next a stupid guy...but i believe...

Member Stories
#14

Update

So, since the last update I have done some experiments.

What’s helped me?

  • First of all, twelve days of fasting in November. The Effect? For several weeks after the end of fasting I was feeling quite acceptably (but obviously not as before fin),
  • Ashwaganda. More power, better cognitive function, lower ed, reducing constipation, less gyno,
  • Siberian ginseng. Less potent than ashwagandha, but it has a calming effect

What’s made me worse?

  • Arimidex (2-3 weeks, 0.25 mg / day). gave me a pain bone, a high brainfog, prostate pain and many other
  • Vitex (2-3 weeks, of 1600 mg / day). caused depression, panic attacks etc.
  • Hydrocortisone (2 days, 10 Mg 2.5 / 2.5 / 2.5 / 2.5) gave me a huge crash. Caused a huge headache, ed, gyno, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts,
  • 5 htp (a few days) - side effects like HC, but lighter

What’s been neutral?

  • Rhodiola,

What am I currently doing?

  • Paleo diet and sometimes carbloading,
  • Supplements: b-complex, vitamin c 1000, magnesium, omega 3,
  • Periodically (2-3 weeks cycle), ashwagandha, Rhodiola, siberian ginseng,

What am I going to do?

  • Water fasting 10- 14 days in the next week,
  • Add a thyroid supplements (selenium, zinc, iodine, ndt),
  • Perhaps dostinex / cabergoline (for prolactin),
  • Supplements and herbs for testosterone (Cycle 7 days) - tongkat ali, l arginine, horny goat weed, dim, chrysin, Tribulus, cordyceps, etc.

My current results:

TSH 2,23 (0,27-4,20)
FT3 2,57 (2,00-4,40)
FT4 1,45 (0,93-1,70)
T3 76.46 (80,00-200,00)
T4 7.51 (5,10-14,10)
anti-TPO 12.60 (0,00- 34.00)
anti-TG 19.97 (0,00-115,00)
FSH 1.99 (1,50-12,40)
LH 2.21 (1,70-8,60)
Estradiol 17.98 (7,63-42,60)
Progesterone 0.66 (0,20-1,40)
Prolactin 14.72 (4,04-15,20)
Testosterone 543 (249-836)

#15

I guess I will go with the other stuff you listed but how does 2 days of Hydrocortisone give you gyno? Did you check to see if you had a cortisol
deficiency prior to taking this?

  • Hydrocortisone (2 days, 10 Mg 2.5 / 2.5 / 2.5 / 2.5) gave me a huge crash. Caused a huge headache, ed, gyno, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts,
#16

mcibofh

No. HC caused the crash of the entire system. Crash means for me a domino effect. So I do not blame directly HC about the appearance of gynecomastia. His influence was only an indirect but significant.
In addition, I made a mistake by not checking beforehand my cortisol levels. Now I know that my cortisol level is not very low and basically I should get a hold of HC from afar. Especially after such an experience with him. I do not claim that everyone should avoid the HC. Just my body does not accept closer relations with the HC. Cheers!

#17

I would only add that I felt a big improvement using two weeks of the artichoke. So if someone has problems with the liver and detoxification of the body, and is afraid to use milk thistle (awor’s thread), I recommend that you take the safe artichoke. It’s really cheap and effective to repair the liver.

#18

I will try artichoke.

#19

I was prescribed to take artischoke to build up immunity. For a higher doses i need to take oligoplant.

#20

Thought I’d give an update.

It’s been over 9 years … I don’t remember how good life can be. Anyway, I’m still trying to fight.

I recently wrote that my vitamin B12 levels were abnormally low. Well, I raised it from 108 to 1,287 (187-883). Unfortunately, it doesn’t make me feel any better. Okay, to be honest I felt better in the beginning, it gave me the energy for a while to run the fastest in years, but then I crashed (although it wasn’t particularly bad).

I thought this collapse was due to my adrenal glands being too weak. As my resistance to stress is very low (any stressor, such as stress, too much training and bad eating, increases my brain fog, adrenal gland pain, headache, etc.), I decided to focus more on cortisol. I admit that I expected that after 9 years of this disease and low stress tolerance, cortisol will be at a low level. Amazingly, a 24-hour urine test showed that my cortisol is close to the upper limit of 120.6 (36-137). I think the measurement may even be a bit on the low side because I pee mostly in the afternoon and evening when the cortisol level is lower. It’s a bit weird because for 9 years my cortisol has been too high rather than too low and I haven’t had a breakdown (adrenal fatigue) yet. In any case, I will try to lower it by using bacopa (it gave me moderate success last year) and amino acids - of course, the basis is diet, rest, breathing exercises, short training and some supplements (fish oil or vitamin D3).

One more thing: I recently discovered that chicken liver does a pretty good job of lowering my anxiety. Perhaps this is due to the large supply of many B vitamins. In any case, I eat as much as 1,200 grams a week. Not only does the liver contain more nutrients than regular meat, it is also very cheap. Just a note on frying. I cook in water for about 10-15 minutes.

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#21

The timing of this post is almost ridiculous.
Chicken liver contains about one of the highest amounts of vitamin a you can find in a food product.
I know vitamin a and that iu amount is very,very high.

Chicken, liver, all classes, cooked, simmered, 1 container (cooked, yield from 400g raw liver)

Protein (g) 62.62
Vitamin A, IU (IU) 34119.68
Retinol (mcg) 10183.68
#22

Yes, I knew before about the very high vitamin A dosage in the liver. And I was also afraid of it, but I do not feel any deterioration after eating it (on the contrary - it is better).

As you can see: I didn’t write that liver is good at fighting anxiety, but that liver reduces anxiety in my case.

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#23

Another short update.
So I took bacopa because of my high cortisol. And it surprised me that it had a completely absurd effect on me. Instead of reducing anxiety - it increased it. Instead of calming the body down - I felt a lot of nervousness. Besides, I still felt a strong headache and more brain fog. I finished after two days of use. This reaction was really weird because a year ago I was taking bacopa for several months with moderate success. But that’s just fucking PFS. I had the same (first it works, then the opposite) with ashwagandha, Chinese herbs or broccoli.

Perhaps this time this reaction was due to a serotonin problem, as I had very similar reactions in recent days, taking Tryptophan and Vitamin C with Rosehip, and I felt better on Tyrosine. The good news is that my other amino acids (tyrosine, taurine, carnitine, bcaa, theanine, alcar, glutamine, phenylalanine) gave me a bit more energy (I use it on a rotational basis).

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#24

Now compared with the beginning, have you recovered from any symptoms? Very curious.:smiley:

#25

Thank you for your question.
I wanted to update my status a while back. Anyway, hope is starting to appear for me. I think I have finally discovered my path after almost 10 years of struggle.

My current regimen looks like this:

  1. diet:
  • 2-3 per week I eat meat 250-300 grams each - basically just ground beef. For some unknown reason I have problems after eating unground meat (more bloating, headaches, liver and kidney pain, gynecomastia, etc. - as if the body can’t digest it). I have a similar problem after eating poultry meat. Additionally, 1-2 times a month I eat poultry liver;
  • 2 times a week I eat red lentils and 1 time mung beans (I cook 1 cup each time) - I know that legumes are controversial here, but for me the above work neutrally/well;
  • 2 times a week eggs (8 eggs a day);
  • other carbohydrates daily - alternating between sorghum, brown rice, millet groats, buckwheat, quinoa, and sweet potatoes (I cook one and a half cups per day - sweet potatoes so 1 kg);
  • 3-6 tablespoons of olive or avocado oil daily;
  • plenty of vegetables - with every meal;
  • some fruit (usually two apples a day);
  • I avoid spicy condiments;
  • I consume about 2200-2600 kcal per day.
  1. Supplements:
  • Vitamin D3 during the winter season (about 5,000 units per day);
  • Calcium due to not eating dairy (about 800 units per day);
  • magnesium occasionally (in citrate form, 300-400 units);
  • Tranium (about 1.2 grams per day of omega 3 acids);
  • artichoke in the form of an infusion (for regeneration of the digestive system, especially the liver - I use it for 3 months and take 1 month off);
  • amino acids and others: tyrosine, taurine, acetylcarnitine, carnitine, glycine, phenylalanine, glutamine, BCAA, arginine, theanine, choline (all in rotation so that one day I take taurine in the morning, then BCAA, and theanine before bed. Another day choline in the morning, then arginine, and finally glutamine, etc).
  1. training:
  • I have a four-day training cycle: on the first day I do strength training (dumbbells, push-ups, barbells, etc.); on the second day I do uphill running sprints; on the third day again another set of strength training, anaerobic; on the fourth day a very slow 12-15 minute jog;
  • I do all of these workouts at either low or medium intensity (70-80% of capacity max) due to cortisol issues;
  • note, for many years I could not exercise at all - I started exercising very slowly, doing for example one push-up a day or 200 meters of walking a day.
  1. meditation:
  • my big breakout of the last few months. Due to high cortisol levels and pain in the adrenal region, I started meditating in August. And I must say that I am positively surprised with its effects. For me it turned out to be much better solution for high cortisol and adrenal pain than vitamin C1000 or phosphatidylserine. I meditate about 15 minutes each time, 1-2 times a day.

If I had to rank what has proven to be most important to me, I would write that 70% of the success is diet along with sleep (I fall asleep around 8pm and wake up around 3-4 the next day), 20% meditation (I wish I had discovered this sooner), 5% each supplements and training.

My new path has allowed me to get back to doing 40 hours a week at work after 9 years of hell, and to get back to 30-50% of my old self (this is important because I was stuck at 20% for years) while maintaining an upward trend. I know 30-50% may not seem very impressive, but I started my new protocol in August, and I was a very severe case - I had almost everything, led by massive cognitive impairment). I assume this progress would be greater if it weren’t for the fact that I’m at work every day, which from the perspective of the past few years is an amazing accomplishment for me. I’ll also brag that I was recently on vacation in Egypt with my girlfriend and was able to have sex every day, twice having ejaculated and not once experiencing a disaster. Almost every time the sun works well for me, but this time it worked particularly well for me. This benevolent, sexual effect passed when I returned to my cold country.

