Ben's story so far-Need Advice

Member Stories
#1
  1. Where are you from (country)?
    USA
  2. How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)
    google
  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    31/ 5’ 7", 158lbs
  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    yes
  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Just started keto
  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    hair loss
  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    6 days
  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    31
  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    31
  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    cold turkey
  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    propecia
  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    0.5 mg
  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    after 2 days
  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    low libido
    Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[ X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction-Still can get great erections, just takes more work than pre-pfs
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X ] Watery Ejaculate
[X ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

Hi all,

I wanted to wait until I got my labs in before I posted this. So here they are:

My numbers normal range
Estradiol--------------0.6 0.5-2.2 pg/ml (NORMAL)

Progesterone----------22 12-100 pg/ml (NORMAL)

Testosterone----------78 44-148 pg/ml (age dependent) (LOW)

DHEAS----------------12.8 2-23 ng/ml (NORMAL)

Cortisol-morning-----9.9 3.7-9.5 ng/ml (HIGH)
Cortisol-noon---------2.9 1.2-3.0 ng/ml (NORMAL)
Cortisol-evening-----0.7 0.6-1.9 ng/ml (NORMAL)
Cortisol-night -------1.2 0.4-1.0 ng/ml (HIGH)

My backstory: I took fin 0.5 mg for six days last July (2017). I began to notice things were a little “different” sexually (shriveled genitals, lack of libido, erections not as easy to achieve) so I stopped cold turkey. Things seemingly went back to normal, but I knew my sex drive was still lower. Hoping that it would return on its own, I waited it out. I had even at several points convinced myself that it was all in my head. Then this march I started dating this girl. This is when I knew for sure something wasn’t quite right. I enjoyed sex with her, but I didn’t crave it like I used to. Then after one day of having sex 5 times in a 24 hour period, I had a crash. After that, my libido was noticeably worse. So to sum things up, I had somewhat of a mental breakdown and told my GF what was going on… 3 days later she broke up with me swearing that it had nothing to do with what I told her…Total bullshit. Anyways, here are the sides I am currently dealing with: low libido (0-20% depending on the day), testicular shrinkage (somedays they feel fine and others they seem small, but it’s hard to say). I actually still can get great erections, it just takes a little more work. I usually need manual stim. I also have slight sensitivity issues. My main problem is libido. I want to want to have sex SO bad! I feel like if I could up my libido, the other problems would normalize.

My labs showed that everything was pretty much in range, other than test, which was low for someone my age, and cortisol, which was high in the AM and nighttime.

Things I am doing currently:

Just started Keto diet with one 24-36 hour fast a week.

I am in pretty good shape as is, but plan on upping my workout to 3Xweek

Vitamins: multi, vit D, B complex, Magnesium, iodine

Sups: Turmeric, quercetin, mucuna, GABA, 5-HTP

I am also on trazodone for sleep and bupropion for depression (started bupropion before fin)

5MG Cialis every few days to improve blood flow

Kegals and nofap for the past month

Here is where I need help and am reaching out to the PFS community.

I have recently ordered some high quality tribulus and tongkat from World A.B.S. I am not sure the best approach to taking these sups. I know I should cycle them, but how? There are so many different ways people have taken these it is tough to know what the best option is?

I also ordered some oxytocin nasal spray. Not sure if it will do anything, but it seems interesting. Will keep you guys posted.

Lastly, I am getting my prolactin tested next week. If it is high or even in range I might give cabergoline a shot. It seems like it could be a promising option. Selegiline is another option I am interested in.

Any advice or input you can give me is more than welcome!

Thank you all!

1 Like
first post, positive vibes please
#2

Hello,

How many days/weeks have passed between stop taking fin and your crash?

Thanks!

#3

Your side effects aren’t that bad. Get off the Cialis, and don’t take Tribulus or anything else you’re just gonna make it worse. Just wait it out. All my symptoms improved over a year by just waiting.

#4

I stopped fin in july 2017 and my crash happened in march. So like 7 months?

#5

Are you saying that all your symptoms improved over a year? I’m just curious because it doesn’t seem like things are really getting better. Maybe even slightly worse.

