Note: Recovery was more mental than actual, and a bit premature to be honest

Therapeutic Efforts Supplements & Lifestyle
#1

Since Thursday morning, I have been speaking with the fluidity and dry humor that I haven’t experienced for almost nine months. I started supplementing with iodine from seaweed and Iodoral, consuming between 10mg to 60mg each day (the average amount consumed in the Japanese diet). I started this last Monday night. On Wednesday morning I felt my speaking was the same as usual, and didn’t talk to anyone really on Wednesday night and slept for 12 hours. When I woke up Thursday morning, it felt like the usual crap, but when I started speaking to people in the afternoon it felt awesome. Before I’ve said some days might have been a tad better, but this was completely different. I hadn’t felt like this for nine months, and my quick wit was back!

That said, I’ve been on here talking about soy consumption and maybe that could’ve caused my side effects (since soy blocks iodine uptake to thyroid), since I first noticed them about three days after I started consuming a ton of soy each day (I had been on Propecia for 18 days with no side effects whatsoever at the time). Whatever the cause, the iodine definitely did the job and now I’m back to my old self. Since Thursday, I’ve made a point to talk to as many peopple as possible both in person and on the phone and I’m most certainly back to normal.

I haven’t really seen iodine discussed on here, but it is essential for thyroid function and I’m sure other functions, so perhaps guys should try it?

#2

did u have any sexual sides???

#3

If you read his past posts, no he didn’t.

Glad you’re feeling better but 3 days seems a bit early to make a bold statement like this! :wink: Hope it lasts for good.

#4

No sexual sides whatsoever. The only “physical” side I ever felt was the first afternoon I took Propecia, I felt a dull pain in my left ball for about an hour when I was sitting at my computer. I’ve read that’s not abnormal.

Five days – not three! I debated whether I should post but honestly man, it’s night and day. The words and sentences just flow if that makes sense.

#5

That’s great man. It must feel fantastic!

I wonder if you would have gotten the same results if you were to just use dulse or kelp granules and eaten them as food or put them on your food?? What type are you using to supplement?

#6

how are you sleeping?? Having been there myself if your sleeping is back to normal then I would expect your results to last, if not then you may be in a temporary situation. either way any positive result is good news.

#7

Yup, sleeping since last Wednesday night has been perfect. That’s something I also noticed. I used to have a hard time falling asleep each night, sometimes for several hours.

I don’t know how much iodine are in the dulse/kelp granules. The amount int the kelp supplement I bought at Whole Foods was such a conservative amount – 400 micrograms. It did nothing for me when I was on that amount for two weeks prior to last Monday. After extensive research, I found that the average amount in the Japanese diet can range betwen 13.8mg to 45mg, and can be low (2mg, which is still 5x the amount in the kelp supplement) or even as high as 200mg. I’ve read it’s pretty hard to experience side effects from too much iodine, even if you consume 500,000mg/day, which I wouldn’t advise.

Honestly, I’ve tried quite a few varieties of supplements and foods since I stopped Propecia in late July, and while I’m sure they were nutritious, they didn’t positively affect me – until now. I don’t know if it’ll work for everyone, but I can tell you that it made something click in me, and it’s like a different world again.

#8

What brand are you using?

#9

Iodoral 12.5mg, which is 8000% DV iodine. Also regular kelp from the store, one serving of which contains 2200% DV iodine.

#10

Hi. my first post here.

I’ve noticed some positive effects from supplementing with kelp. They’ve been very marginal so far, but I’m going to try upping my daily intake of kelp based on what I’ve read here.

Let me just add that this is an astounding problem resulting from finasteride usage. This is the first time I’ve ever used a pharmaceutical drug (almost daily) and this is the result! I feel like a complete fool for not looking this up on the web before using it. completely unusual behaviour for me.

#11

Just to reiterate, I never suffered sexual or physical side effects from Propecia – only mental (slurred speech, loss of fluidity when speaking).

#12

Still feeling 100% kirrabeachbum? Are you still taking your Iodine supps or have you toned it down a bit? I read that too much iodine can cause problems as well…

#13

Yup. I just started a new job and I’m speaking how I used to speak, socializing and what not in stark contrast to before.

The more I think about it the more it could be that my symptoms were related to overconsumption of soy and lack of iodine in my diet which caused some sort of hypothyroidism. Although it could have been Propecia related. I stopped Propecia July 25, and I felt the same for about seven months until I started the iodine thing in mid February. I also stopped eating soy for a while but the hope is to add it a bit to the diet later on.

One thing I’ve always wondered on this site is when people notice symptoms, if they’re gradual or not. I remember distinctly feeling perfect on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday last May. Monday was Memorial Day and I didn’t really talk to anyone then, but on Tuesday I first started noticing my side effects, and Wednesday and Thursday the same. I find it interesting that within 48 hours I could go from feeling perfect to speaking crappy. But then again, it seems impossible to notice side effects until they hit you immediately, and then you might reflect on it potentially happening gradually – similar to hair loss. Mine was speaking though, and a distinct difference within two days was definitely immediate.

#14

Kirra,

Im glad you still doing good. I definitely can relate to the symptoms being gone for a few days and then bam they hit you again. Hopefully u continue to stay fine. Good Luck.

#15

Hey Kirra, yeah I agree on the symptoms front. I think it’s the same with most conditions. You go about your day to day life, and if you notice a headache, or a bit of tiredness, or a temporary problem in your vision you just brush it aside as ‘stress’, or just don’t think about it. It’s only after it dawns on you that there’s a problem that everything clicks into place, and then you realize you had more symptoms than you thought.

As for what caused it for you, who knows? It might have been fin, or it might have been something else - there’s no real way to tell. Either way what you’re doing now is working, so the best thing you can do is keep it up. You’ve come out the other side of the tunnel. Enjoy it!

#16

If any other guys on here supplement with iodine (at least 12.5mg), let me know if it resolves your symptoms or not. Could take a few days but probably a few weeks. But it might inform me as to whether my problems were Propecia related or thyroid related.

#17

i´m taking 25 mg a day since about a week… no change yet…

but i agree with the weekdays thing. monday is quite allright and tuesday wednes thursday friday its going down the hill…

but i think this is cuase talking to people makes us anxious… and oin weekends we can relax

#18

I brought up the point about the weekend because I started drinking about two cartons of soy a day that particular Sunday in May, and kept that up until a few weeks ago.

#19

I just want to update. I feel awesome and it’s been eight weeks now. I also want to add that while I felt very good after three days, my speaking was so slurred and non fluid before that whatever the iodine did made me feel a world better, even if I was only perhaps 10% better. I have noticed a strong upward slope of improvement ever since.

#20

Japanther,

Notice anything different with your supplementation?