goes away.

The other day you must of experienced anxiety performance worrying too much about the possible sides with Propecia.

Yeah that and I was completely wasted. So perhaps the ED was in my head, but the other stuff was unfortunately very real. There def have been sides (testicular pain, decreased drive)... I'm going to try reducing my dose to ETD then after a week to EOD then finally to the recommended dosage. If my testicular pain comes back I am going to stop and never start again.

So to be specific here's the regimen:

First dose begins tomorrow.

2 X ETD
3 X EOD
then normal dosage.

I'll let you guys know if I have any success with this. I just think I shocked my neuroendocrine system by starting so abruptly like that. My androgens have been high for the past year because I've been lifting. I should have known better.

 

[bubka]

Well if it is something you dwell and ponder about hourly, of course it is going to come to fruiting

 

[medmax84]

Well if it is something you dwell and ponder about hourly, of course it is going to come to fruiting

Dude I'm sure the libido thing may have been in my head, but this nut pain is real and frankly annoying. It's been getting progressively better over the last 24 hours. I'm going to try my first ETD dose tomorrow if the pain is gone. I was instructed by my Doctor to dc the drug, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up on finasteride without seeing if I can slowly acclimate my body to the hormonal changes. Was horny as hell today, so it's just the pain that I have to get over at this point.

 

[ali777]

I happen to believe that it's neither performance anxiety or "in the head". It's real.

A young person :woot: like us shouldn't get ED, we are still horny enough to get it up, but the effects are definitely there. finasteride changes the body.

 

[Obsidian]

I think it's in the head for a good portion of people. People complain about loss of libido or depression. Chances are before that happened you were depressed about your hairloss anyway and probably found very little joy in other things. My performance (granted there is no one to perform it on) is fine since taking it.

 

[medmax84]

I had noticed I thought it was decreasing my libido and making me less excitable downstairs, but then I hooked up with my SO she commented on how hard I was... so I think psychosomatics are a very important aspect. The mind is very suggestible, AND the brain controls the entire neuroendocrine system. (Endocrine and Neurocrine systems are really just poles on a continuum). There are some neurons that secrete actual hormones as opposed to NTs and there are some glands that utilize electrochemical gradients. I digress.

When we say "it's in your head" that doesn't mean much, because your brain can be VERY powerful and actually create anomalies. You can actually manifest symptoms if you expect to, and they are real.

Likewise, I have no doubt that finasteride does have real side effects. My testicular pain (now subsiding) is VERY real and not imagined or created.

I have decided to reduce dosage to .25 mg. My Doctor said I should discontinue due to sides, but I think I should attempt to reduce my dosage first to see if the sides dissappear. I am going to take it every other day and increase to once daily if I experience no sides. I liked the EOD/ETD idea, except that it prevents steady state in the body, increasing fluctuations of hormonal levels. To me, that seems more dangerous.

 

[medmax84]

Libido is back in a big way with no evidence of ED to be found. I haven't had any spontaneous erections or "morning wood" in a while though.

I am going to continue .25 mg EOD for a week then attempt to have it daily. The end result should be to be at .5 mg daily by September 1. I still have a vague ache in my testicles, but it's bearable and gets considerably less every day. I do think it has something to do with increased testosterone output. I have had a minor increase in acne and I feel as though I'm getting more out of my lifts at the gym. That could be in my head... who knows.

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[$tackz]

Starting yesterday I began suffering from pretty bad finasteride side effects. Testicular pain began yesterday and today I was unable to maintain a decent erection.

Honestly, I'm panicking a little bit. I didn't take it today, and I am strongly considering quitting propecia.

Can anyone offer any words of advice?

Should I try reducing my dose or should I take this as a sign that I need to quit? Is it all in my head?

What a horror show. :freaked:

wow how quickly we have change of hearts?

not more than a week ago you were praising the effectiveness of propecia and downplaying the countless reports of side effects users report from it. i believe you kept quoting the ridiculous 2% statistic merck came up with?

 

[bubka]

not more than a week ago you were praising the effectiveness of propecia and downplaying the countless reports of side effects users report from it. i believe you kept quoting the ridiculous 2% statistic merck came up with?

They just made it up :jackit: I think they should have went with o.5% side effects if they were making it up, that way less pussies would be scared to take it

 

[$tackz]

not more than a week ago you were praising the effectiveness of propecia and downplaying the countless reports of side effects users report from it. i believe you kept quoting the ridiculous 2% statistic merck came up with?

They just made it up :jackit: I think they should have went with o.5% side effects if they were making it up, that way less pussies would be scared to take it

you sure do jerk off alot. is that why you have no hair?

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13 pages of bubka using the :jackit smiley :bravo: