Can't get libido above 0%

Symptoms Sexual
#1

I’ve suffered from PFS for about 27 months now and it seems like nothing works for my libido. I’ve tried magnesium, zinc, potassium/electrolytes, B vitamins, multivitamins, maca, tribulus, amino acids, cabergoline. I lift weights about 5 times per week and eat moderately well.

Has anyone been able to move from 0% libido to anything else? I feel like I’ve exhausted so many options with no success.

I am fortunate that this is the only major side I deal with, relative to the range of symptoms that others on here are coping with. Despite that though, not having my sexuality is really starting to ware me down.

#2

Yes I was at 0% for 2 months.

I started to get better when I bought tribulus and progesterone.

But progesterone is risky. Maybe try soy flour first (Soy discussion (Varility Paradox topic)

Read Scotts post.

#3

Have you tried using viagra? It might not get your libido back, but at least you could have sex.

#4

Soy seems to help, but I can’t give a full report yet as I just started the protocol.

Libido has been my main torture as well, I simply can’t for the life of me, give a crap about sex or women. I have to logically force myself to get into it; it makes for an extremely awkard mechanical experience.

Couple questions:

  1. How much sleep are you getting? This seems to be a great indicator on my libido and overall health. Make sure you’re getting 6 hours of deep sleep, if you keep waking up, I would take something. The body does all it’s healing during sleep and its also when nocturnal erections take place which is a very important component of maintaining overall sexual function, both physically and mentally. When I get good nights sleep (started taking Ambien finally) it really reset me in many ways. Libido is still very very low though.
  2. Does your libido come back when you are a) drunk b) on other forms of drugs (cocaine). I’m not a huge druggy, but I have noticed that my symptoms completely go away when taking cocaine or if I’m drunk. Cocaine operates on the dopamine receptor which is primarily responsible for libido. I tried wellbutrin for a bit but that didn’t seem to do much.
  3. You might want to look into Addyi, I’m getting my prescription on Wed (not adderall, ‘Addyi’). It was designed for post-menopausal women who had lost their libido, but it apparently has some good effects on men as well. I was prescribed it by Dr. Goldstein. It apparently takes around 2 months to kick in and see if it even has an effect. Some people feel nothing, others feel it gives them a few spontaneous sexual thoughts, others feel like they used to feel when they we’re 18. Praying I fall into the later.
  4. Are you lifting heavy weights? What is your workout protocol? One thing I can say is that when I do dead lifts or leg presses, I feel my libido lift for a few hours after that. Do you have the same effect? I’m a little hesitant on pushing my androgens too hard, so we’ll see.
  5. What does Viagra and Cialis do for you? They don’t give libido but they can promote a feeling in your penis which often helps me start thinking more about sex.
  6. Last but not least (and I know we hate to hear this), a lot of this can be helped with mental exercise. If you meditate, great, but a specific kind of focus can help marginally. I would talk to a sex therapist if you can, it will help your mind at least get on the right track and then you can start working on amplifying a focus on sexual connection from there.

I know this is complete torture, it must feel like it will never come back. But we have to hold out hope, I’m trying a bunch of different protocols to see if any of them work.

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#5

with regards to soy, I think its important of course to try it out in isolation to see how soy by itself affects you, but also I want to let you know that for me at least, the benefits of soy got turbocharged when I combined it with quercetin. Also I want to share with you that a few months ago I had a lady message me on another PFS forum who said that my combination of soy, quercetin and sodium butyrate was extremely potent in helping restore (some?) of her libido. Unfortunately she never continued the correspondence after a few messages so I never knew what ended up happening with her

Tangentially speaking, back when I was experimenting with soy, quercetin and sodium butyrate together, this was the only time that I consistently started getting mild cystic acne back (I took accutane a long time ago to treat severe cystic acne). This side effect of getting cystic acne never happened with any other combination, rather it only seemed to happen when I was using the soy, quercetin and sodium butyrate combination. Anyways, im guessing that the intense demethylating combination of soy, quercetin and sodium butyrate was able to unlock something in my body. Just an interesting observation…

#6

I have Cialis, but unfortunately it doesn’t work great. It’s difficult for me to even date right now so building a sexual relationship will have to come after I sort this libido business out.

#7

  1. I’m doing pretty good on sleep. I usually get around 8 or 9 hours per night and usually only wake up once.

  2. My libido never comes back. I feel the absolute worst when I drink alcohol though. Then it feels beyond zero libido, like rubber. Cocaine much of the same.

  3. Never heard of Addyi before but that is interesting if Dr. Goldstein is prescribing.

  4. Yes I life heavy weights and do legs about twice per week.

  5. I do have Cialis

#8

Very interesting! What’s the logic on something that is known to being estrogenic working to increase libido

#9

This thread explains everything:

Soy is useful not because its estrogenic, its useful because for many PFS guys, we have overexpressed androgen receptors, soy is able to downregulate and reduce the density of the androgen receptors, thus allowing our bodies to use androgens normally again

#10

Have you visited your doctor or seen a urologists mate ?

Despite all the negativity regarding doctors and urologists and two bad experiences with doctors myself regarding finasteride i finally plucked up the courage to make an appointment at my doctors and push forwards to see a urologists.
I have been suffering horribly with sexual issues since taking finasteride zero libido zero errections without the use of viagra and this has been going on for years.
I had some blood tests and the urologists said my T levels are low he thinks that the problem is hypogonadism i know that this can be and has been the case for guys post Finasteride but I’m going to continue to visit urologists for further investigation and medial assistance.
Doctors are not always the easiest of guys to get things across to in my experience but the urologist i met was very understanding and said that he’s confident he knows what to do.
For myself things have been complicated as i have long term history of steroid and ibuprofen use coupled with 6 plus years use of Finasteride in conjunction with the anabolics and ibuprofen so this really added to the mystery.
I had used steroids prior to Finasteride and never had any issues until i added the Finasteride to combat hairloss caused by anabolic steroids.
I will post my recent experience with the urologists later on today when i have more time i just want you to know it was far from negative and he knows about Finasteride and understands how it complicates things he did not dismiss anything regarding Finasteride but on the flip side i didn’t go to his office ranting about pfs i just told him what i had been taking why i had been taking it how long i has taken it for and how long it had been since stopping these drugs.
Personally after trying every protocol known to man every supplement and a list of drugs with zero progress i decided to head back to the doctors to seek professional help with this again.
If anyone reading this hasn’t already been to see a doctor or urologists please do so as it is important to rule out any other issues early on prior to trying every protocol in the hope to find something that works as this may make matters worse.
Reporting issues seeking medical advice helps us and the medical world to better understand the possible long term implications and complications of these drugs together we can share information and find the cause not just a cure we have to keep in mind these drugs do help far more people than they harm they can’t and won’t ever be pulled from the shelves its more about finding out who is at risk of adverse reactions from the drugs.
Staying quiet hiding in shame and self remorse just makes the whole situation worse as it creates a world of none existence.

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