**update**

Member Stories Lab Tests
#1

So everyone,

Here’s an update on my life the last few months…

Worst news, me and my girlfriend of a year and a half broke up. She ended up telling me she didn’t think we were right for each other, and she just couldn’t do it anymore. I guess the good news is that sex had nothing to do with it… in fact, we continued to have sex even after we weren’t together anymore. But, that’s over now.

Anyway… I saw a urologist in Boston recently, that is dubbed to have an excellent knowledge of PFS. That doctor is Nelson Bennett in the Lahey Clinic of Burlington, MA. Apparently he had seen a number of PFS patients, and had a good idea of what was going on. So, first off, he did some blood work, and here are the results:

Testosterone: 391 (normal range: 450 - 1000)
SHBG: 28 (normal range: 13 - 90)
Albumin: 4.9 (normal range: 3.6 - 5.1)
Calc free testos: 280 (normal range: 180 - 900)
Prostate specific AG: 0.9 (normal range: 0.1 - 2.8)
Prolactin: 10 (normal range: 2 - 15)
FSH: 2 (normal range: 1 - 15)
LH: 4 (normal range: 2 - 6)
DHEA: 3.39 (normal range: 1.33 - 7.78
Estradiol: 18.3 (normal range: 10 - 42)

He said that for the most part, my blood results weren’t bad, except that my testosterone is low (391, hence flagged in red). However, he was very adamant in saying that he doesn’t think I’m suffering from PFS. This is exactly what he said… “You’re far from it. I’ve seen other PFS patients, and they’re really messed up. The hottest girl could walk in here completely naked, sit on their face, and they would say ‘Get off of me, I want to read a newspaper.’” I told him how I’m not at that point, but… I just feel different than where I was before. My libido just isn’t the same, and I just don’t get erections as easily as I used to. I still have somewhat of a desire for sex, and… ya I’d love to see hot girls naked, but just… not like before. He still doesn’t think it’s because of PFS, but because of low testosterone. He recommended I just try natural ways to boost it…

I really don’t know what to do though… I still feel like I’ve been affected by finasteride. I can have sex (hence I had a year and a half relationship full of tons of it), but I’m just not where I used to be… What do you guys think of my blood results, and how they compare to others?

#2

It sounds like if you do have PFS you may be one of the guys who doesnt have it that bad, be greatful for this. There seem to be varying degrees to which someone can get the condition. Some guys I have talked to only have fairly mild sexual problems… slight ED, low libido. While others including myself suffer from more severe sexual side effects AND mental and phyical side effects like depression, brain fog, anxiety, and liver pain.

The low testosterone can be an issue caused by the finasteride thou, 26 year olds shouldnt have low test especially if it wasnt low in previous years. For this reason, I wouldn’t go as far as your doc and claim that you don’t have PFS, you may just have it mildly.

This condition is a strange one and doesnt make a lot of sense, Several of us on here have good testosterone levels but still no libido’s. I’ve had mine tested 3 times (post finasteride), each time in the 830-850 range (250-1100), which is pretty good for a 28 year old, yet I have essentially ZERO libido. I feel the urge to get off like once every 3 months, which is like night and day compared to before finasteride.

Personally if I were you I would try to boost your natural testosterone before trying any TRT and see if that resolves any isses. Things like clomid and HCG can help you do this, but you need to use them the right way.

#3

Did he say anything about how he treats people who he thinks do have PFS? Does he say its possible for everyone to recover?

#4

Get 3-adiol-g and vitamin D tested if you can as well btw and post the results. These tend to be markers for the condition, if they come up low.

#5

Pecker/greene,

Let me ask you something… like, is your libido literally like ZERO? Imagine something crazy, like… eating Eva Longoria’s pssy, or fcking the hell out of Megan Fox. That doesn’t turn you on in the least bit? See the thing with me is… as much as I’d love to be in those scenarios, just thinking about them don’t get me hard. When I was younger, and before finasteride, those thoughts would. That’s the one area I’ve noticed the most significant decline… visual stimulation. However, I was talking about that to Dr. Bennett, and he was saying as you get older, erections caused by visual stimulation deteriorate, so he kind of disregarded that. Also, what’s your sex life life? How often do you have it, and what has happened when you’ve been in a situation to?

I hate to say this, but I asked him about cures for PFS, and he was explaining how the reason a lot of people see very persistent side effects even after discontinuation of finasteride is because of alterations in the brain, and neurons are a type of cell that doesn’t regenerate (hence spinal cord injuries).

Also, I’ve been taking vit D3 supplements for over a year now… (5000mg daily). I also currently take fish oil, a multi V, zinc and B6. Kegels really help, but I’ve gotten very lazy with them lately. And as for now… I am gonna try natural ways to boost testosterone. I don’t want to do anything ‘synthetic’ for now, as I’m now extra cautious after using the poison Propecia. Here’s what I found, gonna try it out I guess… timinvermont.com/fitness/boosttes.htm

#6

Visual stimuli (porn) was more than enough to get me going prefinasteride. Now I require physical stimulation and many times Cialis. And even then when I do get a erection I am not really “turned on” so to speak.

