Dr. Jacobs' latest blog post: report on 300 PFS patients

(If this isn’t the correct place for this thread kindly move it where it is more appropriate…)

Clinical Experience in the Evaluation and Treatment of 300 Cases of Post Finasteride Syndrome

blog.alanjacobsmd.com/alan-jacobs-mds-blog/

wow, so incidently 10% of the people you saw…who ALL did take finasteride and presumambly had some other reason for the HH condition such as a benign or small pituatary tumor blocking production of LH and FSH. Such bullshit. He thought I had cushings syndrome unrealated to the finasteride. Meanwhile, cushings (as confirmed by many endos) is extrememly rare!! I knew I didnt have it but he was convinced. After it was rulled out, he explained my high cortisol levels due to “Stress or anxiety” I have not heard of one person feeling great from raising testosterone and controling estradiol.

he was also SHOCKED when he saw my thin legs…said I was fine. I also said I had a tremor after my final pill and he said…its probably nerves. His whole blog is devoted to only SEXUAL symptoms and nothing about physical symptoms.

And all I have to say about the below quote is WOW…its unclear to you whether it was finasteride or our emotional brains? Yes I was loving life, took the pill for 9 years feeling great, stop taking it, my legs shrunk, face got red, wrists shrunk, lost collageen in my hips, lower legs, wrists, eyes, had green fecies, pelvic pain,brain fog…maybe I and the rest of the men on this site are just too emotional.

“In this situation it was unclear whether the finasteride, their emotional brains, or both were impeding these guys’ ability to get better”

This is honestly disappointing. While I am quite sure that anxiety control is a key for getting cured, he doesn’t appear to take into account that finasteride has the potential to induce and extremely worsen psychiatric conditions. While I was using fin I was not even aware of a single side effect from it, but my life was getting everyday worse, and I couldn’t withstand just the minor stress. I used 7-8 alarm clocks in the morining to wake up but I used to silence them automatically and when i had wake up, I didn’t even remember I silenced them. I usually couldn’t even understand a sentence because in the time I read it, I forgot what the hell I read before. That drug messes with the nervous system, and no you don’t get back to normal when you withdraw it, unless you work hard on it. Honestly I hope my bud is of the same idea.

In any case the fact that someone had mood problems or similar in the past doesn’t mean that you buddy shrinks into yourself. No, not until you try drugs to cure any of your conditions.

yes Tab I agree, he adds absolutely zero to any clinical advancement of finding a cause or treatment. Perhaps he himself is even missing the boat here when he writes that some patients responded well to anti-anxiety/depression. Perhaps this approach of using anti-anxiety (or anti depressants) is not just “taking the edge off” for us emotional guys but doing something neuologically or involving neuro-transmitters…if so talk about that in some depth. Nope its high doses of testosterone and some relaxation.

He prescribes me klonopin for the anxiety, I use it from time to time as benzo’s can cause addiction and withdrawl. Doesn’t help anything besides chill me out abit and helps with racing thoughts somewhat (this scatter brained feeling I have sometimes from PFS).

He thought I had cushings too Fina… I knew I didn’t.

PFS is just as much a disease that effects the brain and nervous system as one that effects the reproductive system. And its sad that not more attention is paid to the mental side effects because these are what are really ruining a lot of us.

I should call him out on this and ask him to introduce me to one person who he has helped. Now HIPPA laws permit him from revealing that information, but I could tell him to ask the patients if they mind speaking with me.

Each and every one of these ‘PFS docs’ is a scam artist who values their own wallet above our health concerns, with the possible exception of Shippen who does at least seem to be honest with victims. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the efforts of guys here who have seen them, tried stuff and reported back and added some experience to the database.

The guy is clearly lying about his success rate. I noticed this in a member story recently where a guy who was his patient said he told him most guys were responding well to treatment. Yet 90% at least of the guys on here who have seen him tell a different story.

I think there could be a role with stress inducing finasteride sides and possibly PFS too, but not in the way he describes it - that guys have just freaked out and made themselves worse. It doesn’t work like that as anyone who has been a regular reader of member stories on here can see.

Let’s bin this term ‘PFS doc’ from now on. I’m pleased they don’t seem to be referred to on this site anymore as the place to go. Let’s stop people unqualified to deal with this making fortunes from our misery and donate it to the PFS foundation instead.

