Push past it mostly “distraction’ drink filtered water” until it passes but sometimes I fold and think “fuck it” what type of life is this!!! With no enjoyment.
Guys. I figured out that certain foods make my balls ache and/or gives me tinnitus.
Cheese and sparkling water/carbonated beverages are some culprits.
Does anyone know what is going on? Doctors are, of course, useless.
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Generally the 5ars aggravate my testicle. But lots of foods hit the tinnitus. Its mad there seems to be many things at play / so much effected.
Do you mean foods that inhibit 5ar enzymes?
I’m still not even sure how carbonated drinks can cause ball ache. How does that even make sense!?
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Yes, I had to cut carbonated water / drinks out years ago.
You both have issues with fizzy drinks? I’d have discounted that as coincidental if it was just one of you.
I can’t even begin to come up with a reason that water with gas would have an effect.
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Could have been the plastic bottles. Was a long time ago before I knew I had PFS
We also need to be realistic guys. Whats left to eat and drink after reading this thread?
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Members on the forum need to STOP looking at everything with 5AR angle of view. It’s a losing battle. Foods classified here as 5ar inhibitors also happen to effect gut microbiome in so many ways, which in some cases (depending on the microbiome makeup) can result in what we call herx reaction. This may lead to increased inflammation and produce symptoms.
I’m being over simplistic of course but there’s so much to learn beside pro or anti 5ar.
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None 5ar foods also cause me problems so I agree
Definitely not the bottles. I drink regular bottled water just fine.
I think doomed is right. Carbonated water should have nothing to do 5ar. One thing that would make sense is if the acidity of carbonated water is killing off certain microbes that release chemicals when they die. Some people with herx reaction mentioned testicular pain.
I think I should get some kind of gut microbiome analysis. Gotta start looking. Anyone have any suggestions?
My suggestion is that it’s not the gut.
Maybe, but I’m starting to notice a pattern. It seems that many of my symptoms flare up when my gut isn’t doing well. Whenever I have a diarrhea episode, I know I will have insomnia with heart palpitations for at least a day. Foods unrelated to 5ar trigger some symptoms. I don’t think it’s hormone related, because even carbonated water gives me ball aches.
Maybe it’s something else triggering both sides. I’m not 100% positive, but it’s worth having a look. My TSLA investment panned out well this year, so I can afford a $200 test.
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Exactly. I’ve a feeling many here (including me) suffer some sort of gut dysbiosis leading to undesirable reactions to different foods. Interestingly, many of the food items in the list above also also happen to be either:
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High fiber foods (e.g. fruits, legumes, nuts, beans, dark chocolate) that work as prebiotic to promote growth of certain bacteria. If certain bacteria is increased then it’ll usually compete with other opposing bacteria.
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Foods with antibiotic properties (e.g. olive oil, coconut oil, pumpkin seeds, etc.) which kill certain bacteria and produce herx reactions (i.e. inflammation)
Increased inflammation also results in PFS-like symptoms, which includes lowered testosterone and low libido. The right way to go about this is to first get a microbiome analysis done to learn about individual bacterial overgrowths and undergrowths and then make an individual list of recommended foods.
I’ve created a daily food journal to test this hypothesis and have noticed different reactions to different foods based on my recent microbiome results. This is still anecdotal but like I said in another thread, modulating microbiome through diet manipulation remains to be the biggest predictor to my well-being and libido.
Moral of the day, microbiome science is advancing in a geometric rate and there’s so much to learn.
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Or that your gut not doing well is also one of the symptoms, not the cause?
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So many foods are a potential issue. There does not seem to be an oil that might be good. 
Why we have to avoid corn? I can’t find any info that it’s high in Phytoestrogens or antiandrogens. Thank you
I see a lot of foods on the list which I do not have any problems with. I do not think the issue with food is because they are 5ar inhibitory.
@pff ii never had any food intolerances with PFS. However in the last 3 years I developed an increasing problem and now virtually everything causes me issue aggravating my very long list of problems terribly. This disease is not a one shoe fits all though many sufferers are effected by this list so count yourself lucky.
I do have problems with food but is the 5ar inhibitory affect the real problem of these foods is the question or is it something else? For me when I eat lots of fiber (grains, vegetables) I feel good. When I eat lots of animal foods and saturated fats I feel worse.
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