OnePercent Journey to 110%

[OnePercent]

Hey guys,
I hope this isn't a huge word splurge, but I wanted to post an intro in my own thread instead of putting two separate intros in two different threads.

I am a 22 year old male from Arizona, and am very active (been lifting since I was in high school and usually lift 5-6 days a week with 2-4 days of MMA training [mainly Muay Thai and BJJ). I also look after my diet and eat a fairly whole foods diet (I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at age 17 so I have had to lock down on my physical activity and nutrition to stay healthy and symptom free).

I believe February 16 I took 1mg of Finasteride and 5% minoxidil for about 6 days, after 6 days of experiencing headaches, brain fog, and weird libido issues as well as an extremely persistent strange obsessive/intrusive thought I decided to stop taking the medicine and do some research and I realized I was experiencing PFS. After I quit the pill and minox the headaches and brain fog have stopped but the same strange persistent intrusive/obsessives thought stayed which led to other symptoms down the line.

Now I am here, after browsing through many depressing and anxiety causing forums I saw someone say the "cdnuts protocol was debunked" and thought maybe some ideas have been created off of this protocol so I did some research and realized that the cdnuts protocol wasn't debunked and that they were just negative forums trying to drag everyone down - and have been ecstatic since finding this forum and TMO which have given me a breath of fresh air from the positivity and happiness I see on these forums from people.

I want to now list my side effects and current starting protocol so I can see the progress I make on this journey to recovery.

Current Sides:
Mental:
A single strong and persistent obsessive/intrusive thought (strongest side effect)
Consistent obsession/racing thoughts (usually about PFS or the above)
Depression (comes in spurts of usually a few hours to a day a couple times a week)
Sleep:
8 hours of sleep but waking up 3-4 times a night (usually awakening with the intrusive thought or the thought of PFS)
Didn't know this was a thing or symptom but waking up to music in your head in the morning lol (it's like I have a free radio in my head lmao)
Sexual:
Shrinkage
ED and libido issues
Ulcerative Colitis:
Caused me to flare up and exit remission

My symptoms are somewhat bad but from reading these forums I feel grateful that my symptoms are not as bad as others (others that have recovered as well!). On most days (usually days I hit the gym) I feel between 60-79.9%, other days (usually rest days) I can feel anywhere from 30-60%. I believe that I am having some good days due to the factors that I am young and have maintained a fairly healthy lifestyle (diet and fitness).

Current Protocol:
Ordered a ton of supps and went to walmart and bought a ton of fruits and veggies and supps today

Tuesday (3/23) - Starting 3 Day Juice Feast/Cleanse

After the juice feast I plan on resuming my current diet but removing 2 foods (protein bar and kodiak cakes pancake mix) as these two items are the only items I consume with gluten. Being diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis I usually meal prep and eat the same exact foods every day. Meat, veggies/fruits, and carbs (oatmeal, banza noodles [noodles made from chickpeas], and rice) all carb sources free from gluten.

Also after the juice feast depending on when my supps arrive I plan on implementing:
Daily (morning):
5mg Creatine Monohydrate
Herb rotation (7 herb starting protocol rotating daily)
-Ashwaganda, Butea Superba, Catabuaba Bark, Organic Schisandra, Organic Mucuna Extract, Goji Berry Freeze Dried Concentrate Organic, Tongkat Ali
Optimizing Brain Stack
-L-Theanine, Lion's Mane, Bacopa

Daily (at lunch):
10,000 IU of Vitamin D
10 pills of Chlorella
Pine Pollen (serving size as stated by Lost Empire)
Mesalamine (Ulcerative Colitis medicine)

Daily (at night for sleep):
Magnesium (400mg)
Glycine
Albizia (serving size as stated by Lost Empire)

Besides the supps I plan on implementing the cold shower therapy (weekly protocol of building up to 1 minute+), sunning 3 days per week (with the boys), adding 2 HIIT days with mobility work before and stretching afterwards (have a massage gun I haven't really used but will use it 2-3 times a week for myofascial release), also will abstain from porn and masturbation for as long as possible (this has been an issue in the past)

After I get used to this routine (probably after 1-2 weeks) I will add the breathing and meditation and potentially the pumping

If anybody at all reads this thank you! it honestly feels better after writing this all out and letting it go, this forum has been huge for the days where I feel down. Hoping that after consistent year round work that I can flatten that curve and go from 79.9% and 30% days to 80% 90% and 110% days!

As my name states I plan on improving 1% each day, some days I know I may take a few steps back but that just sets you up for 3 steps forward!

