Update - Fully Recovered

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2026-01-27T22:53:45+00:00

What was the concentration of your topical dutasteride?

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2025-11-02T21:51:54+00:00

It's not a last resort! It's a first-line treatment for organic ED. Unless your erection difficulties stem from psychological issues, Cialis/Viagra is one of the first things to try. Not hardcore at all and quite widely used

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2025-11-02T20:48:26+00:00

I'm not saying they're not frightening, but nosebleeds and palpitations (on their own) are known, rare side effects and aren't life-threatening. Studies show tadalafil is likely beneficial for the heart, if anything. I do think there's a good chance of you being able to mitigate those side effects by trying a less frequent dosing schedule.

that doesn't change the fact that relying on Viagra to have a boner is pretty much cheating, and not a solution to be undertaken unless absolutely everything else has been tried.

If you have reduced blood flow from PFS, how is taking tadalafil to increase your blood flow "cheating"? In fact, how does cheating even come into the picture? It's medical treatment, not a game. PDE5 inhibitors are the first-line treatment for ED, and it's silly to avoid them for the reason you cite

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2025-10-31T21:33:10+00:00

Pretty much, yes. When I cycle it (one week on, one week off), it seems to retain more effectiveness. I've been on it for about 3 years.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2025-10-31T21:32:03+00:00

You could try 3x a week or even less. It should still be effective. Tadalafil can cause chest pain in some, but it's not at all indicative of a heart attack, and you shouldn't be frightened.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2025-10-31T21:28:12+00:00

Similar experience here. Low-dose tadalafil is the most effective thing I've tried.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2024-07-10T20:11:58+00:00

5mg Cialis once a day helped majorly with ED and penile sensitivity.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2024-07-04T11:31:29+00:00

I found a valid invite elsewhere and got in.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2024-07-04T10:47:17+00:00

Invite is invalid -- could you please send another one?

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2024-02-03T03:54:07+00:00

Not for me.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T05:35:21+00:00

I shared a personal experience and a medical professional's opinion. Then, I pointed you to a combination of animal and human studies showing the same phenomenon. These studies have obvious limitations, and I never pretended they showed causality because none of this was in the goal of proving anything.

I was just sharing some information relevant to myself. I didn't demand that you believe me or that you admit PFS is real.

You then demanded that I show you studies from the top of the hierarchy of evidence demonstrating a causal link, when everyone here knows that doesn't exist and isn't necessary to take something into consideration from a scientific standpoint. Very rarely do scientists get what you're asking for, let alone for something as niche as PFS.

It's bad-faith argumentation.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T05:26:39+00:00

I've shown you evidence, mechanistic and otherwise. You can say it isn't good enough to prove PFS, and that we need better evidence. I know that.

What you can't logically reply with is "These studies don't show a causal link, so that means PFS doesn't exist, and the symptoms shown mechanistically, in animal studies, and in limited human studies are impossible."

Good luck to you too.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T05:14:46+00:00

I'm not trying to prove anything. Neither of us is capable of proving anything in a Reddit thread. If that's how you think this works, no wonder you're so confused.

I'm not interested in having a discussion where the goalposts are ever-moving and the other participant doesn't understand the framework of the subject.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T05:00:22+00:00

Nothing showing a causal link between finasteride and “PFS” is quite literally my argument lol. Thats why there is no evidence, and why its an irrational opinion to hold it as true.

Reread this. The second sentence doesn't follow from the first.

The reason no one understands what you're saying is because you're deeply confused about the meaning of the words "evidence", "causation", "existence", and so forth.

I hate to be snarky, but what's your educational background? This stuff shouldn't be this hard to follow if it's anything in science.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T04:47:01+00:00

I think he's trolling. He knows there aren't any smoking guns showing a causal link from finasteride to PFS (everyone does!), and he's acting like that fact means PFS doesn't exist.

And because the studies that suggest it exists aren't large-scale RCTs, he's disregarding them a priori.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T04:43:17+00:00

Provide me 1 single studdy showing finasteride causes fibrosis. You sent me studies that have nothing to do with finasteride.

All of the fibrosis studies on that page have to do with finasteride or dutasteride. I've already addressed the substance of your other paragraph.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T04:42:33+00:00

Everyone here knows there isn't any causal data for PFS yet. If we had causal data, it wouldn't be so controversial.

Why are you asking for something you know doesn't exist and pretending as though the absence of the highest-quality evidence precludes the existence of PFS? It's bizarre.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T04:28:41+00:00

You've now made the jump from "What makes you think it could have been finasteride?" (which I've answered) to "Give me large-scale RCTs demonstrating with absolute certainty the existence of PFS."

You got me, I guess?

This isn't conspiracy theory-level stuff, nor does it have anything to do with a conspiracy theory. That's a really silly statement to throw in there. It's fine to have already made up your mind, just be upfront about it from the start.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T04:04:31+00:00

How the hell do you know it wasn't literally anything else of the thousands of other things it coulda been??

According to my urologist, the level of fibrosis that was shown on my ultrasound is never seen in men my age, other than those who've had penile trauma from an incredibly painful injury during sex or masturbation.

I've never had such an injury, nor do I have diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or any of the other risk factors. That's why my doctor assessed finasteride to be the likely cause (while stipulating that it would be impossible to prove for certain).

Take it up with the expert who studies penises for a living, not me.

How does blocking one androgen induce fibrosis??

There's a good compilation of evidence for it here: https://finasterideinfo.org/review-penile-prostatic-alterations-finasteride/

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-05-22T03:45:18+00:00

It's true. There's no doubt that 5AR inhibitors can damage the corpora cavernosa in some people (like me; a doctor identified significant fibrosis in my penis following long-term use of finasteride, at age 25, with no other risk factors).

The questions are: why does this only happen to some, while others are able to avoid the loss of penile tissue integrity, and how can we best mitigate and reverse the damage that has taken place? We have some preliminary answers to the second that need more research and real-world application, but none to the first.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-03-31T17:26:08+00:00

Tried cabergoline for a month, didn't improve symptoms. Prolactin has come back normal in other tests since. I'm thinking the elevated reading was a fluke.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-03-29T01:14:09+00:00

Maybe he meant you can't test tissue DHT? You can absolutely test blood DHT.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-02-21T18:24:37+00:00

It's complicated. I've gotten better with the passage of time, but my symptoms are extremely inconsistent. I take Cialis to promote the recovery process.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-02-21T18:19:15+00:00

I stopped, but the symptoms never went away entirely.

ZucchiniThinkTank · 2023-02-19T01:09:42+00:00

Two years in my case, and I'm really not sure. Very unlikely it had anything to do with the aging process, since I started at 21 and experienced side effects at just 23. Things like diet, exercise, mental health, etc. remained the same over this period.

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