Hey guys, I’m working with Dr. Goldstein here in california obviously and he told me to get these blood tests and I just got all the results in today. I’m scheduling an appointment to see him in which he said he is going to perscribe me some sort of medication which he did not specify.
You could read my story on the member stories…I’m 21 years old. I had my blood drawn in 12/05’ 7-8 months before i started propecia and my t-level was 303. In septemeber of 07’ (when i went to see the doctor because noticed the problem after propecia) my t-level was 592. Now, according to this recent test my t-level is 328. I’m not sure what to make of it but Dr. Goldstein said that t-levels vary from time to time and depend on what part of the day you get it tested. He said T-levels are high early in the morning and are there lowest around mid-night. All my tests are in range according to the chart but theres obviously there is still something wrong because i feel like my ED has worsened since my last blood test in 09/07’. Look at the tests and I’m eager to see what you think. The range of the tests are in parentheses:
Yes, T levels do fluctuate throughout the day, and are highest in the AM.
So that begs the question: What time did you get all 3 of your tests taken? If the 2nd one was in the AM and the other two were in the PM, that would likely explain the big differences.
Seems somewhat low, investigate adrenal function.
Pretty low – have you had a sperm/fertility test done?
Borderline low, not surprising since you also have low Total Testosterone, since LH controls T output.
Borderline hypogonadal, most likely Dr. Goldstein will consider this too low.
Not surprisingly, also pretty low – likely due to low T.
I talked to Dr. Goldstein, he said he is going to work on raising my DHT level…but thats all he basically said. I wonder if that is going to make my hair shed more (not that I wouldnt trade going bald to recover) He never said about getting Free and Bioavailable tested so I’m going to ask him about that. My appointment with him is on Friday, March 7th so lets hope for the best. I’m hoping he has some sort of “cure” Has anyone on the forum made a recovery through a urologists help? Wish me luck…
Ok guys, this is gonna be pretty general because i don’t know too much about all this stuff but i’m gonna give it a shot anyways:
I went to Dr. Goldstein last week and got a bunch of tests done. He first tested the sensitivity on my penis and that he told me that the test showed that I didn’t have normal sensitivity at all. I could feel the hot and cold he was testing but sensitivity was low according to the temperatures of the test.
He performed the duplex doppler untrasonography with visual sexual stimulation. I got hard but at a pretty slow rate, it took about 7-9 minutes. He states on his report, “The patient had no flow in his left cavernosal artery”.
This is what he said he had expected and that this is the what is stopping me from getting a full erection. After that he performed dynamic cavernsometry to measure the blood pressure.
He said I dont have a problem retaining the erection but the problem is that the blood flow is very slow because the left artery is basically not functioning. He also said the right artery is ok but still not at full pace. Overall he said the bloodflow to my penis is down by 40%. That actually seemed measureable to me about how hard i could get without viagra. He compared it to trying to fill up a tire with air and having a knot in the hose of the air pump causing the air to get clogged and not having the ability to pump up the tire effieciently and to the fullest capacity.
He told me that there are a couple of options. 1) take viagra 25mg every night and use viagra before sex and that MIGHT eventually cure the problem with blood flowing going in and out of the artery. or 2) if the viagra doesnt eventually fix the problem then consider selective interna pudendal arteriography in the future to see if there is an arterial lesion that can be bypassed by REVASCULARIZTION SURGERY. He said I should follow up after 3 months to see if the viagra is making any changes. Basically, the second option he said is a for sure thing. He would take the x-ray and then set up for the revasc surgery. He said that has in the past cured his other patients and he has done the surgery over 1200 successful times.
He said that many people call in about propecia but I am the first patient that is doing something about it. He didnt say much about the propecia, he was focused more on the problems at hand and trying to fix me. He said my hormones were on the lower end but still in range. He thinks that after the blockage problem is fixed, then everything else will fall into place. Let me know what you guys think and if anyone else has an identified artery problem.
btw, all this cost me $2205.00 in one day not counting the traveling costs because I am in california. So keep that in mind, but I still think it was definitely worth it and finally I have an answer on what to fix as compared to not knowing what the hell is wrong and all the hormone tests coming “in range”…wish me luck
First, do you have the results of your latest bloodwork? Could you post them if so?
Goldstein said your hormones are low but still in range… so what would happen if you were brought into the higher range? Perhaps the bloodflow issues would be corrected if your T was bumped up, since T helps restore penile tissue health? Did you discuss this option (ie, clomid, hCG, TRT)?
What happened to this objective? He had a drug in mind to do this… do you know what it was? Do you have loss of libido as well?
Did he explain HOW this came to be thanks to Finasteride use? Due to penile tissue fibrosis, depleted DHT, low T, low nitric oxide… ?
According to your story in Members Story section, I thought you had already been prescribed Viagra by your GP to help with erectile difficulties… thus this is likely not a new “treatment” option for you – unless you have only been using the viagra sporadically up until this point.
Have you had side effects from the viagra (vision, hearing, headache, joint pain)? If so and you are concerned, you might want to consider getting some Horny Goat Weed (from a compounding pharmacy if possible) as it works in the same manner as Viagra (PDE-5 inhibitor) but is not AS strong and thus potential side effects would likely not be anywhere as bad.
Either way, I assume you will likely start with the PDE-5 inhibitor route first before going for option 2.
