my story - suffering with you

Member Stories
#1

I am a new member from Europe. I have taken Propecia about 7 years (!) ago for a period of 3 month. Today I am still suffering from the side effects caused by this medication. Nothing has changed since I stopped taking Propecia. My symptoms are:

  • numbness of penis (especially the glans and the urethra)
  • no morning or spontaneous erections
  • difficulty to get an erection at all
  • reduced volume of ejaculate (about 70-80% decreased)
  • reduced libido

I have seen lots of different doctors (urologists, endocrinologists, neurologists etc.) and spent thousands of Euros to get out of this miserable state.
After doing some tests (pricking a needle into different spots of my glands) a urologist confirmed that my penis (especially my glans) is not as sensitive as it should be (in fact, I felt nothing). As I do not feel anything it is hardly possible to masturbate/ejaculate. Before taking Propecia my Penis was very sensitive and I got an erection very quickly - even without sexual thoughts. The results of all of my blood tests seemed to be ok, at least all hormones where in the required ranges. The endocrionologists told me they could do nothing.
I definitely know that it is no psychological problem as some doctors try to suggest. I think it is a complex neuro-endocrionlogical problem that the medical community is not yet aware of - at least not enough.

I have visited this forum several times for several years and I admire many people here trying to solve this problem.
Can anyone give me good advice? I am quite desperate and frustrated.

#2

In a similar position though not as severe by the sounds of it!

Have you tried the usuall protocol of arimidex, andractim, hcg etc etc…

If you have tried all these and you are willing to spend money what about hgh? given that a shot?

good luck dude

#3

monty, I have not taken the usual protocol of arimidex, andractim, hcg etc. But I am not willing to wait any longer. However, I am afraid that these medications might be dangerous. Can you tell me anything about the medications. What are they supposed to do exactly etc.
Thanks for any help
So far I have only taken supplements.

#4

None of those things work if they did many people from here would be long gone.

#5

According to Shippen about 40% respond to restart protcols, according to Jacobs about 2/3’s. Unless both of these doctors are out right liers SOME people DO respond.
But yea, its an uphill battle coming so temper your hopes.

#6

I don’t think there is any treatment through conventional medications. The reality is that so far no doctor or scientist has discovered the root cause of our suffering. I am sure we need some revolutionary medicines like stem cell therapy. We need stem cells for our shrunken balls, wee need stem cell to repair our broken nervous system, we need stem cells for our mal functioning pitutary gland etc. Guys I don’t know if it would be possible ever. sorry I am very frustrated now.

sps

#7

spstriken, I am also very frustrated. I am suffering for about 7 (!!!) years now. It’s really bad. I am from Germany and the doctors here seem to be all ignorant.

#8

ignorant? I think they are arrogant. They think what does not exist in their books does not exist in the world.

sps

#9

This is a fact in my country too. If a patient is experimenting something that is not explained in a book, it’s probably in his head…
And their logic goes further: lots of men have libido and ED problems without Finasteride, so if you have yourself too, nothing proves it’s Finasteride! :laughing:

I was told that I wasn’t a horny 20-year old dog anymore (I’m 38), so my problems were somewhat natural after all…

Desperation is understandable, but something puzzles me though: Many members here have big theories trying to explain about our suffering: androgen resistance, irreversible altered DNA, and the scariest possible stuff.

But it seems NOBODY here wants to consider the following fact: If androgen resistance or altered genes were the culprit, there would not be any recovery many years after quitting. Of course, I don’t talk about the people who claim they are recovered, just coming back worse than ever many months later, or all those so-called “recovered” who just stopped the pill and got well 2 weeks or 2 months later. No, I talk about the guys like Oneday, or scaredin MD, or Letsconvenience and a few others, who got over their problems only long after they quit.

That’s what amazes me. Everybody gives a theory about the irreversible damage, but nobody wants to give any little thought about the theory behind the true recoveries. In fact it’s like nobody believes in recoveries anymore, and suspects every recovered people to be Merck in disguise…

#10

Y-C. I am a layman and I have no idea why my body is not getting back to the normal level. I am suffering for almost 7 years now. If there is a way out of this misery that works for the majority of the sufferers please show it to me.

#11

Of course I have not that arrogance, I’m in the same boat as everybody here.

I just said (and nothing more) that there are people who recover, and sometimes long after quitting (even though nobody among the recovered people did it the same way).

That should be a sign that there is no irreversible damage, but rather a “sleepening” of the functions or somewhat.

Nobody here knows why the secondary effects subside.

But nobody knows either why some people recover.

And thinking about this last point, figuring theories about why there are recoveries could bring a little confidence to everybody instead of just talking “irreversible” and so on…that’s just what I meant.

#12

Y-C, ok, I understand you and I think you are right. However, those few people who recover, take medication that might have dangerous side effects (TRT etc. could be dangerous). The people do not recover by themselves as they are supposed to.

#13

I am having the worst time of my life due to finasteride.
No sexual life. No good sleep. No good feeling anymore - for 7 years. I cannot believe that I am suffering for such a long time already and nothing got better, not even 1%.

#14

I’m sorry to hear that man, but keep going. Try and hit that sweet spot of acceptance and be thankful you don’t have severe physical or mental sides. At least people are paying attention to this now.

#15

get full thyroid screening, ie free t3, free t4, reverse t3

stopthethyroidmadness.com check yourself against their lab results… see where you fall.

i found out i have too much reverse t3 in my body… going to get cortisol tested in next week or two to test it also.

#16

bryce54,
what is the difference between free T3 and free T4. In the past I have only testet for free T. Furthermore, what is reverse T3.
Thanks for info and help

#17

Free T3 and free T4 are the thyroid hormones in your blood stream. Basically, your thyroid releases T4, T3, T2, T1, T0, and calcitonin (spelling lol). Your thyroid releases mostly T4, which turns into T3. T3 then goes into your cells, gives you energy and all that, and effects a lot of different things. Now, reverse T3 binds to T3 and is basically the opposite of T3. Reverse T3 screws you up because it binds to T3 and blocks T3 from reaching your cells. Now why does this happen… well it can happen for many different reasons. You can have too much or too little cortisol in your body. Cortisol is like a deliverer of T3 to your cells. When you don’t have enough cortisol in your body to deliver all that T3, your body turns T4 into reverse T3. Reverse T3 is traditionally a storage hormone… but when it gets too much it messes you up.

So its important to cehck these things… check the link below for the ratio. If you have too much reverse t3 (which you can only check through the use of a ratio of total t3/free t3 to reverse t3, the ranges dont do shit), you arent gettign enough T3 to your body.

I need to check the measurements on my own personal reverse t3 because the cool guys who did my lab work didn’t include the measurement it is in. However… if it is in the regular measurement which I think it is… then I have too much reverse t3 in my body.

JN (look at member stories) got all the reverse T3 and got his cortisol up to normal levels. However… only goto a doctor that knows about thsi stuff like anti aging doctor. If you mess with this stuff on your own… you can do serious permanent damage to your body.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/reverse-t3/

#18

heres another good link that explains it

medical-library.net/reverse_t3_dominance_syndrome.html

we might have cortisol problems too… check stop the thyroid madness for cortisol saliva test.

#19

Hi keepup

what are your sides exactly. do you have sides besides sexual? or only sexual?

thanx

sps

#20

hi spstriken,

sorry for my late reply. was travelling. Besides the sexual side effects (genital numbness, ED, low libido, decreased ejaculate) I have sleeping problems. I constantly wake up very early even though I am a late riser. I only get about 4-5 hours of sleep max and I am feeling drousy during the day due to lack of sleep.