Of course, I stipulate that what I have described above does not necessarily work well for everyone. I do not claim to invent a cure for PFS. As we know, this affliction is complicated enough that my scheme might as well drive some of us into hell.

I hope you are better too.

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#26

I received my test results today. And I have to say, I’m very surprised. My vitamin B12 level is 303 pg/ml (187-883), while a year ago the result was 1,287 (same ranges). I got last year’s result then after treatment with hydroxycobalamin injections. It appears that I used up several years’ supply of vitamin B12 in 11 months (during which time I ate meat and eggs most days of the week).

The other issue is my TSH level, which is 1.21 ulU/ml (0.35-4.94). I expected a worse result due to the fact that I have trouble getting iodine from my diet. Perhaps this result was influenced by the fact that I started supplementation with potassium iodide and bladderwrack hake this week. Although these were small doses, they may have influenced the final result.

Any thoughts? I would appreciate

#27

Good to see that you’re getting to a somewhat functioning level @hrihor !

Thank you for keeping people posted.

Not much to say here except that I take methyl B12 sublingual lozenges, and it seems to keep my B12 high. Seems easier than injections.

Not sure how important B12 is for PFS though - i guess you just don’t want it to be low :man_shrugging:t3:

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#28

Yeah, I’m trying to fight. Thank you for your kind words.

And aren’t you worried that methylated B12 might have a bad effect on your body? I know a lot of people on this site have had problems with methyl donors.

#29

Can you give example of foods or supplements that are “methyl donors”?

#31

I would rather not be concerned about obtaining methyl from food (lettuce leaves, for example, contain a lot of methylfolate). Much more problematic are supplements, look here: A warning about SAMe, methylcobalamin, and high-dose B vitamins

#32

For me, I think it’s been helpful. (I’ve tried to document my experience here.

I admire your sleep schedule, BTW! I have such a hard time going to bed at a reasonable hour. What are your “go to bed early” tips?

#33

First and foremost, fear. If I go to bed after 10pm, mostly the next day is a nightmare (more brain fog, anxiety, exhaustion, etc). That’s why I try to go to bed around 9pm (optimally at 8pm, but that rarely works out unfortunately). Most of all, I am happy that I now manage to sleep 7-8 hours uninterrupted. This is a success for me, because for years I usually had big or very big problems with sleep. I don’t have one good answer as to why I sleep better now. It’s more due to my system, but in particular I would single out meditation before bed, which takes about 15 minutes.

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#34

A quick update.
Last year, I took a breath test for SIBO/IMO. It showed a slight overgrowth of methanogens. My result was 16 ppm, while overgrowth starts at 10 ppm. So I began a several-week treatment regimen using allicin (Allimed 2700 mg daily), neem (approx. 1200 mg daily), oregano (50 mg daily of oregano oil ADP), biofilm disruptors (Kirkman Biofilm Defense 2 capsules daily and NAC 600 mg daily), and glutamine (5 grams daily).

The treatment proved effective, as my methanogen levels decreased to 5 ppm. However, I developed hydrogen-producing bacterial overgrowth, with a result of 25 at the 80-minute mark of the test—a result on the lower end of the range. I was informed that the appearance of hydrogen-producing bacteria overgrowth after curing the methanogen overgrowth is normal, because previously this overgrowth was hidden due to the fact that methanogens were consuming the hydrogen-producing bacteria.

So this year, I started the next phase of treatment. This time, my protocol included glutamine (5 grams daily), Kirman Biofilm Defense (2 capsules daily), Allimed (1350 mg daily), and berberine (400–1200 mg daily).

And I had a big problem with berberine. I started with a dose of 1200 mg of berberine sulfate daily, and in the first few days, my mind was clearer, my depression was significantly reduced, and I also had a pretty strong libido.

As the days went by, not only did this effect begin to fade, but I also started experiencing severe anxiety, significantly worse brain fog, a steadily declining libido, and I began to gain fat around my stomach and nipples. Over time, these side effects became so severe (especially the anxiety, which was incredibly intense, comparable to my anxiety after the first finasteride crash) that I reduced my daily dose of berberine to 800 mg and later to 400 mg. I finished the treatment this week; I probably no longer have SIBO/IMO, but the aforementioned side effects of berberine are still quite severe.
Basically, while taking berberine, I felt the same way I did while taking finasteride. At first, an unusually strong libido, and then a descent into hell. All in all, this is no surprise, because berberine is a (quite potent for a natural remedy) reductase inhibitor, although it works on a slightly different principle (but it’s still a 5ARI).

In any case, I’d like to warn you about berberine. I don’t feel like it’s going to block me for long, but it’s worth being aware of its potentially destructive effects on us.

Oh, and one more thing. While experimenting with SIBO/IMO treatment, I discovered partially hydrolyzed guar gum (PHGG), which is a fantastic (at least for me) prebiotic that, in my case, radically improved the appearance and consistency of my stools as well as the frequency of my bowel movements.

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