I started 2 days ago.
One thing i have noticed is that my mind feels lighter and less burdened that it used to. Its early days yet and i don’t want to jump to any conclusions. I have a bit more energy but not much and it hasn’t touched my sexual function so far.
It does give me a bit of a headache too a times. I need to up the amount i’m taking but my stomach can’t handle it. Maybe i should get a blender.
19
on a side note why do you have to log on to see the theories section?
I’m glad it’s starting to have a positive effect on you! Hopefully your improvements will keep coming.
You may want to look into getting a juicer, as a blender won’t reduce the amount you’d have to eat. A masticating juicer would probably be best suited for spinach, as it’s not really the juiciest vegetable around. I think if the machine is capable of juicing “wheatgrass”, it should be able to handle spinach no problem.
Also a side note: After eating a bunch of spinach, you should rinse your mouth out before brushing your teeth. Spinach will leave behind a gritty residue on your teeth, and brushing them with grit on them is abrasive to your enamel.
tryingnottoworry, today was a good day for you? I’m going to keep at it, I have a wheatgrass juicer I’m going to try using and see if that makes it any easier. I’m a bit disappointed that I haven’t seen the gains you have seen, but maybe I just need to be more patient.
Just wondering if possibly the iron in the spinach might be helping…
Also kidney stones might be an issue for long term users…
Also why not take some gingko biloba since it also has the dolichol?
Hope to try this soon. I’ll be shitting Vulcan green but if it’s gonna get my libido back, it’ll be worth it.
Yes, but please don’t feel stressed if you’re not responding the same way to the treatment as I did. Our bodies are all different and most likely in different states of disrepair. Hopefully with time or maybe an adjusted dosage you’ll start to feel better (but don’t go overboard with anything yet, it’s still super-early). I’ll be praying for you.
Probably not. Dolichol deprivation has a direct connection to the actions of finasteride, and a direct consequence to your body which encapsulates all of our symptoms. As far as I know, iron does not share the same connection. Plus raw spinach has substantially less iron than cooked spinach, and it also naturally inhibits iron absorption.
Probably not. Unless you’re prone to forming calcium oxalate kidney stones, consumption of spinach wouldn’t increase your risk of kidney stones. People who ARE prone that specific kidney stone formation would also have to avoid rhubarb, beets, swiss chard, wheat germ, soybean crackers, peanuts, okra, chocolate, black Indian tea, sweet potatoes, grits, grapes, celery, green pepper, red raspberries, fruit cake, strawberries, marmalade, and liver.
If you’re referring to eating raw leaves from a ginkgo tree, you could certainly get your dolichol from there instead. If you’re referring to taking the ginkgo extract you’d buy at a vitamin store, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t contain any dolichol.
I’m feeling completely normal now. No genital numbness, no erectile dysfunction, no loss of libido, no loss of energy, no muscle weakness, no testicle pain, no cognitive impairment, just normal. I feel like I don’t have PFS anymore. I’m praying everyone recovers too, and I’m praying this lasts.
Hey TNTW, thanks for addressing all my questions and concerns.
I’m SO pleased with your progress and I pray it continues.
It definitely provides hope to us.
I am still hoping to see if I can get the Dolichol in Pill form from the pharm company. I will start this as soon as I finish my PCT I’m on now.
just to let you know my stomach is not agreeing with the spinach so have had to have a day off it.
That’s some ridicilous progress TNTW. Congratulations dude! If it lasts then please don’t drop this forum right away, i’d like to search and discuss possible treatments to finasteride in the future with you too.
What do you mean with the last part, “naturally inhibits iron absorption”? Because you know, Iron MIGHT be a pretty important factor for some of us. I don’t know by how much and to whom this affects but iron deficiency is a HUGE factor for hypothyroidism/thyroid malfunction - and a lot of hypothyroid patients are in general iron/ferritin deficient. We at this point already know how important thyroid-adrenal axis might be in regards to our condition.
TNNTW, Read about this from STTM: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ferritin/. Please study it.
In your case, it really might be the case that dolichol was your reliever since fixing ferritin/iron deficiency takes a lot of time… how much iron should your daily dosage of spinach possess?
I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe try with a lesser dosage at first and increase to a point that you can digest? Or consider a short trial with dolichol medicine first to see how much dolichol itself helps you versus the other minerals in spinach?
I think blending it is the easiest option. I personally have been adding spinach to my health shakes on and off for the past couple of years, before any of this fin crap.
Now im going to make sure i add it consistently.
I find as long as you add anything sweet to the shake, you cant even taste the spinach. A banana for example will do it.
