New member, here is my story

Member Stories
#21

No idea why adrenal gland function was screwed up. I think the human body is enormously complex I think we are no where near close to understanding how it it works.

So far it’s been one hell of a roller coaster ride. I have been going from having a lot of emotions to falling flat for a few hours, to having lots of emotions again. Last night I was very aggressive and emotionally flat at the same time. As time goes on, the periods where I am normal become more and more frequent and the periods where I feel confused, tired, and emotionally numb are less frequent. So I would say most of the non sexual side effects are gone.

Now the only thing left is to improve libido which is still not good enough for me to be happy. For me, this is extremely important, I would rather have perfect libido and brain fog than no brain fog and a sub-standard libido.

#22

Huh, I had the same rapidly oscillating side effects right before I started feeling much better, and my sexual sides started to clear up soon after my body and mind did. I’m about 25 days off finasteride and I’m pretty much back to normal aside from getting nauseous everytime I have to make a bowel movement. I hope this means you’re getting better!

#23

This morning I was at a point where I was about 50% recovered throughout the entire morning. I think if this continues I’ll be able to get on with my life and leave this mess behind me. Brain fog is gone, energy is great, no runny nose, no migraines, no anxiety, no more forgetfulness, and no more chest pain. Sure there are periods in the afternoon where I feel like I’m slipping backwards, but the periods where I feel recovered are becoming more and more frequent and the old zombie-like state is becoming less and less frequent.

I was complaining in some of my prior posts that I’ve been getting solid erections but no turned on FEELINGS with them. Well that’s been changing lately. I’ve been getting the horny feelings every now and then along with all the physical signs of arousal. I’m very happy with my progress so far but I still have a long way to go.

To be honest, there were times where I thought my life was pretty much over, that I would be sitting around staring out the ceiling for the rest of my life unable to think clearly, enable to feel any emotion, unable to motivate myself to do anything. Now I see a bright future ahead of me, a life full of possibilities. I hope people reading this will realize that a better tomorrow is always around the corner and never give up hope.

Crisler helped me a lot so far. Can he help everyone? I don’t know but why wouldn’t you at least try? I recommend to everyone to go to the best doctor you can so at least you can say to yourself you tried your best, sought out one of the leading experts in the field and did everything you possibly could to recover. We’ve got someone who understands the problem and wants to help, which is more than what you can say for 99% of the doctors out there. What more could you ask for?

#24

hey joetz, any updates on how you’re feeling? How long are you going to be taking the DHEA supplement? Is Dr. Crisler going to order any more tests to see how you are progressing?

#25

I wish I had more good news to report. 4 days after I started the DHEA, I felt like things were really changing. My libido was coming back and all non-sexual side effects were gone.

Several weeks later I’m still in the same place. Memory and concentration is vastly improved, I feel like emotions are less flat and I have more energy. Unfortunately I’ve made no progress with sexual side effects. I might have a moment or two early in the morning where I might actually feel something, but it’s such a muted and pathetically weak feeling of arousal and it’s usually very fleeting.

I’ll try calling crisler tomorrow and see if I can find out a little more on what the long term plan is. Maybe I’m impatient and I need to wait for things to get better or maybe it’s time for another medication. I’ll see what he says.

#26

hi Joetz…just from my little experience i did prescribe for myself many medications and i remember when i used pregnenoone and i was feeling the same sensations you are feeling with dhea…after 3 mouths i can say that the body is better and my emotions etc is getting beter ,so i think for sure u should try something mor cause we have to go to get rid but remember also that the body akes some times(mouths)to get in his right track…it is the same of when we took propecia:to let the hair to don t fall anymore it took 3 mouths or even more…some take your time

#27

It does take a long time, that’s for sure, but little by little I am getting there. This morning I was close to feeling almost fully recovered. It’s funny how things keep changing. Every time I come here and say I’m doing better, things collapse and I feel dumb for getting everyone’s hopes up. When I post that I’m doing terribly, I’ll wake up feeling aroused for a few hours the following morning.

I need to be patient and give myself time, but at the same time it’s hard not to panic on the bad days and and get very impatient. I want to be recovered yesterday! It’s sad that we’ve all lost some of the best years of our lives. “Two steps forward one step back…”

#28

It’s been a month, so I guess it’s time for an update. I’m still taking the DHEA, memory is good, concentration is decent, focus is better, sleep is better, but I’m still experiencing bad sexual dysfunction and flat moods. I really have almost no feelings at all, not happy, not sad, just an absence of really feeling anything. Last time I talked to Crisler he talked about testing my thyroid, but I’m skeptical about that showing anything. I’ve had my thyroid tested before and it always has looked pretty good. I’m at the point now where almost all my labwork looks pretty normal, but I have many symptoms of hypogondism. This is going to be a tough problem to figure out.

I’m 5 days into a raw diet, which has been challenging, but easier to follow than I thought it would be. First 2 days or so of the raw diet, I felt a little bit of a recovery, but now the libido is zero again. I’m going to stay on the diet and try to keep it going as long as I can and see if I feel better. There have been some pretty brutal migraines that have come and gone, but from what I understand, that’s all part of the detox process and things will get worse before they get better. I’m lucky that there is a nice juice bar a couple of blocks from me, so I keep going to have different juices when I get hungry. This afternoon I had mango, pinapple, and banana smoothie and for dinner I had a celery, apple, cucumber smoothie. So far I’m managing ok. I lost some weight, but I could stand to lose a little so that’s not a problem. We’ll see how I feel a few months down the road.

