Hi guys,
Well I am in a bit of a bad place at the moment and really was looking for some advice / feedback and some help.
I took Propecia (Finasteride) for male pattern baldness from January 2010 until April 2013, so just over three years. I was taking 1mg per day, as prescribed by a hair loss clinic in London. At the time I started taking the Propecia, I was 28 years old.
The first week I began taking the tablets, I noticed that I had clumps in my semen (it was almost like grains of rice that was mixed in with the “normal†semen). The grains were like jelly. I did a lot of online research and found that this can be quite normal, but to me there were no doubts that the tablets had caused this since I had never had it before in 28 years and it started within a week of taking them.
Aside from that, I was not too aware of any other side effects from the tablets. I did get abdominal pain from every time to time but did not associate it with the Propecia (and am still not sure if it is even linked).
My hair grew back very thick, I was extremely happy with the hair results.
However, I began dating a new girlfriend, and then got engaged, and I had noticed by now (February 2013 time) a decrease in my libido. I was not having any difficulty in getting an erection, but my sex drive and desire for sex was far less than before I had been taking the tablets. However, that said, I was not 18 anymore and was a 30-year-old man! My fiancé was not aware I was taking the Propecia tablets (I didn’t see why I would need to discuss it with her), until I eventually told her in April 2013 as a possible explanation for my decrease in libido. After she did a lot of research online about the tablets, she pleaded with me to stop taking them, which I agreed to. I subsequently did not take a Propecia tablet from around April 2013 until exactly a month ago today (October 2014). During that time, the clumps/gel like semen mixed in with the standard liquid semen had never gone away, so I had this now for over three years. My fiancé noticed it, but was not bothered…. It was more of an embarrassment for me as it does not look normal! I think maybe that played a huge part in putting me off having sex at times! It never hurt or anything like that.
I have been noticing that my hair has been gradually thinning again, which has made me extremely depressed. Last month, I decided to bite the bullet and start taking the Propecia tablets again, without telling my fiancé, which I hate doing as we tell each other everything and I hate keeping anything from her, she’s such a fantastic person. However, I know what her reaction would be. She worries about my health and if she ever got pregnant that it could affect the baby.
For the first three weeks I was fine, no side effects. However, a week ago I started getting pain in my testicles (especially my left one) and it was even going into my pelvis, down my leg and into my buttocks! I also started getting some lower abdominal pain and discomfort, aching and a bloated type feeling. Sometimes, the need to urinate was very urgent and sudden and I would be rushing to the toilet! Occasionally there was a stinging sensation after I urinated, but not during. During this past week-and-a-half since this started, I was also feeling extremely tired, aching everywhere, very light headed almost to the point of feeling dizzy, with what I can only describe as a feeling of “pressure†in my head. I was also getting headaches daily. In short, I wasn’t with it, and a couple of times people at work commented and to “wake up and get with the game!†as they had noticed I was in my own little world. In essence, I was struggling massively to concentrate and had absolutely no energy whatsoever.
A few days ago, I had intercourse with my fiancé (no erection problems) and when I ejaculated, it stung. Not an ache, but a stinging sensation like when you have a urine infection. Again, there were the clumps in the semen, but worse than when I wasn’t taking the Propecia tablets, although they had always remained.
I went to my local GP and I did a urine sample which came back as normal (no urine infection). I explained I had been taking Propecia, and basically everything I have written in this post. She did not seem to know much about Finasteride (Propecia). I left.
An hour later, she called me and said she had spoken to a colleague who believed it sounded very much like prostatitis and asked me to return to get two weeks’ worth of anti-biotics and to provide another urine sample that could be sent away to a lab for analysis. She said, in the meantime, to stop taking the Propecia tablets for a couple of weeks, finish the anti-biotics and see if I feel better. If I do, I could try taking the Propecia again and if I get the side effects again, I will know that it is the tablets.
I just wondered what people’s thoughts were on this and if anyone had similar experiences? It seems very odd because these symptoms I am experiencing now never happened in three years of me taking the tablets before… but it seems a bit of a coincidence? Do you think it is even prostatitis? Can prostatitis make you feel light headed and spaced out and devoid of any energy whatsoever or is that more likely to be the Propecia tablets – or do I have something else going on?!
Any feedback would be much appreciated, my head is all over the place at the moment – don’t seem to be able to win! Could stop taking the Propecia altogether again and watch my hair disappear aged 32, or take it but suffer potential side effects. Stuck between a rock and a hard place!
Thanks everyone.