This seems like a big jump… you might want to research more over on the peyroniesforum.net forum as there are guys there that have gone through such procedures due to Peyronie’s Disease (plaques, fibrosis, curvature of the penis). Do you also have testicular shrinkage?
Basically I guess it comes down to this – if you are fine in EVERY other aspect of your sexual health since Fin, are super horny yet find you can’t get hard as easily, then correcting the bloodflow issues Goldstein found via Viagra or surgery would likely get you back to “normal”.
However, if you suffer from other side effects (loss of sex drive, fatigue, brain fog etc) since the drug, you would likely still have these issues as they seem to be connected to hormonal issues (since Finasteride does affect hormones). So correcting your penis would likely not fix these issues (ie, loss of sex drive) in that regard… hence Dr Shippen’s methods to try and restore such function via clomid, hCG, TRT, dopamine agonists etc.
Since your hormones (which hormones?) are low but still in range, this may be having an impact on your overall health and sexual wellbeing beyond just bloodflow. You may want to discuss with Goldstein a 3rd option of boosting your hormones (via Clomid, hCG) before considering surgery.
The ultimate attempt to boost your T would be to try Testosterone Replacement Therapy… but without hCG you would shut down your endogeneous T production and your nuts would shrivel up since they get turned off due to sensing extraneous T. You also become infertile while on TRT unless you were to take hCG concurrently.
AntCraven was a member who ended up getting a penile implant, but he also had testicular cancer post-Fin. You can read his story here:
Anyway, thanks for the update and hope you can keep us posted. Goldstein seems to be one of the top Urologists when it comes to correcting penile health issues.
California: I have to ask, were things 100% before fin? As my hormones are now good, I’m beginning to think there might be a real physical problem as even cialis doesn’t really help and keeping an erection is impossible. Though my libido is still zero too.
solonjk: at least eBay sells some.
Don’t know about this being purely hormonal, as far as I know even guys with low T-values get ok erections. And have never heard of anyone getting physical changes to one’s dick from lowered/crashed T-levels after a steroid cycle, an mine is still rubbery, veiny, shrunken and tilted to the left after 7 months.
The bloodwork above is the latest, it was done about two weeks ago.
I have only used viagra before having sex which is like 1 a week, 2wice if i get lucky, but goldstein said to take 25mg a night which would help blood flow while I sleep. Because I have noticed that my body does attempt to get spontaneous erections during the day but i only get half as hard. It feels like there is a blockage. Like, yesterday when I was making out with my gf I felt myself trying to get hard but when I stood up the erection wasnt visible through my pants like it was when I was normal. But I am just happy that it is atleast half way there so that leans me more to believe that if my artery was functioning properly then I could get a full erection like before. Also, over the past few months I have noticed that if I wake up at about 4-5am during the night I have a full on erection sometimes, sometimes its a bit weaker but a lot of the times its full.
Yes, I was 110%, I would get hard whenever I wanted…even when I didnt want to for that matter. I cant say that I have lost any size because when I take the viagra I feel like I have my old normal erection but even after I ejaculate I could still keep it up for the next 2-3 hours which is always fun. Goldstein told me to stick to viagra over cialis and levitra because viagra has been around the longest and is the safest. He also said that viagra is 100mg compared to cialis which is only 20mg? I dont know about this but thats what he said. I have not noticed any side-effects from viagra. It is helping me mantain my normal life…without it I dont know what I would do.
He said that finastride could definitely be the cause of the artery blockage but he does not know how yet. He said its a big puzzle but the main focus right now is the artery which is keeping me 40% down from getting an erection and he said if that could be fixed then I could actually be normally sexually active and that could help the hormonal levels and if not then focusing on hormones would be the next step. He said he is convinced that if the artery blockage is fixed then everything would most likely restore itself. I did tell him that my sex drive isnt like it use to be and he said that is hormonal and continued to say that the artery blockage is what is the biggest problem right now. He said he would take it step by step.
I thought my balls had shrunk. Like, they didnt look any smaller but when i felt them i thought that they had shrunk but goldstein examined them and said they were normal size and not to worry about it. A few months ago, i thought i had a slight curve once, but havent noticed anything since. Dr. Goldstein said that there is no curviture problem.
I dont have very many side-effects except for the ED issue and veins showing up but Dr. Goldstein said the veins are there because there is a loss of bloodflow through them and once that is increased then they will go away. I have to say that I believe that if my erection was 40% higher than I would basically be normal. Also, his nurse told me he checked for peyronnes disease and prostatitis and they both are not present. I sleep well and dont have anxiety or brain fog. Dr. Goldstein said that my sensitivity is low but he is going to look into that but for now to try the viagra and see if it makes a change within three months.
let me know what you guys think or if you have any other questions, this is actually my second time making this post because i went back and it erased all the stuff i had typed, i might have missed some things so let me know. thanks
california - all your sides, your symptoms, feelings are 100% like mine.
Did you test your progesterone? I have strongly elevated. But I’m not so sure if this is my main issue. I also think it is something with blood flow. But these are only my suppositions so far.
“I dont have very many side-effects except for the ED issue and veins showing up but Dr. Goldstein said the veins are there because there is a loss of bloodflow through them and once that is increased then they will go away”
I got the emerged veins too when my junk was completely numb and looked like they did not get any blood. This really is a complete mystery.
