I fucked up

Hey guys,

Just looking for some advice as to the best route to take from here.

I've been on 0.25 of finasteride for around 4-5 months now, noticed the gains on my hair but experiencing terrible sides. After browsing these forums I'm noticing that I'm getting almost all of these symptoms which has scared the hell out of me. It was all pretty progressive but really starting to pay attention to whats happening and it mirrors most others experiences on here. I did have pretty low test early this year which I think exacerbated the sides unfortunately.

As someone who hasn't completely stopped the drug yet, would the best course of action for me be? My last dose of 0.25 was two days ago. I've read that it is better to taper off the drug as stopping instantly may give rise to further issues. What is everyones take on this? Should I try going down to maybe 0.25 twice a week? Then 0.25 once a week?

I've also starting to really hone in on my supplement regime. I've ordered some testosterone boosting herbs/supplements, and bought some good grass fed beef/liver and cleaning up my diet/sleep as much as I can, is there anything else I could add in this phase while transitioning off the drug?

Also in my situation would you guys suggest epi-andro? I have access to this pro-hormone and am thinking it might help give me the boost as I'm trying to get off this shit. Are there any rules with pro-hormones, should you look at PCT protocols just incase of suppression? Is it too early?

Hope you're all well and looking forward to hearing back from you guys.

Thanks

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Originally Posted by krvs

Hey guys,

Just looking for some advice as to the best route to take from here.

I've been on 0.25 of finasteride for around 4-5 months now, noticed the gains on my hair but experiencing terrible sides. After browsing these forums I'm noticing that I'm getting almost all of these symptoms which has scared the hell out of me. It was all pretty progressive but really starting to pay attention to whats happening and it mirrors most others experiences on here. I did have pretty low test early this year which I think exacerbated the sides unfortunately.

As someone who hasn't completely stopped the drug yet, would the best course of action for me be? My last dose of 0.25 was two days ago. I've read that it is better to taper off the drug as stopping instantly may give rise to further issues. What is everyones take on this? Should I try going down to maybe 0.25 twice a week? Then 0.25 once a week?

I've also starting to really hone in on my supplement regime. I've ordered some testosterone boosting herbs/supplements, and bought some good grass fed beef/liver and cleaning up my diet/sleep as much as I can, is there anything else I could add in this phase while transitioning off the drug?

Also in my situation would you guys suggest epi-andro? I have access to this pro-hormone and am thinking it might help give me the boost as I'm trying to get off this shit. Are there any rules with pro-hormones, should you look at PCT protocols just incase of suppression? Is it too early?

Hope you're all well and looking forward to hearing back from you guys.

Thanks

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You’re gonna be fine. It’s the drug that’s giving you sides as you’re still on it. Get off it ASAP, don’t taper, get off these forums, forget this ever happened and go live your life.

Also after you get off fin, don’t make the same mistake I did a couple years down the line and think “oh I’ll just take a fraction of the dose I took the first time to avoid sides” for the sake of saving your hair. You’ll without a doubt crash, and be in a bad spot. Stop the drug, shave your head and forget any of those products exist.

Well, I stopped cold turkey and crashed so you may as well try tapering off. There's no way to know whether or not you will crash, or if tapering off will affect your outcome. My guess is, if you're gonna crash, you're gonna crash regardless of how you quit the drug, and if you're not prone to crashing, it's the same as well.

I wouldn't try any prohormones at your current stage. Carb backloading/paleo and lifting weights is good regardless of if you have PFS or not IMO, so you can do that.

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Originally Posted by Zonz

Well, I stopped cold turkey and crashed so you may as well try tapering off. There's no way to know whether or not you will crash, or if tapering off will affect your outcome. My guess is, if you're gonna crash, you're gonna crash regardless of how you quit the drug, and if you're not prone to crashing, it's the same as well.

I wouldn't try any prohormones at your current stage. Carb backloading/paleo and lifting weights is good regardless of if you have PFS or not IMO, so you can do that.

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I think thats the way to go just to be safe, I think coming off anything its good practice to ease into it and taper so you're not putting too much pressure on the body.

Is there a reason why you think it's early for pro-hormones? My justifications for using pro-hormones is that the saturation of DHT might be a good way to wake the pathway/enzymes up again, especially during a transitionary period. It might help push my discontinuation in the right direction. Anyway I'll take it day by day for now and keep my lifestyle/protocol up to scratch and see how my body responds.

I agree with Turnover, just stop taking the medication and it’s overwhelmingly likely that you’ll just fully recover on your own. I wonder if I would have recovered naturally if I hadn’t gone on PropeciaHelp. I had a crash within 48 hours of stopping finasteride (which is super fast and clearly psychological,) because I went to PH and became terrified, then I had a full panic attack for the first time in my life. I sometimes wonder if that panic attack messed up my hormones and let me get PFS - maybe I would’ve fully recovered in just a few weeks otherwise. Who knows.

Also agree with Turnover that you have to abandon finasteride and similar medications forever. Don’t go back on a lower dose or a topical or whatever. Also no saw palmetto extract (which is basically a “natural” finasteride.) I’ve heard of guys having problems with minoxidil as well, and do you want to take blood pressure medication forever? So I’d skip that as well.

If you don’t want to just wait a few weeks or months for a natural recovery, if you feel like “No man, I need to DO something, not just wait around,” then okay. In that case I’d recommend that you immediately cut out all alcohol and all gluten from your diet. Do the sprints twice a week, and the weightlifting four times per week. Do the daily meditation. Basically do all of the parts of the protocol that don’t involve you spending money.

If you really want to, you could get pine pollen powder capsules and just take those daily for a few months, it’s not too pricey. I agree with Zonz that you should not even think about prohormones at this stage. The prohormones convert to DHT in your body, which is really only something you’d want to do if you definitely have PFS and have reached the appropriate part of the protocol.

Good luck, and I’m confident that you’ll make a full recovery within a few weeks like most guys do.

Just chiming in to say quit asap. Also please DO NOT try Minoxidil (Rogaine). Often times people who don't like fin will use it because it "doesn't have side effects". I am living proof it can lead to the same sexual and mental dysfunction as fin. Don't EVER EVER EVER touch any anti-depressants, balding meds (even natural herbs like saw palmetto) or acne meds. If you are predisposed any of those can cause PFS. Just be safe brother, eat clean and quit that drug. You will probably be fine.

You can’t really taper off fin due to its unusual dose response curve. Just quit ASAP and you’ll most likely be fine.