M_Mitchell08
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 138
Hi Guys -
I am going to go ahead and apologize in advance for two things: a) the length of this post and b) there will be a point in this post that I believe everyone reading this will think, "you effing dumbass, why would you do that to yourself, it is a slap in the face to those still recovering" but please bear with me. I'm quite curious to the response from some of the more "in the know" guys like @gbolduev @TubZy @Cdsnuts and if my theory on the matter is correct.
Anyways, here we go. To set the stage, I wanted to provide a bit of background on my situation (I do have another thread out there but it isn't as thorough as I'd like it to be). Took Propecia for about 3 years, adding Rogaine about 2.5 years in. I was a good responder to both and was going about my happy little life. Granted my dick was probably a little smaller than what it was pre-supplements, semen a bit more watery, and my body mass was slightly smaller (weighting about 205 for a 6'2'' individual; where pre- supplements I was about 210)but I could live with that. Even more of an added benefit was that my body hair was reducing and let me tell ya, I've got a lot to give (not joking, I might eventually talk to the hair doctor about a body hair transplant). So come end of 2016 I got sick and the doctor gave me a 7 day steroid and that is what put me over a downward spiral. From that day forward, I felt like something was off - you all unfortunately know what I am talking about - waking up every hour on the hour, gasping for breath; feeling like you're not really living live almost like you're in a simulation; the ringing of the ears; lack of hunger; lack of sexual desire; pain between the dick and the butt; brain fog; digestive issues; inability to complete or construct a sentence; lack of sweating; etc. So that was about January 2017 and it took me until March to figure out what was going on. That is when I found TotalMaleOptimization and I got on the plan almost immediately and I felt good knowing that I was doing something.
Throughout the summer and into the fall, I was feeling really good - keeping a food log, exercise journal, etc. I noticed my body was getting better, feeling more human, sleeping better, gains at the gym, etc. However, I knew I was not at pre-finasteride stage because I wasn't sweating when I was working out nor was I getting the itch or hair loss (which, to be completely honest wasn't terrible). Also, I was basically completing 30 days of no-fap at a time only jerking off or having sex with the gf to see if there was any change in semen quality (which there wasn't a ton). So come late November, I went to an eye doctor and he said I had some inflammation of the eye and put me on another round of steroids (this is the first, "you effing idiot moment" and I'm starting to wonder if this is what put me in the original PFS state; or worked in conjunction with the finasteride and minoxidil more so the later) and this is where thinks went south for a long time. My weight slowly started creeping up from 205lbs to about 215lbs and working out started to become an issue. I felt like I was winded all the time and not getting the pump that I did from June-October. Dissapointed, I still continued @Cdsnuts herb rotation and tried powering through it.
By January of 2018 I started to see some changes, both good and bad. First, I could tell the herbs were definitely working. I started sweating a lot more, was getting acne across the nose and cheeks, the face was super oily and the body hair was growing in full force, shit you not my nose hairs now grow like 1 inch long (use a trimmer almost on a daily basis). I was also sleeping better, had more focus at work, and noticed my hair was falling out. Additionally, my dick was as hard as it had ever been and even though I was participating in no-fap, I had recently jerked off to see if there was a change in consistency from the PFS stage and there definitely was. However, I was still lacking at the gym - not really getting any pump or feeling like my muscles were firing like they were in the summer and fall. Additionally, my body weight sky-rocketed to 223lbs. I had a ton more mass (I don't want to necessarily call it fat or muscle) across my neck, chest, arms, belly, and legs (the inner thighs are bare from hair due to the constant rubbing) and my close were all fitting more snug - even with the paleo diet (remember I am tracking weight and food on a daily basis). Furthermore, I could tell something was going on because I had to move the watch band to a larger hole to get around my wrist. So that leads me to the second "you effing idiot moment".
