it's been about 2 weeks now that I've been experimenting with short terms fasts/calorie restriction and careful refeeding.
I've noticed a few things:
around 2+ days into a fast, my prostate/taint area will start to pulse. It's a similar feeling to when I first crashed with discomfort in the prostate, a sort of dull ache. I've been using detumescence on this area and I can't be sure that my massaging/wounding is benefitting yet, I know that something is happening. Something that I've been interested in lately is one doctor's recent opinion on PFS and why it effects us sexually:
Now, remember the idea of the testosterone bell curve and damping effects (little testosterone, little growth, more testosterone, more growth, even more testosterone, reduced growth)? I think this is what we are seeing here. With a greater concentration of receptors, the organ becomes more sensitive to testosterone and at a certain point, paradoxically, that sensitivity may shut down.”
the same doctors opinion on reward pathways:
Propecia is a low-dose drug, and it was supposed to manipulate testosterone only in the scalp. Instead, it had done a number on Lars’s brain, bringing on episodes of depression, irritability, and aggression that changed his life,” writes Dr. Ryan. “t’s biologically plausible that finasteride was causing these problems because we know that 5AR, the enzyme that converts testosterone into DHT—the enzyme blocked by finasteride—is heavily active in the parts of the brain known as the ‘reward pathways’… impairment of these circuits can lead to a lack of enthusiasm for things like sex and work.”
(from Recommended Reading: The Virility Paradox + 2018 PFS Foundation Annual Address - The Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation)
this completely explains why some will experience permanent improvements with using low dose 5ari's, much like I have experienced positives with licorice root. you experience worsening in symptoms, and then you snap back as your receptors readapt. I think something similar is happening when we fast, and I think it's worth combining this kind of method with very light 5ari's, or maybe even very light test boosters, but that would only presumably improve symptoms temportarily. we want to heal the receptors for a permanent change. here's one anecdote of a mostly recovered man believing in this same theory and conducting a very similar experiment with coconut and caloric restriction, (very mild 5ari) :
Surely its the Androgen Receptor
Now, obviously our sexual function is just one part of this. our gut and brain health would suggest something similar is happening. but we don't know where certain people are upregulated vs downregulated, we don't know what's been atrophied and what is blocked, we don't know what is safe for one person vs what can crash another, which is why it's hard to prescribe a cure all. I guess you really gotta know your body chemistry and have your symptoms in check to really experiement with this stuff. I think there's a million things you can do to improve symptoms, but the root cause of this thing could really be androgen receptor related- in our guts, dicks and brains, and then the subsequent indirect imbalances.
so far this is the best logic I've seen as to why some feel absolutely amazing after cessation from fin (I remember being the horniest I have ever been in my life, even wanting to hire a prostitute for the first time ever) and then crash miserably a couple of weeks after. we have wacked out testosterone receptors and need to re-sensitize.
I haven't seen much literature on resensitizing testosterone receptors, but mild deprivation seems to work for many, so I will add that to this regime. it's curious- do we have too many insensitive testoserone receptors or do we have too few receptors? are there more surefire/safer ways to modulate this sensitivity?
will continue to post experiences.