(That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the efforts of guys here who have seen them, tried things, sometimes experimental, and reported back and added some experience to the database).

Well, cross him off the list. He might deal with the brain, but has zero psychological insight, like most M.D.'s. Despair reduces one’s T to that of a 110 year old ?

wow, the more I read his blog the more pissed off I am getting. I need to calm down.

stress or even a pituitary issue would not cause your genitals to shrink to a microscopic size overnight, become completely numb, take on a very rubbery and uncomfortable texture blah blah blah blah … it is a load of shit … am i wrong here? i have NEVER heard of ANYTHING that can cause symptoms as severe as ours OVERNIGHT

I’m also a bit perplexed at the tone and explanations he has given in his latest piece. Granted some users may have psychological issues which they are blaming on Finasteride, but the drug does have a real, longterm impact on some men in a variety of areas – ie, the “pure” PFS men.

I am not an MD but from what I understand one cannot reduce their testosterone levels via thinking alone. Therefore I’m a little confused on his stance on that matter… regardless, his awareness initiatives are appreciated.

He has posted about testosterone resistance and PFS before. I always considered him one of the better PFS-docs.

Unfortunately there seems to be many more depressed people than people with actual PFS around.

Someone with neuropathy test results should see him.

Maybe Merck have gotten to him.

Tim I was JUST thinking that…something happened in these last months and made him change his opinion. " merck " maybe money?death threats? Seriously coming from those fuckers and from big pharma I wouldnt doubt it for a second.

part of my job is to pick jurors for trial. I am unbelievable at breaking down people in analyzing every gesture, breath, eye movement, hesitation, uncomfortable change in tone of voice etc. From the first moment I met him, when he claimed he never heard of physical symptoms I was describing I never trusted him. He dismissed this very web site as simply a “selection bias” of people who did not get better. When I pressed him about his actual success with treatment, he responded “well most men I dont hear back from so I assume they never needed treatment again”

Mew, I agree he has helped in the adavancement of putting PFS on the radar of awareness.

You would think after 300+ customers, average of $600 a visit. so over $180,000 in revenue, he would give back to this very site that has afforded him most of this business.

I cant let this go, and I am not sure if it’s because I am one of the people that paid the $600 or if its the fact that as we desperately wait for qualitifed doctors to come forward with answers this piece of crap blog comes out and sort of reverts us back to the dark ages of times gone past.

I am sorry, I feel he owes us more than this. He owes some explanation of what his theory is or at the very least to start thinking more about some theories could possibly explain our symptoms which according to him “he has never heard of” He has made a boat load of money off this site, and even exposure on NBC news (which incidently he didnt have one intelligent thought as to what might be happening)

So I am going to review some law and see if there is a cause of action against a doctor who holds himself out to treat a condition which (1) he may not know the underlying cause and (2) continues to treat patients even though he knowingly is aware that there is no protocol treatment or has never had a succesful treatment. (3) and if not (1) and (2), whether he has a duty to tell the prospective patient before treatment/visit that he does not have any real succesful protocol of treatment.

I would settle for a roundtable discussion with him so that he can become more “aware” of the symptoms he holds himself out to treat.

I would be incredibly surprised if he has cured anyone. After speaking with Dr. Goldstein, I get the feeling all these PFS experts are the same. They’re no different from regular doctors who have no idea what’s going on. They’ve just seen a huge number of PFS patients and have a few drugs to throw at everyone and see what sticks. Maybe it improves your situation a little bit, but you’ll never be cured. More and more it seems like once you have PFS, you either get lucky and recover naturally or you don’t. All you can do it try to be as healthy as possible and hope that speeds up the process.

the only person/ group that is truly loyal to our cause is the PFS foundation … other than them, i really do not think we can trust any of these people

who knows, maybe merck did tell him he was a dead man if he got out of line … it is already a known fact that they threatened doctors who opposed vioxx

i am truly thinking that if we can all come together and have a massive protest outside of their headquarters, just like secondammendment so boldly did, we should just say fuck it and do it … as bob dylan says “when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose”

we need to take a stand, but it will only work if we can count on each other

While I appreciate the effort, I doubt the PFS foundation is ever going to produce a cure. Probably every few years they’ll be like “our research shows this thing might be involved,” wait a few more years, repeat.