Is it too late for me?

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)? United States

  2. 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?) Google search

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? age 26, height 5-10, weight 220 lbs.

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Lift weights 3x a week, run about 2x a week for 40 mins or so.

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Pretty healthy, I juice and eat a lot of veggies, whole grains and healthy proteins.

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? I actually took Saw Palmetto, 1800 a day-__-

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 4months.

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? age 23: June 2010.

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? age 23: October 2010.

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – None, it was Saw Palmetto.

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1800mg a day.

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? I was fine on it, once I stopped I gained 15 lbs in 2 weeks and my body started changing.

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? None

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[X] Weight Gain
[X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[X] Lowered body temperature

[X] Other (please explain) Hands, palms and bottoms of feet aren’t as red as they used to be.

Well here goes: I was 23 and was losing hair fast, so I decided to take Saw Palmetto since it was “Natural”. I took it for 4 months and was fine while on it, but once I stopped all the bad sides started.

I gained a lot of water weight right off the bat, 15 pounds in 2 weeks. I started developing “man boobs” and flaccid penis shrinkage, as well as testicle shrinkage. I DO NOT have problems getting and keeping an erection though. My libido isn’t that high tho, usually it’s kind of random.

The worst side for me though is the severe brain fog, anxiety and depression I get. I just have no motivation for anything, and am fixated on solving my problem. More than 2 years later none of the sides have gotten any better.

I have some blood test results that I will be posting and linking up here. Basically I’m here for a few reasons: To see if anyone can help me with my specific sides, and also possibly trying to find a Dr. in Northern California who has experience with Propecia/fin/saw palmetto users.

Any help here would be extremely appreciated, as I am not super knowledgeable on this subject. Thanks.

#2

*EDIT

Here is a more accurate description of what is going on. My original post was really early and I left a few detailed things out (ughhh I HATE brain fog with a passion!)

Long story short, I took Saw Palmetto for 4 months along with Rogaine from June 2010 to October 2010. Once I got off cold turkey I gained 15 lbs in 2 weeks! DHT in April 2011 measured borderline low, while free T and total T measured low-normal. My body temp had dropped to 97.0-98.0 consistently. Not too much brain fog or sexual sides, just the weight gain and brain fog.

Then from August 2011 to January 2012 I was taking topical RU58841 (not sure how many people are familiar with it, but it’s a strong Anti Androgen that doesn’t inhibit Alpha 5 Reductase). That is where things got worse. I noticed my testicles had shrunk about 25%-35% in volume, grew breast tissue, flaccid penile shrinkage, low libido, feeling cold, not interested in doing anything, anxiety/depressed.

My current Endo has put me on Thyroid meds (Liothyronine) and my Temp is back up to normal, but that is the only plus. My blood work from last month had shown my Total and Free T and borderline low, while my estrogen/E2 (although not the Sensitive Assay) were normal. My SHBG is also low normal. I can still get erections, but I have to kind of rub it to get it going.

So do you think my sides are mostly Low T driven, or originally from the Saw Palmetto/Rogaine usage? I guess my story is pretty complex. I’m worried because my Endo wants to put me on Testosterone/Progesterone cream. Do you think I should just ask for the Progesterone itself, or would the Testosterone help? I just don’t want to make things worse than they already are. I am REALLY interested in this protocol that many users in this thread are currently using.

One last question, would taking the 3alpha-diol G and the Androsterone glucuronide tests be the real way to determine how well I’ll respond to the therapy? Thanks guys.

#3

3 adiol g will merely “help” determine if you have pfs. It is a marker for androgenic activity. Nearly everyone here has very low often times below range low 3adiolg.

#4

That’s basically what I was looking for, if that test clearly determines that is the cause of why I’m feeling like this.

Because my endo wants to start me on topical Test/Progesterone in a few weeks, and I just don’t want to make my sides worse that they already are.

My sides became ALOT worse after the RU (Anti-Androgen) usage, so I’m wondering if these sides are more driven from that, or originally from the Saw Palmetto usage. Ugh life sucks

#5

I don’t know about RU but I can say 100% your sides are from Saw Palmetto. I am an example here. I took nothing before SP. Took SP softgel caps for 5 - 6 months and stopped once I felt weakness and weightloss. Got better for few days and then worse and worse. Now four years after I can say I have not made any improvement. I am still at the same point where I was. I have started getting swelling in my legs (I think this is water retension). I can not stand on me feet more than one or two hours.

#6

Spstriken it sounds like you were affected a lot worse than myself. I do have some weight gain and water retention, but in the fatty areas like a woman would get. And I still have enough energy to make it to the gym several times a week to lift weights and play basketball. But the worst is the mental clarity, and my memory is in complete shambles. My body temperature was in the low 97’s until my endo put me on thyroid meds 2x a day, and now its back up to normal (even though I still feel cold 95% of the time), but no other sides have gone away. I think I may have damaged my Pituitary/Hypothalamus glands with saw palmetto.

What treatments have you tried so far, and any luck with sides during these treatments? What are all of your side effects exactly?

My endo wants to put me on topical testosterone/progesterone in a few weeks, but I’m afraid of making my sides worse. There are some naturopathic supplemesnts that support Pituitary/Hypothalamus function, I might try those.

#7

I don’t know if hypthalamus/Pitutary are broken but there are few who were on TEstosterone replacement therapy anyway for years befrore starting SP/FIn and yet they suffer like any body else. Yes now their T injection don’t work any more. Body has no response. Some tried TRT but got benefits for short time and then they are back to square one.

#8

Did your side effects get progressively worse, and are they still getting worse? Or basically did they just get bad after the “crash”?

What treatments have you tried thus far? Just trying to gather some info from the fellow Saw Palmetto sufferers…

#9

I have been taking Vit D3 only. I think I have not improved. As long as there is good level of VitD I am fine, if stop it I will get to point zero again. No recovery at all. Feel something has broken permanently.