Need some help - new at this. Saw Palmetto/Fin question.

[maxout777]

Hey guys, I'm in the fight with you on MPB, about to be 25 years old and would prefer to not be bald at 30. I didn't want to jump into Fin or Dut, after reading about side effects (which, I know, are rare, but I'm just being cautious before making the plunge), so I decided to give Saw Palmetto a try. Actually worked fantastic on my hair, never noticed anymore shedding and reduced my skin oil on my face to almost zero (and I'm an extremely oily person, my girlfriend complains about me turning our pillows yellow). However, after about a month and some change of using it, I developed side effects that are pretty much identical to fin sides, low libido, weak erections, brain fog, slightly blurred vision etc. I feel like these are getting better slowly (I've been cold turkey on SawP for 2 weeks now) and I hear it can take up to a month for 5AR to get back to normal so I am hoping these will go away.

Basically, is there any other alternative I can try? Given that Saw P did this to me (which I thought was absolutely unbelievable, but I can attest it does happen), I'm pretty much assuming that Fin/Dut are out of the question. Also, if anyone has any good word on how long to expect for some of these sides to go away, I'd appreciate that to. This isn't a post to scare people away from stuff by any means, just trying to get some help on a topic from people who are far more experienced on it than I am.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Sub8large]

do you want hair or not?

if you do then get on fin 1mg/day. end of discussion.

stop overdosing on things like saw palmetto and take something that will actually help you. yes you will get side effects, that's the ENTIRE POINT because it reduces your DHT.

[maxout777]

do you want hair or not?

if you do then get on fin 1mg/day. end of discussion.

stop overdosing on things like saw palmetto and take something that will actually help you. yes you will get side effects, that's the ENTIRE POINT because it reduces your DHT.

I don't mind side effects as long as they are not persistent. Considering my Saw palmetto sides haven't even gone away after two weeks yet I'm very hesitant to try something stronger. Wasn't trying to hate on fin or go against it, sorry if I made you upset there.

[burtandernie]

If you compare the two things it just makes a lot more sense to use fin instead. With fin you know it works vs guessing if saw palmetto is working. Does fin have sides? Yes because it actually works. If SP is working though its just your choice. Fin is probably a lot stronger, and of course then potentially more dangerous. Still pretty safe though

[maxout777]

If you compare the two things it just makes a lot more sense to use fin instead. With fin you know it works vs guessing if saw palmetto is working. Does fin have sides? Yes because it actually works. If SP is working though its just your choice. Fin is probably a lot stronger, and of course then potentially more dangerous. Still pretty safe though

Hey thanks for replying! Sorry I may have hijacked that other thread asking you to reply before you did.....when you had SP sides were they pretty bad? I'm done with SP just hoping to get back to normal soon to decide my next step on treating this pain in my rear end.

[potato1987]

Saw P did the same to me, I didn't know the side effects were possible until...ahem!...don't worry bud! exercise and eat right and your body will sort itself.

[maxout777]

Saw P did the same to me, I didn't know the side effects were possible until...ahem!...don't worry bud! exercise and eat right and your body will sort itself.

Yeah man - it was crazy. Feel like a totally different person. Thanks for the response by the way, it's nice to know I'm not crazy. How long did you take to right the ship?

[potato1987]

perhaps 5-6 weeks! more than welcome, natural doesn't mean harmless always, look at St Johns wart and sun for instance!

[maxout777]

perhaps 5-6 weeks! more than welcome, natural doesn't mean harmless always, look at St Johns wart and sun for instance!

You're not kidding - this is the worst experience I've had with side effects from any drug or supplement. I'm still looking for something to help with MPB if I can, but I definitely will not be using anything related to this or fin/dut ever again. I'm glad you said 5-6 weeks because I was beginning to think since it's been two that I might be in trouble.....seems like some of the side effects are slowly waning but not sure if for certain. The blurry vision and brain fog may be the worst part of all of it.