[Outlaw]

Whats up man,

Just wanna reply to show some life in your thread, I understand the struggle when you post and no one answers ahahh. I think the people that get better think about this place less and less, so the new guys have the impression they are alone, but we're not.

I can relate to your story and short usage, as I am 23 and only took 1 pill. If it can give you hope, my mental sides pretty much cleared by themselves at month #3, I started the protocol (2 weeks ago) and they have not come back since. I think the consensus is people usually get their head back before their sexuality.

I am not an experienced member so I will let others speak, but regarding the juice feast, I think you should be aiming for a week rather than 3 days. Also, on top of the herb rotation, I think most guys here take pine pollen daily! And I wouldn't wait to incorporate the breathing exercises, it's really easy but it helps a lot for the anxiety. I just do it before I leave my bed in the morning, and before going to sleep. It also makes me go to sleep way faster, 2 birds 1 stone.

Nice that you train MMA. I used to do Muay-Thai, really kept me in shape. I am also a huge UFC fan. There's a nice card this saturday, I'm really rooting for my boy Francis to snatch that heavyweight belt.

You found a good place here, stay focused on the protocol but most importantly, stay hopeful

[OnePercent]

Hey man thanks for the reply!

Mental sides are honestly one of the hardest parts right now, they come in strong waves but then tend to die off for a free hours and sometimes a day or two before ramping back up. And yea about the juice cleanse I saw earlier threads of people doing a 3-5 day water fast or juice cleanse and starting on protocol right away and kinda wanted to do that. I really want to hop on the supplement protocol even though I have seen that 1 week is recommended.

With the pine pollen I was plan on taking it daily, I might have not specified it in the above post but I bought 7 herbs that I plan on rotating daily eventually building up to the 21 and taking the pine pollen daily.

And yea I am really hype for the card this weekend. I honestly think Stipe defends again but seeing Francis win the belt and potentially Francis vs Jon would be sick. I am also rooting for O'Malley cause I'm from AZ even though he gets a lot of hate lmao.

I appreciate your comment and trying to stay focused and hopeful and maintaining a positive attitude. Not sure if there is another group chat, or forum, or instagram group or something out there that people connect with but I would love to join!

[Spigen17]

Hey man,

Welcome - I'm relatively new here also and have similar sides to yourself. Keep us updated on how things progress, your list seems pretty spot on to me. Keep digging in, I felt the exact same as you once you let go and write everything down here I think that's a large part of starting your recovery progress.

[Mojo]

Hey man thanks for the reply!

Mental sides are honestly one of the hardest parts right now, they come in strong waves but then tend to die off for a free hours and sometimes a day or two before ramping back up. And yea about the juice cleanse I saw earlier threads of people doing a 3-5 day water fast or juice cleanse and starting on protocol right away and kinda wanted to do that. I really want to hop on the supplement protocol even though I have seen that 1 week is recommended.

With the pine pollen I was plan on taking it daily, I might have not specified it in the above post but I bought 7 herbs that I plan on rotating daily eventually building up to the 21 and taking the pine pollen daily.

And yea I am really hype for the card this weekend. I honestly think Stipe defends again but seeing Francis win the belt and potentially Francis vs Jon would be sick. I am also rooting for O'Malley cause I'm from AZ even though he gets a lot of hate lmao.

I appreciate your comment and trying to stay focused and hopeful and maintaining a positive attitude. Not sure if there is another group chat, or forum, or instagram group or something out there that people connect with but I would love to join!

Hey welcome,

Looks like you have a good mindset. Maybe don’t join any other support groups for the time being. A lot of this is a mental game and being connected into Pfs chat constantly is not going to do you any favors. Try to put your minds elsewhere as much as possible. A lot of users have expressed mental progress by letting go and living their life, as hard as that may seem for you at the moment.

Best of luck

[Cdsnuts]

Hey welcome,

Looks like you have a good mindset. Maybe don’t join any other support groups for the time being. A lot of this is a mental game and being connected into Pfs chat constantly is not going to do you any favors. Try to put your minds elsewhere as much as possible. A lot of users have expressed mental progress by letting go and living their life, as hard as that may seem for you at the moment.

Best of luck

This^^^^^^^^

- - - Updated - - -


Hey man thanks for the reply!

Mental sides are honestly one of the hardest parts right now, they come in strong waves but then tend to die off for a free hours and sometimes a day or two before ramping back up. And yea about the juice cleanse I saw earlier threads of people doing a 3-5 day water fast or juice cleanse and starting on protocol right away and kinda wanted to do that. I really want to hop on the supplement protocol even though I have seen that 1 week is recommended.

