Hi everyone. You might’ve seen my member story before. I just wanted to let out some emotions. I crashed this past November. I’ve been ruined by this drug and I’m not even out of high school. My face has lost fat, leaving loose and dry skin. This has cause wrinkles under my eyes and around my mouth that continue to worsen. I look sick and tired. My hands have dried up and the skin looks like crap. My gums have receded leaving slightly loose teeth and a weird feeling in my gums when I wake up. My penis doesn’t work most days, I have to really really try to get a good enough erection for sex. My stomach gets bloated anytime I eat something. My jaw has shrunk a bit. My energy level and motivation is low. My depression is at an all time high. It’s so hard To act like everything is fine when I don’t know what my body will be like I’m even a year. Things have just been getting worse physically and sexually. Im gonna go to college next year and I can’t go out and drink and smoke and eat what I want and be a normal kid. Instead I’m gonna be in this rapidly aging and deteriorating body. Top it all off my hair is falling off even faster than before which is funny because I was prescribed this drug to stop the loss. Not that I care about that anymore anyway. I just want my healthy body back, but most people don’t recover from these physical sides. The things that get better are sexual and mental for the most part. I just wanted to have a good head of hair in high school and college and not feel ugly and instead I’m getting punished with all these awful side effects that I couldn’t even imagine. And it’s such a lonely experience. All I have to talk to about this stuff is you guys around the world. Nobody takes me that seriously except for my girlfriend. My parents just acknowledge that some changes have happened but they think they’ll just go away. Face wrinkles, receded gums, jaw loss, fat loss don’t just go away. I look back at pictures from a year ago of my healthy and happy self and I get so depressed. I know these types of topics are annoying to most, but I just felt the need to write out some stuff. It’s one of those late night moods. If anyone wants to private message that’d be nice. Thanks
It’s not annoying to read, it’s a damn tragedy especially at your age. I’ve been through all the same shit except I took it at 20 and I’m 28 now. I think the best thing you can do is just hold out and live as healthy as you can, hit the gym, etc… you have the benefit of being very young and science is progressing rapidly. We might have this shit figured out while you’re still in your 20’s.
One thing I can say advise-wise is to take college seriously, especially your major and what job prospects you can get out of college. PFS sucks but I spent a lot of my college worrying about my hair and dealing with the sides as well as doing a lot of drinking and drugs that I graduated with a shit degree with jobs that pay close to nothing.
If no progress is made pfs wise at least you can take some satisfaction in having a job you enjoy or that pays well and live a comfortable life. Got to control the things in your life that you can when it comes to this shit.
Also want to applaud you for taking the survey, a lot of guys on here much older than you don’t have the sense to do so.
Sent you a message
Thanks for the reply. I’m sorry you have to go through it too, a lot longer than me. Have you made any improvement since all this? And yeah I don’t want it to get in the way of my college experience. It’s already made me slack in high school this year a bit. I’ve gotta work on focusing on other things. I will of course try more things to fight my symptoms. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to answer.
Many of us were in your shoes. I was 18 when I crashed. I am now 33. 15 years of PFS.
I am not recovered, but I am living a good life considering the PFS. 2 healthy kids, a wife, and I make 6 figures.
Focus on lifestyle factors:
-Eat well (but many healthy foods have 5ar inhibitors in them… look up a thread I posted last summer that lists all the foods with 5ari in them and avoid those foods)
-Focus on adrenal health
-Sleep 10pm-7am every day.
-In my expereince sleeping in makes you worse
-take a nap daily
-Practice stoicism
-Be outside, in nature
-Find healthy people to be around
-Avoid drugs and alcohol
As for your GF, you are young. Do not become reliant on her emotionally. IF she were to leave, it would leave you in a very vulnerable state. Be strong, focus on your health #1.
I don’t know how useful this will be for you, but I thought I’d let you know that mood actually has a big effect on visual appearance. When I’m depressed I look old and tired. When I’m doing well I notice women look at me and try to start to compete for my attention etc. If you take of photo of yourself when you are unhappy you actually look much older than the same photo taken when in good mood. Just thought I’d point out that visual appearance is actually an incentive to go extra mile on attending to all the little things that can help with mental health.
Do you recommend that sleep routine for adrenal reasons? Do you feel that both adrenal fatigue and 5ar/DHT synthesis are primary factors in our symptoms?
Hey bro, I started Minoxidil my senior year of high school when I was 17 and got off of it only after I graduated. But I’m also going through this, minoxidil destroyed my skin and muscles. I used to have so many girls into me, I had “swag” lol. But now my skin is looking like a 45 year old, I’m pale all over and have erectile dysfunction. I would recommend doing a long nofap, like 14 days, and once you hit that number keep doing it but then implement other healthy things like a keto diet, and some other things I can’t mention because I got banned last time I did, but if you want to message me feel free.
No problem, the downside to every supplement is that people try it and someone always complains about a “crash.”
Your probably covered by your parents insurance so you want to take advantage of that. Test vitamin D, male hormones, and specific parasites like E. Histolytica.
I’d recommend a digestive enzyme(Source Naturals), regular colon cleanse, low sugar and low histamine diet. You can also test the bacteria in your stomach and supplement the specific ones you are low in.
One guy has taken ginkgo biloba by Caruso’s, one has cycled a Bulgarian tribulus, one has taken HCG.
I really think that stomach parasites or altered gut bacteria grow out of control from reduced DHT which is involved with immunity. Parasites also create waste, even when they die off.
This is a lot of info, and it’s a lot of details. Let me know what you’re interested in.
Hey man,
You should be proud of the courage you have to be able to share this with your family, gf and post on a forum like this one. Sharing your experience will make it easier. Take it one step at a time, one improvement at a time, it may take a while but you will come to enjoy life again. I was in a similar boat to you, with PFS hitting while I was at university and I missed out on some things but life is long and transitional and I have made the most of it given the circumstances. Come up with some strategies to help you cope when you feel low, posting here is a good start, otherwise continue to live your life while simultaneously working on improving your health. It’s not your fault that this drug had the effects that it did, you did nothing wrong, don’t be too hard on yourself.
PM if you want to talk. Take care.
Hey man, im sorry to hear you’re also going through the skin and muscle issues. Have you found any improvement with those methods? Thanks.
Thanks for the message SS1, I really appreciate it. Yeah I’ve been trying to keep myself busy and try to forget about it. However, this quarantine is making it difficult. I’ve been playing video games and going for walks to get my mind off PFS.
Yes, I have noticed that ealy bedtime, early rise is best for adrenals. As well as an early nap (on weekends I try to get one at 10 or 11am. Some people arent even awake by then.
I think the adrenals are a symptoms of the cause, but by focusing on then you can have huge boosts in how you feel.