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)? Eastern Europe
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?) Google, Propecia side effects
What is your current age, height, weight? 36, 174cm, 72kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Saw Palmetto, Regaine
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1800 mg divided on 2 servings
What condition was being treated with the drug? Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 2.5 days - Saw Palmetto, 6 months - Regaine
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 34 years old/17.03.2017 - Saw Palmetto, 33 years old/09.2016 - Regaine
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 34 years old/19.03.2017
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? With the Saw Palmetto on the second day, with the Regaine noticed some strange stuff going on that I didn’t pay attention at that time
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Joint issues (Stiff, dry, clicking joints), Low libido, flu-like symptoms
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
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] 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
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] 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
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[x] 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? I tried a lot of things, I can only suspect that certain things helped me for certain symptoms, will mention what I did and what helped me IMO down the thread
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)? After I crashed
09.Oct 2017
D.H.E.A. Sulphate - 9.4 umol/L (0.44 - 13.4)
FOLLICLE STIM. HORMONE - 4.3 IU/L (1.5 - 12.4)
LUTEINISING HORMONE - 4.3 IU/L (1.7 - 8.6)
TESTOSTERONE - 12.0 nmol/L (7.6 - 31.4)
Reference Ranges apply to adults
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOB - 29 nmol/L (16 - 55)
Testosterone/SHBG Ratio - 41.4 (24 - 104)
28 Jan 2019
TESTOSTERONE - 11.2 nmol/L (7.6 - 31.4)
Reference Ranges apply to adults
17-Beta OESTRADIOL - 87 pmol/L < 192
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.
Hello guys! Been here for almost 2 years observing and trying to find solution for my issues, today I decided that it will be good idea to share my story and experience with this excruciating condition. As I mentioned above, my issues began after I took Saw Palmetto to combat hair loss, before I took it I was taking Regaine foam for 6 months. I knew about Propecia and its long lasting sides and I was trying to evade it knowing because of that. One day I came across a shampoo with Saw Palmetto, then I google it and saw that it is a DHT inhibitor, but “Natural”, that word put me right in the trap as you can see now…I am living in London at the moment ,at that moment I took this poison I was in London too. The Saw Palmetto was berries, not extract, the daily serving according the label was 1800mg twice a day. When I took it at the first day I felt strange, the second day I got hit right away with brain fog, rubber dick, spaced out felt like I was on another planet. I was at work at this day, I remember that I was like drunk and high at the same time, I was doing something, after few minutes I was like, WTF I am doing here! I took 8 tablets in total, enough to suffer almost 2 years? According a lot of people I am probably mad and I need to go to psychologist 
I lost my nocturnals and the morning wood right away on the day I got hit, then I panicked after I discovered that basically Saw Palmetto can cause the same damage as Fin/Propecia. Had almost 2 weeks rally when one day I drunk huge cup of coffee and got panic attack, something I’ve never had ever in my life from a coffee. Then before I crashed I ate salad with a lot of fetta in it, I was speaking with one guy at that moment, PFS sufferer from Canada, on the way home I got pain in my legs and I was like, oh I am getting flu I guess, this guy told me that it is not a flu, it is the Saw Palmetto I didn’t believe him. Then the next day I woke up with huge brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, the pain in the legs got worse, the following weeks I got insomnia on top of all that. The brain fog was so bad at that time, it was constant pressure on my forehead and scalp, I wasn’t able to read, I would stare into the word and nothing could come in my head. I went down from 72kg to 62 within a months. Frankly I don’t know what exactly crashed me, I think it was the cheese, or the coffee, or the excessive ejaculation, that was something normal for me before SP, I was hyper-sexual with the boner all along throughout the day, it could be any of these, or all of them… Throughout the months after that I tried not to take any supplements as my GP told me in few months I will get back to normal, in fact 3,5 month after the crash I got almost fully recovered, no pain, not brain fog, I had only low libido, but it wasn’t low enough to bother me as I though I will get better and better within the time. On the sixth month my GF decided to put me in huge stress, I started to smoke again and one day I went in the bed for two days with fever, all my symptoms relapsed and I got one more complication, my joints began to click and hurt really bad along with the muscle flu-like pain, my right knee was clicking really bad my right arm was so in pain that I wasn’t able to touch my shoulder. My weight got even worse and went down from 62kg to 56kg. Strangely the frequent ejaculation was giving me worsening of the symptoms, so I was not able to do it as I use to do it before. As I was not able to tolerate dairy I couldn’t put even 1kg weight on at all, apparently I had gut issues. I got some supplements at that time, I had to do something about it as I saw that the recovery I was counting on was slipping off my hands. At this time I was taking Vit D3 + K2, by the way the joint clicking started shortly after that, and I suspect the Vit K2 is the culprit as I saw one thread in SolvePFS, there is a guy there with the nickname Konflick, he got fucked his joints after taking Methyl Vit B12 and K2. I went taking cold showers, they gave me back the nocturnals and the morning wood the brain fog persisted for almost an year after that but is got better within the time to the state I was feeling only like drunk, on 2 beers, the insomnia appeared shortly after the both crashes but in both of the cases vanished after few weeks. Some more supps I took after the second crash were:
Tribulus Terrestris
Tribulus Alatus
Brahmi
Ginger, Curcumin and Boswellia
Lion’s Mane
mucuna pruriens and shilajit
Kind of CDnuts herbs, they kind of helped but not much in my case.
One thing that helped me with the gut issues was one stuff promoted from Dr. Batmandhelidj, simple solution of water and sea or himalayan salt, 1/4tsp to 1lt water, I did put some lemon in it in addition. i was following his advise to drink the watter like more than 2lt a day, morning on empty stomach, then wait for 30 min, then eat, then drink only 2.5 hours after the meal. I followed that for nearly 6 months then introduced myself to diary again and started to eat like I used to do prior SP, I managed to recover my weight completely, the muslce wastage too. Currently I am taking LCLT, BCAA, Vit D3, Vit C and Cissus Quadrangularis. Brain fog is gone, some days I have it but it is nothing comparing to what it was when I crashed. The nocturnals are recovered like 80-90%. Tried to ejaculate 3-4 times per day and didn’t crash or got worse. My legs muscles don’t hurt anymore as much as before, to the state that now I can feel that the joints are really bad. Before I didn’t pay attention as my whole legs were fucked. I know the main issue is the low T. I am thinking to start TRT, hope that will reduce the joint issues.
Any advise from you guys will be highly appreciated!
I lost 5kg’s and this is my third week on Carnivore diet. I want to end this thing in saturday. I eat eggs and meat all day. Nothing else. In mornings, i eat eggs with some tuna fish and lunch is usually steaks… but this gets really boring… i have a strong will and can even do it for 2 weeks more but i think those 2 weeks wouldn’t change my symptoms, i think its not worth for me to go more.