It might be important to carefully to what Jacob’s office and Shippen’s office are saying. They are saying that they have been able to >help< , not cure, the symptoms of this syndrome. I believe Shippen claims to have helped three out of four sufferers on average.
Understand that this >help< might be some easing of impotence, some easing of brainfog, raising libido levels above absolute zero, return of morning erections, minimizing adrenal exhaustion symptoms, etc. etc. These are all good things for us, but having visited some of the doctors listed on this site, and a couple of field leading experts not or rarely mentioned on this site, do not expect to be cured.
One also has to be careful of the “rising testosterone level effect”, see the thread awor started on this. Many of use have felt ~ 80% cured during the weeks in which our T levels were steadily rising, either from clomiphene, or T shots, or T gels, only to find that a saturation limit of sorts is reached, where after relief of symptoms is only in the neighborhood of 40% or less. Certain doctors that are new at this may think they have found a long term therapy (due to having lots of patients on the rising rate portion of the slope), only to watch as the therapy’s effects wear off or lessen later. The key here might be what free, or loosely bound, T levels are doing, as opposed to total serum levels.
That said, I think the very last thing to try are testosterone shots, particularly at the dosages some are using. A better order of things to try for a “typical” PFS case (w/secondary hypogonadism serum T, & LH levels, and many of the standard symptoms) would be clomiphene, then hCG, then Arimidex at >very< low doses (possibly in conjunction with one or both of the previous ones), then topical testosterone (realize that after 12 to 18 months these later routes may become a lifelong commitment as your testicles atrophy), then injections. And if injecting, consider once a week T shots along with hCG shots later in the week, to prevent testicular atrophy. These are personal opinions only, formed after several years of study on secondary hypogonadism treatments, and two years researching PFS; I am not a doctor and use any of this information only under the care of a doctor that has experience in these matters, and only at your own risk (particularly where Arimidex or other estradiol inhibitors are concerned).
Trust me, going from intercourse once every four to six months, to two or three times a month, makes a big difference in quality of life. Being able to run a mile without stopping, and without that workout being followed by manyl days of utter exhaustion, having morning wood again, having less anxiety: these are all good things. But it takes lots of periodic blood testing, frequent tweaking of dosages, addition of the right kinds of supplements, and a carefully thought out exercise regimen, to name just a few. And libido, ejaculate volume issues, as well as anorgasmia and reduced sensitivity, seem to be the toughest symptoms to get much relief from.
The next frontier will be very, very careful attention to diet. Look for a couple of new threads on this topic early next year.
kazman
