Saw Palmetto Utterly Destroyed my Life

[PleasedontuseSP]

Hello

I am making this post to hopefully save some lives that would possibly be ruined over vanity, despite the odds.

When i was 17 years old i started balding rapidly so i visited this site. I was far too young for propecia and i reas propeciahelp so i was well aware of PFS and didn't want to ruin my life. I was very close to becoming a professional athlete and hairloss was only bothering me because i was still in school.

I read some saw palmetto horror stories on the web and i didn't beleive it. I knew that PFS was very rare so i didn't even consider that saw palmetto would ruin my life.

I started taking SP extract 4 years ago. After 4 weeks i started getting terrible Testicular pain and lowered libido. At the time i didn't connect the dots so i kept taking it. The Testicular pain got so bad that i quit the saw palmetto.

For the next 2 weeks i felt incredible. Libido was sky high, Testicular pain was gone. Then bam i woke up one day a completely different person. I had full blown PFS like 20 other men ive found that used SP.

The effects i was dealing with
-zero sex drive
-Brain fog
-no emotions
-Fatigue
-body hair fell out
-Penile shrinkage
-loss of wood

I was a completely different person. I was only 17 at the time! Utterly destroyed me. I lost my professional career. I lost my girlfriend. I lost my identity and i lost my life. All my hope's and dreams shattered.

That was 4 years ago. Im no better only worse. I tried TRT and it did nothing.

All over vanity. Im NW6 now at age 21 and i couldn't care less! Its honestly heartbreaking that one small mistake ruined my life.

Im housebound, unemployed and have lost literally everything i livex for. The only thing that cannot be stolen from me is hope that one day PFS will be solved.


I hate to fear monger but i just thought id share my story. Even if it stops one guy from risking his life over vanity. Most people will quit finasteride/SP and recover but thousands won't. I thought it could never happen but it did.

Hairloss is so insignificant. You only realize when your entire body is ruined.

Please be safe

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

It really doesn't make any sense that 5AR inhibitors could permanently destroy a person's sex drive.

Moreover, isn't there that tribe in the carribean with the genetic mutation such that they don't have any 5-alpha reductase in their bloodstream, and thus no DHT? How do they reproduce? Do they have high rates of PFS?

 

[myhairbegone]

Hello

I am making this post to hopefully save some lives that would possibly be ruined over vanity, despite the odds.

When i was 17 years old i started balding rapidly so i visited this site. I was far too young for propecia and i reas propeciahelp so i was well aware of PFS and didn't want to ruin my life. I was very close to becoming a professional athlete and hairloss was only bothering me because i was still in school.

I read some saw palmetto horror stories on the web and i didn't beleive it. I knew that PFS was very rare so i didn't even consider that saw palmetto would ruin my life.

I started taking SP extract 4 years ago. After 4 weeks i started getting terrible Testicular pain and lowered libido. At the time i didn't connect the dots so i kept taking it. The Testicular pain got so bad that i quit the saw palmetto.

For the next 2 weeks i felt incredible. Libido was sky high, Testicular pain was gone. Then bam i woke up one day a completely different person. I had full blown PFS like 20 other men ive found that used SP.

The effects i was dealing with
-zero sex drive
-Brain fog
-no emotions
-Fatigue
-body hair fell out
-Penile shrinkage
-loss of wood

I was a completely different person. I was only 17 at the time! Utterly destroyed me. I lost my professional career. I lost my girlfriend. I lost my identity and i lost my life. All my hope's and dreams shattered.

That was 4 years ago. Im no better only worse. I tried TRT and it did nothing.

All over vanity. Im NW6 now at age 21 and i couldn't care less! Its honestly heartbreaking that one small mistake ruined my life.

Im housebound, unemployed and have lost literally everything i livex for. The only thing that cannot be stolen from me is hope that one day PFS will be solved.


I hate to fear monger but i just thought id share my story. Even if it stops one guy from risking his life over vanity. Most people will quit finasteride/SP and recover but thousands won't. I thought it could never happen but it did.

Hairloss is so insignificant. You only realize when your entire body is ruined.

Please be safe

Is it possible the saw palmetto didnt cause all this...?

