My story using DIM & Tribulus to try remedy my mild PFS which ended up exacerbating it

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)?
Ireland

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

What is your current age, height, weight?
43
5 ft 8
11st 6 lbs

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

Finasteride, DIM, Tribulus

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

I mg daily

What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss

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

Date when you started the drug?

2000

Date when you quit the drug?
July 2020

Age when you quit?
41

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

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?

Only when I switched from oral to topical finasteride which was last four months of use

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

Gyno, neck pain, joint issues, sensitivity to light & sound, lack of motivation, muscle wastage

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?

DIM which made things worse, then tribulus which made things even more worse .

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)?

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.

Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY

  1. Name of the therapy/substance: DIM and Tribulus

    • Dosage: JUST ONE DIM CAPSULE AND TWO TRIBULUS CAPSULES
    • How often you took it:

  2. Status

    • Still using [ ] No
    • Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
    • Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]

  3. Duration of use: Days [1 ] Months [ ] Years [ ]

  4. Response when you started:

    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [+]

  5. Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment

    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]

  6. Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)

    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]
#2

Any new user reading this let my story be a lesson to you to be very very careful trying substances to improve your predicament even some recommended on here that reportedly ‘WORK’, some of these can wreak havoc

Up until June last year I would consider myself a very mild PFS case.
From my few symptoms puffy nipples along with gyno really bothered me.
At this stage I had 90% recovered my muscle loss for example and my penal shrinkage fully recovered too, but that was down to vitamin D and boron.

So I took one DIM capsule for puffy nipples thinking it would reduce estrogen but just one DIM capsule gave me horrible feeling in my dick within two hours, like someone pulled a wire from a computer.
I would develop penal shrinkage. DIM is a natural DHT blocker, I didn’t know this. After using DIM, Boron and Vitamin D no longer worked for my penis.

Fast forward six weeks and after reading great stories on here about Tribulus I took two capsules and all hell broke loose

Next morning my gyno much worse on right side.
Developed dint on right cheek.
Popping sounds rear right delt
My left arm muscle is slightly fuller than right arm now
And developed alopecia Barbae

Can no longer drink coffee without getting sdies, body can no longer handle most supplements, they give me fatigue and muscle/bone ache.
Overall muscle mass reduced also from tribulus.

Blood tests showed Vitamin D depleted, triglycerides elevated, hypothyroid, increased cholesterol, lower iron. Testosterone dropped from 25 to 19.

Long story short, I am recovering somewhat and firmly believe Tribulus wrecked my adrenal glands.

Will be doing 24 hr cortisol test nest week.

But please be careful what you take if you’re new on here and don’t take any natural supplements that are 5ari

1 Like
#3

Same. I had what had become moderate pfs which meant I could live life as normal. Started taking ZMA for sleep and felt great initially, as some did with propecia, then got weight gain and dick discolouration/shrinkage. Forgot about it being a 5ari. Eventually crashed me as bad as finasteride.

#4

Something like this happened to me with rhodiola rosea. My levels of cortisol in the blood had risen a lot (>900) so, knowing that for those who have pfs many substances are dangerous, I took three rhodiola tablets, on the site I did not read that no man had problems from it ( only benefits) unfortunately I was ill ( although now I’m a little better) but I developed an autoimmune pathology!

2 Likes
#5

How is your weight?
Do you sweet a lot?

#6

Hi Irish, I experienced the same thing as you. Propecia gave me puffy nipples/gyno which is why i stopped taking it 2 years ago, but still have sexual side effects today. I was taking a few natural herbs which were said to raise T levels a few months back. Tribulus was one of them. They made me really strong at the gym, so they did seem to make my T levels higher, BUTTT my puffy nipples/gyno got worse. And when i stopped taking them my puffy nipples/gyno reduced back to how it was before taking the herbs.

Basically taking Propecia messes up our bodies ability to produce DHT, making it very low, even after we stop taking it. I recall one guy on here said his bloodwork (including T levels) came back normal, but when he had his DHT levels tested they were very low. So basically the reason why you and me noticed our gyno got worse when taking Tribulous, is because Tribulus raises our T levels, and because our body is unable to produce DHT properly because of previous use of Propecia, it means more of this raised T levels gets converted into Estrogen, and that’s why our gyno becomes worse when taking supplements like Tribulus which raise our T levels.

Based on my experience I have come to the conclusion that Propecia permanently messes up our bodies ability to produce DHT, and this is because of some disruption it causes at the dht receptor in the pineal gland.

Me personally, right now when i do something simple like eat avocadoes (which are a natural dht blocker), I get limp dick. Any food I eat that is a natural DHT blocker effects my ability to get an erection, and this is simply because our DHT levels are now very low because Propecia messed up our bodies ability to produce DHT. The same thing happens if I eat food or take a supplement that raises Estrogen, it gives me limp dick. And as i already mentioned, when i took herbs that raised my T levels, it made my gyno worse because we cannot produce DHT properly and therefore more of this raised T gets converted into Estrogen.

2 Likes
#7

@SolutionHunter
I actually figured out how to get rid of puffy nipples shortly before taking Tribulus, vitamin E supplement worked for me. But since taking Tribulus it doesn’t work as well and I suspect my progesterone receptor has been implicated in some form or manner.

I can completely relate to the avocado experience, I tried eating it and on the third day my penis started to narrow and become veiny, likewise happened with taking extra virgin oil for stiff joints, I subsequently discovered both are natural DHT inhibitors.

I wonder if we added something like a small amount of soghurn flour to our diet (it’s meant to increase DHT) would it balance out any anti DHT foods we might consume

Right now I know my adrenals were affected by tribulus, either taking Tribulus blocking 5ar or a sudden spike in estrogen or combination of both can lead to cortisol spike.

I am currently into seven weeks of adrenal diet and lifestyle and notice increase in libido, increase in penis size when erect and thickening of arm, hand and leg hair. My right lower forearm and hand lost lots of hair but is now noticeably thickening up especially.

Small improvement in my muscle mass, the tribulus experience really hit my muscle bad.

#8

@Lady86

And I suspect after the spike in cortisol a lot of us see our bodies unable to return to normal levels leaving us with underperforming adrenal output.

I am currently waiting on a 24hr cortisol saliva test result to come back and if it indeed shows sluggish functioning I would be very very reluctant actually probably entirely reluctant to try remedy the problem with an adaptogen.