finasteride made me seriously ill

[zxAddict]

I went from a healthy strong individual to a very sick person in the space of 18 months after starting 1.25mg finasteride/day. I know most people report no problems with this drug, but here is what happened to me just in case you think there is no chance it will happen to you.

Day 1. Started finasteride, no problems.
6 months later: All classic '2%' sexual side effects. No girl friend at the time, so figured, eh never mind.
12 months later. Low mood, anxiety, depression, brain fog, low metabolism, poor immunity, poor memory, extreme fatigue, stressed and tired appearance. Loss in muscle mass.

18 months later. Found propeciahelp.com and discovered I was a poster boy for some of the more severe side effects.
Bloods showed my prolactin too high.

24 months later. Still recovering, feeling better on the whole, sexual sides gone but not all of the sides which started at 12 months. So......my advice, if you start finasteride, pay careful attention to how you are feeling. Sides can kick in almost immediately or take months years. Personally I think that for some men this is a very dangerous drug indeed. For those having no problems, that's great, I really wish I was one of you.


To recover I have embarked on a regime to hopefully speed things along. Basically there is not a lot you can do, but here it is.
Rest: Lots of it. Lots of sleep.
Exercise. Mainly aerobic. Listen to your body. Having a bad day? Take time out as exercise makes it worse.
Supplements. Magnesium, zinc, fish oil, MSM, silica, Vit C, B vitamins are what I take currently.

 

[ttroy]

Another one. I too got high prolactin, cortisol and low T after finasteride. T is now fine (actually higher than normal now, 32nmol) and so is prolactin, but am far from my old self. It's been 10 months for me.

Are you taking cabergoline to lower prolactin if it's still too high? That might help you. Good health.

 

[zxAddict]

Thanks. My prolactin is now within the high-normal range so it looks like its righting itself. I'm still far from feeling my old self however. Its been 6 months or so now since I quit finasteride, projecting ahead it looks like its going to take at least 10 months for things to come right. They had better! I can't tell you how angry I am, I wish I had never touched the stuff and had instead gone for the topical system I have now.

 

[ttroy]

Yes, it was the worst decision ever for myself as well. Did not expect to get burnt by some hair loss drug. Perhaps things will get better with time? My only major concern now is that I got peyronie's disease right after quitting finasteride, and I'm guessing at least that one is something permanent.

 

[zxAddict]

Sorry to hear that, yes I didn't get away scott free either. My immune system all but collapsed during the worst period and as a result I suffered all sorts of problems some of which have left me with permanent damage. Fortunately its not too severe and my sexual functions seem to be working OK again.

 

[dan73]

Hey guys,

Im really sorry to hear the bad sh*t thats going down with finasteride... You guys arent alone as you know.

Im going through worst illness of my life atm, im assuming its finasteride. 7 years i've been using it, and since finding this forum i've only discovered

that my illness over the past 3 years of Chronic fatigue, depression, low immunity etc etc etc... is brought about by finasteride.

I've been bed ridden for months at a time, with doctors telling me i just suffer from chronic fatigue as all my blood results are normal. The

only abnormality was high progesterone. Its been 2months since i stopped finasteride, but the sides are really bad. I've gotten a little better but

every day is a lottery, one day good two days bad. The brain fog and dazed feeling along with fatigue is really stuffing up my work as i run a

busy and succesful business which is expanding fast.

How long once you guys got off the finasteride that the fatigue lifted??

Im extemely fit and very physically built, but i've been paralysed the past 4 months unable to train due to the fatigue..

Its now depressing me pretty bad as well...

I started feeling ok a week ago, but started Revivogen and im feeling crap again..

Wondering if the Reviv could be hurting or its def the finasteride sides that keep stuffing me round..

Addict i can see your using Reviv.. All good no sides?

Dam i wish i never touched that poison... i've lost 3 years of my life..

any advice would be handy - Peace dudes.

 

[Mew]

Dan:

http://www.propeciahelp.com

Read FAQ, get bloodwork per list, see the docs listed.

Site is for guys like you and me that have ongoing issues from Finasteride even after quitting, trying to figure out what happened.

Elevated Progesterone might be a factor.

 

[ITNEVERRAINS]

My signature says it all

 

[dan73]

Cool, thanks mew it's a very helpful site.