#29

Well folks, time for another update I guess. In some ways a lot of things have happened, and in other ways it’s all just more of the same.

I did a raw diet for 30 days or so and came out with mixed results. I had some days that were really good and some days that were really terrible, but on average, I don’t think I felt any better or worse in the sex department. I did feel a little sharper mentally maybe and have good energy at times, but overall I just don’t think it’s right for me. I know there are some people here that swear by it, but for me, I just don’t feel that it’s going to be healing me any time soon.

I did try something else last night that I wanted to discuss here. I was even thinking about starting another thread to talk about it because I know it’s going to be very important to people here. I tried Bremelanotide/PT 141! I was very excited about trying this because, unlike viagra, this drug is supposed to directly increase sexual desire via the nervous system.

I got the two bottles in the mail from a company in [CENSORED FOR PRIVACY] and didn’t waste any time trying it. One bottle is water and the other is powder. You mix the water with the power using an insulin syringe and then inject a small amount of the mixture into your belly. I did the injection at 9:00 PM last night. Within a few minutes I turned red as a lobster. My face felt really warm and my stomach felt upset. Not crazy nausea where you think you are going to vomit, but enough so that eating was absolutely the last thing on my mind. within an hour the nausea was gone and I got my color back. Then I felt nothing. I got into bed and pulled the covers over me and waited. Nothing for a few hours. Then around midnight I got some results and they were a little different than I expected. I got the most crazy erection I’ve ever experienced. It was the kind where I was almost frightened because it was so rigid and nothing I could do would make it go down. It wasn’t like anything I have ever experienced, even pre-finasteride. It was like some kind of concrete, titanium penis. This lasted several hours and finally I fell asleep. The weirdest part of this whole experience: I wasn’t the least bit aroused AT ALL. So for libido I give Bremelanotide a gigantic ZERO. For ED, I would give it an 11 on a scale of one to ten.

My conclusion with this whole Bremelanotide experience is that if you want to have sex and be able to perform physically, then Bremelanotide is right for you. If you want to actually feel passion, sex drive, libido, horny feelings, then this stuff is totally useless. For me to have an erection that I have no desire to do anything with defeats the whole purpose. In fact, I almost found it even more annoying and frustrating and found myself wishing there was some kind of off switch. I don’t think I’ll be trying Bremelanotide again…

Regarding Dr Crisler, I know some of you have been following this thread and were excited to see what happens next. I am sorry for being so slow and dragging my ass following through the treatments. I got a job for a couple of months that kept me really busy, but now that I am out of work again, I’m back on track. The real reason things have been slow is really my fault. I did the thyroid blood test and will be updating this thread when I get the results.

#30

Thanks for the update on your Bremelanotide experience. I was thinking of trying it, but have always been adverse to needles. Probably scratch it off my list based on your experience.

#31

I was curious because no finasteride victims had tried it. Maybe other people would have different results, but I’m skeptical.

I think the problem with all of these sexual remedies, despite contrary claims, is that they all seem to focus on the plumbing, not the wiring. I had read that Bremelanotide was somehow different because it was supposed to increase desire and not just push blood around the body like Viagra or Cialis. Well my experience is that it just pushes blood around the body and has a similar effect to Viagra or Cialis. Maybe you need to be a healthy person for it to work as advertised.

#32

So would you characterize your use of DHEA a success? Did Crisler say you would need to take DHEA continually or will you be able to stop taking it?

Would DHEA OTC supplements be just as effective?

#33

I don’t see why OTC wouldn’t be as effective. Crisler told me I could buy OTC, but I wasn’t comfortable with that and I had his office send some for me. I would characterize your use of DHEA a success for the most part. The only side effect I noticed was my chest was a little tender sometimes during the time I was taking it, so maybe things are not quite balanced right inside as far as the internal chemistry goes.

When I call for an update on my thyroid test, i’ll see what’s up regarding duration. I have no idea how long I’ll need to be on this stuff.

#34

and know？how do u feeling

#35

I wish I could tell you I am cured but I am still having a hard time. Amazing how that post is over a decade old and I’m still here still having problems. I have seen improvements in cognitive ability and have regained some sexual function but anhedonia is a big problem and I have chronic inflammation throughout my body. I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you

#36

thank you ，you know，when you suffer this hell，I was a child，ten years gone，this shit still break young man down，I have seem situation like you，I crashed in 7.22，I just take 14days，and I take off it before Icrashed，It is a hard time for me，could you tell me，how can you insist ？I know you are writer，Iam a teacher， do you have a clean brain know？I have some brain fog know，but I still work，should I do this？what the reason I should alive？can you give me some advice？I mean，I miss good day before crashed，it is not about sex，you kow，this is life’s feeling.do you feel realxing know？thank you shall me your story.

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#37

I’m sorry you’re still having problems @joetz, but at the same time it’s good to see some of the OGs here. Thank you for keeping everyone posted, even though it’s not necessarily good news.