Cortisol Based PFS - SkinDiesel's story

Member Stories
#1

Hello, I’m new to the forum and wanted to share my story.

I’m a 24 year old male from the UK who applied a 1% topical finasteride gel from January 2018 to July 2018. Tried to taper off the drug slowly after I realised it had very little effect and eventually stopped early August. Once September arrived, I began to crash.

I suffered all the classic sexual symptoms; loss of libido; morning wood, hypospermia, ED. On top of this, my sleep was very poor, struggled to get to sleep then woke up very early and very alert. As time had progressed my sexual symptoms had improved back to almost 100%, but have again got worse after Xmas drinking. Other symptoms have severely worsened. I am experiencing severe facial changes; bone loss, fat loss, receding orbital bones and less defined jaw. I didn’t realise it was possible to lose so much bone so quickly. My sleep is also still dreadful.

I have had blood work done. All hormones are in range apart from cortisol, prolactin and DHEA, which are all elevated. I get regular cortisol spikes throughout the day which makes me feel as though I’ve drunk a gallon of coffee, very uncomfortable experience.

I also suffer from SIBO & leaky gut syndrome, which I will begin treatment for this month.

I apologise for the long post but I was wondering if anyone has experienced similar symptoms and has had any luck treating them?

Cheers.

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#2

Hi @SkinDiesel, thanks for signing up and sharing your story.

Sorry to hear that you’re also struggling with this.

I’d take some encouragement that some of your symptoms have improved, even if you have suffered a setback recently.

We have had members here whose facial bone loss has reversed (search for user @aletheia). I believe that in general things can reverse as has been experienced by many here who have had temporary recoveries where all symptoms have ceased.

To be honest, I’m not sure if there’s anything that you can do to speed that process along but thanks for flagging up that you think that drinking has caused you a problem recently. People often associate a healthy lifestyle with feeling better here.

As a new member, I’d like to point you towards two projects that we’re running here that you may not be aware of that we hope could lead to helping our situation.

#3

Thanks for your reply. I will look into those projects!

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#4

Hey there man, I too suffer from all of these symptoms. I did a cortisol saliva test which showed results of low cortisol all day but unfortunately no doctors I go to will treat me because saliva tests are “unreliable” compared to blood which usually shows a normal result in range. Only relief I’ve gotten is from exercise but if I overdo it I’m exhausted for days. I Also jolt awake in the middle of the night at around 2-3 every night. Haven’t been able to fix that.

#5

Hi mate. Sorry to hear that. The sleep trouble is a b*tch isn’t it. Exercise is undoubtedly the best remedy. I like to really give 100% when I do it but we obviously can’t which makes it tough. Used to love a good nights sleep after a hard workout.

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