Suit yourself man, but it very well may save your ass!
And by all means I would get bloods drawn before you start it.
terp get your blood tests etc but i think you’ll be fine you just have to give it some time etc. If the issue is solely libido you have to give it around a month or so. I remember after I quit propecia it took a full month for my libido to fully come back and all so just be patient. I don’t really care what others say about SP I just dont see how even in high doses it can cause the same exact damage finasteride does. I think you’ll be alright just give it time.
Last night was the worst sleep I’ve had in possibly my entire life… I tried to go to bed early, and then woke up at 4:45am with my heart racing and could not for the life of me get back to bed.
It’s like I can’t sleep in anymore… I love to sleep and something is not right. I’m so terrified of what’s going on with my body.
Now I’m also experiencing several eye floaters. I was doing the broccoli treatment for 2 days so I don’t know if that has something to do with it. I’m going to stop it for now. I can’t believe how many issues I’m encountering. When does it get better? Everyday just seems to get worse and nothing is improving, it’s really, really depressing.
I’m in graduate school part-time and am really questioning if I can continue if my health does not improve. I have an exam Thursday and I’m trying to force myself to study but this s**t has consumed my life and all I do is read these boards (which probably doesn’t help my sleep).
Hey guys, I’m going to have to get on an SSRI. I cannot deal with this anymore and suicidal thoughts increase day by day. This whole thing has consumed my life and I can barely function. I know SSRIs aren’t the answer but I needed them prior to this fiasco and I probably wouldn’t have been overly anxious about my hairloss had I been on something to begin with. Now I could care less if I go bald. I don’t even know who I am anymore.
I curse the day I bought this stuff… I just want to get better but without improvement in almost a month (in fact, things have got worse) I’ve never been more depressed in my entire life. I’m trying to hang in there but I feel like my life is over and that I permanently ruined myself at the age of 26. It’s so sad because I overcame Paxil after years of use and the withdrawal was hell. Now I self-induced myself with this and each day has become more of a struggle. I’ve been seeing a therapist since last year to avoid medication but now I have no choice after what’s happened to me. I can’t believe 9 days would leave me with such devastating results. I just want my life back. Waking up each morning without an erection makes the day that much harder.
Good luck, hope things work out for you. If you’re really concerned, get bloodwork as outlined on this site. I honestly doubt you will have long lasting side issues from Saw Palmetto, see how you do in a few months and let us know.
These are my thoughts exactly. This has affected me so much physically and mentally.
You mention lack of morning wood- has your free T been checked? This could indicate low figures in that department…I had no morning wood in over a month after quitting fin.
Yes, it’s below range
Testosterone % Free 1.35% (1.50-2.20)
I’m going to a concert tonight and it’s like I could care less, when a month ago I would be very excited about it
My appetite seems to be coming back, but I had the worst bout of brainfog last night when I was trying to type my paper for grad school. It was awful - it took me forever to write and I had to re-read it several times. I barely had any sleep last night. I took Nyquil and I still couldn’t get to bed, and when I finally did it wasn’t restful at all. My heart was racing this morning - it’s like I don’t wake up tired but feel like my body is always wired and not calm. Also getting those wrinkles/bags under the eyes people are reporting.
Definitely noticing a decrease in muscle mass - my shirts aren’t as tight and I had trouble lifting the usual weights at the gym which is depressing. I don’t want all my gains from 6+ years of weight-training to fall apart within a matter of weeks, it’s not fair. The emotional blockage is the worst. It feels like I’m on Paxil x 500000000. I just can’t feel love, happiness, anything…just numbness. It’s just not fair after battling withdrawal from Paxil (took many months) after so many years of use and now I have to deal with this. Also, the lack of motivation/focus is terrible.
I’m going to be seeing Dr Shippen next month since nothing has really improved. The brainfog seems to have diminished a bit but that’s really it. Sleep is still terrible and Ambien isn’t helping that much. The floaters are really annoying and affecting my vision tremendously. I’ll get a nocturnal erection here and there but I’m getting really worried since it’s been over a month since ceasing SP.
The worst part about all this is that I made the decision to avoid Propecia after reading about all the sides and stories, and yet, ironically, I’m one of them. That’s what kills me the most - living with the fact that I self-induced this and thinking that Saw Palmetto was safer. I also made the mistake of not realizing I was using the extract version (aka more potent) and not the berry power until later. How can they sell this dangerous stuff OTC? Oh, and even though I only took it for 9 days, my hair has definitely got thicker and the temples slightly filled in - I could care less of course. I’m just amazed at how many side effects I’ve encountered from less than 2 weeks of use. I’m really worried about the fact that SP inhibits Type 1 and what long-term consequences I’ll face… scares me to death. Probably helps explain the severe depression, sleep, brainfog, depersonalization, etc. My appointment cannot come soon enough.
no offense but I was always under the impression SP doesn’t affect 5AR. So I’m confused to your situation and all. Either way going to shippen should help you and hope everything gets better.
It definitely affects AR (Type I and II)… otherwise I wouldn’t be having all these problems. Now I’m getting severe dandruff and my skin is getting noticeably dryer. The bags under my eyes are getting worse. Nothing seems to be improving, in fact it’s just the opposite. I got up at 4:30am last night and that was after taking Ambien. My body is rapidly deteriorating and it’s so depressing that words cannot describe it.
I don’t sweat as easily (thanks to Type I inhibition) and my scalp lacks any sebum and is dry. My face has wrinkled up and it looks terrible when I smile when just a month ago it looked fine. Also harder to produce tears due to to my eyes being dryer. My hands look like a 70 year old’s when dry. My kidneys, or the area around them, really hurt sometimes especially when I lay in bed. With all the physical and mental problems, I don’t know how much longer I can put it up with this.
