greenpolicy
New Member
- Reaction score
- 0
I started on Proscar in late March. Merck, the scientific journals, the FDA and my doctor all said the same thing: any sexual side effects are uncommon and go away if you discontinue using the drug. I figured in that event I had nothing to lose so I had the prescription filled. I used a pill cutter to break it up and take 1.25 per day. Almost immediately I noticed mild side effects related to length, hardness and watery ejaculate but they went away after a couple of weeks and functions returned to normal.
At about the four month mark, occuring within the past two weeks, I could still get fully erect but there was less sensation, almost like fewer nerve endings. Then within the past four days I have noticed a severe drop in libido accompanied by difficulty in achieving and maintaining an erection. Looking at pornography is more like a chore instead of an activity I normally look forward to and enjoy quite a bit. Length and hardness are not what they usually are and while I can still succeed in ejaculating, my penis tends to flop around at about 5 inches long, usually perpendicular to the floor instead of the shaft pointing upwards like normal. If I do get hard enough for the shaft to point upwards, it very quickly loses that firmness. So as of two days ago I quit using the medicine.
I'm not hear to bag on finasteride, if it works for others fine, but this is what is happening to me. I haven't been with a woman since being on this medication, but I am not responding to pornography the way I normally do. My doctor said that if these symptoms develop, they are not permanent but it could take several weeks for things to return to normal because finasteride is such a powerful drug. My doctor is a pretty ethical guy and I can't imagine him prescribing a drug that would potentially have such permanent effects. I guess I'm panicking and being paranoid and extremely frightened by the situation, but I thought I would be in the clear if I made it this far into the treatment without developing sides. I would rather just discontinue treatment and deal with balding. Can anyone hear provide any insight into how long it might take for functions to return to normal? I trust the FDA and the scientific journals more than alarmist anecdotes on message boards. Do I simply need to be patient and ride this out?
At about the four month mark, occuring within the past two weeks, I could still get fully erect but there was less sensation, almost like fewer nerve endings. Then within the past four days I have noticed a severe drop in libido accompanied by difficulty in achieving and maintaining an erection. Looking at pornography is more like a chore instead of an activity I normally look forward to and enjoy quite a bit. Length and hardness are not what they usually are and while I can still succeed in ejaculating, my penis tends to flop around at about 5 inches long, usually perpendicular to the floor instead of the shaft pointing upwards like normal. If I do get hard enough for the shaft to point upwards, it very quickly loses that firmness. So as of two days ago I quit using the medicine.
I'm not hear to bag on finasteride, if it works for others fine, but this is what is happening to me. I haven't been with a woman since being on this medication, but I am not responding to pornography the way I normally do. My doctor said that if these symptoms develop, they are not permanent but it could take several weeks for things to return to normal because finasteride is such a powerful drug. My doctor is a pretty ethical guy and I can't imagine him prescribing a drug that would potentially have such permanent effects. I guess I'm panicking and being paranoid and extremely frightened by the situation, but I thought I would be in the clear if I made it this far into the treatment without developing sides. I would rather just discontinue treatment and deal with balding. Can anyone hear provide any insight into how long it might take for functions to return to normal? I trust the FDA and the scientific journals more than alarmist anecdotes on message boards. Do I simply need to be patient and ride this out?
