I greatly appreciate your post, you have a great outlook on life! Maybe it would do me good to step away a while, as I check in several times a day in the futile hope for good news! But, I suspect I will continue here, I have no kids nor a wife to help occupy my time.
I wish you the best, and great success in your moving on with your life! But do say hello once in a blue moon!
Thank you for replying, Jim
Thank you brother. Iām glad to see you are one still posting here. Sometimes it seems like a ghost town! May we continue fighting, until the battle is wonā¦or lost. Jim
Challenging myself. Is this possible?
It is hard to admit but after I retired in 2020 I was not nearly as active as I had been all my life. Between less activity and the effects of PFS, in the last 6 years Iāve gained nearly a hundred pounds.
My knees are taking a pounding because of it.
Stage 4 arthritis in both knees. Cortisone shot in each knee this past week.
Hereās the Big Challenge Iām considering
I start my leg therapy next week. After maybe a week or two of getting adjusted, Iām thinking of starting some gym time, as well. And hereās where the big challenge starts.
I would set a goal to lose that hundred pounds by next spring. 9 months. Combination of gym time and Carnivore dieting.
With no job to go to at 70 years old, thereās no reason I couldnāt go to the gym 5 days a week. Work different muscles on different days as youāre supposed to. Take a daily drink of protein powder.
I need to get as much done before winter as possible, because even I know that when the snow starts falling I wonāt be wanting to drive to the gym 5 days a week. (Snow here is measured in feet! Maybe Iāll have something I can work with at home by then.)
By next spring my goal would be to get back down to where I was a decade ago. Even then at nearly 60 I was 6 ft 4 with a 54 in chest and a 40 inch waist weighing about 230.
If I got back to those measurements at the age of 71 that would be the biggest achievement of my lifetime, short of my wonderful marriage.
If I could achieve those goals I would probably have most people thinking I am a 45 or 50 year old again. Until PFS, I always looked and felt 10-15 years under my true age.
This could either straighten me out or it could kill me. That could be true if I exercise too much at my age. Or if my diet is not right. So I know I have to be careful.
And if Iāve had my knee fixed by then (knee surgery this fall at soonest), Iāll be a real catch! (Youāre allowed to smile here). (left knee has damaged meniscus as well.)
So that is the Big Challenge I am considering. Can I do it? If I start can I stick to it? Will PFS allow me to achieve this goal? Am I a dreamer?
The floor is open to discussion, pro and con. Anyone with experience with gym time or carnivore diets while in PFS, please speak up!
Tagging a few members for their attention.
@Taw. @Scotsman. @mstone. @LazarusRy
Respectfully, Jim
Jim i think everyone quit lolā¦Old pal u know me my weight doubled and I dont think when its caused by pfs there is anything you ourself can do about itā¦remember I was an avid runner and I great shape long before pfs and continued that with pfs for a long time but I just kept deterioratingā¦
If you read the drugs risk rx site you will see several athlete type individuals etcā¦who competed at high levels then took finasteride and basically turned to shitā¦all kinds of complaints about these physical changesā¦I myself its as if the actual tissue structure has changed into a thick, rubbery, water laden type of fatā¦
Its clear from what we already know post finasteride syndrome has changed the way the cells in our bodies work at the molecular level to varying degrees from person to personā¦
I know what youāre saying is true, and Iāve read it here many times that PFS ruins the muscles. But some people say that exercising helps and others say it hurts. How can the effects of one drug be so inconsistent?
I would suppose that if I started that challenge and in a couple months down the road I had seen no increase in muscle strength or decrease in fat, I would probably finally accept that PFS will be the end of me.
Thank you for your comment! Thanks for staying at the Forum! Jim
I would go slowā¦my muscles are very weak now to if I try to do anything I become very ill, almost like autoimmune attacks, migraine headaches etcā¦
Yea i donāt think the forum is coming back most havenāt posted in ages and no matter the news no one seems to care anymoreā¦
I canāt speak to the gym but if youāre motivated then I say go for it. I stayed active until I could no longer. In my case the muscle and structure is simply gone, thereās nothing to rebuild even if I wanted to. I think the fact that you see a chance for improvement is a good sign. If this long into the game you still have workable muscle then I donāt see any cons to it.
