RWAC's PFS log (on the TEI train)

[RebelWithACause]

I took finasteride for two years. In year two my health started going downhill although I never felt good on finasteride.

I got a lot of problems with my pelvic floor and anxiety. I crashed while on finasteride. This was after discontinuing it before and then restarting the finasteride after seeing extreme hair shedding.

Symptoms on finasteride and after:

• Low penile sensitivity
• Anxiety, agitation, aggression
• Low sex drive
• Brainfog
• Low energy
• Constipation
• Bloated stomach
• Pelvic floor spasms
• Insomnia/bad sleep
• Slurred speech
• Bad eye vision

Experiences:

1. Testosterone enanthate cycle #1 - Duration: cut if off after around 4 weeks

Routine:
200mg Testosterone enanthate (every week)
50mg Proviron (every day)
AI (if needed): Arimidex
PCT: Standard nolvadex PCT. One of the worst periods in my life. Emotions were completely out of control on nolvadex and the brainfog was insane. Would not recommend!

Results: I had a few days where I felt better but nothing close to cured. Had more energy and sleep was better. Libido was low. Also used Arimidex after being on the testosterone for a while and that completely crashed me and made the hormones not work anymore.

2. Ella cycle - Duration: 5 days

Routine:
5mg Ella (Ulipristal acetate)

Results: Felt better on Ella. More emotions and feelings of being alive. Libido was on and off. Not great on Ella. After Ella I noticed a few things were better but the increase was 10% at best. Still had a lot of issues.

3. Testosterone enanthate cycle #2 - Duration: Around 10 weeks

Routine:
200-400mg Testosterone enanthate (every week)
300mg Masteron enanthate (every week)
50mg Dianabol (every day)
AI (if needed): Arimidex
PCT: None. Did posture excercises, early to bed, kept lifting, took creatine for a while. Testosterone levels came back around 640ng/dl a few weeks after finishing PCT.

Results: Extreme fatigue, depressive thoughts, low libido and overall no positives from this cycle at all. The only day I felt good was the first day I injected the testosterone. Afterwards I did feel a bit better but not much.

Smaller experiences:

• l-cysteine + l-histidine: got me through the beginning of PFS, made the side effects a lot less bad
  
  
• Zero carb diet (meat only): felt better energy but did nothing for other side effects)
  
  
• Betaine HCL, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, copper + other minerals: had some good days with this but never felt normal or stable at all, just made the side effects of PFS bearable.
  
  
• Tomato juice (for the lycopene, potassium) cycling: worked for one day
  
  
• Coconut oil (has compounds that inhibit 5AR) loading: felt worse
  
  
• Creatine cycling: felt worse on it although it did give me a bit higher libido from baseline plus a lot of strength in the gym
  
  
• R-Andro for 1 day to test how I felt on it: felt good on it

4. CURRENT: Trace Elements Inc. hairtesting

Lifestyle throughout recovery:

• NoFap (no porn, no instagram, no fantasizing)
• Cold showers
• Sleep early: no blue lights after 8PM
• Workout 3 days a week, moderate to heavy lifting

 

[RebelWithACause]

Havent read much about PE side effects from protocols here. (Although it is a psss symptom). Low serotonin effect?

I have PFS. Not sure. I had the same feeling when I was taking TRT + 50mg Proviron one day. I think it could be low serotonin. Proviron (DHT) competes with estrogen and lowers serotonin from what I remember. Anyways, will keep you guys updated.

This is what I eat and I feel good except low libido and harder time getting an erection. I can function on a good level with this diet. Right after I quit finasteride I had a hard time functioning. Had bouts of depression and felt weak and like a bitch.

I am 6'6 220lbs and I train 4 days a week.

500g-1kg of red meat
500g-1kg of white rice
Almond milk
Orange Juice
2 to 3 cups of coffee with sugar - if you cannot handle caffeine (anxiety) do not take it

I drink fruit juice with the meat to counter the stress response from the tryptophan. I eat more carbs then protein with every meal. A good amount of rice with every meal.

I take 200-400mg magnesium citrate, 3000IU Vitamin D and occasionally zinc + copper.

This week I added l-cysteine (500mg caps) and l-histidine (250mg). I have a reaction to l-histidine. Not sure if it is good or bad. That is why this week I will take l-cysteine only for a few days and l-histidine only for a few days. I also ordered copper. I feel better the next day after I eat Dark Chocolate. Could be because of the copper content. Or because of the flavonoids. That is why I ordered the copper.

This is not a protocol. This is a diet plan that works for me. I am functional when I eat this diet and take these supplements. I am not 100% healed yet.

I also do:

- No masturbation and no porn
- Cold showers: 1-5 minutes
- No alcohol or drugs
- Sleep at 8-10PM everyday
- Workout 4 days a week, heavy lifts

My current status is:

Anxiety: OK, sometimes higher then I would like it to be.
Depression: none
Sleep: OK, wake up sometimes in the middle of night
Strength in gym: Good, pre-finasteride
Sex drive: Varies, not great
Erection quality: Varies, not great - lower sensitivity.

