How severe were your cognitive symptoms? Mine feels like there is a constant film around my brain and my eyes, though there’s nothing wrong with my eyes at all. It is like I am in almost a dream world, disconnected… I’m hoping to reach out to as many people as I can with identical or similar cognitive sides.
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I had trouble remembering things for a time and would be really forgetful. Had brain jolts, extreme dizziness, but they all went away. The only thing that remained is if I shake my head it hurts which is worrying.
Be careful with Pseudoephedrine, it’s a vasoconstrictor and I’ve read reports of people having toruble with their sight later on in life because of regular vasoconstrictor use.
Thanks for the advice. I might try it. I don’t see how just a vasoconstrictor could help me with experiencing and perceiving things more clearly, and ultimately feeling more connected though.
What was your time-line of improvement? Being 4.5 months out, should I expect more improvement in symptoms with time, is there time to still develop new symptoms?
I don’t know how it will either, but that Andrea guy in that topic said it helped his.
You can see my timeline in my post history, I took 1 pill too lol, and I kept improving even after a year so don’t lose hope.
Sorry to read about your symptoms. If you haven’t already perhaps try using meditation when you awake and in the evening to steady your mind. Put more focus on yourself. Perhaps be more selective about what you read/see and remove negative things and review what gives you value and what doesn’t.
You may want to look at things that increase blood flow into the brain, and use these through different times of the day. Increasing blood flow is important and a recognized treatment for various brain conditions. I would consider incorporating foods, practices and then look to add certain supplements later on that you can tolerate e.g. gingko on a empty stomach. There are warnings on the site about Ginkgo so read these first.
Going to post an update and overview of my current symptoms for personal reference, if nothing else.
I’ve had an EEG and MRI - EEG was normal, fell in a light sleep during the test and they analyzed my brain waves through sleep. Normal as well. Still waiting on MRI results but I assume they will be normal. Tried a home sleep study - couldn’t sleep with that shit on me, trying to get an in-lab study approved.
Current Symptoms:
-Overarching, persistent cognitive shift, like I am viewing the world through a window
-Eye floaters, I often see blurry moving dots in my visual field, often times it looks as though stationary things are moving in my peripherals
-Significant trouble reading things, as if my eyes cannot focus & my brain cannot make sense of what i’m reading
Chronic head and eye pressure, gets worse when I’m stressed or lay down
-General fatigue
-General muscle weakness
-Muscle wastage, different than atrophy. Been an avid weightlifter for about 7 years now and I am watching my muscle melt away despite staying in the gym and eating well
-Dark bags under my eyes.
-Loss of deep sleep, I get very little if any deep sleep. Most of my time asleep is REM and Light
-Right foot tends to fall asleep easy, even while standing
-Appearance of decreased overall bloodflow to my face and limbs. More pale overall
-Significant depression
-Suicide ideation
-Significant loss of libido
-Narrower and more veiny penis
-Less full erections
-Watery ejaculate
-Overaching feeling of impending doom and misery
Thanks to all who have responded to my questions and given me advice. I am still fighting. Physical therapy school starts May 14th and I know I’m not ready but I will give it my best shot.
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Could I get any input on those who have experienced physical changes to their penis? Mine is definitely smaller now, in terms of length and girth, but there’s also been changes to the actual tissue. It is like more elastic and “loose” now, where when I have a full erection, I can move it around very easily. Before, it would stay in place much better. It is like it bends much more easily too now, if that makes sense? I am assuming these things are irreversible.
Also,
Sleep has slightly improved
Ejaculate quality has moderately improved
Same thing happened to my penis, it has no strength at the base anymore and very flimsy the tissue has changed significantly, my flaccid feels weightless/rubbery, it shrunk quite a bit as well in width and length. I’m never going to forgive myself for this shit! I’m very sorry you too are going through this. So you progressively got worse after taking only 1 pill correct?
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I also took one pill back in December 2018, I seem to be experiencing all the same sides you are having 
I do feel like I am very slowly improving.
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That’s good your slowly getting better
Your still in the infancy of your crash give it a full 2yrs I wish you the best my friend!