I had an appointment with my orthopedic doctor several weeks ago. I asked him if my sore legs could simply be a case of weak muscle due to inactivity. He told me that my legs muscles were actually good for a man of my age.
I had my therapy evaluation last week before I start having leg therapy twice a week, and the therapist echoed the sentiment that my leg muscles were good for a man my age.
I would have felt better if they both hadnāt used the qualifier man my age. LOL Jim
yeah thatās code for āinsurance wonāt cover the snake oil weād recommend for a younger dudeā
Happy birthday! Wish you all the best!
Happy belated Jim
A couple weeks ago I had my 71st birthday, and a few days later my 50th wedding anniversary, although my wife wasnāt there for it. No matter how sunny it is outside each day seems dark and gray.
Friends and relatives donāt call or write to see how youāre doing.
What do you do next, when you sit in your chair and look out the window and wonder if today or tomorrow will be the day you finally end the pain. In your mind, you go through the various ways you could do it. Wondering if you even have the nerve to do it.
Speaking of which, I recently read an article that posited that suicide is an act of courage and strength. Saying to the world āI no longer want to be part of this and I choose to end my participationā.
I asked one of my close friends about that idea, and she disagreed and said that suicide is cowardly. I guess we all have opinions.
I once thought that I would go into the woods and chain myself to a tree trunk and throw the key to the lock outside my reach. Wait for nature to take its course.
If it was winter time, I thought that I would go out into the snow bank, sit and wait for hypothermia to do its job. People would think I just slipped in the snow and couldnāt get up with my bad knees.
Everyday I talk myself into going for one more day. Maybe this will be the day that things turn up. Maybe today God will put a new lady in front of me, someone to love and make new memories with. But it hasnāt happened yet.
For those who have read this far, thank you for a few moments of your attention. Try to stay positive as best you can. Once you start to go down that slippery slope, itās hard to fight your way back out.
Maybe the saddest part of all is that after 7 years, I believe I finally broke free from the effects of PFS but I have no one to share it with. But that should be a separate posting. Stay positive my friends, Jim
PS if anyone is interested in the link to the article I mentioned, PM me
RECOVERY ā
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?
Hello fellow readers. Fellow PFS victims. I have news of Good Hope for all of you.
I first took Proscar in 2019, and almost immediately became impotent. I found this forum in 2020 and joined up. Of course you can read my initial statements at the beginning of this long thread.
Do you believe in miracles of God in todayās world? Because I believe I have been blessed with a miracle.
In the last 2 months I have discovered that I have recovered my capabilities and Iām no longer impotent
Amongst the men who have been afflicted with this, a recovery after 7 years is unheard of. Thatās my miracle. My wife is no longer here to enjoy my recovery. That part breaks my heart. I have no woman in my life and donāt know where to find one. But at least I can enjoy myself, by myself: self love sessions of up to an hour!!
This recovery has only been for about 2 months so far. I have read that some people have a recovery that then goes away and theyāre back to where they were before. If that happens to me I will not be able to stand it. I pray to God that this recovery is permanent.
I never used anybodyās protocol. I tried a couple vitamins or supplements here and there but nothing worked. This was simply my body deciding it was time to get back to normal.
I still have some of the side effects. I canāt lose weight to save my life! I eat one meal a day, which is a recognized diet for many people, but with me I not only do not lose weight but I can gain weight. They tell me my bodyās in starvation mode, but I think itās a residual effect of the PFS.
My knees and shoulder joints ache tremendously sometimes. My doctor tells me that itās just arthritis, and since Iām 71 he may be correct. But this all started when the PFS did.
But the main reason for this message is to try to give at least a little hope to those of you who still read this forum. I was resigned to dying as an impotent man, and that is no longer true. If I have a crash I will let you all know.
In the meantime, Iāve been searching for a suitable woman to finish my life with. Itās hard at 71. Especially since my eyes are attracted to women who are younger than I am! I do love the body of a younger woman!
So my friends, rejoice with me. For 2 months and hopefully forever I have a functioning penis again, and a strong libido as well. 7 years was a long time. May it never start up again I pray. May God be with each and every one of you. Jim