At the end of every week I will check the forums and log any improvements.

 

[Nina]

What is your height/weight/bf% and how much do you lift?

 

[RebelWithACause]

What is your height/weight/bf% and how much do you lift?

I am 6'6, 210lbs, bf 14%. Deadlift 190kg, Bench 105kg, Squat 135kg. I lift at 70-80% of my maxes.

My weekly update:

I have made improvements.

I quit caffeine. My sex drive is better without caffeine.

I noticed the following:

- I did not take supplements on sunday night and I woke up without morning wood.
- I feel better shortly after taking the l-cysteine.

Yesterday night I took this:

- 500mg l-cysteine
- 2mg copper
- 200mg magnesium

Before that I took this every night:

- 500mg l-cysteine
- 200mg magnesium

I woke up in the middle of the night with a rock hard boner. In the morning the same thing happened. My penile sensitivity is low.

I am going to take this for a week and report back.

 

[RebelWithACause]

Small update:

I am going to do the following:

Add Betaine HCL with meals, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, a HQ multivitamin, add whey back in. Pretty much follow the protocol for improved health. I will keep taking the copper. I will also add in juices.

Starting today I will limit sugar. I was drinking orange juice daily. Since cutting out caffeine I do not feel good after drinking orange juice.

I will keep eating red meat but not as much. It gives me good energy and I digest it well. I am eating cooked spinach with every meal. Rice is my main source of carbs and I sometimes eat cooked white potatoes. I used to not be able to handle them. Now I can. It seems like my digestion has improved.

 

[RebelWithACause]

Small update today:

Felt good today. Slept great. I feel my emotions again. Not cry baby. But feeling joy and wanting to socialise. Yesterday I also experienced this. Women looked attractive again instead of feeling nothing. I had random (rock hard) boners today. I had that animal feeling. I have not had that since quitting finasteride. I felt like a robot and disconnected from the world after quitting finasteride - almost psychopathic. Plus anxious from time to time.

No anxiety today what so ever.

My whole body feels warm.

These changes all happened after adding l-cysteine (500 mg), l-histidine (tiny amount), copper (2 mg) and quitting caffeine. I am also drinking a lot of tomato juice. Eating a good amount of spinach, rice, fish and shrimp. Plus the beet juice.

I am not 100% yet. But the state I was in today was very close to pre-finasteride.

I will keep doing this for a week and then report back my findings. See if it improves more and/or stabilises.

 

[RebelWithACause]

I got the magnesium chloride but they sent the wrong package for the potassium. They sent me natriumchloride (normal salt) instead of potassium/kaliumchloride. So I am drinking a good amount of tomato juice until I get the potassiumchloride. I also have the Betaine HCl. I am going to buy whey powder tomorrow. Now I eat shrimp, egg whites and a little salmon for protein. Overall I am feeling good. People tell me I look healthy.

 

[RebelWithACause]

I got the potassium chloride and will start using it tomorrow instead of tomato juice.

I am stopping the copper and l-cysteine and starting the electrolyte protocol.

I had two wet dreams. One on thursday night and one on sunday night. Felt drained and more anxiety for a few days. Overall my libido has been low after the two wet dreams.

I have been dreaming A LOT. My sleep was OK. I woke up a lot.

I stopped eating red meat for a few days. I ate seafood and egg whites but it does not seem to work as well for me as red meat. Lower energy levels.

So I am back to eating a good amount of red meat. Betaine HCl seems to benefit me. Only been using it correctly for two days and my stomach feels less sensitive and bloated. Still eating a lot of spinach and rice. It is the staple in my meals.

I took too much magnesium chloride with the meals (500mg) and at the second meal it made me brainfoggy and irritated. So I have lowered it to 50mg per meal.

 

[TubZy]

I got the potassium chloride and will start using it tomorrow instead of tomato juice.

I am stopping the copper and l-cysteine and starting the electrolyte protocol.

I had two wet dreams. One on thursday night and one on sunday night. Felt drained and more anxiety for a few days. Overall my libido has been low after the two wet dreams.

I have been dreaming A LOT. My sleep was OK. I woke up a lot.

I stopped eating red meat for a few days. I ate seafood and egg whites but it does not seem to work as well for me as red meat. Lower energy levels.

So I am back to eating a good amount of red meat. Betaine HCl seems to benefit me. Only been using it correctly for two days and my stomach feels less sensitive and bloated. Still eating a lot of spinach and rice. It is the staple in my meals.

I took too much magnesium chloride with the meals (500mg) and at the second meal it made me brainfoggy and irritated. So I have lowered it to 50mg per meal.

Do you feel OK now dropping down to 50mg?

 

[RebelWithACause]

Do you feel OK now dropping down to 50mg?

Yes better.

 

[stupidfreak]

Just hop in here to say that i fucking love Berserk.The only manga i fully read.It went down in quality after golden age and felt forced,but you cant have everything,i guess

Anyway,RWAC,how do you feel this days?Any improvements?