Well I am in a bit of a bad place at the moment and really was looking for some advice / feedback and some help.
I took Propecia (Finasteride) for male pattern baldness from January 2010 until April 2013, so just over three years. I was taking 1mg per day, as prescribed by a hair loss clinic in London. At the time I started taking the Propecia, I was 28 years old.
The first week I began taking the tablets, I noticed that I had clumps in my semen (it was almost like grains of rice that was mixed in with the “normal†semen). The grains were like jelly. I did a lot of online research and found that this can be quite normal, but to me there were no doubts that the tablets had caused this since I had never had it before in 28 years and it started within a week of taking them.
Aside from that, I was not too aware of any other side effects from the tablets. I did get abdominal pain from every time to time but did not associate it with the Propecia (and am still not sure if it is even linked).
My hair grew back very thick, I was extremely happy with the hair results.
However, I began dating a new girlfriend, and then got engaged, and I had noticed by now (February 2013 time) a decrease in my libido. I was not having any difficulty in getting an erection, but my sex drive and desire for sex was far less than before I had been taking the tablets. However, that said, I was not 18 anymore and was a 30-year-old man! My fiancé was not aware I was taking the Propecia tablets (I didn’t see why I would need to discuss it with her), until I eventually told her in April 2013 as a possible explanation for my decrease in libido. After she did a lot of research online about the tablets, she pleaded with me to stop taking them, which I agreed to. I subsequently did not take a Propecia tablet from around April 2013 until exactly a month ago today (October 2014). During that time, the clumps/gel like semen mixed in with the standard liquid semen had never gone away, so I had this now for over three years. My fiancé noticed it, but was not bothered…. It was more of an embarrassment for me as it does not look normal! I think maybe that played a huge part in putting me off having sex at times! It never hurt or anything like that.
I have been noticing that my hair has been gradually thinning again, which has made me extremely depressed. Last month, I decided to bite the bullet and start taking the Propecia tablets again, without telling my fiancé, which I hate doing as we tell each other everything and I hate keeping anything from her, she’s such a fantastic person. However, I know what her reaction would be. She worries about my health and if she ever got pregnant that it could affect the baby.
For the first three weeks I was fine, no side effects. However, a week ago I started getting pain in my testicles (especially my left one) and it was even going into my pelvis, down my leg and into my buttocks! I also started getting some lower abdominal pain and discomfort, aching and a bloated type feeling. Sometimes, the need to urinate was very urgent and sudden and I would be rushing to the toilet! Occasionally there was a stinging sensation after I urinated, but not during. During this past week-and-a-half since this started, I was also feeling extremely tired, aching everywhere, very light headed almost to the point of feeling dizzy, with what I can only describe as a feeling of “pressure†in my head. I was also getting headaches daily. In short, I wasn’t with it, and a couple of times people at work commented and to “wake up and get with the game!†as they had noticed I was in my own little world. In essence, I was struggling massively to concentrate and had absolutely no energy whatsoever.
A few days ago, I had intercourse with my fiancé (no erection problems) and when I ejaculated, it stung. Not an ache, but a stinging sensation like when you have a urine infection. Again, there were the clumps in the semen, but worse than when I wasn’t taking the Propecia tablets, although they had always remained.
I went to my local GP and I did a urine sample which came back as normal (no urine infection). I explained I had been taking Propecia, and basically everything I have written in this post. She did not seem to know much about Finasteride (Propecia). I left.
An hour later, she called me and said she had spoken to a colleague who believed it sounded very much like prostatitis and asked me to return to get two weeks’ worth of anti-biotics and to provide another urine sample that could be sent away to a lab for analysis. She said, in the meantime, to stop taking the Propecia tablets for a couple of weeks, finish the anti-biotics and see if I feel better. If I do, I could try taking the Propecia again and if I get the side effects again, I will know that it is the tablets.
I just wondered what people’s thoughts were on this and if anyone had similar experiences? It seems very odd because these symptoms I am experiencing now never happened in three years of me taking the tablets before… but it seems a bit of a coincidence? Do you think it is even prostatitis? Can prostatitis make you feel light headed and spaced out and devoid of any energy whatsoever or is that more likely to be the Propecia tablets – or do I have something else going on?!
Any feedback would be much appreciated, my head is all over the place at the moment – don’t seem to be able to win! Could stop taking the Propecia altogether again and watch my hair disappear aged 32, or take it but suffer potential side effects. Stuck between a rock and a hard place!
Thanks everyone.
