Hey all,
So I started taking finasteride somewbere between the very end of November to the beginning of December and I took it for approximately a month, x3 per week, though I did try to go up to x4 in one week.
I stopped on the 31st because the anxiety over side effects and potentially getting PFS got to me. I was constantly fearing side effects, trying to make sure and checking that I wasn’t experiencing anything bad, which made me stop. But now that I’m not taking anything anymore, i’m just back to the death spiral over balding and promising myself to take finasteride, then fearing PFS and then back to spiraling over balding.
I did get side effects, but I’m definitely positive that my anxiety over side effects caused it rather than the finasteride. I got ED, but that was because I was constantly checking if my penis was still working whenever I try to masturbate, which only made me more anxious, and anxiety is a known boner killer. I had lower libido, but again constant stress and anxiety over side effects does that to you. I stopped having morning wood, but I did a bit of research and apparantly stress and anxiety can cause morning wood to dissapear. There were even times where I thought my genitals shrunk and I had anxiety over it, which looking back at it now was pretty ridiculous, especially considering that it’s normal for that to happen at random times of a day, especially during the winter. The only side effect that I’m pretty certain was from finasteride was this weird feeling on my balls, but that went away after a couple of weeks of treatment.
Honestly, I genuinely wished that I didn’t know the existence of PFS, or rather the reported horrible side effects that PFS sufferers claim they have. It also doesn’t help that PFS sufferers would sometimes go on this subreddit and on other forums to spread stuff about PFS, posting studies about PFS and all other terrifying stuff. If I didn’t know about all this, I probably would’ve happily taken finasteride without a worry in the world.
I want to reinstate finasteride, since I do want to eventually get a hair transplant in the future if it doesn’t show much regrowth, which finasteride is a must (for the most part) for a successful one, but I’ve also read reports by PFS sufferers saying that people get PFS from reinstating finasteride.
So, I guess the question is how did you get over your fear of reinstating finasteride? I’d appreciate any suggestions, hell even any studies, that debunk PFS.