 

[RebelWithACause]

I am doing OK. I am following the electrolyte protocol. I am tweaking some things. Reintroduced copper (2mg) and that makes me feel better but it fucks up my sleep.

So I am taking it with my last meal instead of right before bed. I cut out magnesium chloride for the time being. Only using potassium chloride. I might reintroduce magnesium next week. My stomach is better since starting the protocol.

Long story short, I am experimenting with the electrolyte protocol. Upcoming week I will try different things to see what works.

 

[Sunny]

I am doing OK. I am following the electrolyte protocol. I am tweaking some things. Reintroduced copper (2mg) and that makes me feel better but it fucks up my sleep.

So I am taking it with my last meal instead of right before bed. I cut out magnesium chloride for the time being. Only using potassium chloride. I might reintroduce magnesium next week. My stomach is better since starting the protocol.

Long story short, I am experimenting with the electrolyte protocol. Upcoming week I will try different things to see what works.

how was your experience with Histydin / cystien ?
any libido or erection improvements.

 

[RebelWithACause]

how was your experience with Histydin / cystien ?
any libido or erection improvements.

Yes I think l-cysteine had a positive effect on my erections. But I cannot tell 100% sure. Mentally I felt better taking l-cysteine and l-histidine. Try it out. I took 500mg l-cysteine and 250mg l-histidine.

I had 1 day where I felt almost pre-finasteride. You can see what I took there.

 

[Jaxx]

Yes I think l-cysteine had a positive effect on my erections. But I cannot tell 100% sure. Mentally I felt better taking l-cysteine and l-histidine. Try it out. I took 500mg l-cysteine and 250mg l-histidine.

I had 1 day where I felt almost pre-finasteride. You can see what I took there.

You probably already said it somewhere, but why did you quit that protocol?

 

[RebelWithACause]

You probably already said it somewhere, but why did you quit that protocol?

My erection quality and gut were not better with it. Mentally I felt close to pre-fin. Physically it did not fix it (yet). I might try the protocol again soon.

 

[Jaxx]

My erection quality and gut were not better with it. Mentally I felt close to pre-fin. Physically it did not fix it (yet). I might try the protocol again soon.

Interesting to hear, curious to hear how that will go!

 

[RebelWithACause]

Interesting to hear, curious to hear how that will go!

I will let you know.

No protocol has put me in a consistent mood and libido. This is also because I am experimenting.

• Zinc alone makes me feel irritated, anxious, angry and lowers my libido to non-existent
• Zinc + copper also make me feel irritated, anxious and angry and lowers my libido to non-existent
• Magnesium chloride makes me feel irritated, anxious but more relaxed and lowers my libido to non-existent
• Zinc + B6 improved mood and sex drive but no erections
• Copper makes me feel good if I take it before bed. But it makes me sleep bad. Nightmares and dreams. Wake up a lot. Even with taking electrolytes. Fucked up sleep also means lower libido and worse mood. It's a catch-22.
• Betaine HCl makes my stomach less bloated and less sensitive. Big improvement. Side effects is tiredness, lower confidence A.K.A. lower dopamine effect, even when I take in electrolytes. Still worth it take it in my opinion. Temporarily.
• L-cysteine improves my mood, not erections
• Beet juice is a good addition
• Penis sensitivity has not improved a lot on both protocols yet. l-histidine makes it better but it is 25% out of 100%.

 

[RebelWithACause]

Decided to cut out Betaine HCl, keep the potassium chloride in and experiment with copper, l-histidine and l-cysteine A.K.A. zinc finger theory.

 

[RebelWithACause]

I am doing better but I'm not there yet. I sleep bad when I take copper before bed. So I am going to take it earlier in the day. At 4-6PM with a meal.

Adding in tomato juice and beet juice.

This protocol + beet juice + tomato juice made me feel normal for two days.

I sent this to Joekool:

I take:

- Pottasium chloride, small amount with every meal 100mg

- Magnesium chloride, only at end of the day. Magnesium does not make me feel good when I take it. I will cut this out for a night and see what happens.

- 1 mg copper in the morning after meal w/ potassium chloride/tomato juice, 2 mg copper w/potassium chloride/tomato juice & magnesium chloride after last meal. I have to tweak this. Copper makes me sleep bad. It gives me a lot of energy and I sleep light after taking it. Last night my sleep was not as good. This affects results in how I feel the next day. The night before that I took it earlier at around 6PM and I slept good and the results were better.

- L-cysteine 500mg before bed

- Today I added in tomato juice again. I am drinking a glass of tomato juice with every meal. This + the combination above + beet juice made me feel pre-fin, mentally (low anxiety, good sex drive, even erections) one week ago for 2 days. Then I had two wet dreams and I stopped the protocol to try the electrolyte protocol.

- Adding in beet juice again today

- Betaine HCl with last meal. I did not use this one week ago. It helps with digesting my last big meal before bed.

- Experimenting with l-histidine

- I eat whey, spinach, beef (not huge amounts), chicken, white rice, white potato

I am trying things out right now. I am not stable yet. Sleep is an important factor.

I have to test this out for a week to be able to give a review.