joetz,
The condition that we experience is neurological in nature. It’s like our brains are separated from our dicks. I did not feel that separation on my trip. Why it happened, I have no idea. Was it purely a neurological stimulation of attraction to pretty Asian women or was something different like the food? I have no idea, but depressingly I reverted back to my old self as soon as I got back to the US.
I don’t buy the cute Asian excuse. Unless you’ve got some kind of Asian fetish, a cute girl of any race or ethnicity should tickle your pickle. Something must have happened in china to change the way you feel. Maybe it was a change from the standard American diet or it could have been some kind of random fluke. There have been days where I started to almost feel normal and then things fell apart on me for no reason. I agree that it is likely a neurological issue
What I’m saying is that if people are trying to change their diets to include healthier foods, these foods usually don’t trigger that dopamine release that the fatty, unhealthier foods do. This in itself makes switching to a healthier diet more difficult because people don’t get the same “reward” hit that they would get if they were eating say a cheeseburger as compared to an apple. You are trying to go against your own in born circuitry. That circuitry is there for a reason because back when we had to hunt and gather our foods, the foods that had the most calories were the foods that we wanted to eat more of to stay alive. But now, in a time when we can go down to the corner and get what ever we want to eat, it does nothing but work against us. I’m just showing how this natural reward pathway makes it way more difficult to stay on a health promoting diet.
cdnuts, I know what you mean about the body resisting a healthier lifestyle. Yesterday I ate lunch at a very healthy place that sells raw food. The meal was wonderful and the chef has to be one of the most gifted chefs in the country. When I got home, I had a massive migraine headache. I felt weak, hungry and tired and I couldn’t sleep. I ate some junk and immediately the headache cleared up. I feel like I’m going against what my body is used to, but I’m still trying to be healthier, just little by little. For the next few weeks I’m going to try and eat one raw meal every day and then maybe once I get used to it, I’m going to try to eat two raw meals a day.
I’m glad you got to experience that (well, not really) because you saw for yourself the very intimate relationship between food and your body. I was amazed at what happened to me the first time I came off my raw diet after being on it for three months or so. I ate a piece of bread. Well, that piece of bread might as well have been heroin. Now, that sounds absolutely ridiculous of course, until you try it for yourself.
Minutes after ingesting it, my body temperature rose, I got a mild fever, but more amazing was how I FELT. I was high on bread!!! I felt like I took a pain pill, swear to what ever god you believe in, I’m not making this up. I got all relaxed and chilled out…I was high! I felt great. After about a half an hour, I crashed, got moody, felt like shit and wanted to eat more bread!!
Typically because of our diets we are so used to (addicted) the foods we eat that unless you give all cooked food up for a month or so, you will never be in a clean enough state to feel something like that happening. I was absolutely shocked that a piece of bread could do something like that. It made me realize just how much we pollute ourselves on a daily basis.
And, to mirror what you said in your post, the best way to stop yourself from cleansing (which is what the headache was) is to eat more crap food.
That’s why the raw diet works so well for many ailments. They say about 50% of our energy is used in digestion. So, by cutting out foods that use alot of energy to be digested, all of that energy gets turned inward to be used by the body for necessary things like, healing, rebuilding and other vital elements of life. I would have never believed it myself until I tried it.
That’s another reason why people who TRY the raw food diet thinks that it doesn’t work, because they feel horrible. What is actually happening is their body is using the freed up energy to clean house. When they eat cooked food again, they feel better, because they stop the cleansing process. So, they think that raw food doesn’t agree with them because of this cycle. I’m glad you were able to experience it, albeit on a very small level.
cdnuts,
hey man after reading your posts I can tell you really know what your talking about.my freind healed himself completly from many ailments following this diet.what people don’t understand here is that when food goes over a certain temp you lose all the enzymes that heal your body,without these enzymes you cant properly heal.im trying to change my diet slowley,but I too am addicted to cooked food.
Joetz,
You’re on the right track 100%. The best way to transition to a healthier diet is a slow transition, exactly how you had mentioned. The easiest meal to replace is breakfast. Just have fruit in the morning or if you have a good blender, make a big smoothie. You just have to make sure you are eating enough of it. Fruit has considerable less calories then most other foods so you have to make sure your taking that into consideration. If your health concern is dire, then obviously you want to jump right in with a fast and then a 100% raw diet. If you have the time, you’ll want to ease into it, otherwise backsliding can be really, really nasty. Even when you do go slow though, it still can be difficult. Good luck.
