Issues after 5 saw palmetto pills

Member Stories
#1

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)? Canada

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

What is your current age, height, weight? 46, 5,4, 142

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?saw palmetto capsules

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 160mg/day

What condition was being treated with the drug? BPH

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 5 days

Date when you started the drug? October 11, 2025

Date when you quit the drug? October 16, 2025

Age when you quit? 46

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

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? 2 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
[x ] Complete Impotence
[x ] Loss of Morning Erections
[x ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[x ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] 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
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[x ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] 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

[ ] Other (please explain)

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)? Still waiting for results.

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.

I started having difficulty urinating and remembered that saw palmetto can help with that. So I purchased a bottle of saw palmetto at my local pharmacy (stupid mistake). The bottle labelling was strange because it said 1600mg raw herb but the ingredients says 160mg of serenoa repens. After the 2nd day of taking it, I had a dry mouth and noticed my libido was already off. After 5 days, I noticed I could not get any erection so I stopped taking the supplement immediately. After I stopped, my genitals started to shrink and felt numb. This latest for 10 days. After 10 days, I had strong libido and I was able to get a strong erection and had no issues sexually. But then I started to have lower back pain, difficulty sitting, prostate spams, more numbing in the genitals.
I started pelvic floor physiotherapy but it doesn’t seem to help.
I am now a month off the supplement, I have zero libido and I am impotent.
I had really bad insomnia and anxiety because of this. But I am taking magnesium with melatonin to relax and can get 4 hours of sleep.
I went to the ER and the doctor did not even know what that herb is. They gave me a antibiotic called Cipro for the prostate but I am afraid to take it since it can also cause very bad side effects.

I guess the reason I am here is to get some tips on what I should do at this point?
I can’t believe that those supplements are unregulated and have no warnings on them.
This is seriously frightening for me and feel like my life is over.
Thank you for reading my post.

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    • Dosage:
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  2. Status
    • Still using [ ]
    • Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
    • Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
  3. Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
  4. Response when you started:
    • Greatly improved [ ]
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    • Stayed the same [ ]
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  5. Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
    • Greatly improved [ ]
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  6. Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
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#2

A little update:
I decided not to take the antibiotics and just continue to do stretches instead and PT exercises.
I had nocturnal erections last night. But very weak.
I woke up with a sense of panic during the night and woke up with very bad dry mouth.
I did cardio exercise during the morning and it seemed to increase my libido a little but I still can’t stimulate myself to get an erection.
This saw palmetto messed me up real bad. I had perfect health before ingesting this poison.
This sucks but I have to try to stay positive.

1 Like
#3

I think I now have to accept the fact that I am an asexual person. Usually after so many days of abstinence I would be so horny but it’s dead down there.

I’ve heard that it’s like going back to having a 9 year old male body.

I’m so angry right now. Angry at the company and the government to allow companies to sell the product unregulated and angry at myself.

Anyone have the same experience?

#4

I had extreme asexuality when I crashed off finasteride. As time went on my libido came back to some extent but I’m tactical nuclearized by other sexual and neurological symptoms.

Saw P is sadly a 5 alpha reductase inhibitor/DHT blocker like finasteride. I understand the situation is devastating but it’s very good you’re not emotional blunted or anhedonic. It makes the situation 100% worse.

#5

I am not emotionally blunted but I have panic attacks. I can hardly sleep.
Losing my sexuality has traumatised me. Now when I take a shower I don’t even want to see my man parts.
I just can’t seem to relax and focus on anything else. I can feel the high cortisol in my body.
My wife is helping me through this but I try to hide it from my son.

Today is a shitty day. I talked to some doctors but they just push pills. They don’t care and don’t know anything about SP side effects.

#6

That’s good you have a caring wife and I understand sexually I’m destroyed as well.

#7

This morning I woke up with a sense of doom and I am shaking.
It’s hard to explain but I have a feeling that this is permanent. I feel that the brain connection to my genitals is forever gone.
I read posts of young men that are motivated and do weight lifting 3 times a week but I just don’t have the motivation to do this since I’m a bit older.
I went to the public pool yesterday. I watched people swimming but got depressed and left.
I look at men smiling and know that we are different and that I will never be the same.
I am crushed.

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#8

Update:
I started going to the gym. Hopefully it helps.
I still feel tightness in the perineal region and get spasms and a bit of pain at night so I do stretches.
Sleep and anxiety is still bad.
I am still able to get an erection but with a lot of difficulty but now the issue is that I am unable to get an orgasm even though I am aroused and it’s driving me mad.

#9

I’ve seen a lot of people saying that exercise has been helpful for them. It sounds like you’re doing good things for yourself with that and stretching.
It seems things are still fluctuating for you as you can now get an erection when you couldn’t before? It might even be best to hold off on orgasming at the moment whilst your body is still leveling out.

#10

10 days after I stopped taking SP, I started having tingling in the hands and the neck when I sleep on my back. Also tingling in the penis.
Also if I sit on a hard surface my butt becomes numb. So many weird issues. I was perfectly healthy before SP. Not sure what is causing this but it’s annoying.

#11

I started feeling depressed. I went to the spa but had to force myself. It feels as though I can’t enjoy activities that I used to. I can still smile and laugh but don’t feel it. It’s hard to explain how I feel really. Just strange and sad. I never had a depression in my life so I don’t know if it’s normal. It seems to come in waves. Sometimes I feel normal but sometimes not. Libido is still around 70% pre SP. Maybe this whole thing traumatised me so I started feeling this way. Gonna try to get more than 4 hours of sleep tonight.

#12

I now have a new issue.
I am able to get an erection when lying down but can’t standing up.
New problems keep appearing one after the other.
Maybe this is a psychological issue?
Also I woke up during the night sweating.
Can anxiety do that? So confused.
My pelvic pain is decreasing since I started physical therapy and I am overall feeling better physically.