I have a health shake for breakfast, and one before bed, consisting of an egg, banana, milk, pea protein isolate, spirulina, maca, cacao, coconut oil, psyllum husk, sometimes bee pollen, and spinach leaves. Tastes bloody delicious, and has to be pretty good for you, and is very filling. Ive been on these for about 2 years.
So is there a particular type of spinach which is best? I have been buying packs of baby spinach leaves. But i also used to use silverbeet leaves…
Also, can things like milk or egg for example hinder the absorbtion of other minerals/nutrients??
I think you have to eat quite a lot of spinach to get a sufficient dose of dolichol (he’s on 170g) so bits and pieces here and there may not help all that much. Will try to start again tomorrow.
Blender is a good idea - i think if i were to mix it with other things it would be a good idea but other things might affect its absorption. I think its the chewing and digesting of it that my body doesn’t agree with. Also I need to eat more in general.
170g for me for several days now, but still no results. I’m not sure how long I should stay with something before I give it up. Maybe 2-3 weeks?
Here is an image of the bag I am using. Baby spinach, just like tntw
from the school of the obvious which i didnt attend:
dont try to juice the spinach. u’ll lose most of the spinach and get very little juice.
as stated above, a blender would be better.
I think people really need to stick with anything for at least 2 months minimum before deciding whether something is or isnt working.
I mean look how long it took many of us to see side effects from fin for example… for me about 2 years.
The body needs time to adjust, and everyone is different. I think the results from TNTW are pretty extreme so i wouldnt base you own ‘recovery’ on a similar timeframe to his, otherwise you’re probably just going to get depressed if it doesnt happen as fast as it has for him.
So dont think because something isnt working after 2 weeks that its not going to work, you really gotta put a bit more effort in than that. Stick with it.
If you cant handle all that spinach, switch it up a bit, try different salad dressings, add some tasty things like sundried tomatoes, fetta, avocado to your salad. Blend it with other fruits etc. Trust me its pretty simple and will taste good.
Besides if this isnt a cure, at least know you are adding one of the healthiest types of food to your body and your body will thank you for it.
19 - please keep us posted on your progress (and sorry for the temporary hiatus- hope you feel better soon). One recovery is extremely wonderful news but two (at least improvements) would be unbelievably encouraging.
Boston- are you still doing this? Any update?
I need to get a blender and give this a go. Cannot come up with a down side, which is pretty much a best case scenario in terms of self-testing…
Although I’ve only had two days on it I swear there is something different about me. I just in moments feel happier as if a burden is lifted. I haven’t had that for a long long time. I’ve a long way to go though. fingers crossed!
Its curious tntw was someone who had problems only after a few days and I only took fin for a month. Maybe us short term users have something else in common.
Will keep you informed. It is a chore eating this but will do anything.
If it fails at least our problem is hitting the scientific world. I offered to help write the next paper for one of the docs but he said he already had medical students helping him but thanked me for the offer. I am a medical student and with the right supervisor I am actually allowed to publish things. Just finding a supervisor is hard and having the time on top of medical studies is no easy task.
That’s really fucking cool dude, i hope you find energy in your life between pfs, med studies and (hopefully) supervisor. Don’t beat yourself about it though. I swear though, after studying so much about nutritions, hormones and welfare/health stuff i’m genuively interested if i could have a chance as a doctor. Too bad it’s really hard to get into med studies here in Finland, the entry exam is ridicilously hard.
Hey 
I also used fin for a month.
I definitely agree with Mikey that these kinds of treatments - no matter the immediate results - have to be done for a long time even if there aren’t visible results with it. Like with drugs, you don’t drop them after couple of days if it makes you “feel bad” or “doesn’t seem to work” (this happens a lot intially with armour thyroid/cortisol). It might fix some hormonal balance in your body but eg. there are other overlaying issues adrenals or thyroid that keep the symptons going on.
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Sorry, got wordy and this is unrelated so i’ll get back to the topic.
To my suprise my parents bought spinach today! It’s spanish spinach (not baby spinach but i doubt that would affect this). I already blendered and ate about 170 grams of it. I weighted it of course. Didn’t taste much like anything, was like eating grass with a very mild aftertaste. The sticky residue in teeth is nasty like the op described.
Hey, i’ll try to stick on this amount every day for about a week before updating if that is fine with you guys.
Interesting read on this stuff:
Also, i was looking into a potential dolichol supplement but it would appear there is no such thing. Pity!
Interesting read, Colin, and that certainly supports 19’s commentary of an improved mental condition and happiness. It’s a bummer that you can’t get it in supplement form, but blending spinach doesn’t seem too, too bad.
blending it? as in sticking it in a smoothie maker?? what would you mix it with?