Topical Minoxidil/Saw Palmetto-induced PFS

Member Stories
#22

Cheers man, really happy overall and I it lasts this time, I’ve had temporary recoveries before but this is the longest stretch of time I’ve felt decent for so I’m staying positive.

Sorry to hear of your worsening, hope you can get back to baseline and eventually recover.

I never had anorgasmia but originally I had watery semen and pins and needles after orgasm. I also had some sensitivity loss too and a severed brain-dick connection, it felt like I had a piece of meat dangling between my legs which was really uncomfortable.

#23

Hope the stretch lasts for you . I’ll be rooting for you

I got all the same sides including a severe case of anorgasmia. But anorgasmia in my case is probable not the best word to use because that’s inability to achieve orgasm. I get the lack of sensation during orgasm which “seems neurological”. In my experience it’s this particular side and the severe insomnia that seems to be associated with the more severe cases . Not that every case is not severe because they are all severe.

Anyhow I’m currently back to baseline and a little above on my current protocol .

Myself along with other saw P cases seem to get improvements in the sexual sides from increasing estrogen . Have you ever noticed anything like this ?

I’m currently on 4 DHEA and hops extract . I have been on the 4 DHEA for 23 days and I added in the hops extract three days ago with the 4 DHEA. I’m seeing some improvements in all the sexual sides . Hoping for it to last and to build. I’m seeing the best results from the
4 DHEA when I take 130 MG split up in four doses through out the course of the day. More then 130 MG does not help. I’m currently taking 500 MG’s of hops extract which I have experimented with previously upwards to 2000 MG daily. Anything over 2000 MG of hops did not help and seemed to hurt things a little. 1000 mg was my sweet spot last time I took hops . This is the second time it’s working so I like this stuff. It contains a phytoestrogen that agonizes the estrogen receptors

#24

Hey @5-alpha-victim ! I’m just starting 25 mg DHEA supplements!

What sexual sides did DHEA improve for you, and what dose do you take of it?
Thanks man!

#25

Hey Northumbrian,

I just recently got my hands on a copy of the Kharrazian book, while I’m usually not a reader it’s been quite an eye-opening read so far.

You followed the gluten-free low-carb autoimmune diet that is mentioned in the book quite zealously am I right? Would you say it significantly contributed to your improvements from your personal experience?

Based on your personal experience, would you recommend intermittent fasting while following this diet?

Did you exercise regularly during this time or not at all? If yes, what type of exercises did you do?

I apologize for the barrage of questions, but I’m about to start trying a similar trajectory and I would like to know your thoughts on these things.

#26

Hey, I followed the diet with some modifications. I didn’t want to go full keto so I would carb backload with gluten-free and dairy-free carbs on a night, usually sweet potatoes or rice, and as a treat almond milk hot chocolate. For my first two meals I followed the diet pretty diligently, though, usually I’d eat a combination of lean meat, eggs, veg, or sauerkraut (can help with rebalancing the microbiome). I can’t say conclusively that this contributed to my improvements, but I guess it did. Of course correlation =/= causation but I improved while on this diet so I based on personal experience I would highly recommend it. I am no longer on the diet and have kept my improvements, but think I will get back on in the near future and push for that final 20%.

I didn’t try intermittent fasting but I believe @Zonz2 has some experience with this and may be able to help you out. He is also trying to get better via positive lifestyle changes and DM’d me some good info.

Regarding exercise, I couldn’t exercise to the extent that I wanted to because of gyms being closed during lockdown, though I tried going for long walks every day or every other day (which I still do). When lockdown ends (hopefully in April) I’m hoping to get back to the gym.

#28

I took a product called 4-Andro which contains 4-DHEA. 4-DHEA is claimed to have a higher conversion rate to testosterone compared to DHEA. I did not go into it thinking that if I simply increase testosterone that I was going to recover. I have been at this for a long enough time to know better.

I trialed it specifically because I got PFS from Saw P and I’m familiar with some other saw P-PFS guys who get improvements when their Estradiol is in the higher end. These specific Saw P-PFS guys also felt as if when they took 4-DHEA that the increase in testosterone has a highish conversion rate to estrogen. So I went for it and trialed the 4-DHEA for a month at doses ranging from 32.5 MG-260 MG’s daily. During the first two weeks I felt like my Testosterone was getting substantially increased. My blood pressure felt unnaturally increased the entire time I was on it especially at the higher dosage. At times I felt minor upward fluctuations in the sexual sides while on it that never lasted.

