I just recently encountered your article regarding Post-Finasteride-Syndrome, and I could share some advice from my own experience and recovery processes. I started taking the drug, in the Proscar form, about a year ago when I was 18. My doctor prescribed it to me, and unfortunately, neglected to warn me of the potential consequences. Of course, just two weeks in, I began to experience the described sexual side effects including numbness, shrinkage, testicular pain, dysfunction, etc. I stopped taking the drug immediately, but things only seemed to get worse. After a month off, my system "crashed", causing severe androgen deficiency and I was experiencing the full myriad of sexual and mental side effects, so add depression, fatigue, anxiety, insomnia, lack of motivation to the list of symptoms.
I tried to find help online through [edited by moderator], but the forums offered little help and there was a general consensus that the condition was irreversible, and it seemed only to be an outlet for affected users' misery, frustration and desperation. Obviously, I was devastated and saw myself transform from a motivated straight "A" student-athlete to a deplorable, miserable, couch-locked sociopath almost overnight. I visited doctors and endocrinologists, but none could offer any significant help, just testosterone-replacement-therapy. ( I wasn't ready to give in at my age, and has very mixed results), or to dismiss my condition as psychosomatic or mentally self-induced.
After months of suffering and self-evaluation, I knew I needed to do something. To many guys with this condition,tragically, the answer is suicide. For me, I decided I must deploy every health tactic in the arsenal of modern medicine. Through my teen years, my sport has been natural powerlifting/bodybuilding and so thankfully I'd already been thoroughly self educated on the critical role of androgens in male physiology, and how to manipulate them without drugs. Furthermore, I came across a man based in England, under similar circumstances, was able to make a full recovery and put together a respective program on his own website.
I pooled my resources, which included your website peaktestosterone.com (which I read almost daily), and put together my own program. Basically, use a once-weekly resistance workout style called "big-five" which is detailed in the book [edited by moderator], I avoid cardio altogether, and focus on resting through most of the week. As for my diet, I follow a fairly strict paleo-style diet, focusing on meat, nuts, eggs, fruit and veggies. I consume no grains or processed foods and minimal dairy. After reading your article on the hormonal effects of pesticides, I've gone nearly full organic as well, with the exception of "safe" foods like avocados, kiwis and bananas. Further, I take a multivitamin, fish oil and 10 mg of zinc daily, and have now include maca and chia seeds following the advice of your website.
I've been adhering to my regimen for nearly 4 months now, and ,thankfully, have seen some wonderful progress in terms of my symptoms subsiding. Blood work has also documented my progress, as I've managed to increase my tesosterone from a daily average of 240 to an average of 430. I no longer suffer from brain fog or severe depressive/anxiety disorder, and am getting significantly more pleasure from sex and arousal. Anyways, my point is that many guys are victims of the corporate pigs who shoved this drug onto the market before a chance for proper research, and are forced to believe that this condition is entirely irreversible from an online community of similarly depressed and miserable perspectives.
While we may not know about this condition extensively, we do, however, know that it is based in an epigenetic change of the male chromosome, meaning that with the optimal diet, excercise stimulus, and rest, it is very plausible that anyone affected can make a full recovery. It is simply a matter of time and effort. I know I will make a full recovery within the year, and hopefully in the next few months, at which point I will begin to really push my solutions to the masses of affected individuals.
In the meantime I will keep up my progress, using your site and advice as an instrumental tool in getting back my young life. This really is a tragic situation for too many guys, and I hope you will try and share the solution.