I do have a GF now and have sex everyother day or so thanks to Cialis and lots of concentration.

However I do this more for her than myself because honestly I don’t feel a whole lot from it anymore, almost never desire it and it actually makes my junk feel worse for awhile afterward most of the time.

#7

Well, here’s the thing… have you ever tried it without Cialis? And, does she know anything about your PFS issue? My advice to you… if she DOESN’T know about it, then give it a shot without Cialis. What’s the worst you have to lose? Your gf won’t leave you if you’re not able to get it up one time. If you’re NOT able to succeed, then just go back on Cialis. If you ARE able to succeed in having sex, you’ll feel like a load has been lifted off your shoulder. And, then once you get some confidence, in time, you’ll be able to see pleasure out of it. That’s how it was with me… I was using Cialis for so long, and then once I decided to try without it, I was able to have sex, and then everything just pieced together. I still sometimes use Cialis every now and then… when my libido is very low, or when I just want to be better in bed. It’s like a ‘band-aid’.

I know this s*cks, man… but as Dr. Bennett showed me, and something I realized for myself, it could be a lot worse… being blind, paralyzed, deaf, etc… IMO, that stuff is all MUCH worse. At least with this… you got a GF, you’re still having sex (though not enjoying it as much as you’d like), etc.

#8

If you don’t react to visual stimuli and don’t get horny like you used to and it has been going on for some time since quitting finasteride, then your probably in trouble like the rest of us. It doesn’t really matter what you classify it. What is ‘post finasteride syndrome’ anyway? we don’t know.

You know if your screwed up. You won’t react to pornography, you will be passive about sex around girls and you can go long periods of time without desiring sex/ ejaculation. I went from a 5+ times a day guy, to once every couple of days and even then losing erections throughout intercourse. I can literally walk away from sex mid way through and not be phased.

#9

Yeah I can do it without the cialis sometimes, took me a long time off before I could thou. And like I said it requires a lot of “concentraition”, feels more like work than fun now =(. She does know about the situation with the finasteride and is very supportive, hell she even goes with me to many of my doc visits and drove with me over to DHL when I went to send the saliva sample off to Italy.

Could it be worse being blind, paralyzed ect… yeah I’m sure it could be. But this truely sucks because at least if your blind you don’t have messed up hormones that are inherently making you depressed ontop of the obvious reason to be depressed that being your dick doesnt work right.

Bare in mind it is my opinion that ED/loss of libido are not really the worst side effects of finasteride. The worst for me being the persistant depressed mood, lack of drive/motivation, shrunken/painful testicles and the occasionally shrunken penis, and just generally feeling physically horrible most of the time. If it was just ED/loss of libido I wouldn’t have been borderline suicidal there for awhile. When you pile up all the side effects on top of each other (if you do have multiple sides) it can feel like an immense burden on your shoulders.

One day your in your mid twenties with a good job in the best shape of your life, your going out having fun meeting people and loving life in general. A few months later after taking this crap you are dreading waking up in the morning because every concious moment is like a nightmare on constant play back. You don’t even feel like a human male anymore, just a husk of a person.

#10

Pecker,

I actually think that’s a very positive thing that your gf knows about it, and especially is very supportive. I was with my gf for a year and a half, and she didn’t know a damn thing about it. I just didn’t think she would react to it very well. If your gf can know about this, and be supportive of you through it, then that’s a great sign for things in the long run.

You say ‘a lot’ of concentration… do you think there’s some sort of performance anxiety involved? Maybe that anxiety is overshadowing your enjoyment for it, hence it feels like work for you.

Also a question I have for both Pecker and bluecloud… do you guys ever have morning erections?

#11

No, I mean I have to try hard to even think about sex while having it or else I might lose my erection.

Yes, sometimes I have morning erections. Didn’t start getting them again till I started using t3 for a few weeks. Came off the T3 along time ago, still have morning erections occasionally.

When I came off finasteride my cortisol was way out of whack, it was pretty high which can mess with your ability to get an erection. Still no libido thou.

#12

No morning erections for me. My penis often feels very dead first thing in the morning. I do experience semi erections in the night sometimes when i dream.

During two recovery periods i have experienced morning erections again.

#13

Completely agree with all of this. The ED just comes along with the complete fuck up that the whole of your physical and mental health has become. You can be sitting there talking with your friends and be a complete wreck for no reason - brain just isn’t responding as it should. No emotions, no feedback. Then there seems to be physical manifestations. Weak legs, a feeling of shakiness and lack of feeling. There was a period where i would almost always bump into doorways, tables, chairs if i walked any distance indoors.