PAIS, PFS, my story

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)?
Russia

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?)
Knew this site
What is your current age, height, weight?
21

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

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Aromasin 1/4 tablet once a week

What condition was being treated with the drug?

Elevated estradiol after steroids on PCT
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
About a month and a half
Date when you started the drug?
In February-March
Date when you quit the drug?
Mid April
Age when you quit?
21
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkeu
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
I began to notice that something was wrong while taking Aromasin, I had recovery therapy after steroids, my analysis at the beginning of this therapy showed high estradiol, in the first part of therapy in December I took anastrozole with tamoxifen for this reason, I was very bad, I thought I was dying, didn’t understand what was wrong, then there was temporary relief and I started doing the second part of PCT in February with enclomiphene and aromasin, since I did not have another aromatase inhibitor
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Complete depression, suicidal thoughts, lack of pleasure from everything, I turned into a bedridden patient from an absolutely healthy person, my personality has completely changed
Also complete loss of muscle mass and sore joints
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
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[x] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[x] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[x] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] Joint Pain
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[x] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[x] 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?
TRT, HCG, Clomiphene
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)?
Constantly reduced estradiol level, was at the upper limit of normal, now at the lower limit, with testosterone 12 nmol/l the estradiol level is 62, with testosterone 21 nmol/l estradiol 63
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?

I’m on the verge of suicide
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I apologize if there are any mistakes, I am writing through a translator. I had a cycle of steroids on a small dose of testosterone for about 10 weeks, which was excellent, after the cycle I did post-cycle therapy on the advice of athletes, first with tamoxifen at a dose of 40mg and anastrozole 1/2 tablet twice a week, I felt very bad, I thought I’m dying and I was in this state for a month without leaving the house, then I switched to clomiphene and I felt a little better, I finished PCT, but I wasn’t feeling very good and I started taking enclomiphene, I didn’t have anastrozole and I added aromazin, which I took 1/4 tablet from a friend once a week. I was already feeling bad, and from that moment a terrifying anhedonia and depression began, which I associated with low testosterone levels, it was towards the end of the treatment, I foolishly took the last dosage of Aromasin and all hell broke loose, I was shaking, I couldn’t eat, I I couldn’t adequately think and evaluate what was happening, complete weakness, constant fear and anxiety, from that moment I lay at home for a month in a dying state, I constantly slept, I literally don’t remember anything that happened after that, in the middle of summer I attempted suicide , they managed to save me, I tried to go on TRT, but at first it was very bad, after Aromasin my hair began to fall out, this intensified on testosterone, terrible anxiety began from testosterone, I was in despair and took finasteride, to my surprise I felt good , although my hair did not stop falling out, and my general condition became good, I almost began to feel like before, but problems with erections and shooting pains in the penis began, I took finasteride for about two weeks at a dosage of 0.2, not every day, or once at three days, or every other day, as soon as problems with erectile function began, I stopped. A month has passed since that moment and my condition has become even worse than before, I am going crazy, my penis is now in the shape of an hourglass, my erection is bad, I was a cheerful person a year ago before the cycle and on the testosterone cycle, I had plans for life, I now have a girlfriend, but I am in complete agony, my personality has changed, my body too, my appearance is different now, I am on the verge of suicide, I even tried demethylating drugs such as novocaine and procainamide and the HDAC inhibitor valproic acid, but it did not help me , I have a medical education as a pharmacist and based on theory I know how it works, I tried adding the phytoestrogen genistein, but to no avail. My life has become hell and I can’t live anymore

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:
    • Dosage:
    • How often you took it:
  2. Status
    • Still using [ ]
    • Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
    • Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
  3. Duration of use: Days [ ] 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 [ ]
3 Likes

Man, this sounds terrible - I’m sorry you’re going through this. Did your symptoms start with aromasin, or did you take finasteride as well? It wasn’t quite clear from your story…

3 Likes

For some reason my post has been edited and not posted in full (I don’t know what’s causing it, maybe there’s some kind of error, I tried to edit it myself into the full text, but it doesn’t work, it’s still very shortened). Thank you for your support… I no longer believe that I will recover, it started with Aromasin, I spent three or four months in complete horror, then I decided to go on TRT, but it was very bad, testosterone no longer worked as before, it still doesn’t it works, each injection causes anxiety and a mini-crash, I tried adding finasteride (the difference in the time of taking aromasin and finasteride is about 4 months), at the beginning it really helped, as if the symptoms of all the horror disappeared for a while, but ED began and I stopped taking finasteride, now I have both PFS and PAIS, I no longer feel like myself and have completely lost touch with my personality

1 Like

Before taking Aromasin, I did not experience hair loss even on a dosage of 500 mg of testosterone

I believe that all the side effects are due to the steroid structure of these drugs, I never had problems with anastrozole, I read lowe2sucks, gents93’s stories with anastrozole, I believe they went/are going through similar hell as me, but my analysis shows constantly low estradiol, if in their case they have damage to the receptors, then it seems to me in my case this is damage in principle to the production of estradiol by the body, I am firmly convinced that if there was a reversible non-steroidal inhibitor of 5-AR, then there would be cases of similar PFS - would be much less, I sincerely hope that such drugs will sooner or later be banned from sale…