Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.
Where are you from (country)?
Poland
How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)
Searched “can astaxanthin cause gyno?”
What is your current age, height, weight?
16, 178cm (5’10) 72kg (160lbs)
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Astaxanthin, saw palmetto (but I only took it a few weeks before that in a multivitamin so the dosage was 60mg and I doubt it was that)
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
16-24mg
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Concussion from boxing
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
14 days
Date when you started the drug?
Somewhere in the half of the summer holidays
Date when you quit the drug?
Latter half of the summer break
Age when you quit?
16
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
10 days
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.
Sexual
[ X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[X ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[X ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ X] Confusion
[X ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[X ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ]X Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X ] Testicular Pain
[ X] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[X ] Muscle Wastage (strength came back but I’m still 10kg down in weight)
[X ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[X ] Prostate pain
[ X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X ] Other (please explain)
My urination frequency has decreased, nausea, flaking psoriasis-like rash on foreskin, food intolerances
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
None
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?
I don’t have the results of blood tests but I remember my progesterone being twice above the range 2 weeks post crash when I got my blood tested
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Somewhere I may I had gotten a concussion while sparring, It started getting better but at the beginning of summer break I got into a fight and reignited my concussion symptoms. Over the next months they had gone away, but I was worried about the lasting damages of the hit to the head, as an MRI had shown a blood clot. I read on the internet that astaxanthin lowers neuroinflamation and is protective of the brain, so I started taking it alongside choline as a measure to recover from brain damage. 12 days into my usage I had a stabbing pain in my liver and kidneys that woke me up at night (worth to mention that I was consuming a lot of grapefruit juice with the astaxanthin pills) and in the morning I had flu-like brain fog, I thought that I was just sick and decided to wait it out. Next day I had awful nipple sensitivity, to the point that I couldn’t put on a shirt, I read that astaxanthin is a 5ARI and quit taking it, the side effects resolved over the next 4 days, and I thought that I was fine, but after 5 days of feeling good everything came back and for the past 4 months I have been fluctuating (feeling awful for 5days and good for 2) I had one 2 week window of recovery, but after that I lost my appetite permanently, and only thing that fluctuates is libido (for past month seems to be stable and about 70% recovered)
I don’t know what to do, and I’m really scared that I’ve ruined my life. Today I woke up with a dent on the side of my head and I don’t know if I’m just paranoid, or that I am starting to experience tissue loss
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance:
- Dosage:
- How often you took it:
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]