Brain Fog, Coginitive Issues From One 1mg Finasteride

[DKnighten]

Hello all,

My name is Damon and I am a 24 year-old male. I have been stressed out about a receding hairline for about 8-10 months now. I started using the Minoxodil foam about 1-2 times daily on my hairline with no adverse reactions. I looked into Finasteride or Propecia for quite some time and, after many months of debate, finally went to a dermatologist PA to talk to him about it. He prescribed me Finasteride 1mg tablets, which I took last Wednesday, a week ago today. I only took one tablet and later that evening I noticed a very "spacey" feeling and a slight aching in my lower abdomen. I then developed a very strong cognitive deficiency which I have read as "brain fog" and have identified strongly with all of it's symptoms. I have trouble maintaining focus, I become lost in my own thoughts, and I feel as though I am not here with my body. I have trouble finding the words I want to say and it is becoming a living nightmare. It is starting to affect me at work, as I am a PT aide in a therapy clinic and I must work with people all day. It is the hardest thing to do, to go into work and pretend like I'm okay when I know very well there is something wrong inside my brain. I drive home from work every day and cry because I don't know what to do. I've called the PA and he says it is not a common reaction of the drug, as it is out of your system within 24 hours. I scheduled an appt with my primary physician who was not familiar with PFS or its effects and I am scheduled to have blood work done Friday. I have researched the drug on my own and I am aware it has the potential to alter mechanisms inside the brain. I am very scared that I will not return to normal. If anyone has any similar experiences or advice I am more than willing to listen. Thank you and god bless; please do not ever take this poison guys.

 

[Oscar66]

Does it ever feel like you've lost IQ? Like you hear people talking, but for some reason it seems like what they are talking about has become too complex to follow, so you tune it out. Just wondering...

 

[DKnighten]

Yes, I find it usually takes all of my effort to concentrate on the one thing I'm doing at the time. Everything in peripherals is like it is just too much to handle. I stumble over my words frequently, and it is hard to gather my thoughts. I have noticed that it is very easy to get anxious, depressed, and have a freak-out about it but I know that the calmer I am through this, the better it will be. I have tried and tested that for myself. Additionally, I have noticed that if I eat junk foods (bread, pastas, brownies, cookies, etc) then it takes about 30 minutes until the brain fog and symptoms are 5x worse. I have adjusted my diet to reflect more a Mediterranean diet with good unsaturated fats, proteins, and low sugar. It has only been 8-9 days since my exposure to the drug so I know that it is a process.

 

[tomJ]

Sounds like neuro steroids are depleted and obviously dht depleted is causing this..I went thru this myself including the diet problems...I've been off the drug for years and I still have the food issues. It's like the body overreacts to the smallest things. Eat clean and stay off the drug....AMD fyi I am no doctor.

 

[reyl]

One tablet isn't enough to cause all of those things you have for that long of a period of time. Just relax and maybe get some caffeine going to give yourself an extra boost. As it was only one tablet, you are psyching yourself into the "brain fog" at this point.

I bet you have taken antihistamines in the past, and many of them affect cognition a lot more than finasteride does.

 

[HairlessApe]

I've come to the realization that my brain can't handle finasteride. Whenever I use it my anxiety and brain fog shoot through the roof. It makes me miserable. I feel like a complete idiot in class which in turn depresses me. I just can't handle it.

 

[abcdefg]

You really need to follow your gut on stuff like this. If its a big obvious change that stays like that you can always quit the drug and see what happens. Its a cosmetic treatment for hair its not like your taking cancer drugs. If you think its from the drug you either stop, deal with it, or play with dosages. Not much else you can do, but if you stop you will lose hair.
We can tell you anything we want, but its always possible your really having side effects. They do exist they do for any drug that is why its a drug and not a vitamin. Unfortunately a vitamin cant help with male pattern baldness.

 

[DKnighten]

I only took one 1mg pill and I haven't taken another. This was last Wednesday, October 24th. It's been about 9-10 days since I took the pill and I am still having extreme brain fog, like a derealization feeling that does not go away. I am walking around constantly in a daze and it takes everything I can to pull myself together every so often and take in my surroundings. I feel disconnected and I cannot maintain focus. I do not know how much of this is psychologically inflicted and how much is actually my brain chemistry being altered. At work, I struggle to maintain focus and it is very hard for me to put my thoughts into words. It is like each day is a struggle just to get through to the next one..

 

[Retinoid]

I only took one 1mg pill and I haven't taken another. This was last Wednesday, October 24th. It's been about 9-10 days since I took the pill and I am still having extreme brain fog, like a derealization feeling that does not go away. I am walking around constantly in a daze and it takes everything I can to pull myself together every so often and take in my surroundings. I feel disconnected and I cannot maintain focus. I do not know how much of this is psychologically inflicted and how much is actually my brain chemistry being altered. At work, I struggle to maintain focus and it is very hard for me to put my thoughts into words. It is like each day is a struggle just to get through to the next one..

I am sorry to tell you but one 1mg pill of Finasteride is not causing your issues, please look into things such as nootropics (Piracetam and the like) and Choline, meditation and reading to help stimulate your brain and refresh it from whatever ELSE you are going through.

 

[DKnighten]

I am sorry to tell you but one 1mg pill of Finasteride is not causing your issues, please look into things such as nootropics (Piracetam and the like) and Choline, meditation and reading to help stimulate your brain and refresh it from whatever ELSE you are going through.

Then why did I have the onset of these symptoms shortly after taking the Finasteride? I have had run-ins with anxiety and OCD before but they have never been problematic. This is debilitating. And are you just ignoring the research which suggests finasteride has the potential to cross the blood-brain barrier? There are numerous reports of people being affected by the drug from just one dose. I am trying hard to alter my perception and turn everything into positive thoughts but I’ve never fought a battle like this.

 

[xetrys]

OCD is problematic by definition. If you in any way think you're having OCD symptoms now (pure O), stay away from the forums. You can find horror stories for EVERY drug and ANY dose, this is just going to be fuel to the fire.

PFS is real and the nocebo effect is also real. I sincerely hope the latter is the case for you.

 

[Oscar66]

This could all be just psychological. I say this because I went through the same thing a couple of years ago.

I started on 1mg finastride and low and behold I started forgetting things, put on extra weight, puffy face, low libido, acne break out, fatigue etc etc. I was noticing every little detail because my mind wanted me to. Ive probably experienced these things a thousand times before but didn't notice because I wasnt looking for them.

Anyway, I stopped taking it after a month.
One year later I resumed it again with a different mindset and what do you know, not one of these symptoms have occurred since.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. So what are you saying?

 

[Retinoid]

Then why did I have the onset of these symptoms shortly after taking the Finasteride? I have had run-ins with anxiety and OCD before but they have never been problematic. This is debilitating. And are you just ignoring the research which suggests finasteride has the potential to cross the blood-brain barrier? There are numerous reports of people being affected by the drug from just one dose. I am trying hard to alter my perception and turn everything into positive thoughts but I’ve never fought a battle like this.

One pill of Finasteride is not causing long term effects for you. You have anxiety and ocd already and now you perceive it to be worse and are ANXIOUS you have PFS. This was NOT caused by one pill of Finasteride. Do/Think what you want.