 

[Hairloss23]

I'm sorry this happened to you but I don't think it is fair to try and persuade people into not using Finasteride/SawPalmetto or any other 5ar inhibitors. There are foods out there that reduce 5ar temporarily and SawPalmetto is only a slight bit more effective than those. Saw Palmetto has also been around long before Finasteride and was only considered to be used in an male pattern baldness regimen as soon as the link between DHT and male pattern baldness was made by Merck in the mid 90s. Before that, millions of people had taken Saw Palmetto and there were never any reports of it causing what you and at least 20 others claim.

What happened to you is very sad but is certainly not unheard of, and the way that you've described it, with the temporary jump in libido, is what I have heard more than a few times in the past from stories like this. I hope your situation improves but you will have to accept that people will likely (and imo rightly) be sceptical that this was caused by Saw Palmetto, a lot of people have a hard enough time believing even Finasteride can do this.

 

[PleasedontuseSP]

I know people won't beleive me but if i can stop one guy then im happy.

I am certain saw palmetto caused this. My doctor even experimented with supra physiological doses of testosterone with no effect! !

A women would have more androgenic activity then me.

There are 2 vital PFS studies going on now. Hopefully it sheds some answers. The problem obviously isn't low DHT because most feel fine on finasteride. Something secondary happenes.

I suspect its an autoimmune condition which would explain the rarity and persistent side effects.

PFS is very unique. I don't think there is any other condition that causes androgen insensitivity that isn't congenital.

Sucks. You only get one life. If i had avoided saw palmetto id be doing what i wanted to do.

You can't really blame a 17yrold though. I avoided finasteride and took saw palmetto instead yet i still got PFS. So much for a good destiny.

I remember reading stories like this thinking "what a ****ing freak hypochondriac" yet here i am doing the same.

Hair means nothing. Hopefully propecia gets pulled within 10 years. thousands of human lives have been destroyed. What a waste of human life

 

[SayifDoit]

How much saw palmetto did you use?
The stuff does almost nothing unless used in vast quantities and even then you'll never get the same effect as finasteride. So how much did you use?

 

[Dolph]

I'm not suggesting that it's "all in your head" - PFS seems real, and I recently discontinued finasteride because of even minor side effects - but physical and psychological problems are not mutually exclusive and it sounds like you're really struggling. I do hope that in addition to an endocrinologist you are also in psychiatric care. Regardless of the cause, the symptoms you are describing resemble both major depressive disorder and agoraphobia if you're house-bound. Please seek this kind of help, and don't be hard on yourself - no one in your situation is expected to bounce back all alone.

 

[PleasedontuseSP]

You don't wake up one day with severe depression lol.

In fact im hardly depressed and thats why its so unbearable. I want to live so bad and start a family and have kids but i can't! All i want is a new human body that doesn't have PFS and il be happy forever!

I took 320mg saw palmetto extract.

Im housebound from the borderline dementia brainfog. This **** is no joke!

Stay safe.

 

[Norwood One]

Weird, I took it for almost a year after deciding to quit since it was doing jack**** for hair. Never had any adverse reaction to it.

There's obviously something going on in PFS individuals, some reaction that goes awry in their body when they get introduced to 5-AR inhibitors (even though SP is very weak) that does not affect others that take it. They need to do some research into this.

 

[Funkymonk1]

I believe you mate but its shocking that all the studies for Saw Palmetto say it is safe with only minor side effects and certainly no mention of the things you experienced. Maybe you've been very unlucky or perhaps more studies need to be done on SP, either way you have my sympathies.

 

[PleasedontuseSP]

Yes PFS is rare. There are studies going on now. You probably won't get pfs but there is a risk. I honestly still can't believe my luck. I went out of my way to avoid finasteride and I took SP and i got PFS. Maybe god hates me?

If your hair is worth the small risk of becoming a castrated family pet then so be it. You will probably be fine.

 

[I.D WALKER]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23063633

http://aphioshwc.com/products/speroltm-ds-detail/toxicology-of-saw-palmetto.html


Undeniably there will always be exceptions to the rule. Findings are updated regularly.
I hope you can get some beneficial answers soon PDUSP.