How many days of suffering do you need to go through before pain goes away? I was in complete and total agony with my migraine headache, but I would be willing to go raw long term if I knew the pain would subside in a couple of days. cdnuts, do you think really think a raw diet can cure this condition? I don’t need to even make a full recovery, I think I could be happy with 50-70%
Unfortunately, there is no way to answer that question as it is based intimately on the persons current state of health and diet and lifestyle choices made prior to going raw. Could be a few weeks, could be a few months.
I think that if done correctly for a period of a year or so, where you were giving your body complete optimal conditions, that yes, we could come as close to “cured” as is possible. I have yet to keep the will power up to go that long. I’ve made considerable strides on that diet for the times I’ve stayed on it and have completely changed myself for the better because of it. The bottom line is that it is very difficult to do. I guess nothing worth anything is really easy, but it is seriously tough. You don’t realize how programed food is into your existence until you change your diet. It can be very, very uncomfortable and taxing emotionally.
Also, once clean and eating correctly as far as raw standards go, the addition of the Natural T boosters and Ball Zinger really seemed to kick things into over drive. My body reacted much stronger to them when I was raw as compared to eating cooked.
There is another guy on this site who has been at it now (raw diet) for over four months and he was in absolute agony for the first couple months. He almost gave in and then the tide turned for him. It will only get better too. He has days now where he is easily 75%, right where you say you want to be. Again, this will continue to get better once the initial cleansing hump is over, which for him, I believe it is. It tends to get better faster as well. Maybe if he sees this post he’ll chime in and give you some of his thoughts.
It will make you nothing but better then you are now Joetz, that’s a given. If it’s what you are considering doing you should do some research so you know what to expect when switching to a pure diet. Like I said, it can be difficult in the beginning, but if you expect it, it won’t be as nerve racking.
Well I went to a new endo dr today. I proceeded to explain how I ended up in this situation to him.
He said, well I am aware about the possible side effects caused from Propecia; But there is no clinical evidence to prove that propecia caused these problems.
I guess all drs are trained to only believe something if a prestigious Ivy League school does a study. When is someone going to do a clinical study on this drug, so that Drs will start realizing the lives it’s ruining? and not Merck.
I just can’t believe that this drug has been on the market for 12 years and we still can’t get a clinical study by a neutral party that validates what we know is true.
Anyway, back to my visit. The dr wants to run two blood tests within a week apart from each. He said they should be done between 7:45-9:00 am. He gave me the list of items he wanted to test for before I could even show him the short list from this website. He only had total, Free T and SHBG on the requisition.
I asked him about several others that I thought were important including prolactin and he said his protocol is to test for low T first. Man, WTF I had my primary dr fax over my blood tests from June showing low T. The guy wasn’t a prick like the last endo guy I saw. I know he meant well and was following protocol. However, I have to say, I have the feeling I’m not going to be happy with my endo dr until I have one that is convinced that propecia is responsible for this.
He also wants me to go for an ultra sound of my nuts just to be safe that there are no issues.
I just want this process to speed up!
I will have multiple blood tests to share with the board. I have one coming on Oct 19th for Total T, Free, Prolactin, SHBG & TSH. Then I will have two others showing Total T, Free & SHBG. All three tests will be about a week apart from each other. Maybe this could be kind of interesting for us to see a guys T levels 3x over a 3 week period.
BostonUsa,
Why don´t you go see Dr Crisler?
correiovip,
I might end up going to see him eventually, but he’s in Michigan and that’s a plane flight away from where I live. He also doesn’t accept insurance and I know I’ll need to fly there a few times.
I have found another doctor in CT who has dealt with a good number of propecia sufferers. I may use this guy if things don’t work out with the new dr. For now though, I’m going to stay with the current dr guy for the time being while the blood tests are run and see how things go.
Here’s an update on the L-Tyrosine. I have been taking it for more than a week now. I have continued to be as mentally sharp as I can remember being in quite some time. My energy level feels better as well.
I also have noticed some positive sexual signs as well. I woke up this morning with wood like I haven’t had in quite a while. I also got hard spontaneously during the day on Sunday.
I had been taking One 500mg pill a day. A couple of days ago I increased it to three per day. One after each meal. I read online through several websites that a dosage of up to 3 grams per day is a recommended dose; so I’m at half of that right now.
I expect elevated prolactin to come back on the blood test results next week. My strong positive reaction to tyrosine seems like a good indication that my prolactin level is high.
I think we should also consider an immune issue. I have had experiences traveling where I feel great (and am also exposed to new viruses and bacterias). I usually feel best after being sick, the best has been after having a serious intestinal/liver infection. I know at least Mew has had 1 similar experience after being sick.
I used to have horrible allergies in the summer and get sick a lot in the winter, it would be for months at a time. This hasn’t happened since about a year after going on Propecia.
