RR3 Here's my story, I hope it's useful

Member Stories
#1

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)?
Canada

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?)
I was one of the one’s that worked with Mew to start the site

What is your current age, height, weight?
44, 5.5, 160 lbs

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

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1/4 daily

What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hairloss

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
Not sure maybe around the 1 to 3 month mark

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
21 or 22

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
21 or 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?
Within 1 to 3 months

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Inability to orgasm and ejaculate

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
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[X] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[Not Sure] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X] 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
[X] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
(I believe my dry eyes are the effect of lowered testosterone Vitamin E and Fish Oils I’ve found to help, take one or the other not both)

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] 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?
Lots of vitamins and supplements over the years, provorian (DHT), testosterone, clomid, arimidex, chrysocor, nystatin, accupuncture and probably more as well which I don’t remember anymore

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)?
No preblood test lots post blood test after
Showed lower testosterone and elevated estrogens (only in US test from Quest & another US Lab)

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.

I’m not sure if I still have an enlarged prostate but I believe arimidex helped my ability to ejaculate and orgasm after years of not being able to.

I’m getting strong morning erections and night time erections and find it easier to maintain my erections on niacin.

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#2

Thank you for your work starting this site. I’m also a very long term suffer of this poison but happy to know you found some relief with Arimidex, especially since so many here have very mixed opinions on it. I’m curious how much Arimidex you took, and for how long.

I’d also like to know the same about niacin. There’s another member who stated he takes something like 2000mg in the morning and 2000mg at night and it’s given him relief as well. I’ve ordered more niacin, which is expected to arrive tomorrow, and I’d like to take the lowest effective dose.

#3

Shit, I should clarify I gave Mew some suggestions when he was starting the site. All the work was done by Mew, sorry for misrepresenting my involvement with starting the site.

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#4

Suggestions are still good, and I’m sure some were implemented. Without this site, I don’t know where I’ll be.

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#5

I don’t remember the dose of arimidex I took, I took it with testosterone it was a long time ago. I don’t remember how long I took it before I was able to ejaculate, but was after a few doses. You can also easily overdo arimidex and lose your erections, that’s happened to me as well.

Just going by memory it could be incorrect, I think I was taking 1/4 3X a week or 2X a week, but I don’t remember exactly to be honest.

If you take Niacin, get the powder from BulkSupplements or PureBulk, you’ll also need a scale that allow you to measure milligrams.

You can take melatonin, pistachios or vitamin c (absorbic acid) to mitigate some of the flush caused by niacin.

You’ll need to test, from my understanding the more inflammation you have in your body the more melatonin, you’ll need to take. (Pistachios are high source of natural melatonin)

I started at 500 Mg of Niacin and 30 Mg melatonin and still got itchy, I eventually went up to 70 mg and 500 mg, I believe.

Currently I have a slight itch which isn’t too bad with 250 mg of melatonin and 2000 mg of Niacin.

As you get rid of inflammation your need for melatonin will decrease.

[Added]
Regarding taking the lowest dose, you want to take a high dose from what I read, if this is an inflammatory disease we’re dealing with. If you take low doses it’ll nibble around the edges of the problem, you want a higher dose for niacin to work and drive out the inflammation, if our issues are inflammation related.

I hope it works for you and I would love it if this worked for others as well, as I know we all suffered for a long time with this.

1 Like
#6

Thanks for sharing your story @RR3 and glad to hear you are doing better after such a long time.

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#7

Thank you for that information. I had already ordered non flush niacin before finding out the differences between it and “flush” Niacin. I took 2000mg of it in the morning and tonight. I will continue to take it until the new order of “flush” niacin comes in. Fingers crossed!

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#8

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.

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#9

Hey man, how are you doing these days? I’ve tried niacinamide riboside at the recommended dosage of 300mg per day. Is this too different a compound from niacin do you think?

#10

I tried flush niacin, not non flush is that the same as niacinamide? Look it up, I’m not sure, so I can’t answer that. I haven’t used riboside so I can’t answer that as well. You can start with a low dose of niacin, I don’t know if I’m 100%, but I feel much better on it and I do get morning wood every day while on it.

#11

Are you cured these days? If not, what symptoms do you still have? Do you credit whatever progress you’ve made to the Arimidex or the flush niacin?