I follow you, yes. Thanks much for that. I wonder though AR being the root, rather than hormone levels. By my thinking HPTA axis should restore along with AR given enough time, although I’m starting to stray outside any reading I’ve done now and half-asking too.
I’ll look into boron again. I’m currently toying with cycling DHT up and down, and boron’s got the double-whammy of SHBG lowering and DHT increase. I’ll check out that post and read around, and perhaps give the boron a little more time.
I’m grateful for your input here, so thanks again.
EDIT - also no, no medication as such (tribulus experiment/cycles for now) nor IF nor keto.
Yeah man I think the anxiety of the possible side effects like ED and all the PFS stories got in your head causing a nocebo effect; ie you believe you have finasteride related ED and PFS so you experience it. I’m not saying finasteride doesn’t cause problems, that’s why I didn’t risk it even tho I’m thinning, I just don’t see how 1 month could possibly ruin your androgen receptors even if such a thing is possible.
At the start I think it horrifies all of us going through this to hear the “Oh it’s probably all in your head” dismissal. It’s exactly what I thought too tbh. There was a definite “before” life, I had exactly this approach to all those sad-sacks whining about it, and I wrote it off in exactly the same way.
I quit and literally forgot about finasteride over that fortnight. Life went back to normal, the whole thing was normal. I wasn’t exactly ‘phased’ by the one instance of ED I got, I just knew that was a side effect, believed the literature that came with it (sides stop after cessation,) duly quit and it went away.
Two weeks passed though, then the ED came back. Then the cascade of permament/persistent after effects happened and stayed. You’re VERY right to stay away, and I’m glad from your post you can’t see how any of it could happen. Because I couldn’t either, and I’d give anything to go back.
Regarding the androgen receptors specifically, we don’t know. We don’t know that is the problem or another symptom of the problem - nobody really does. But it’s an angle that’s being tried. Some have PFS way worse than mine after only one pill also. It’s just simply not understood. However, biopsies were taken which demonstrated hugely dense AR - and indications are the ARs are silenced.
No I will be on trt forever I would assume. Have never seen anyone successfully have an hpta restart, but have seen the majority of trt users make recoveries.
I firmly believe that if you balance your hormones via trt and stick to injections that people recover. I’ve seen many people with finasteride damage claim they have no success with trt but when I read their protocols and the duration they spent on trt I’m not surprised. It’s a commitment and I needed multiple adjustments and about six months to get it right.