What sides do you have from finasteride?

 

[zxAddict]

Hey guys,

Im really sorry to hear the bad s*** thats going down with finasteride... You guys arent alone as you know.

Im going through worst illness of my life atm, im assuming its finasteride. 7 years i've been using it, and since finding this forum i've only discovered

that my illness over the past 3 years of Chronic fatigue, depression, low immunity etc etc etc... is brought about by finasteride.

I've been bed ridden for months at a time, with doctors telling me i just suffer from chronic fatigue as all my blood results are normal. The

only abnormality was high progesterone. Its been 2months since i stopped finasteride, but the sides are really bad. I've gotten a little better but

every day is a lottery, one day good two days bad. The brain fog and dazed feeling along with fatigue is really stuffing up my work as i run a

busy and succesful business which is expanding fast.

How long once you guys got off the finasteride that the fatigue lifted??

Im extemely fit and very physically built, but i've been paralysed the past 4 months unable to train due to the fatigue..

Its now depressing me pretty bad as well...

I started feeling ok a week ago, but started Revivogen and im feeling crap again..

Wondering if the Reviv could be hurting or its def the finasteride sides that keep stuffing me round..

Addict i can see your using Reviv.. All good no sides?

Dam i wish i never touched that poison... i've lost 3 years of my life..

any advice would be handy - Peace dudes.

Don't worry, Revivogen won't give you any sides. Totally safe in my opinion and I'm extremely cautious. Once burnt twice shy as they say. If you are sick because of finasteride it could take up to a year or more for you to recover. Bank on a good 6 months. Thats how long is taken me - 6 whole long agonising months to recover to where I am now which is about 60-70% of my normal self and function. The 'side effects go away after discontinuing crap' party line only applies to those men who suffer the basic sexual disfunction and minor problems (usually). Nothing is 100% certain with this drug. Some people take it for a week and write 'drug is harmless - I have no problems'. Yeah, get back to me in a year to 18 months and then we may begin to see if your one of the people it disagrees with.

 

[dan73]

Cool, will do...

i saw my naturopath a few days ago and she's put me on a heavy vitamin mix, with a heap of potent b's, c's and other witches brews
and i must admit it has worked wonders for me... a lot of the fatigue has lifted... still a fair bit to go but its a start!!

 

[Guest]

everyone knows 2% is a load of sh*t.Its probably more at 25%.

 

[Libido]

everyone knows 2% is a load of s***.Its probably more at 25%.

Not saying you are right or wrong here, just wondering where you´d come up with that?

Judging that from forums or whatever alone is BS.

 

[Guest]

Its just my opinion.I was on propecia around 3 years ago and my friends wanted to also try it,Out of 5 of my friends who used it all had sexual sides after around 1 month,I dont think its a coincidence,And just think how almost everybody cringes when they hear the word propecia,They always say doesnt that f*** up your libido? Now tell me if it really were 2% would that many people have such a bad feeling towards propecia? I would add another 0 at whatever percentage merck says.

 

[Libido]

I see what youre saying, but more than one study has been done, and no study I´ve see points towards >10% so its wierd if thats the case.

Have we got anything else to compare Propecia with? What im getting at is this:
- Its most known sideffekts are loss of libido/erection

- The drug is mainly targeted at 20-35 year olds, a group that will often:
* Discover their first periods of bad erection
* Really, really, really want to keep their manhood and are generally afraid to loose it
* Would in most cases feel really terrible and old if they lost libido/erection, and woudnt really like to pass it to "it just happened" or "thats who I am/allways was".

- The drug is also targeted at young men who suffers from hairloss. A group that:
* Has a problem (hairloss) that often leads to depression wich definatly might kill your libido
* Obviously cares a great deal about what "god" is doing to their bodies (otherwise hairloss would be fine).
And:
* Often has a real problem with feeling 'too old for their age', something loss of libido might definatly do


I cant come up with a single comparison for this. So my point is, there will be much more "mental" effects than ever, and a lot of people thats actually fine with finasteride would think they are not.

 

[bubka]

Libido, that was beautiful, it includes lots of facts that can be used to draw a conclusion

 

[CCS]

well, if you recommend finasteride to someone, and they blame all their life problems on you as a side effect of finasteride, tell them to f*ck off, and keep giving your advice to others who will make better use of it. Though don't give advice to people who borrowed a lot of money from you without a contract. If you do that, you kind of have to kiss their butt till they pay you back.