[maxout777]

Just a quick update: Oily skin is starting to return, blurry vision appears to be doing better, and of course, I'm starting to lose hairs in the shower again......so that's definitely a sign it was doing something for me. Does anyone have any topical suggestions to keep myself from losing all my hair while I'm letting my system get back to normal? Or would all cause or effect the sides?

[burtandernie]

I had oily skin, my head stopped itching, and I had sexual sides. All very similar to what you hear about finasteride. It definately did something for me, but I decided id rather try fin then always wonder if saw palmetto was really helping my hair or just giving me sides. Also over time the strength of saw palmetto seemed to gradually get worse. After I stopped it took while like many months to get back to normal. Everyone is going to be different though.
I will say I took saw palmetto other times like those powder pills and those did nothing for me the different brands I used. The only SP that did anything for me was GNC liquid gel caps. I think the liquid/potency/purity all matter for how its aborbed and used. The powder never worked so IMO the liquid works much better and I took 320mg the 2 caps a day.
I also think its weaker than fin because taking 2 I could notice it wearing off before the next dose. I think fin is just overall stronger which is a bit scary, but you know its helping your hair verses guessing. Im not on anything now just lipogaine but if I start an AA it would be trying fin like .25mg a day for cost/safety reasons instead of using SP again

[maxout777]

I had oily skin, my head stopped itching, and I had sexual sides. All very similar to what you hear about finasteride. It definately did something for me, but I decided id rather try fin then always wonder if saw palmetto was really helping my hair or just giving me sides. Also over time the strength of saw palmetto seemed to gradually get worse. After I stopped it took while like many months to get back to normal. Everyone is going to be different though.
I will say I took saw palmetto other times like those powder pills and those did nothing for me the different brands I used. The only SP that did anything for me was GNC liquid gel caps. I think the liquid/potency/purity all matter for how its aborbed and used. The powder never worked so IMO the liquid works much better and I took 320mg the 2 caps a day.
I also think its weaker than fin because taking 2 I could notice it wearing off before the next dose. I think fin is just overall stronger which is a bit scary, but you know its helping your hair verses guessing. Im not on anything now just lipogaine but if I start an AA it would be trying fin like .25mg a day for cost/safety reasons instead of using SP again

Thanks for the response, and the detailed write up, looks like I may have some months of fun ahead of me, but as long as I recover I'll take it. You're a braver man than me to try fin after having problems on SP....this has me on the edge. Like you, I too took the liquid soft gels. Almost wish I would've gotten the powder in hindsight, ha.

[maxout777]

A month off now and starting to feel better each day, slowly. Sweat, skin oil, eyes are less dry....brain fog isn't as steady. Gonna keep updating this as I go just so folks can find some relief if they are ever in my situation and scared. I'm thinking about trying Minox, anyone had real success with that? Would like to find a natural dht blocker that works without screwing me up.

[koko207]

Hey Max,

Can you give us an update on how you are feeling nowadays?

Thanks man

[maxout777]

Hey Max,

Can you give us an update on how you are feeling nowadays?

Thanks man

Hey man,

First off, I was there once and I know how anxious and terrible life seems right now. You've got to RELAX, it's hard to do. But you've got to do it. You have every chance of returning to normal.

Personally, unfortunately I'm still dealing with sexual side effects from Saw Palmetto usage. I am MUCH better than I was when I started this thread, and I feel I will return to normal. My recovery has come in waves, as in I'll feel good for a week or so, then I'm back down, but not as low as before, and each time I go back up, I'm better than before. As if my body is finding its equilibrium.

Exercise, eat a paleo style diet, and get plenty of sleep. Best advice I have for you. Give it three months before you take any action to correct it. Number one thing you need to do is quiet your mind. That screwed me more than anything I believe, constantly googling my symptoms and spot checking my erections by masturbating. Abstain from masturbation too, in my early days it only made it worse.

I'll report back when I have more news to share, best of luck my friend. I hope that you'll be just fine soon!