At the end of the 30 day trial my blood testosterone, LH and Estradiol were lower then when I started confirmed by before and during testing. I speculate that even though my testosterone and estrogen did increase initially while on it that shortly thereafter my natural production was shut down. Over all the trial was a let down. Another Saw P-PFS guy noticed benefits in the weeks following after coming off the 4-DHEA. So I’m still keeping my fingers crossed hoping that this will be my experience as well.

I’m not entirely convinced yet that increasing Estradiol in my case is not the answer due to recent noticeable improvements in erections taking hops extract which is claimed to contain a phytoestrogen that agonizes estrogen receptor alpha. So if I don’t see any benefits in the next few weeks on the “rebound” after coming off the 4-DHEA which I’m not expecting I’m either going to explore the phytoestrogen path further or the amino acid/neurotransmitter path further. I’m also considering trialing Bacopa per thisisarealbummer’s protocol seeing that I think GABA is involved in my imbalance. People have reported getting worse from Bacopa as well though so I have to decide if I want to risk it. I’m not sitting around though crossing my days off on the calendar so I’m willing to take risks

#29

I would like to say that over this summer I have made a full recovery and my improvements have been steadfast. After 15 months of suffering, with temporary improvements which were always offset with further crashes down the line, I finally feel like my old self again.

Just to get it out the way I should say that I don’t have any answers and don’t want to put my recovery down to any specific thing that I did. Overall, I believe that it was purely down to luck. I did engage in some piecemeal recovery protocols during winter/spring but my real improvements came during the summer by which time I wasn’t doing anything specific and if anything living a pretty unhealthy lifestyle while travelling.

I can, however, reaffirm 100% that there is always a glimmer of hope and that this condition isn’t necessarily permanent. I remember vividly how I felt 15 months ago and I wouldn’t have ever thought I’d be here right now documenting my recovery.
To anybody suffering please hang on in there and never lose hope, you are incredibly strong people and I will always have the upmost sympathy for you all. I’m ready to move on with my life now but I’ll be around for a little while if anyone wants to chat. Best of luck to all of you!

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#30

@Northumbrian Hey, it’s fantastic to hear someone naturally recovered from this hell. Congratulations, I hope that your health remains good.

I do have a couple of questions though as I am less a believer in lady fortune and the concept of luck when it comes to health, and I do want to believe that you have somehow managed to trigger a situation where your body is able to reverse epigenetic changes slowly but surely.

I know you don’t want to ascribe your recovery to any specific thing you did, because you can never be sure of any of this. But I want to get as clear a picture of your general lifestyle as I can during this timeframe.

What were the recovery protocols that you were (sort of) following at that time? Was it the modified paleo diet / carb backloading / Gut repair diet? Cold showers? I’ve also been living quite teetotal for a while now and I think it may have improved my overall erection strength, but it hasn’t done anything for my genital sensation or morning/spontaneous erections that are still absent.

Did you exercise a lot during this time and if yes did you do specific ones? I also vaguely remember you talking about meditation or Wim Hof methods on another thread but I haven’t checked. It’s possible I am confusing you with a different member. Anyway I was wondering how extensively or regularly you did these, if any.

Back in the day you mentioned you had high prolactin measurements in your blood serum. Did you ever get a follow-up test?

Also what sort of places did you visit during your travels? Did you travel like, a lot, in quick succession? Were you mostly in urban areas, rural areas, wilderness, cold areas, hot areas? I do think these things could potentially influence health. What do you mean by unhealthy lifestyle? Fast food or lots of partying and drugs?

At what times did the crashes come in your case? Was there any notable pattern to them in terms of triggers or times of occurence?

I feel that sleep influences my symptoms a lot. I feel that when I am tired or otherwise sleep-deprived I have better sexual functioning, which strikes me as odd. Another thing that I find odd is that whenever I am sleeping over at various friends’ places I tend to have better morning libido the next day. I’m not sure if anyone else can identify with these things but I am getting the feeling that regular changes of environment can be beneficial to PFS patients. I think that things like ‘cold showers’ also count as ‘change in environment’ as far as the body is concerned and it wouldn’t surprise me if these things triggered all sorts of biochemical mechanisms.