#6

Yeah over the 10 month mark I had genital regrowth and numbness improvements. Not back to normal but better. Don’t take other drugs or supplements dude, a lot of people have ruined any chance at recovery experimenting and even made things worse for themselves. Cialis is risky, you go blind or get hearing loss/tinnitus from it. It’s dangerous as fuck. If you still get nighttime erections your blood flow is fine, there’s no need for it.

#7

Thanks for the reply, man. How long has it been for you since you stopped fin and how long did you take it? Any other improvements after the 1 year mark?

#8

Only took it once, a year and four months ago. Yeah things keep getting better slowly. If you do a search here and on SolvePFS.com you’ll see people saying stuff like regrowth gets better over time. I doubt I’ll ever be back to normal which sucks cause even though I can get erections whenever I miss my libido too but I know it could be a lot worse cause I had awful insomnia during the first year but it’s improving too. I didn’t even do anything either, I just sat around. No exercise, no crazy diets, or anything.

1 Like
#9

Quick update: It has been about a month since my last post. It has been really up and down. I’ve had a few cases of almost full recovery for several days, then every time I slide back to my PFS baseline. It has really been a roller coaster for me, but it is encouraging. I feel like recovery is possible and it may just take time.

Things that I have tried:

cabergoline: didn’t seem to do much for libido, but I’m pretty sure it made my orgasms more intense. I was taking just 0.25 MG 2X per week, but I quit because I was afraid of crashing my prolactin too low. I may experiment with it more in the future.

Seligiline: started this about two weeks ago. Again, doesn’t do much for libido, but I believe it has helped a bit with depression. Going to keep at it for a bit and see what happens.

Phenibut: This I do feel actually did up my libido a bit, and made be feel better emotionally. Not a miracle, but worth a shot. I have been taking 1.5 G. The shitty thing is you can only take this about once or twice a week to avoid withdrawal/tolerance.

I should also state that I do not believe any of these drugs were responsible for my brief recoveries, as most of them happened without them. Another thing I notice that seems to rev up my libido is attention from women. The day after texting with a new girl I was super horny, and I had a sort of hookup with a chick (she was on her period so we just made out), but the next day I was again super horny.

Anyways, I’m sick of feeling like this. I just was to feel better, sexually and have the zest for life that I used to. As I have stated, my main issue is low libido. Every time my libido increases my depression and low motivation shoots up as well. Erections are pretty good, they take a little longer sometimes, but still able to pull diamond cutters… unless I’ve been drinking.

Things I’m trying soon (not all at the same time):

Tonkat ali
Trib
Sorghum
Ashwagandha
(considering creatine??)

As always, any thoughts or advice are welcome. Anything to help with this shit.

Thanks all,
Ben

#10

What are your stools like? hows the absorption? Curious cause you mentioned creatine.

#11

They have been fine. Why does creatine mess with your stools?

#12

Creatine supposed to be good for absorption thats all. So your stool colors have been normal?

#13

Yeah, no problems there. Like I have said, my sides are really just lowered libido. Pretty mild compared to some people on this site, but frustrating as hell none-the-less.

#14

Gotcha, thanks for sharing and i wish you continued success. If you come across anyone who is experiencing extreme dryness please send them my way.

1 Like
#15

Hey @BP86, how long have you been off Finasteride?

#16

was on for 6 days almost exactly a year ago

#17

Another thing I forgot to add was that I feel almost fully recovered after full body massage for about a day. It’s happened twice now. Deep relaxation perhaps??

2 Likes
#18

I might get a massage then. Should I be going for deep tissue or sports or something else? I’ve never had a massage so I’m not sure what the deal is.

#19

Lol, I usually go for deep tissue. It’s certainly not a cure by any means, but it can be part of a healthy routine and help reduce stress. I do believe that a lot of my symptoms are aggravated by stress. When my anxiety spikes, all of my symptoms get worse. When I’m relaxed and in a good mood (AKA on vacation or getting a massage), my symptoms get better to some degree. I’m definitely not saying this is all in our head, but I do feel the constant obsessing over things can and will make you feel worse. Anyways, hope it helps:-)

1 Like
#20

Welcome to the forum, man. I hope you can find some peace here and know that you’re not alone with this problem.

Can I ask favour? It’d be brill if you could get an avatar hooked up! Makes the place look easier on the eye :smiley:

1 Like