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)?
Italy
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?)
Idk probably google search
What is your current age, height, weight?
21, 184cm (6ft), 74kg (163lbs)
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Saw Palmetto for a few days, then a supplement with other natural anti dht and beta sitosterol (same active as Saw P)
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Idk, standard aga dose
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Androgenic alopecia
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
8/9 months
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
20, June 2020
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
21, Feb 2021
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Taper off, last 2 months I was taking the supplement EOD and last week I cut the pills in half too
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
First month
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
[~] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[~] Erectile Dysfunction
Complete Impotence
Loss of Morning Erections
Loss of Spontaneous Erections
Loss of Nocturnal Erections
Watery Ejaculate
Reduced Ejaculate
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
Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
Severe Depression / Melancholy
Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
Penis curvature / rotation on axis
Testicular Pain
[~] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
Weight Gain
Gynecomastia (male breasts)
Muscle Wastage
Muscle Weakness
Joint Pain
Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
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?
Tried Magnesium, vit D, iodine and Tonkgat Ali but everything for very few days beacause I’m still in the early stages and now waiting for hormonal panel
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)?
Waiting for results but I have nothing pre 5ar inhibitors
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 start by saying that I’ve been visiting this site for some time already but I find it really depressing for obvious reason and I feel like, at least for me, it’s more harm than good spending time here if not for trying to get some advice, which is why I’m writing this.
Anyway last year I was sick of my diffuse thinning which I felt was about to become noticeable by others so I started Saw palmetto. Libido boost after less than a week then numb orgasm w watery semen which freaked me out (I started reading heavily about sides for the first time). I quit and probably also due to my panicking I was able to get hard again only 3/4 days later but then I was fine. Scary stuff but soon my hair insecurities got me again, I retried w half the dose but this time I got crazy back pain which seemed random but still made me throw the stuff away and book an appointment w a derm.
After some time (quarantine) I see this derm who prescribes me this ‘absolutely free side effects’ supplement which obviously contains a bunch of some anti 5ar stuff. I start taking it and again just after two days I have a crazy boost in libido but by the end of the week it’s already faded. This time I try not to freak out and actually everything seems fine, my libido is decent and I feel like I just had to adapt to the drug.
A month pass and I start to notice lumps in my semen.
This symptom w time starts to be a constant and my libido too seems to fluctuate and not always high enough (I always had very high sex drive before).
I also start feeling that my dick has probably lost some girth at the base but I’m not 100% sure to these days and that my back is some time sore, even if less severely, in the same spots that it was last time I had tried SP. Anyway all this in addition to some not so great sex makes me decide after ~6 months to taper off and then to quit.
So I finally quit in February and immediately for the next 3/4 days I have crazy burning sensation while and after peeing. Then this kinda subside, even tho it still burns from time to time, but I’m left w all the sides that I developed on the drug. Urologist told me that I have a grade 2/3 varicocele, I got semen and urine analysis but everything is clear, apart from low normal form sperm count.
It’s been more than 3 months since quitting and I’m at at an all time low, I had terrible sex last week because my dick would stay hard only if I kept touching myself, otherwise I had really reduced sensation.
5 days ago the urologist prescribedme an anti inflammatory suppository which I take every evening and told me to wait for the hormone panel.
It doesn’t seem to be helping even tho I had a rock hard morning wood just last morning randomly (but apart from that almost zero spontaneous) and also it was followed by a very painfull ejaculation (never experienced) with the usual clumpy stuff.
Now I’m probably going to get the varicocele removed next month but clearly my symptoms comes from something else. To summarise what I have now is:
Decreased libido.
No spontaneous erection, I get only like 60% w/out touching it if I’m in those situations w a chick.
Low pleasure orgasms (Fluctuate from bad to decent when I have decent libido and I’ve been masturbating for quite some time).
Clumpy, low amount ejaculate.
Slightly burning sensation while urinating.
Sore lower back.
Sense of pressure in lower belly.
Slight pain in my dick from time to time.
(Definitely hair falling less than pre SP).
Imo definitely the prostate is involved, I still have some fluctuations in my symptoms but I’m sadly convinced that they are not gonna fade away by themselves.
So what to do now?
I mean I think I’ve found a good urologist and I hope he can help but still what approach do you think it’s the best in my case?
As I said I’m waiting for hormones results but still I think my issues are most probably some sort of inflammation/infection (not found tho). Mentally I’m good.
I mean prostatitis symptoms are there 100%.
Should I try antibiotics / antifungals? Alpha blockers? L-citrulline / low dose cialis?