Just scheduled myself a sleep study consultation - I used to sleep till noon on the weekends, be able to take naps freely, and just really, really enjoyed sleep…now I can’t wake up later than 7am and cannot get back to bed. Definitely not reaching that deep sleep I used to have and it’s definitely not from anxiety…SP somehow messed up my entire sleeping pattern badly since I haven’t slept well since starting/stopping it. Hopefully the study will give me some answers… the amount of money I’ve spent thus far on doctors thanks to a $5 bottle of Saw Palmetto bought at a supermarket has been staggering btw.
Saw Palmetto is much safer then Fin or Dut because it is a very sight blocker of 5AR.It mainly binds to the receptors site where DHT action should take pleace. That’s why it should not do anything bad to you.
I think that your problem comes mainly from long term anti-depresant abuse.
YOu should go to the doctor specified in gastral disorders. This is what I would do first.
I’m going to have to disagree with you on that one. I was fine off of Paxil when I discontinued it…in fact I felt really, really good once I was off of that stuff after realizing all the side effects it had caused. I do think it caused a permanent decrease in my libido due to so many years of use, but at least I still had some prior to SP. All my symptoms arose/increased when I stopped taking SP.
I’m having a breakdown and cannot tolerate this much longer. It has ruined my life in every facet imaginable and Zoloft isn’t helping (and probably making matters worse with its own set of sexual side effects). I went to bed at 1:30am last night and got up at 4am and was unable to get back to bed. I could barely function at work today. This s**t has literally affected every part of my body and it’s so damn depressing. No one should have to experience this. The wrinkles, muscular atrophy, dry eyes, dry face, ED, insomnia, fatigue, depression, anxiety, brainfog, numb wrinkly veiny genitals, change in body temperature, loss of appetite, constipation, eye floaters, cold hands/feet…the list goes on and on. Now my penis is tilting towards the left…great. My face used to be really oily and youthful and now looks terrible. I’m not getting any erections anymore and I have to really manually stimulate myself to achieve one, and even then it’s not what it used to be (and I was well-endowed too).
Before this crap I had a great body that I worked very hard for. Now my muscle is deteriorating before my eyes and everyone keeps remarking how I’ve lost weight (very noticeable in the face, neck)… and it’s not from depression and it wasn’t intentional. I went to the gym on Saturday and I’m still sore but haven’t notice any increase in mass. I’ve faced depression before but never of this magnitude and it’s incredibly hard to deal with. How am I ever going to be in a relationship like this? My aspirations and goals have all but vanished. The future seems so bleak. It’s affecting my performance at work (how can you work with 3 hours of sleep, lack of motivation, and major depression?). Sorry for ranting, but I’m sure this community understands what I’m going through.
You have no idea how mad I am at myself for buying this crap. I went to the supermarket today where I originally bought it and wouldn’t you know, there was a label where it once stood that said “Discontinued - 50% Off” and was out of stock. The irony of it all. I want to stop beating myself over this but I can’t… this could have been avoided. Hell, I almost returned the stuff before opening it… it was sitting on my desk for days. That’s the worst - knowing how close I was to returning it and instead I end up thinking what the hell. I relive that moment in my head every minute of every day. I mean this stuff honestly feels like it’s more potent than Propecia (especially since it inhibits Type I and II). The reason I never filled the Fin script was because of reading about the side effects and this site, yet I’m still a story on here.
I guess I could blame my anxiety on this. I was anxious about my recent hair loss (which honestly wasn’t even noticeable to anyone else) and led me to doing a bunch of research then buying this stuff - something that’s not even proven for hairloss. I just want my life back - I want to be me again. I had no idea this would happen. Spending $5 on that bottle of SP may have ruined my life at the age of 26. I’m seeing Shippen next month and I want to remain optimistic but I don’t know how much longer I can go on living like this. It’s just too much. The fact that I now hate going to bed since I know I won’t get a goodnight’s sleep says it all. I’m downright terrified to what this stuff did to my brain let alone my body, even moreso about the long-term effects when I get older without a normal amount of DHT/5AR.
I feel your pain as my situation is similar. Are you sure it was the SP and not the AD-meds? I too worked for years on my physique which is now ruined thanks to a crazy weight gain, gyno etc.
Yeah, SP definitely caused all these problems. I was a healthy young guy prior to all of this who was just anxious about some subtle hair loss. Now my life is rapidly falling apart.
Yes, so it seems. But if it helps, my situation has improved significantly in six months and I’m returning to the gym after my gynosurgery and try to get back my life. Won’t lie, suicide is still a daily thought but I’m adjusting somewhat.
All the best!
Edit: connecticutcenterforhealth.c … metto.html according to this it works by a similar method as finasteride.
Hang in there, it aint gonna last 4ever beleive me.
Time is your friend, seems to last 4ever this shit, but it does certainly not
It,s a delicate proces wich needs a long fucking time to heal, but once it does, you will be better, stronger, more intelligent than ever.
Because you,ve had too face shit, not a lot of people had to deal with, in the end you will become.
Accept this shit fucked you up, here its starts, and it only will get better from here on, and yes you will fall back, but this will be less over time, until you become to be who you supposed to be.
God didn,t create the world in one day
You,ve got it within you, have faith and take it easy on yourself dude thats the only way.
Thanks for the support… this has been entirely overwhelming and things keep getting worse instead of better. I just want this nightmare to end and the fact that I read that this maybe permanent/irreversible tears me apart.