I bet Boston was exposed to some new bugs just from being in China that set his body and immune system on overdrive too. This might not be the whole puzzle but I bet it’s a piece.
I got a phone call from my new Endocrinologist today. I was shocked to have a doctor personally call me. First time I have ever had that happen.
My blood tests came back and he called to discuss them with me. He said my Total T, Free T and SHBG were all in normal range. I was looking for a hard number, but he told me they calculate Free T factoring in SHBG and if you don’t fall outside of the range they won’t even bother to calculate the level. He seemed to say the same thing the last endo dr said, the free T is not accurate unless factoring in the protein, sex hormone binding globin.
I had read many other posts from other guys that have also been told the same thing. I recall that reading that we should be in the top end of the range. He is going to give me a copy of the blood work on my next visit, so I can post that as well.
I asked him if my T levels are normal, why is my libido non-existent and my sperm count so low. Also, how do you explain the lack of energy, diminished muscle and strength?
He wasn’t sure, but since we didn’t even test prolactin levels how can I know if that isn’t a factor. If my T levels are truly in the top portion of the range, could increased estrogen or prolactin alone be the culprit. I mentioned the possible spike of estrogen as a result of Propecia, triggering an increase in Prolactin. He said he didn’t believe Propecia would cause an increase in Prolactin. So he’s part of the entire medical community that doesn’t believe that.
Anyway, I don’t feel like I learned a tremendous amount. Some doctor somewhere decided what they believe a healthy Range of Free T is. It seems if you fall in that range your considered to have normal free T, regardless of where in the range you fall. If I am in the bottom 10% of the free T range how can that be considered normal?
I read yesterday in an article that men’s testosterone peaks at age 40, I’m under 40 so I should be in the top portion of the ranges, right?
I have an apt Monday next week with another endo dr and will get the results of a separate blood test. I will get a copy and post those for all to view and help interpret.
I believe this is in a mans thirties, not forties.
NO it said Age “40” not 40’s plural. I will find the link and post it. I was surprised to see that, but that is what I read.
I guess it depends on where you get your information from. I could post endless articles that say the decline in test starts in a mans thirties. This makes sense, because fighters that are in their prime are mostly in their thirties. After late thirties and forty and above, they just don’t have it anymore…
Here you go, but here are three others that say the same. I know certain male components like sexual peak is debated, but many show it to be around 18-20 years.
Bottom line guys in their 20’s in 30’s should have high levels of Testosterone according to research.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1508369/
Ok well here is my 2nd & 3rd blood test results I just received today.
My first test done by my Primary care dr on 6/23/09:
Total T: 751(range 241-827) Free T 9.3( range 12.4-40.0)
2nd test done by 1st Endo Dr on 9/30/09 (about 4 weeks ago rec today)
Total T: 628.02 (241-827) ng/dl
Free T: 11.7 (12.4-40.0) pg/ml
Estadial: 34.92 (0-52) pg/ml
Prolact: 5.4 (2.1-17.7) ng/ml
FSH: 4.8 (1.4-18.1) mIu/ml
LH: 6.6 (1.5-9.3) mIu/ml
DHEA 5.0 (0-10) ng/ml
SHBG 46 (10-60) nmol/L
3rd test done by 2nd Endo Dr on 10/13/09
Total T: 557.69 (241-827)ng dl
ALB: 4.1 (3.4-4.7) gm/dl
SHBG: 43 (10-60.0) nmol/L
I’m not sure what the ALB is. It might be an error by the lab and supposed to be free T. Maybe can explain if this means anything.
My Free T is actually slightly higher than it was about a month ago, but my total is continuing to drop. I’m thinking my estrogen is way too high, but maybe someone who knows more can comment on that one.
I’m also thinking that my FSH level is much too low and probably why the tyrosine seemed to benefit me.
I have a 4th blood test being done tomorrow by my new endo dr. I am very glad I decided to leave my first endo dr, the one I saw today. I saw him only to get my blood results. He looked at my results and told me everything was normal except my vit D was low.
I asked for a copy of the blood test. When I started looking at it, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Free T number and range. I was negative off the chart and to the right of the number was a “Flag indicator” from the lab that it was low. I went back in the office to talk to the dr, why he would tell me my T was normal when it’s off the chart and was flagged as low from the lab. The prick started arguing with me, which I halfway expected anyway. He said the Free T is not an accurate indicator. Then why the hell would you run the test? Anyway, that’s last visit to that D head.
I am desperate to make myself better and my total is going in the wrong direction and it looks like my SHBG is as well. Anyone that has suggestions for treatment options I would appreciate hearing them. I am thinking Clomid or TRT at this point. I am leaning towards clomid, but I have read quite a few guys having sides from it.