Some of you might be aware of my post yesterday, in which I talked about my brother having issues with Minoxidil after one use and I started hypothesizing on some of the issues that I was having based on a couple of the response that I saw from yesterday's post and my recent experiences, which I'll get to in a moment. But first, I'll give you the final "you effing idiot moment". So last night, after work and spending all day considering something really dumb, I decided to apply Minoxidil to see if my theories would pan out - I had an old bottle from back in the day and I applied it at about 7:00PM last night. So where does that leave us, well I can tell you I am still affected by the drug. Last night, I did not sleep well - woke up 2-3 times around mid night, 3, and 5. I had to pee a lot each time I woke up and had that tightness between the butt and dick. Brain function is still fine, it really is, I actually feel quite normal; but my dick is definitely smaller and my ejaculation volume and consistency resorted back to the old ways. So that is all the bad news. Here is the weird and what I'll classify as "good" news. The additional weight that I was carrying around is gone. My legs, abs, arms, neck, etc all look lean and defined again. I dropped 6 lbs overnight. I kid you not, I went from 219lbs yesterday at 5:30 AM to 213lbs this morning. My clothes fit again, a pair of work pants that I couldn't get into in January fit really well this morning. I don't feel like I have the bowling ball in my mid-section anymore and running does not hurt my knee joints. Additionally, my scalp doesn't itch at all and when I showered this morning I lost maybe 5 hairs.
As you can see I am in quite the juxtaposition. I obviously know that my body isn't 100% and that I have androgen receptor issues - the little experiment proved that out. But now I am at a loss about what to think of my joints and weight being much better. That started making me think that this was a result of one of two things.
A) Could it have been possible that during the later stages of recover, my body was producing too much testosterone (hence a large conversion to DHT - when I noticed the uptick in acne, penile growth, body hair, and loss of hair on head, itch, etc) that was converting not only into DHT but also converting into large amounts of estrogen, which was causing the weight gain, body swelling, and joint issues running.
or
B) does it have something to do with my potassium levels? This is what I'm thinking it might be and @TubZy mentioning of minoxidil affecting the potassium pathway yesterday is what lead me down the all day research and hypothesis that it might be the reason. Additionally, I know when I brought up the water retention or fat in my original post, @gbolduev talked about setroids possibly affecting the potassium levels in the body. Who knows, I could not be understanding it at all - which is why I was looking for advice from the more knowledgeable members on this forum for advice. @TubZy @gbolduev @bruschi11 @Cdsnuts
To be clear, I am not looking to play with fire here - my intent in taking Minoxidil is not to neglect the fact that we have some sort of issue going on and trying to save hair. I have sought a couple different safer avenues for that. What I am trying to figure out is why my body cut all that fat overnight and how I could replicate or ensure this happens going forward. I feel so much better this morning and would like to find a safe way to maintain this, without having my dick not working. Would love to hear your thoughts on the situation.
I am going to go ahead and apologize in advance for two things: a) the length of this post and b) there will be a point in this post that I believe everyone reading this will think, "you effing dumbass, why would you do that to yourself, it is a slap in the face to those still recovering" but please bear with me. I'm quite curious to the response from some of the more "in the know" guys like @gbolduev @TubZy @Cdsnuts and if my theory on the matter is correct.
Anyways, here we go. To set the stage, I wanted to provide a bit of background on my situation (I do have another thread out there but it isn't as thorough as I'd like it to be). Took Propecia for about 3 years, adding Rogaine about 2.5 years in. I was a good responder to both and was going about my happy little life. Granted my dick was probably a little smaller than what it was pre-supplements, semen a bit more watery, and my body mass was slightly smaller (weighting about 205 for a 6'2'' individual; where pre- supplements I was about 210)but I could live with that. Even more of an added benefit was that my body hair was reducing and let me tell ya, I've got a lot to give (not joking, I might eventually talk to the hair doctor about a body hair transplant). So come end of 2016 I got sick and the doctor gave me a 7 day steroid and that is what put me over a downward spiral. From that day forward, I felt like something was off - you all unfortunately know what I am talking about - waking up every hour on the hour, gasping for breath; feeling like you're not really living live almost like you're in a simulation; the ringing of the ears; lack of hunger; lack of sexual desire; pain between the dick and the butt; brain fog; digestive issues; inability to complete or construct a sentence; lack of sweating; etc. So that was about January 2017 and it took me until March to figure out what was going on. That is when I found TotalMaleOptimization and I got on the plan almost immediately and I felt good knowing that I was doing something.
Throughout the summer and into the fall, I was feeling really good - keeping a food log, exercise journal, etc. I noticed my body was getting better, feeling more human, sleeping better, gains at the gym, etc. However, I knew I was not at pre-finasteride stage because I wasn't sweating when I was working out nor was I getting the itch or hair loss (which, to be completely honest wasn't terrible). Also, I was basically completing 30 days of no-fap at a time only jerking off or having sex with the gf to see if there was any change in semen quality (which there wasn't a ton). So come late November, I went to an eye doctor and he said I had some inflammation of the eye and put me on another round of steroids (this is the first, "you effing idiot moment" and I'm starting to wonder if this is what put me in the original PFS state; or worked in conjunction with the finasteride and minoxidil more so the later) and this is where thinks went south for a long time. My weight slowly started creeping up from 205lbs to about 215lbs and working out started to become an issue. I felt like I was winded all the time and not getting the pump that I did from June-October. Dissapointed, I still continued @Cdsnuts herb rotation and tried powering through it.