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Thanks, thats what I accepted. I am going to give it a full two years before I really start whining. I did however lose my job because of this but I can find another one once I am better!
Yes, some things have gotten worse, very few things have gotten better. My ability to cope with the situation has gotten somewhat better. I only took a single 1mg pill, had the crash that evening, probably 5-6 hours later.
How are your cognitive symptoms? Can you describe your muscle wastage? I’ve religiously lifted weights for like 7 years so this is taking a massive toll on my psychological health.
I had my follow-up 6 month bloodwork taken. Here are the results:
Cortisol - AM (fasted): 23.9 (6.2-19.4)
Estrone: 71 (15-65)
Total Estrogens: 126 (40-115)
Growth Hormone: <0,1 (0.0-10.0)
Estradiol, Sensitive: 26.1 (8.0-35.0)
Vitamin D: 56.0 (30.0-100)
IGF1: 223 (115-355)
DHT: 55 (30-85)
Free Testosterone: 16.5 (9.3-26.5)
Testosterone, Serum: 869 (264-916)
FSH: 2.4 (1.5-12.4)
LH: 8.2 (1.7-8.6)
Free Thyroxine Index: 1.7 (1.2-4.9)
T3 Uptake: 27 (24-39)
Thyroxine (T4): 6.4 (4.5-12.0)
TSH: 2.450 (0.450-4.500)
I understand that my estrogen and cortisol are quite high, which would explain my muscle wastage and why I totally feel like shit. Is there any input you guys have on this? I’ve been referred to an endocrinologist in the upcoming weeks. Is there anything I can do?
Getting worse physically. It is like my body is feminizing. Less vascular, muscles are more soft now, like the actual complexion of my skin has changed. Accumulating more fat and water around my abdomen and hip areas it seems. Very little muscular strength - was moving furniture, bed, etc today in preparation for the move for PT school and I just don’t have the same connection to my muscles as I used to. Hope everyone is well.
Damon
I have basically all the same sides you have physically, this is a damn nightmare! My whole body became very soft, before my crash I was solid and felt masculine. I used to love hitting the gym, now not so much, due to the extreme fatique. I’ve noticed over the last 2 months my legs have gotten smaller as well.
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I know man, I don’t get pumps like I used to, it is like everything is different. It started out with purely cognitive issues. Have you had any blood labs done?
I took Choline Bi-Tartrate 600 mg, Betaine HCL 500 mg mixed with water every day while eating. ( I dose and prepare a bottle full of the stuff, I’m good for 10 days) It’s sour so have to be mixed with water. It flushes excess estrogen and got me a better testosterone / estrogen ratio.
I took L-Tyrosine 750 mg a day on empty stomach (along with Tryptophan 1000 mg and L-Dopa 250 mg) morning on empty stomach, also at 3pm on empty stomach).
L-Tyrosine is converted to L-DOPA, then Dopamine and then into other catecholamines such as norepinephrine and epinephrine which I believe gives a break to the adrenal glands producing Cortisol and lower Cortisol. I’m speculating here, but I know my Cortisol went down.
The thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) in the colloid of the thyroid also are derived from Tyrosine. The thyroid is also something to keep in check.
Ii is my experience that Tyrosine has lowered my brain fog, increased focus and improve mood.
If you try any of those, stop at first sign of trouble.
Of course, the best thing I’ve done was a carnivore / ketogenic diet with almost zero carbs (I average around 5 gr a day). A carnivore diet would gives plenty of protein. In my case, I got muscle mass increase from it.
This is what I’ve done and my results. It may not have the same results on you, but I’m just sharing.
I wish you the best.
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Yeah my labs came back a few weeks ago at the T clinic I go to, my estradiol is the biggest issue even before i started TRT, it doesn’t even help any of my symptoms, I split my dose into 50mg 2X a week but I convert almost instantly after injection, I believe without the 5AR enzymes not functioning correctly to dht our testosterone converts into estrogen since there is no dht to balance it out. I guess some guys who crash get really lucky and respond to TRT and go back to normal but seems like for most of us it does nothing.
How long did you take Finasteride for? When did it start going south?