Why do some people recover naturally (just with time) from post-finasteride syndrome? How do people who recover reverse the epigenetic changes, or did they never actually experience post-finasteride syndrome at all?
Does anyone else get the feeling that they teleport to other places? And that they don't quite remember where they are?
Does anyone else feel like they're teleporting to places? And not quite remember where they are?
Is it normal to have a constant burning sensation internally and to feel uncomfortable?
Is it normal to have a constant burning sensation internally and to feel uncomfortable?
How can you tell the difference between windows? I've never had one. How do you know it's a window and not just because you're used to PFS?
How can you tell the difference between windows? I've never had one. How do you know it's a window and not just because you're used to PFS?
Have you gotten anything positive out of all this, if that's even possible? It's awful because life goes from being colorful to just plain flat. With anhedonia, I don't care about anything anymore; I think I'm starting to accept my new normal.
What they took, symptoms, how long did they take to appear, what did they do, how did they feel about returning to normal? Why do some people recover and others don't? I read that Dr. Will Powers theorizes that people who experience PFS have a pre-existing genetic mutation, and these are the ones who notice the side effects immediately. But why do others take longer to experience PFS? Who is more likely to recover? Is there anything that indicates you will recover? Has anyone recovered with Dr. Will Powers?
Is it possible to recover from anhedonia and numbness of the body?
Is it possible to recover from anhedonia and numbness of the body?
Has anyone fully recovered from post-finasteride syndrome after experiencing cognitive, sexual, and skin symptoms? What signs can predict whether you will recover or not?
Has anyone fully recovered from post-finasteride syndrome after experiencing cognitive, sexual, and skin symptoms? What signs can predict whether you will recover or not?
Has anyone recovered from post-dutasteride or finasteride syndrome after short-term exposure? What helped?
Has anyone recovered from anhedonia and the numbness of the entire body or loss of sensation? And how long will it take?
Why do we talk about post-finasteride syndrome when symptoms persist for more than six months after stopping the medication, if once you experience anhedonia, numbness, and brain fog, it's difficult for those symptoms to go away? That's PFS; that set of symptoms is PFS regardless of the duration. Why do some people develop PFS with short-term exposure while others develop it with longer exposure? Is it possible to recover naturally?
I wanted to ask about several aspects of the framework for persistent effects after 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (finasteride/dutasteride), within the context of what is called post-finasteride syndrome (PFS).
In the literature and in practice, the term “post-finasteride syndrome” is often used when symptoms persist beyond 3–6 months after discontinuing the drug.
Is there any biological basis for this time threshold, or is it primarily a clinical/observational convention?
Because some people experience anhedonia, numbness of the body and penis, and brain fog shortly after exposure to the drug.
In some cases, patients report very early onset of symptoms (days or weeks), including numbness, anhedonia, loss of libido, and altered body perception.
From your experience, does the timing of symptom onset (during vs. after treatment, early vs. late) have prognostic value regarding the likelihood of recovery?
If a dysregulation or feedback loop model (“attractors”) is assumed, how does the model explain that:
some patients recover completely
while others with short exposures experience persistent symptoms for long periods
Have you observed consistent factors associated with a higher probability of persistence or recovery, such as:
age at the start of treatment
duration of exposure
type of drug (finasteride vs. dutasteride)
intensity or type of initial symptoms
In your phenotype model, how is the significant clinical heterogeneity (patients with mixed or variable symptoms) interpreted without compromising the model's predictive capacity?
If some patients appear to be in persistent states, how does spontaneous recovery fit into the “attractor” or feedback loop model?
In the absence of validated biomarkers, what criteria do you currently use to guide individual prognosis in a specific patient?
¿Pueden los medicamentos para la ansiedad retrasar la recuperación del trastorno del sindrome post finasteride? ¿O ser perjudiciales de alguna manera? ¿Cómo recomienda tomarlos para evitar la dependencia? Como el alprazolam, que yo uso.
Dear Dr. William Powers,
I hope you’re doing well. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me — I truly appreciate it. I’m writing because I’m very worried about what has been happening to me, and I don’t know who else to turn to.
I also sent you a private message, but I understand you must have many patients and a lot of work, so I’m leaving everything written here as well. I suppose most of us who write these messages are desperate, but I truly don’t know what else to do.
I’m 20 years old, and I’ve always been a calm and grounded person. I wanted to improve my hair because I had very early and advanced androgenetic alopecia. I took 3 pills of dutasteride and 4 pills of oral minoxidil. After the first dose, I already felt strange, like I wasn’t myself; it became hard to concentrate, and I also experienced sexual side effects. I didn’t know much about the possible reactions or long‑term risks — I never imagined anything could be lasting. My dermatologist only mentioned the typical sexual side effects.
I stopped the medication, and that’s when everything got worse. The left side of my chest burned, my heart was pounding, and I couldn’t sleep. I felt disoriented, depersonalized, and I lost sensitivity throughout my whole body. After five days, I went to the hospital, and they told me it was an anxiety attack. They gave me alprazolam, which helped me sleep at first.
But the symptoms didn’t go away. I can’t study or concentrate; it feels like I’ve had a lobotomy, like I’m not in my own body. I have reduced sensation in my arms, legs — my entire body. When I wake up in the morning, I feel nothing: no emotion, no joy, no sense of myself. I can’t keep track of time, and my body barely reacts to anything. At the gym, I feel disconnected from my body, and sometimes I can even lift more weight without feeling it. I’m less sensitive to heat and cold, yet I feel an internal heat that makes me want to stay in cold environments.
My libido returned after about a week, but genital sensitivity is still reduced, and I rarely reach orgasm. I feel like I’m living inside a nightmare. The depersonalization, the brain fog, the lack of concentration — these are the worst parts. I forget things easily, and my mind feels blank, as if there’s a cloudy day inside my head.
It has now been a month since I stopped the last pill on April 5th, and I desperately hope this isn’t permanent. I continue my normal routine — eating well, going to the gym — but I feel no hope. I took Accutane as a teenager for several months, but I never noticed any side effects back then. I’ve always been shy and quiet, but now I don’t even feel the nervousness I used to have in social situations. I avoid taking the anxiety medication daily because I don’t want to become dependent, but it no longer gives me the same relief it did at first.
I want to recover in any way possible, but I’ve read so many discouraging things — that there’s no cure, that very few people study this, and that patients are often dismissed. Trying to explain what I’m experiencing makes me feel like I’m losing my mind. The idea of staying like this for years terrifies me. I don’t want to try anything that could make things worse or delay recovery, if recovery is even possible.
The worst part is thinking I may have ruined my life at such a young age just because I wanted more hair. I truly hope this state is not permanent.
I also wanted to ask you two specific questions:
• Can anxiety medications slow down or interfere with recovery, if recovery is possible?
• And can shampoos containing piroctone olamine or ciclopirox olamine be harmful in any way, similar to how ketoconazole can sometimes be? I use them for seborrheic dermatitis, and I’m worried they might make things worse.
Thank you again for your time and for listening to me. It means a lot.
Can ciclopirox olamine or piroctone olamine shampoo worsen PFS?