This is the first blog post of my “Logging” series, where I will comment on findings from articles and threads that I have read and create short summaries of them and add my response. (There is no real structure to these, simply loggings).
Date: [July 27, 2018] Article Location: [Ray Peat Forum] Article Name: "My Solution For Post Finasteride Syndrom[e]"
Ray Peat Forum (RPF) member Baltazar posted on April 22nd of this year that he was rid of his Post-Finasteride Syndrome (PFS). His regimen? Weird and potentially dangerous…
I’m especially worried about looking at the sun directly – NEVER a good idea.
While Balatzar’s story is interesting, there are some comments that intrigued me even more.
The member, brix, posted:
I took a low dose anti-progestin (a medication called Ella) for 5 days. This brought back libido and erections 75%. Then focused on digestion and eating healthy which got me back to baseline.
I would say my libido and sexual function is the best it’s been in my entire life now.
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I split the pill into 6ths. Very low dose. Haidut has posted studies about males using mifepristone successfully. Mifepristone is similar to ella in that it blocks progesterone receptors, which resensitizes the receptor. Many others have been “cured” or [have] made progress [for their] pfs [using it].
Member “Haidut” chimes in:
The only commercially available anti-progestins I know of are RU486 and Ulipristal, but those are anti-glucocorticoid more than anything else so it is hard to separate their cortisol blocking effects from their anti-progestin ones. Be that as it may, both RU486 and ulipristal are used by males or things like Cushing syndrome and muscle wasting due to HIV/cancer/etc.
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Glucocorticoid antagonists usually do not change cortisol levels, except in high doses where they may raise cortisol levels due to the feedback mechanism. Drugs like RU486 simply block the effects of cortisol, and blocking cortisol effects has been shown to be powerfully antidepressant and neurotrophic, and to restore proper steroidogenesis. Ulipristal is also a glucocorticoid antagonist, it is almost the same molecule as RU486. Both were developed as glucocorticoid antagonists and only subsequently marketed as progesterone antagonists as the market for the latter is much bigger and more profitable. Here is at least one link showing ulipristal acting as glucocorticoid antagonist and having comparable effects to RU486. Ulipirstal is about 60% weaker than RU486 as GR antagonist but still very potent.
https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/auspar-ulipristal-acetate-150904.docx
“…The pituitary, liver and adrenal gland also showed notable changes with treatment. Pituitary gland hyperplasia was observed in rats at all doses in the 6 month study, and bodyweight relative pituitary weight was significantly increased in rats with treatment at ≥5 mg/kg/day for 6 months and at ≥20 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks. These effects were not observed in monkeys. Hepatocellular hypertrophy was observed in rats treated at the high dose levels in the 2 week and 6 month studies, together with increased bodyweight relative liver weight. Bodyweight relative liver weight was also increased at the high dose level in the 2 week monkey study, but there were no effects on liver weight or histology in the 6 and 9 month monkey studies (≤25 mg/kg/day). Adrenal cortical hypertrophy was commonly observed in high dose animals in the 2 week and 6 month rat studies and in the 6 month monkey study. Increased bodyweight relative adrenal weight was seen at the high dose levels in the 6 month rat study and the 2 week and 6 month monkey studies. Serum cortisol was found to be increased in monkeys at the high dose level in the 2 week study, at all doses in the 6 month study and at the high dose level in the 9 month study. The effects observed with ulipristal acetate are similar to those seen previously with mifepristone, and are consistent with the drug’s anti progesterone and anti glucocorticoid activities. No overt toxicity was seen in any of the repeat dose toxicity studies.”Given the side effects mentioned above, especially the increase in pituitary, liver and adrenal weight (which also occur with RU486) I would be highly reluctant to use this chemical, especially long term. Again, safer ways of opposing cortisol and restoring androgen and neurosteroid synthesis are available. I don’t want to get into another forum cross-argument, so this is the last thing I will post on this topic.
Finally, if all those people on hackstasis truly cured their issues why are they still there and keep posting???…
Receptor antagonists do NOT lower levels of the steroid they antagonize but rather increase it. Look at the quote for Ulipristal – it raised cortisol. RU486 does the same – it raises cortisol and progesterone while it is being taken because it is an antagonist at both GR and PR. The abortion effects occur since RU486 blocks PR, so it is preventing progesterone from doing its job. Taking an antagonist is a signal to the organism that you have LOW levels of a specific hormone so it increases endogenous production. So, while RU486 is taken levels of cortisol and progesterone will increase. After you stop it, due to increased receptor expression for GR and PR as a result of taking an antagonist like RU486, those cortisol and progesterone levels will drop to levels probably lower than before taking RU486. Increased receptor expression after you stop taking the antagonist signal the organism that you don’t need as much of the cortisol/progesterone so it lowers endogenous synthesis. That’s how RU486 treats diabetes II – it increases GR receptor expression and that causes cortisol synthesis levels to drop unless you have Cushign disease in which case cortisol levels will stay elevated. So, people with Cushing have to take RU486 basically for life.
User “Dahir” disagreed a bit with Haidut on the effectiveness of these drugs:
Granted, the most frequent posters who were there from the beginning is a relatively small sample size, but they seem to all have significant improvements in their baseline. So if they were at say 30% before Ella or Ru486, taking those drugs could get them to 70 or 80% as a baseline, and the people who respond very well seem to maintain the benefits for a long period of time, maybe permanently. It is too early to tell. Most guys who have logged their progress with these drugs have had very good experiences with them.
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There are a handful of recoveries from people who have really worked hard at this over the past few months. You should read them and look for trends if you’re interested.
This conversation is one that interests me. Recall that in 2017 there was a big interest in Ella on the PSSD Forum. It was around this time that conterversal Hackstasis member “Gboldouv” (aka “Gbold”) was banned from RPF and moved his writings elsewhere.
Reading this thread today has allowed me to reflect on Progesterone and anti-progestins, which have long been a part of my Neurohormone Theory.
I’ve also been reviewing videos that I made last summer. Because new ideas are always thrown around on the PSSD Forum, I think that it’s important to review older theories for anything that might have been missed the first time around.
Cheers,
Ghost
