Getting Libido Back After Accutane And Finasteride

[stoic]

Hello everyone, I've been lurking here for a while and already found so many great insights, I want to thank all the contributors for sharing their precious knowledge on here.

I'm dealing with a number of chronic health issues that (I think) are mostly due to a difficult childhood and adolescence, a one year course of Accutane, three years of Finasteride use (stopped six months ago), and a general state of chronic stress, anxiety and depression partly caused by these meds.

Since adolescence, I've had a number of cosmetic issues that made me extremely self-conscious and asocial (hence the use of Accutane and later Finasteride): gynecomastia, hirsutism, feminine body shape, acne, ecc.
I can see now that these issues are linked to some internal hormonal imbalance, which also might also explain many of my other symptoms (constant tiredness, low mood, lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, asocial tendencies ecc.).

While Accutane did cure my acne, it made me chronically depressed, apathetic, and asexual. It also caused a lot of other physical issues, such as diffuse hair loss and an inability to gain muscle mass despite good eating and training habits.

After many of years of seeing doctors, following general health advice and only seeing some mild improvements, I decided to start taking Finasteride (my thinking was something like "I've got no libido already, at least I'll keep the hair"). During this time, my health slowly deteriorated to the point that I was living in a constant state of anxiety and a brain fog so intense I wasn't able to study anymore.

Due to the circumstances, last year I moved back to parents and spent the last year living trying to finish my studies while improving my health through personal research. I also stopped taking Finasteride as I realised it was the most probable cause of my brain fog.

While I've experienced some short-lived benefits taking a few supplements – though some made me a lot worse (ashwaghandha for instance made me lethargic) – the first major improvement came after a few low doses of Cabergoline. For the first time in 7 years, I had a raging libido and could often feel movement in my pants just by looking at a girl. My brain fog was also getting better.

Since I was trying to reduce my gynecomastia and cabergoline didn't do much for that (I had already tried two months tamoxifen to no avail), I then added a very low dose of Aromasin (6mg E2D) as my estrogen was also out of range. The Aromasin worked wonders (went from very high levels to low-medium in a month), however my libido is currently back to zero.

I've heard from other people that low estrogen might cause libido issues, however my levels are now pretty normal (76 pmol/l, before they were 164 pmol/l) and I want to keep it in a low range to avoid a possible worsening of my gynecomastia.

At the moment I am also taking the following supplements, mostly from Thorne Research as they are supposed to be high quality:
- Zinc
- Magnesium
- Calcium
- Biotin
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D 2000 UI
- Probiotic 50 billions
- NAC

Can anyone recommend a particular supplement to help me get at least a decent libido? Is there some consensus on here for getting libido back with PFS and PAS? I'm also ready to try some herbs, though I've tried Yohimbine and had a terrible experience with it (helped a little bit with the libido, made everything else a thousand times worse).

The reason I'm focusing on the libido is that I see it as the best antidepressant. Seriously, after all those years of suffering, I'm not asking for anything other than feeling like a man again...

I'd be very grateful for any type of advice!

 

[JoeKool]

Everything you described is totally hormonal, in my opinion. Look into my thread where I resolved my pfs with hcg.

if you had libido success with caber, you can do 100mg P5P three times a day for some prolactin lowering. It’s safer than caber for long term but not as strong, though once you get it low and keep it low with maintenance, it could be beneficial. But don’t mix the with the hcg protocol if you decide to go that route.

letroZole might help the gyno but 9 times out of ten , once it’s a lump, it needs surgery. And that will destroy your libido so be prepared

I’ve described androgen receptors and libido In my other thread so you’ll see why hcg will solve what you’re dealing with

 

[Alex Jaramillo]

@stoic I would suggest getting your prolactin and dihydrotestosterone checked and then proceeding from there.

Maybe something more sustainable for lowering prolactin like vitamin E and zinc.

 

[james2388]

Vertical Diet. Get 150grams of protein a day. Don't go drinking a gallon of milk a day like some people here.

