Yes - bloating, weight gain, rumbling stomach and gas all since crashing and none of any note beforehand. The last two only seem to occur in the morning or around the house thankfully, I noticed magnesium helped these annoying rumblings. Also on and off constipation.
I’ve read these gastrointestinal type problems are another symptom of androgen deprivation and/or estrogen dominance, so no surprise really.
Yeah no surprise that when my test levels were sky high (off the normal limits) my stools formed just fine, the body temp and all correlated. Now that my test levels are lower and body temp lower I have constipation. It’s all connected… what kind of magnesium are you taking and how much?
I had an itchy A-hole for awhile. There would be blood -little dots- on TP when I wiped. This has cleared up though. I notice my stools are different color since crash and also star shaped as if there is pressure on them causing them to be flattened.
None before. None after.
I have a theory. Most of your serotonin receptors are in your gut, not your brain. Your intestines are really your second brain. Methinks fin altered brain chemistry system wide, which is why so many of us have anxiety/depression issues with IBS. I’ve found a high fat/protein and low carb diet reduces these symptoms. Antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds also help. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to improve my gut and mental health. In the past few weeks I’ve added more minerals to my diet (notably zinc). I also upped my antidepressant a bit. Something clicked. I’m finally feeling some relief.
If you haven’t, I’d check out diaphragmatic breathing techniques. These can release a lot of the pressure you may be feeling around your abdomen.
No digestive issues at all prior to finasteride. I used to drink milk and eat what I wanted with no problems whatsoever. Never had lactose intolerance in my life before using finasteride. Now my digestive issues include:
Lactose intolerance. The smallest amount of milk will cause diarrhoea
Bloating, really bad bloating
Positive stool candida and bacteria
blood in the stool happened few times
persistent inflammation of the sigmoid colon
No prior.
Now:
Bloating, Constipation, hemmroids, alcohol intolerance, fluid retention, watery stools. Gets really bad if I eat a greasy meal… Best when I stick to salads, fish and chicken with a moderate amount of fiber.
Methylation Inhibited by Candida’s Toxin
mthfr.net/methylation-inhibited- … 012/09/08/
A connection to brain fog, fatigue?
can someone update this thread ? what did you guys do to stop side effects like that ?
[quote=“genetix2”]
No digestive issues at all prior to finasteride. I used to drink milk and eat what I wanted with no problems whatsoever. Never had lactose intolerance in my life before using finasteride. Now my digestive issues include:
Lactose intolerance. The smallest amount of milk will cause diarrhoea
Bloating, really bad bloating
Positive stool and bacteria
blood in the stool happened few times
persistent inflammation of the sigmoid colon[/quote
I know this is an old thread but if you are still around could you please say why you believe you have inflammation of the sigmoid colon? Was this confirmed via a Colonoscopy ?
Only minor issues before
my gut was the first thing to get messed up. Even before I crashed it got bad. Constant bloating, gas, wierd noises. I managed to calm it down through a strict diet and iberogast. Taking garlic before bed really helps with evacuation as well
Unfortunately I ate too much the other night and feel like I’m back to square one. Had a terrible crash and my gut is going crazy again.
I’m a bit late to the party here. Thanks for posting; IMHO this absolutely needs to be focused on.
I have been struggling with PFS for over four years, but it seems the PFS symptoms are just a part of it. I’ve experienced a severly inflamed bowel these years, especially reacting to (over)exercising, sugar/fructose, gluten, light carbs and stress, last but not least). The inflammation in the bowel has lead to prostatitis and very frequent bowel movements with loose stool and it seems that the prostatitis lead to the penile and scrotum pain I have experienced. Although, some of the pain can be plain PFS symptoms too, I don’t really now. I will know more in a short time. There is a nearly 100% certainty that my bowel problems stem from fin/quitting fin since it came immediately after I crashed post-fin.
I have taken probiotics, magnesium, anti-candida supps (GSE and SF722), l-glutamine, citrulline malate, CoQ10, Saccharomyces Boulardii as well as lactoferrin and all of them have made a difference and at times been very effective, but have not cured anything. This summer I started noticing muscle wastage and weight loss and being hungry all the time. I thought this had to be some kind of malabsorption.
I decided to try Betaine HCL and it seems to have made a somewhat breakthrough for me. I have used it for some weeks and I’m a completely different person. A lot of my personality has come back and I feel emotions and I enjoy a stable bowel/gut. So it seems Finasteride severly damaged/lowered my stomach acid production. And now you can say “really, haven’t you tried HCL in 4 years?”. And my answer is sadly enough no, because I was so fogged and scared and mentally reduced that I didn’t think about it. I probably should have gone to a gastro specialist a long time ago, but as we know, that’s no guarantee for getting the right advice either. It was the malabsorption signs that led me to try it.
I’m on a rather clean diet now. Not low carb…I eat mostly quinoa, gluten free bread and potato as carb sources. Apart from that it’s clean, mostly non-processed and home made. I don’t feel much discomfort after eating anymore. It was quite extreme before, though, and it happened minutes after ingestion.
I will be back with a proper write up whenever I have felt more or less recovered for a very long time. I still have penile sensitivity and libido issues but Nitric oxide is actually able to fix a lot of this. It’s like testo/DHT just comes online again and I find it strange. However, it’s way too early to say anything about this combo since it feels I’ve just started my journey. Before HCL it was “try anything, get some good/decent reaction and then fall down again in a matter of days or weeks”. It was like PFS in my case was something auto-immune, but now it seems not. I can also mention that my sleep has become extremely good after HCL supplementation. I actually sleep less and achieve the same rest than before fin!
As a side note I can say that too much magnesium, l-glutamine or NO can make me anhedonic. I still take 200 mg magnesium a day but I’ve quit l-glutamine since I don’t need it anymore now that I take HCL. Magnesium still works as a protective barrier against over excercising. I might be able to quit that too when the absorption hopefully recovers fully.
Today I take HCL (4 x 650 mg seems to suit me, taken during dinner), Saccharomyces Boulardii, Garden of Life Primal Defense, Lactoferrin and 200mg magnesium and that’s it. For libido and erections I take CoQ10, but I’m hesitant to even mention it since I haven’t tried it for long this time. I tried it before, but then my stomach acid was way off and it gave several uncharming side effects.
In the meantime, I wish the best for you all, my fellow sufferers!
How are you holding up? My digestion is pretty messed up. When I crashed, I went from having constipation to chronic loose stools. Still an ongoing battle…
Any progress for you guys? I had a colonoscopy but nothing major was found. I’m still bloated & constipated pretty frequently.
Hey brother, I too had a colonoscopy but nothing of significance was found. I do have less iBS related pains and I’ve developed intolerance to digesting meat, spinach, and most breads/oats. My stools are still soft and range from yellowish colored to brown with undigested food fragments. Most doctors don’t have a solution and one suggested an “autoimmune response” but labs don’t support anything autoimmune in nature. My guess is poor microbiology in the gut.
Anyone else here try Betaine HCl and see improvements? @MatchaTea @09eric09 @viking87 @basementdweller
I use now brand “super enzymes” which contain betaine, but also ox bile in them. I only use it as needed when digestion problems flare up, and it does seem to help with the gas and bloating.
I take a lot of ginger as well, which is definitely helpful
Thanks for getting back to me! Does any of that help with non-digestion related symptoms?
when my gut is feeling good, everything improves, so indirectly yes
hey man, any updates?
I’m using that same brand on digestive enzymes and trying to figure out how many to take- just 1 with dinner doesn’t seem to help all that much. also taking some gut health stuff and probiotics.
How are you these days? Did you ever figure out a regiment/diet that helped a lot?