Do I have PFS or nocebo?

General Discussion
#1

So, I took saw palmetto extracts for 3 weeks and had some issues with getting erections (no morning erections, couldn’t get aroused etc.), as well as terrible brain fog, memory issues and concentration issues.

It has however subsided greatly. I get erections again, brain fog is almost gone, if not completely gone, however I still have some doubts. I’ve always suffered from overthinking and excessive worrying, and therefore it makes perfect sense that this worry would be the reason for my symptoms. Especially now that they have almost completely subsided. Therefore perhaps excessive worry as well as the impact of lockdown = minor symptoms of PFS.

Please let me know what you all think!

Edit: I’m aware that my adverse reaction is said to have been from Dut. Please ignore that, it was saw palmetto.

#2

It is possible. Nowadays there is much more stuff online about finasteride and sawpalmetto and PFS which is good to get awareness. And the mechanism behind it.

When I took it, it was a year after it came out on the market and my doc only mentioned one side effect that only 1% of men had, so there was no nocebo effect for me. This was before the internet and way before social media!

But for you, you are already dealing with Covid fears + usual worries or even anxiety or ruminating/obsessive thinking. If such behaviors predated covid, and covid made things worse, AND you started reading about how horrible finasteride is, you may have a tendency with your powerful mind to create problems in your mind and even body/mind-body.

What can you do to relax without taking pharma drugs or crazy supplements? What do you do or have you done to reduce worry in your daily life in the past? Do that. Talk to a therapist if you feel it is out of control about what you have been going through–billions of people are in the same boat with Covid fears.

REMEMBER: most people who take fin, SP, etc., have no side effects. Those who do have them go away during or after the usage of the drug. Part of CBT is to recognize awfulizing and other negative thinking patterns that makes you belief that “IT” is gonna happen to “YOU”.

#3

Thanks for this Crossroads. My previous obsessive thinking and worry used to be centred around thinking I would fail university courses, which was completely nonsensical when I would get top marks back. I suppose I also had some sort of health anxiety too i.e. convincing myself that I had testicle cancer etc.

Alongside all this I suppose the lack of things to do under lockdown have accentuated the overthinking 10 fold. I’ll go and seek some therapy.

#4

If you had pfs you would know. You would also know that the crash happens ≈ 6 weeks or so after stopping. Posting before that is pointless.

Unless you’re a troll account, trying to pose as someone with OCD and hypochondriasis. Since that is what most uninformed trolls chalk it up to…

2 Likes
#5

Not a troll I can assure you (though I will happily admit I do have traits of hypochondria). Thanks for reassuring me that it may not be that, and I’m probably just overthinking everything.

Do you know what biomarkers I could find to diagnose it (it would be reassuring to have empirical evidence). For instance, if 5AR-type 1 is compromised, would high progesterone show it?

#6

Crazycalypso just your last comment in the thread verges a bit on fear. Progesterone is a hormone in every human and most animal bodies so why are you thinking about it? And, 5-alpha-reductase types 1 to 3 can and are suppressed by things like fin and saw p–that’s what they do! Which supposedly does something, which prevents something—which is all not so scientific once one digs deeper than what a simple pharma package insert says.

I ask you to reread what I said above. Our minds are powerful and can create problems and nocebo effects that we did not have before----which could be similar to symptoms of PFS! Avoid sites and comments and posts that rev up your anxiety. Pay attention to your body and live life as normally as you can. You said that things subsided greatly, so go with that. If your mind is not going with your improvements that you mention to us, why? What is your mind getting out of focusing on something minor or nonexistent?

#7

I guess I’m just scared. I used to worry a great deal about things before all this happened anyway, so I won’t discount the fact that this could be my anxiety, this time with relation to my health.

If there are any meaningful ways to diagnose PFS I’d like to know, as it would put my mind to rest.

Edit: I should also add, I spoke to a professor in endocrinology who didn’t dispute the idea of PFS, and it was her that told me, after looking at my full hormone panel, that it was extremely unlikely to be PFS.

#8
#9

A professor of endocrinology is not the person who should ever look at your blood or any other test results. He/She is not a clinician, not a practicing doctor. Many people with PFS has normal or near normal blood test levels. Go to the PFS Foundation website, click on Resources, and find a doctor on that list in your country that sees patients with PFS. That is the only way you will get a diagnosis.

There ways to reduce anxiety that do not involve meds–you have to do your own research to help yourself to find methods and techniques to stop the anxiety process. Many people of all ages are worried about their health–and we have a killer pandemic on top of it.