 

[zxAddict]

There is no doubt finasteride is dangerous to some men. The only question is what percentage? Ball park figure I'd say 25% see some sort of side, usually mild. Only an unlucky 1% or so are nearly taken out as I was. Body chem is a strange thing.

 

[harold]

I see what youre saying, but more than one study has been done, and no study I´ve see points towards >10% so its wierd if thats the case.

Have we got anything else to compare Propecia with? What im getting at is this:
- Its most known sideffekts are loss of libido/erection

- The drug is mainly targeted at 20-35 year olds, a group that will often:

I find the rest of this argument to be a little dubious - in terms of men who should not be experiencing erectile dysfunction and the like 20-35 year olds should not be having this problem.
I dont think we will have "real" numbers for dysfunction until after finasteride is out off patent and something better comes along. Thats when pharmas turn on the last generation of drugs - to make their new stuff look better. Nothing to back this up with really but I think what has happened with drugs such as the SSRIs is informative.
Anyway here is a study that quote as a maximum sexual side effects occurring in about 15% of users. I cant be bothered to read the thing but I have seen higher numbers quoted in another study that similarly went on to conclude that they were spurious but I cant seem to find it and its very possible that I could be misremembering it.

J Sex Med. 2007 Nov;4(6):1708-12. Epub 2007 Jul 26.Click here to read Links
Finasteride 5 mg and sexual side effects: how many of these are related to a nocebo phenomenon?
Mondaini N, Gontero P, Giubilei G, Lombardi G, Cai T, Gavazzi A, Bartoletti R.

UO Urology, S Maria Annunziata Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. nicola.mondaini@unifi.it

INTRODUCTION: Sexual adverse experiences such as erectile dysfunction (ED), loss of libido, and ejaculation disorders have been consistent side effects of finasteride in a maximum percentage of 15% after 1 year of therapy. Such data could be seen as far from reality, if compared to a higher percentage that may be found in any common clinical practice. AIM: This study aims to explain the dichotomy between literature's data and clinical practice data. METHODS: One hundred twenty patients with a clinical diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), sexually active and with an International Index of Erectile Function-erectile function (IIEF-EF) domain >/=25 were randomized to receive finasteride 5 mg concealed as an "X compound of proven efficacy for the treatment of BPH" for 1 year with (group 2) or without (group 1) counseling on the drug sexual side effect. The phrase used to inform group 2 patients was ". . . it may cause erectile dysfunction, decreased libido, problems of ejaculation but these are uncommon". MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The estimation of side effect was conducted at 6 and 12 months using the male sexual function-4 (MSF-4 item) questionnaire and a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: One hundred seven patients completed the study. Group 2 patients (N = 55) reported a significant higher proportion of one or more sexual side effects as compared to group 1 (N = 52) (43.6% vs. 15.3%) (P = 0.03). The incidence of ED, decreased libido, and ejaculation disorders were 9.6, 7.7, and 5.7% for group 1, and 30.9, 23.6, and 16.3% for group 2, respectively (P = 0.02, P = 0.04, and P = 0.06). CONCLUSION: In the current study, blinded administration of finasteride was associated with a significantly higher proportion of sexual dysfunction in patients informed on sexual side effects (group 2) as compared to those in which the same information was omitted (group 1) (P = 0.03). A scenario similar to group 2 of the current study is likely to occur in clinical practice, where the patient is counseled by the physician and has access to the drug information sheet. The burden of this nocebo effect (an adverse side effect that is not a direct result of the specific pharmacological action of the drug) has to be taken into account when managing finasteride sexual side effects.

 

[harold]

There is no doubt finasteride is dangerous to some men. The only question is what percentage? Ball park figure I'd say 25% see some sort of side, usually mild. Only an unlucky 1% or so are nearly taken out as I was. Body chem is a strange thing.

Yeah there is a study looking at the effect of dutasteride on sperm numbers, motility etc. The change in most men was relatively minor and reversible upon discontinuation but in a few there was a dramatic drop in normal sperm number that may not have returned to baseline by the end of the study. The authors could only conclude that a subset of men are more dependent on DHT than others for fertility.
hh