I’m writing this post out of pure curiosity and to hopefully get some experienced opinions on my situation.
Some background: I’m 24, 5’10", around 80kgs. I’ve never been lean, just skinny in my early days, and skinny fat from my adolescent years onwards. I lack any sort of body hair – zero chest, back, arm and upper leg hair, along with the ability to grow about 10 hairs on my face. I do not know another man my age who could make this claim. My build is also quite narrow, and I tend to put on fat in unfortunate, estrogen-esque areas (hips and chest especially). My diet is not good and never has been, and I have drunk alcohol since the age of 13. I also smoked for almost 10 years. I have also been taking finasteride since the age of 18. I have worked out on and off for years, especially in my later teen years fairly diligently to no avail. I would see most of my friends excel far past me and put on muscle much quicker, whereas for me it was a losing battle.
Last year I was feeling particularly bad, lethargic, and really felt that I had low test. It explained both my physiological and mental symptoms, so I decided to get a full blood panel done. The results shocked me.
For all intents and purposes, I don’t feel these results reflect myself physically in any way whatsoever. I understand beard growth and muscle development are genetic, but even so, I would expect some level of both. As far as my mental symptoms, I believe this was down to other factors in my life and actually feel a lot better in that respect.
Is there something else I could explore other than a consistent workout routine, clean diet and getting rid of the drink? (All of which I’m in the process of). Just wanting to feel out my options here.
Finasteride can decrease your ability to process androgens and lowers DHT and therefore libido.
Finasteride can cause a lot of HPTA dysfunction throwing hormones out of whack, some of the worst cases of PFS suffers have double or triple normal testosterone levels.
That high fT4 is suspect, too bad you didn’t test rT3, you must test rT3 together with rT3. I wonder if FT levels are calculated or direct, in either case neither are 100% accurate. If FT is directly measured, it could be overestimated by 40%.
The study of Finasteride on rats showed psychological and physical decline/symptoms and you seem to have both.
I would stop Finasteride immediately, you are playing with fire and you may have gotten burned without ever knowing it.
You need more testing, an iron and mineral testing wouldn’t be a bad idea, I was found to be iron, potassium, vitamin C & D deficient. Any one of these can cause fatigue.
Could you direct me toward some studies or even other forum posts you have read so I can explore this further?
I was worried around the same time I got my bloods last year that finasteride was the potential culprit. I felt I had a very low libido but as it turns out I think this was due to (and I use this term loosely) “situational depression”. I have since been in a very healthy relationship for just over a year and my libido is consistently good. I never struggle with ED and my mind wanders towards sexual desire what I would consider a normal amount. Energy wise as well, this bounced back completely hence why I feel my lethargy was a result of this situational depression; when I changed my circumstances these symptoms all but disappeared. My mental clarity is also very good and I am extremely driven in some respects. All things I would expect would be much less pronounced if I was suffering from PFS.
I am certainly not ruling it out but I do wonder whether there is more to my situation. PFS also wouldn’t explain the fact that I struggled with all of this stuff BEFORE ever starting finasteride – and while I may have been destined for beard growth later than my mid teens, I would expect at least something there (along with my chest and upper thighs).
Suspect in what way?
I will look into getting these tested. I want to reiterate that I’m not so concerned with the fatigue now, rather muscle & hair growth. Thanks for your time.
