The cause of the problem? Finasteride.
As to what the finasteride DID, I don’t know.
-
My estrogen definitely increased. Even though I didn’t have bloodwork to show this, the gynecomastia generally proves it.
-
I imagine my cortisol levels were way out of whack. This would explain both my panic attacks and, combined with the estrogen, would explain why I had so much sudden weight gain that I couldn’t lose (cortisol can cause weight gain/fat retention; estrogen causes water retention)
I had my thyroid bloodwork done and there didn’t seem to be a thyroid problem; the only standard blood tests that were ever out of normal were:
a) AST/ALT liver enzymes (but this bloodwork was done the morning after I consumed about 500 ml of wine) – it’s possible I was getting liver damage from a combination of light/moderate/social drinking combined with the hepatotoxic effects of Propecia (which did NOT have any warnings against consuming alcohol on the label or literature)
b) High cholesterol – At one point, my bad colesterol count was on the higher side, and climbing [this correlated with when I was very heavy]
c) High blood pressure – I was also diagnosed with borderline high blood pressure. It’s hard to say what caused this, as my job was very stressful, high blood pressure runs in my family (genetic), etc. High cortisol levels would also account for the rise in cholesterol and blood pressure.
I have a feeling my condition was a multi-part problem, which I think many of ours are, which is why it’s so hard to pinpoint any one problem or solution. When you adjust hormone levels in the body, the problems can manifest in different ways and different parts of the body. For me, I think the issue was a combination of:
- high estrogen-to-testosterone ratio (I noticed I would usually feel fine in the morning, but a lot less stable as the day got later; probably due to high T in the AM and lowering T/increasing E as the day goes on)
- possibly elevated cortisol
- minor liver damage (possibly) due to 3 things: hepatotoxic finasteride; moderate alcohol consumption; decreased AR-5/DHT, which plays an important role in repairing/healing the liver. It’s even possible that the liver stress/damage could be part of the reason my estrogen levels were too high (the liver metabolizes out estrogen, so if the liver is not functioning fully, E levels could be higher than usual – and alcohol increases estrogen. Alcoholics sometimes develop gynecomastia)