#13

I have the opposite lol this condition is something else.

#14

So it’s been 5 weeks since I stopped SP.
My libido is still pretty low. No more nocturnal erections but I don’t remember if I had any pre SP. Motivation is very low. I have to watch porn to get aroused. I didn’t have to do that before. I actually hated porn before. I think I need to take a break and leave my dick alone for a while.

I take walks every day but I should really make an effort to eat a healthier diet.
I am not very hopeful.
I am tired of worrying and obssessing over this problem and feel pathetic.

#15

Has anyone recovered from saw palmetto?
What did you do to improve?
I started weight lifting every day.
I take zinc and B complex vitamins.
Should I take any other supplement?
Any particular diet I should follow?
I’m scared to take too many supplements at this point.
It seems that exercising increases my libido a little.
I will ask to see a urologist tomorrow but I just feel he will give me cialis and I don’t want to try that.

#16

I’ve read a few cases on this forum of people taking zinc and then crashing afterwards. Zinc has some 5ar inhibitory properties, similar in that sense to finasteride or saw palmetto. A common pattern people report is feeling a little better at first, and then crashing days or even a couple of weeks later. I’m pretty sure there’s a thread on here that links to another forum where someone developed PFS like symptoms from zinc alone, without ever taking finasteride or anything similar beforehand.

Personally I’m not taking any supplements or medications. At first I spent a lot of time researching things that might help, but everythings basically a gamble. For every thing that helps one person, there seem to be many others who get worse from it. I’ve decided to take nothing at all for at least a year, maybe 2, and just give my body the chance to stabilise and hopefully continue to improve. That might be the safest approach for you too. If after a year or 2 I’ve made decent progress I won’t take anything out of fear of things getting worse again. Id probably only consider something if I get dramatically worse in that time, it’s unclear why and I’ve become desperate.

As you mentioned cialis specifically, I will just say that I’d be cautious with that in particular / avoid it altogether. Tinnitus is a potential side effect, and given how unlucky we seem with side effects I wouldn’t risk it. Tinnitus alone can be unbearable depending on severity. Some people have even taken their lives purely because of extreme tinnitus, without PFS involved.

Training wise, having proper rest days is important too. Rest days are important for everyone, but probably even more so with PFS. Maybe lift every other day, or do shorter daily sessions while rotating muscle groups if you really want to train each day. Just be careful not to burn yourself out. Physical, mental or emotional stress seems to be a big triggers for worsening symptoms.

With diet, it’s the same story as everything else… one person can handle a food fine while someone else crashes from it. I’ve read several cases of people developing food sensitivities due to PFS. The most commonly avoided things seem to be avocados, green tea and tomatoes because of their 5ari effects. Some people eat tomatoes without issue though. Lycopene is the compound in tomatoes with 5ar inhibition, and cooking tomatoes increases lycopene a lot, so if you want to keep them in your diet / try them, raw might be the safer starting point.

From what I’ve seen, potatoes, bananas and cucumbers seem to be some of the most consistently tolerated fruits and veg. Meat seems well tolerated too.

I recently made a thread with my current diet plan if you want to check it out. I explain the reasoning behind my choices. HOWEVER, please keep in mind that at the end of the day we’re all guessing because PFS is so unpredictable. My plan seems logical to me, but I can’t say for sure that it would be best for you. The best approach is probably to try foods yourself and take note of anything that affects you personally.
I think its easy to become too stressed and worried about this topic without potentially needing to be. Admittedly I become to obsessed and stressed around diet when I perhaps didn’t need to be.

#17

You are right. I’m pretty sure zinc made my symptoms worse. Everytime my symptoms worsen I get crippling anxiety and can’t fall asleep.
Going to the doctor today. They will surely prescribe me anxiety meds.
My health has so deteriorated in 6 weeks it’s unbelievable. I’m a totally different person now.

#18

Why are people on this site and other forums advising people to take zinc when it’s another 5ari?
I will stop taking supplements altogether.
There is so much conflicting information.
The saw palmetto supplement that I took had pumpkin seed oil in it which I think also contains 5ari.

#19

Is ativan safe to take? My anxiety is too severe at this point.

#20

I don’t think anyone can say for sure.

Personally I tried 0.125 mg of Clonazepam a couple of weeks after my crash, just the once. It didn’t make anything worse for me, but that doesn’t mean it would be the same for someone else. I decided not to take it again because I want to give my body a chance to stabilise on its own without more substances flipping things around inside by body.

There could be an argument made that a benzo could help put the body into a more relaxed state so it’s not constantly burning out, or that it could be useful for sleep which is very important. But that would only make sense short term and with caution because of the risk of dependence. This is a real risk and benzo withdrawals can be brutal. It can make anxiety, insomnia and other things worse.

You could try searching this forum and Reddit for people’s experiences with Lorazepam (Ativan) to help you get a better idea if it’s helped or harmed anyone before. Still, it won’t give a definite answer for how you will respond to it, but from when I was looking up benzos, it seemed they were more on the safe side in regards to not worsening PFS symptoms (and if taken in the short term).

Personally, I’m erring on the side of caution with medications and supplements and not taking anything now.

As for why some people recommend zinc, it could be for lots of reasons: the idea that it boosts testosterone, someone trying it and getting early benefits before crashing later, or some people genuinely benefiting with no issues. Things can work for some people and make others worse. I think everyone who recommends different things are just trying to find something that helps and to share it with others. It’s just unfortunate that the same thing doesn’t work for everyone.

And yes, pumpkin seed oil is also a notable 5ar inhibitor which I would stay away from too.