By January of 2018 I started to see some changes, both good and bad. First, I could tell the herbs were definitely working. I started sweating a lot more, was getting acne across the nose and cheeks, the face was super oily and the body hair was growing in full force, shit you not my nose hairs now grow like 1 inch long (use a trimmer almost on a daily basis). I was also sleeping better, had more focus at work, and noticed my hair was falling out. Additionally, my dick was as hard as it had ever been and even though I was participating in no-fap, I had recently jerked off to see if there was a change in consistency from the PFS stage and there definitely was. However, I was still lacking at the gym - not really getting any pump or feeling like my muscles were firing like they were in the summer and fall. Additionally, my body weight sky-rocketed to 223lbs. I had a ton more mass (I don't want to necessarily call it fat or muscle) across my neck, chest, arms, belly, and legs (the inner thighs are bare from hair due to the constant rubbing) and my close were all fitting more snug - even with the paleo diet (remember I am tracking weight and food on a daily basis). Furthermore, I could tell something was going on because I had to move the watch band to a larger hole to get around my wrist. So that leads me to the second "you effing idiot moment".
Some of you might be aware of my post yesterday, in which I talked about my brother having issues with Minoxidil after one use and I started hypothesizing on some of the issues that I was having based on a couple of the response that I saw from yesterday's post and my recent experiences, which I'll get to in a moment. But first, I'll give you the final "you effing idiot moment". So last night, after work and spending all day considering something really dumb, I decided to apply Minoxidil to see if my theories would pan out - I had an old bottle from back in the day and I applied it at about 7:00PM last night. So where does that leave us, well I can tell you I am still affected by the drug. Last night, I did not sleep well - woke up 2-3 times around mid night, 3, and 5. I had to pee a lot each time I woke up and had that tightness between the butt and dick. Brain function is still fine, it really is, I actually feel quite normal; but my dick is definitely smaller and my ejaculation volume and consistency resorted back to the old ways. So that is all the bad news. Here is the weird and what I'll classify as "good" news. The additional weight that I was carrying around is gone. My legs, abs, arms, neck, etc all look lean and defined again. I dropped 6 lbs overnight. I kid you not, I went from 219lbs yesterday at 5:30 AM to 213lbs this morning. My clothes fit again, a pair of work pants that I couldn't get into in January fit really well this morning. I don't feel like I have the bowling ball in my mid-section anymore and running does not hurt my knee joints. Additionally, my scalp doesn't itch at all and when I showered this morning I lost maybe 5 hairs.
As you can see I am in quite the juxtaposition. I obviously know that my body isn't 100% and that I have androgen receptor issues - the little experiment proved that out. But now I am at a loss about what to think of my joints and weight being much better. That started making me think that this was a result of one of two things.
A) Could it have been possible that during the later stages of recover, my body was producing too much testosterone (hence a large conversion to DHT - when I noticed the uptick in acne, penile growth, body hair, and loss of hair on head, itch, etc) that was converting not only into DHT but also converting into large amounts of estrogen, which was causing the weight gain, body swelling, and joint issues running.
or
B) does it have something to do with my potassium levels? This is what I'm thinking it might be and @TubZy mentioning of minoxidil affecting the potassium pathway yesterday is what lead me down the all day research and hypothesis that it might be the reason. Additionally, I know when I brought up the water retention or fat in my original post, @gbolduev talked about setroids possibly affecting the potassium levels in the body. Who knows, I could not be understanding it at all - which is why I was looking for advice from the more knowledgeable members on this forum for advice. @TubZy @gbolduev @bruschi11 @Cdsnuts
To be clear, I am not looking to play with fire here - my intent in taking Minoxidil is not to neglect the fact that we have some sort of issue going on and trying to save hair. I have sought a couple different safer avenues for that. What I am trying to figure out is why my body cut all that fat overnight and how I could replicate or ensure this happens going forward. I feel so much better this morning and would like to find a safe way to maintain this, without having my dick not working. Would love to hear your thoughts on the situation.
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