Hey @Exsexgod, I feel your pain and I hope the best for you along with every one else here.
I don’t really respond too much anymore these days, but I do check in almost every other day to keep up to date with discussions. Status update for me, like most others, is I have some good days and I have some bad days. I’m coming on a little over four years now with PFS; so my mind has had some time to accept and adapt to the syndrome. I’ve had many “breakthrough” moments where I thought I’d found a system that really works, but in-large, my symptoms are all still very much there, but HAVE marginally improved. Whether these improvements are simply due to time or the various protocol/supplements, I can’t be sure.
Things that have definitely had a consistent effect:
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A STRICT carnivore diet for a 1-3 months is the one thing where it felt like my body was truly healing, and my erections have maintained a great deal ever since I did this a while ago. When all you’re doing is fueling your body with amino acids from meat, it drastically lowers any inflammation, causes some good weight loss, and gets your body into a state of ketosis for a bit. It definitely gives your body the best opportunity to heal, but there’s no guarantee it will. You certainly “feel” good while on it, but whether this is actually having a genuine healing effect on our symptoms is still somewhat controversial on this forum and elsewhere. I certain had real benefits from it.
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Yoga almost always gets my reward system working again, although only temporarily. It’s really the best stress reliever, but more importantly releases a cascade of neurotransmitters for the parasympathetic nervous system, while also clearing out stressors such as lactic acid, cortisol, etc.
In terms of drugs, almost everything has only had a fleeting/temporary effect; most have done next to nothing. However, I plan on doing the low-dose HCG which does look promising, and has some sound science behind it, but I can’t seem to find a single reliable source for HCG.
Today I am able to have erections (they are about 60% of what they used to be), I have less brain fog, I’m starting to have some feelings here and there again, and I can for the most part get through my day. But of course, these all compare in comparison to how I was pre-finasteride. I still have next to no libido, and my daily motivation is all but shot. I do notice that when I drink alcohol, certain elements turn on again, and its the closest to a return to normal libido I get. There’s clearly something going on with the Gaba/Glutamate/dopamine/serotonin dance in the brain. Of course, one can’t really just drink alcohol all the time.
One thing which is always frustrating to hear is that this forum can cause a ton of additional headaches. It helps to take some time away, and just start accepting your state and moving forward with your life, as hard as it sometimes seems to be. I love everyone here, and have the utmost empathy for what everyone is going through. Having said that, the nature of this syndrome creates a lot of desperation; which leads to a LOT of crazy on this forum. You get people who are grasping for recoveries and develop a stubborn ‘certainty’ about a particular solution or insight. You start to learn how to quickly scan for any recent developments that a few members may have hit on, and quickly discard the rest. I have so much sympathy for everyone here, but I can attest that it’s really easy to get sucked into one element of this syndrome and get latched on to one theory/cure/protocol etc.
You begin to lose the forest for the trees, and before you know it you have a very skewed view of PFS and even how the human body really works. It’s very easy to get sucked into; but alas, there’s really no other way for a group of people like us to go about it. So my recommendation would be to be very discerning with what you choose to believe here.
I wish I had better recommendations for you and others, but as far as I’ve concluded, the best route is to simply start trying different things and see which work for you, and which don’t. My current plan is to get on carnivore again, and then partner with a truly good hormone doctor who can read sensitive blood tests, and work really work with them. It seems the trick here is to start slow, with small doses, and really let things take time. The often-said consensus is that you really don’t now what lasting affect injectable testosterone is truly having on you until after 1 year on it. If anyone else has any tips, always open to hear it.
Anyway, that’s my rant/update - I wish everyone the best!
