Hello,
I’ve been on the site for about six months now. I wanted to quickly share my story and then propose a theory for what is going on (based largely on what I have read here + my experience) and then propose a way forward that I am considering.
My story: I started taking Fin back in late 2017. I had just separated from my then wife and moved out to initiate divorce proceedings. I’ll spare the details, but I had a lot of stressors in my life. I went to a hormone replacement doctor (who is also a family friend) and told him I had lost weight and noticed that my morning wood had diminished. He told me that he was certain w/o looking at bloodwork that I had low T and prescribed me test cyp + HCG. At the end of the meeting, I asked if he could also prescribe me fin b/c my hair was thinning at my crown. He said sure and prescribed me 5 mg fin (Not the correct dosage I learned later - I split the pill up sometimes and others I’d take a pill every few days). There’s more to the backstory, but the bottom line is that I started taking fin + TRT at the same time. By February of 2019, I began worrying that much of this stuff was harmful. I started reading up on Finasteride, and made the decision to just quick cold turkey. I then experienced the classic crash - cold dick, shrunken/twisted, no feeling, no erections…very scary. I did not experience other non-sexual sides…all sexual. This lasted for a couple of weeks. I began reading up on PFS and trying to determine what was going on. After the initial crash, I felt as though I was getting better, but I have never returned to normal. Some weeks are better than others, but I have not been normal since. As background, I don’t drink alcohol. I workout really hard and eat very clean. Could be an unrelated side note, but about six months after starting both TRT and fin, I was diagnosed with psoriasis.
Theory: I am not a scientist, doctor, or medical researcher, but I have been into fitness and health for most of my adult life…I was an attorney and now I am a consultant so to speak. It seems that the most widely accepted theory (and the one I am working off of) on the board is that Androgen Receptors (ARs) are sensitized (unregulated) while on fin (as the body adopts to a dramatic reduction in DHT) and then upon cessation, androgens (specifically DHT) flood the system hitting these sensitive ARs, which causes them to desensitize/shut off/not work correctly (downregulate)…much of the subsequent ebb and flow of symptoms seems likely to be related to how ARs are interacting w/ the level of androgens in the system. In my personal experience, I have found that my symptoms worsen on the days that I inject testosterone. In my “layman” mind, I view this as my ARs struggling to deal with this rush of androgens…it seems as the days pass from the injection, my symptoms slightly improve.
Possible Path Forward: My hypothesis is that if I were to stop taking testosterone my T levels/androgens would plummet. If I were to hold my androgen level there for a sufficient period of time, it seems my ARs would gradually resensitize. How long would this take? One month? Two months? Six months? Or maybe it doesn’t work at all. I would reintroduce exogenous testosterone at the point where I thought that sufficient time had passed to resensitize my ARs.
Has anyone on the board tried a protocol like this? Shutdown endogenous testosterone production for a period of time–>resensitize ARs–>gradually reintroduce exogenous testosterone? In my reading, I recall @VinnyG was doing something similar.
Is it only in my head, or does it seem like the incidence of PFS is higher in individuals who were on TRT at the same time they stopped taking fin?
Any thoughts on this theory or protocol are appreciated. Thanks and good luck to all.