 

[Tristan Loscha]

Thorne Research 2/day, Vitamin D between 7500IU and 10000 IU, calculated without sunshine, high protein 1.6 to 2.2g per kg Bodyweight, or up to 50% on top of that, satfat to monofat 1:1, at the very least 2 full meals a day, better 3 to 4, short training if weightlifting is conducted, low amounts of sets, low intensity and duration cardio, like 20 to 30 minutes, exercising not more often than 3 times a week, 2 to 4 daily soft boiled eggs or over easy eggs, no scrambled, creatine as monohydrate 2 times per day each 2.5g, omega 3 to 6 ratio of 1:1, or even slightly favoring ALA, no high sucrose dieting or such, no space invader dieting but true meals from unprocessed foodsources like meat, offal, fish, eggs, cheese, bones.

 

[stoic]

Thanks guys! Just wanted to specify that I did try most of the things suggested here.

I've been eating a whole food, high protein diet for a few years, although I made the mistake of eating low-carb for too long, which I think raised my stress hormones too much. I also lift around 2-3 times a week, perhaps a bit too intensely at times (almost always going to failure). The only cardio I do is some light cycling.

I've had regular tests this year, and from what I remember they all showed high prolactin, high estrogen, low DHEA, high cortisol. Testosterone changed a lot during the year, but still always in range. Everything else mostly seemed to be in range, even DHT. I actually convinced my main doctor to test me for a long list of hormones I found on propeciahelp back when I had just stopped taking Finasteride, and to my surprise I didn't find anything interesting. Maybe I should post them on here If I can find them haha.

@JoeKool Your thread is extremely encouraging, but the treatment seems too long for my situation. I'm actually planning to do gyno surgery as soon as I have the money (might be a couple of months), and I'm also a bit scared to stop taking cabergoline and aromasin as I tried many supplements like high dose vitamin E and P5P and none of them really did the job.

I'm considering trying some good supplements to help the liver, bile, ecc., which might help with stabilising hormones for good...

My most urgent issue though is that I'm moving to a new place soon and I need to have at least some semblance of libido if I want to go out and not live like a monk. Would it make sense to try cycling herbs cdnuts-style? Or maybe just something like Tongkat Ali and Tribulus...

 

[stoic]

So I decided to slowly change my supplements protocol based on my latest blood test results that showed most hormones (and minerals) in range, except for prolactin and estrogen, which in particular was much higher than a month ago. I didn't expect estrogen to increase that much given that I'm taking Aromasin (6GM E3D), tried plenty of anti-estrogen supplements and always try to keep a (relatively) anti-estrogen diet and lifestyle...
More surprisingly though, I stopped taking zinc yesterday (took picolinate 30mg for 5 months in a row) and am noticing a slight libido improvement. Placebo or not, I'm curious as to how it could be causing issues considering it's widely considered as one of the best supplements for men...

 

[Canyourepeathat]

Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA in short, cheaper and chemically identical as an anti-inflammatory supplement for pets) or maybe Pregnenolone will probably work at least once but not every time.

 

[Hitoshi]

i know that guy gvbouldev is no longer here, but i know he posts on another post SSRI/Post Accutane forum, i forget the name of the forum, but it had invaluable mechanics and info there. I have recovered mostly from teenage accutane damage so if you want to talk DM me.

if anyonw knows the forum im talkinhg about please let me know, i want to chekc on some stuff there but havent looked in ages and it escaped me the forum name...

 

[Charger]

@Hitoshi

Hackstasis, and it's no longer around either.

 

[Hitoshi]

@Hitoshi

Hackstasis, and it's no longer around either.

bummer, thanks

 

[wildworld1992]

My most urgent issue though is that I'm moving to a new place soon and I need to have at least some semblance of libido if I want to go out and not live like a monk. Would it make sense to try cycling herbs cdnuts-style? Or maybe just something like Tongkat Ali and Tribulus...

Have you solved your libido problem?

 

[canadianboymike]

Just anecdotal but I have recently incorporated whole milk and about a Tbsp of coconut oil 3x a day and my testosterone feels like it’s through the roof. I was following a quite low fat diet and I felt fine otherwise my libido tanked. Now I’m having an equal ish amount of all the macros and am feel much better in that department and in general as well. Not sure if it’s the Mcts or anything else or just more sat fat.