6 years ago Since finasteride use for one month
a) Penis shrinkage
b) ball atrophy and damage (not the atrophy you get from anabolic steroids, but damage due to low dht)
c) prostatic inflammation and aches in groin/ endless testicular pains
d) adrenal problems + thyroid problems (stayed in bed for 2.5 years to be able to walk again)
e) cognitive problems. depression, thoughts of suicide every single day
f) no libido, shitty orgasm, no ability to have proper sex for all them years whatsoever
g) stopped studies, lost all possiblity to work, serious financial problems, family problems
you name it
the few things i have learned about finasteride and its effects on our systems.
its not a matter of individual hormones or their relative numbers. The whole GnRH-LH/FSH/gonadal system, and HPA has been affected. Unfortunately for us, the trophic effects of hormones like dht and testosterone on neurotransmitters, neuropeptides etc etc, and the balance they set forth between different systems rising in the hypothalamus have been messed up.
What i mean as simple as i can explain. My T levels are 400mg/dl while prior to fin they used to be in the 700 mg/dl-750 zone.
Well, now my body reckons that this 400mg/dl is the proper amount of T in the body (why and how is this determined i will explain latter) and it has established a new feedback system that keeps this in balance. If i try to increase this T level just a bit, i get extraordinary increase of E2 or and prolactin and serious GnRH shutdown as a result, causing me more aches and pain in my testicles and more atrophy/damage. This has to do with finasteride (epigenetically??) established decreased rate of T to DhT conversion and the following effect of those two hormones on the brain neurotransmitter regeneration. All or most of those substances that are needed to keep GnRH levels in proper, are in low amounts nowadays or some are higher and others are lower than what should be, and theres too many of them affected, like serotonin, gaba, noradrenaline, substance P, CRF, galanin, endothelin, glutamate, dopamine, acetylcholine, leptin, VIP, and around a dozen known more.
The whole HPG system thus has a marked shift on it. The brain chemicals are not enough or not working in balance to support for proper GnRH, let alone proper CRF, or TRF production. So what happens??? The body tries to keep a balance between its different axis, with miscellaneous amounts of those aforementioned peptides in response to the nowdays scarce neurotransmitter levels and what ensues is a mixture of chronic fatigue, low libido, thyroid issues etc etc.
Its not solely a gonadal problem any more or a testicular problem on its own, its a systemic neuroendocrinological issue.
I remember after fin use i tried to ejaculate twice in the same day and almost collapsed from exhaustion. Before i used to ejaculate 4 times a day without worries. I had sex twice a day without problems too, after fin i had no sex, or something like having sex, it only lasted 2-3 minutes in a semiflaccid state and it almost always started and ended with a bj-thats how far it could get actually. I always felt dead after wards.
I tried to cure this condition with excessive exercise and healthy diet. No alcohol (that would exhaust brain chemicals more and cause testicular pains/aches and more flaccidity-and no libido), a lot of whey protein, heavy lifting. I managed to regain a couple of cm in my penile length and some feeling of orfasm and some penile sensation, but i never realised the dreadful potentials of finasteride at that time. All my systems had been compromised and 2 hours of exercise per day was enough to sent me to overtraining and adrenal fatigue after a few months
I also became very sensitive to any sort of drugs whatsoever. In the last 2-3 years i cannot even ingest vitamin C. Why?? Because it raises noradrenaline and this means, exhausting other neurotransmitters causing more CRF and more GnRH depletion and further shutting down of my HPG axis. I remeber before fin i used to take antibiotics for fun, now i cant stand them. 1/4 th of the most common antibiotic keeps me in an alert state all night long.
Anyways, i reckon that the only way out of this is to provide the body with proper levels or both T and DhT. How this will be done is unknown, i dont know what form is better, i want to experiment and see on my own. Maybe some growth hormone is needed too. Its very difficult however to reset the levels of natural T production because that would include finding this exogenous/ or endogenous stimulus that will keep T levels so high and E2/Prolactin so low and T to dht conversion rate normal for quite some period. I guess some thought that nolvadex could do that, but i doubt it can be so simple as that.
but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
