Yes i understand exactly what you mean and i do believe that the hormonal system is the problem. I actually taught college level physiology while working on my masters degree and have a thorough understanding of the endocrine system. However, as I believe you would agree, no one really understands how propecia has affected our bodies. With that in mind, the best way to fix our problem is for everyone to work together on this rather than having some doc make a half-ass attempt at solving our problems. I should have added in my first post, but I got tired of writing, that cutting caffeine out of my diet was just a small fraction of what I did to make some progress. If you look at the body of research that is currently out there, a few natural supplements do seem to have a direct effect on the action of the leydig cells. These are the cells that actually work in the testes to produce testosterone. These supplements will, it is believed, mimic the action of LH. As a result, the closed loop cycle of endocrine control is not as much of a factor. I have tried just about all of these supplements with varying degrees of success and failure. By far, the most success has come with the use of cordyceps sinnesis. I have been taking 6 grams per day. This is much more than you will see on any of the bottles but is what I have found to be necessary for progress. The limited amount of clinical research out there has been done on rats. However, it has shown the ability to stimulate testerone release and has been used for ages in some parts of the world for impotence. Amazingly, I have noticed a huge gain in the size of my testes. I have not noticed as much of an increase in sex drive. Although there has definitely been an improvement. Erections are much firmer and sperm seems to be thicker. Among the list of other things I have experimented with are zinc, longjack, rhodiola rhosea, GABA, horny goat weed, garlic (with I am still taking), ginko biloba, ginseng, multivitamin, fish oils, etc. I have taken careful note of how each has affected me and tried to eliminate those that make me feel worse. VERY IMPORTANT, saw palmetto, in any form, seems to have an immediate finasteride like effect. It was included in an organic superfoods drink that I tried for a while, and it seemed to numb my penis consideribly and made it very difficult to obtain an erection. Exactly like when I was in the worse of my propecia sides. As soon as I eliminated it, progress continued to be made. I definitely believe that we are screwed up big time in regards to dht and its influence on our penis, prostate, etc. However, as i have mentioned I think this will get better.
So here are the supplements that have offered some success. They are NOT a cure, but a push in the right direction. Fish oils, garlic, cordyceps, mutivitamin (be careful some contain sawa palmetto as an added “bonus”), acetyl-l carnitine.
The ones that have hurt my progress, I believe, are saw palmetto, gabba, rhodiola rhosea, nettles root/leave. It does not make sense as to why some of these have made me worse. Rhodiola should decrease cortisol, hence increase test but I feel it makes it hard for me to achieve an erection. Nettles root is believed to increase free test, unfortunately, it is also believed to be a 5-aplpha reductase inhibitor, albeit not to the extent of propecia. I believe it affects me much like saw p and prop.
These little experiments that I have done on myself over the last 2 to 3 years have been frustrating but helpful in trying to figure out whats happened with me body.
For those of you who do not believe in “natural” cures. My father was recently cured of a disabling neurological condition with megadoses of vitamin B. He had been treated with pharmaceuticals for five years with zero success and was planning to have a brain operation within the next 6 months. I did the research, we took a chance, and he is 200% better than he was with the poison that the neurologist had been feeding him for five years.
I sympathize with all who are on here and do not want to offend anyone with my comments and/or downplay the seriousness of what we are all facing. BUT we can be fixed, I truly beieve it. We just need a push in the right direction in order to get our HPTA and hormonal system back on track. As for myself, I continue to improve, albeit slowly. I just try to think about how much more I will appreciate everything when this is all over.
