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)?
US
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?
26, 6’1", 185lbs
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Saw palmetto
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
320mg every day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
17 months
Date when you started the drug?
March 2020
Date when you quit the drug?
July 2021
Age when you quit?
22
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
6 months
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Most of them, but it is complicated
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
[ ] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] 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
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X] Other (please explain)
- Constant tension in the back of the neck
- A constant feeling of unease
- Inability to find comfort
- Loss of psychologic fear/anxiety
- Weird headaches like if my head was empty and blood wasn’t reaching the brain
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)?
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.
Don’t know if anybody will read all this, but at least one person do please.
My story is kind of strange, mostly regarding how the symptoms developed. Prior to taking anything I had had a panic disorder for 3 years more or less, from October 2017 on. From that moment until I started taking saw palmetto I used to have a lingering anxiety, constantly. I lived in fear of having a panic attack and that was my day-to-day priority number 1 in life, trying not to think about it. Never treated it and just avoided thinking about it. Also, besides that, I’ve always been a guy that ruminates on stuff, and one of the topics I used to obsess about was my hair (even though I’ve always had a good amount of hair, but due to the anxiety I was losing a bunch).
On March 2020 I started taking saw palmetto to adress this hairloss and the weirdest thing happened: I could think better than before. All the anxiety from my panic disorder was gone and I could enjoy the stuff I used to enjoy before the panic. I stopped obsessing about my hair, girls and other stuff, and started having this motivation to improve myself, learn stuff, be better. Life was actually good. This was also the time of COVID and the quarantine, which didn’t stress me at all and was actually a really happy time in my life.
Even though some of my worries were gone and I could think better I started to feel certain side effects, like a bit of forgetfulness, misplacing stuff, stumbling against door frames and a bit of decreased libido, but did’t think much of it because since my panic disorder I was living in full automatic mode and anything that made my life better was okay.
So then I return to school after that summer (September 2020), fully motivated and whatnot. I was sleeping less and doing more stuff, but already was noticing that I was starting to worry about things again, feeling kind of anxious. My working memory was fine but long term started to fail a bit. And suddenly panic returns, which now I attribute to the saw palmetto but back then I attributed to my first panic disorder. I had another period of panic disorder, having panic attacks, fear and paranoia, which at the time I didn’t treat and left unhandled, just like the first time with panic.
Time goes by and the panic attacks diminish, symptoms come and go, I feel less myself but I do great in school, good grades, pass everything, but also I start noticing I feel emotions less and less, less embodied. I constantly try not to think about the panic stuff, so I have this constant worry still.
That summer I stop taking saw palmetto, July 2021. Didn’t think much of the symptoms, was focusing on not falling again in a period of panic, so symptoms were the least of my concerns. As soon as I stopped the supplement everything was fine, and even got better. I was learning new stuff, little by little I was kind of happy again, doing good in school and with my friends. I felt some emotions and libido was increasing. From January to September 2022 I did a keto diet and was actually one of the best times of my life, the best cognitive functioning I’ve had in my life, insane short term memory, I worked, studied, had a girlfriend and was in shape, basically everything (this was 1 year after I stopped taking saw palmetto). But still, sometimes felt this symptom where I didn’t feel the emotion I was supposed to be feeling. It wasn’t embodied, it was just in the mind. But my cognitive function was through the roof, the only bad thing was on the emotional side, on feeling things.
Then, on September 2022 I had an anxiety attack kind of, like a situation where I felt super active and where I was close to a panic attack, but controlled it. And from that moment on I’ve been having these weird symptoms, like sudden confusion and don’t knowing where I am, forgetfulness, insane hunger (just in the beggining but not anymore), the motivation I had the year prior about improving myself was gone within a week, all cognitive function was gone in a second, apathy, insane neck tension that doesn’t go away, shivers down my spine constantly, unability to think clearly and losing train of thought constantly.
And the weirdest of all is this: my first panic disorder was attached to certain thoughts and situations, thoughts that would get my in a fear cycle that would turn into a panic attack. That meant I couldn’t even think about those thoughts or put me in those situations, I was terrified of it. And had been for years. But since that September 2022 I can think of any kind of thought related to my panic disorder that I won’t have any kind of fear reaction, not even a flinch. It is as if the thoughts don’t produce a bodily reaction anymore. I mean, it’s not bad because I used to suffer a lot from that, but it is weird in a sense. And since that September all symptoms have been getting more constant. Now it’s a day to day thing. It used to be a some days yes some days no, but now is constant, even if some days I’m just worse.
Right now my day-to-day is constant fatigue, tension in the back of the neck, kind of a headache or a feeling as if bloodflow wasn’t reaching my brain, unability to focus or think clearly, unability to find comfort, anhedonia, general feeling of being uncomfortable in my body, racing uncontrolable thoughts sometimes, constant shivers down my spine. But I have no psychological anxiety or depression, no suicidal thoughts. I have almost no fear response. I don’t feel positive emotions but I don’t feel negative emotions either. I’ve been like this progressively getting worse for the last 4 years almost. I’ve had ups and downs, but right now is more in the down side. I’m just worried thay it affects my job performance.
Does is make sense that this is PFS? How can the interaction between the panic disorder and PFS be explained?