 

[Funkymonk1]

Yes PFS is rare. There are studies going on now. You probably won't get pfs but there is a risk. I honestly still can't believe my luck. I went out of my way to avoid finasteride and I took SP and i got PFS. Maybe god hates me?

If your hair is worth the small risk of becoming a castrated family pet then so be it. You will probably be fine.

Or we could say don't take any medication unless you really have to. When I comes to hair loss drugs and medications I think most sensible people are aware of the potential side effects (or they've read up on them) but many of us are so depressed about our hair that we think it's worth the risk.

 

[pendo747]

sorry about issues..just quit finasteride

Sorry to hear of issues "please". Im much older,41,.. i tried finasteride for maybe a week when i was 29. Caused major scalp itch and coworker asked me what wrong with my hair. I freaked out an quit. Fastforward to now. Just used nizoral over last 12 years and hair has diffused bad over these years, but help for while. Started taking sp 6 months ago..no major issues,but then went on finasteride for a month and just quit. Felt awful after 2.5 weeks. Cut pill in half for last week and half to see if i felt better. Didnt help much. Ive now been off it 2 days..hoping i recover 100% and now realize to be thankful for what i have health wise. Have always been lean and athletic.but put on 10 pounds which i believe was due to sp. Will keep you posted.

 

[Hairloss23]

Or we could say don't take any medication unless you really have to. When I comes to hair loss drugs and medications I think most sensible people are aware of the potential side effects (or they've read up on them) but many of us are so depressed about our hair that we think it's worth the risk.

It is worth the risk.

 

[PleasedontuseSP]

It is worth the risk.

I think all of the 5000 guys with PFS thought that.

You don't really appreciate things until you lose them .

I thought my life was over when i was balding and i had crippling depression. Now i fantasize about being a bald guy with a great libido and good health.

each to their own

- - - Updated - - -

Or we could say don't take any medication unless you really have to. When I comes to hair loss drugs and medications I think most sensible people are aware of the potential side effects (or they've read up on them) but many of us are so depressed about our hair that we think it's worth the risk.

100,000 people die per year from ADRs (adverse drug reactions) Those 100,000 cases were properly prescribed drugs used at the safe dosage.

Its Russian roulette with your life. Wish could go back in time

 

[pendo747]

sorry to hear

Read another post about guy who had crash years later. What do you think odds of that are? I was on finasteride for month and just got off. Would be good to know within couple months if im screwed or not. Praying to god im all right, but i felt like walking dead a few days before i got off finasteride. Scary stuff. If i recover fully i will still never forget this awful experience. I couldnt even drink a beer last weekend. Was so tired. My system was so messed up.

 

[JTS]

Read another post about guy who had crash years later. What do you think odds of that are? I was on finasteride for month and just got off. Would be good to know within couple months if im screwed or not. Praying to god im all right, but i felt like walking dead a few days before i got off finasteride. Scary stuff. If i recover fully i will still never forget this awful experience. I couldnt even drink a beer last weekend. Was so tired. My system was so messed up.

Don't drink booze until you recover. Just take it easy and you'll almost certainly be fine.

I'd like to read this story about the guy who crashed years later. I have to say that I'm sceptical, that doesn't really make much sense.

 

[Notcoolanymore]

I also regret taking SP to treat my hairloss...not because it caused any issues, it just didn't do **** for my hair loss.

- - - Updated - - -

Hair means nothing. Hopefully propecia gets pulled within 10 years. thousands of human lives have been destroyed. What a waste of human life

When I see comments like this being made, immediately a red flag goes up. I am truly sorry that you are struggling with the sides you may have due to your use of SP. You didn't even take Finasteride, so you don't even have PFS. You want to pull a drug because it have hurt thousands. What about the millions of guys that it has helped? Oh well, right! You can't take the drug so nobody else should have the option to take it and potentially improve their lives.

 

[Digidako]

Fish oils also ruined my life.
I took too many and started sprouting fish scales all over my body. Now I have a set of gills appearing below my ears, and my arms are turning into fins.
Its getting harsrsd tooOOoo tyypppeiow.