With the pine pollen I was plan on taking it daily, I might have not specified it in the above post but I bought 7 herbs that I plan on rotating daily eventually building up to the 21 and taking the pine pollen daily.

And yea I am really hype for the card this weekend. I honestly think Stipe defends again but seeing Francis win the belt and potentially Francis vs Jon would be sick. I am also rooting for O'Malley cause I'm from AZ even though he gets a lot of hate lmao.

I appreciate your comment and trying to stay focused and hopeful and maintaining a positive attitude. Not sure if there is another group chat, or forum, or instagram group or something out there that people connect with but I would love to join!

The longer the cleanse, the better.

The cleanse will make ALL the supps work that much better.

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

[OnePercent]

Just wanted to post a little update, finished a three day juice feast and began implementing aspects of the protocol I was not already doing mainly supplementation and cold showers. Been lifting for about 8 years and have been actually eating gluten free for a while without knowing as well. I would like to say my sleep has basically returned to normal this past week after being terrible for the week on finasteride and the two weeks after without being on protocol. I have also seen a huge improvement in sexual sides, shrinkage was bad during the juice feast but has returned to basically pre-fin size most of the time, I also have seen an increase in libido to about 70-100% of pre-fin levels, also experiencing morning wood, and spontaneous wood. However my mental sides have improved very slowly and are still the worst of the side effects (obsessing over weird thoughts and obsessing/thinking/stressing over PFS). I also wanted to note that I broke my 8 day porn/masturbation streak last night and kinda set me into a downswing today but still keeping a positive mindset.

Current stuff I am doing

Lifting (5 days a week, I run a modified version of the conjugate method), clean eating, sun (I live in Arizona so it is kinda hard not to hit 20 minutes a day lol), and cold showers (currently progressed to 20 seconds after my usual warm shower but it is getting fairly easy now), and MMA/BJJ 2-4 times a week

In terms of supplementation I am taking lions mane, bacopa, and l-theanin daily in the morning with my swithcing t boosting herb (currently rotating between 7), creatine, and my ulcerative colitis medicine, I am also taking vitamin d, pine pollen (3 capsules), and chlroella daily at lunch, and lastly magnesium bisglycinate, glycine, albinzia, and pine pollen (3 more capsules) daily at night (I believe these nightly supplements have been the biggest reason for my improvement as they have allowed me to regain good restorative sleep.

Way happier than I was merely 9 days ago but still no where even close to where I want to be, excited where I will be in a year. Hoping to ride out this current downswing and continue down the path. Gonna stay offline and away from this forum (even though it is a breath of fresh air) for a month or so because I believe this is a factor of my mental sides.

Hoping for the best for everyone!

[Outlaw]

Keep it up man, you seem to be doing good. If you have seen improvements this early I'd take that as a good sign. I didn't have as much improvements in the first 2 months that's for sure.
I'm guilty of doing the same, but try to focus on what got better to cheer you up! You could be at the exact same initial place, and that would suck.

Regarding the obsessing, letting yourself get distracted is key. On that note, you can tell yourself at least Francis and Omalley won their fight in devastating fashion hahah

[Cdsnuts]

Just a reminder for everyone....the recommended cleanse time is a week....at least.

[OnePercent]

Wanted to post a quick update. The past two months or so have been very good! My sleep has returned to about normal and most of my symptoms have started to fade. I wanted to just make a quick post because I have been going through a bit of a downswing the past few days - mostly mental stuff and intrusive thoughts. I had a downswing a few weeks back that lasted a few days but this one seems to be lasting longer. On a positive note I have been hanging out with this chick and have been able to perform in bed like I did in the past - on the downside my downswing started because I started getting thoughts that next time I would get ED or something. Trying to continue to stay positive and best of wishes to everyone else!

[Cdsnuts]

Wanted to post a quick update. The past two months or so have been very good! My sleep has returned to about normal and most of my symptoms have started to fade. I wanted to just make a quick post because I have been going through a bit of a downswing the past few days - mostly mental stuff and intrusive thoughts. I had a downswing a few weeks back that lasted a few days but this one seems to be lasting longer. On a positive note I have been hanging out with this chick and have been able to perform in bed like I did in the past - on the downside my downswing started because I started getting thoughts that next time I would get ED or something. Trying to continue to stay positive and best of wishes to everyone else!

Sounds like you're gonna be a quick case. That's awesome.

Use the breathing and meditation to help with intrusive thoughts.

It sounds like you are well on your way.

[OnePercent]

Just wanted to post a quick update for the first time in the past few months. The past few months have been great and most days I am between 80-110%. I have been experiencing a little bit of a dip in libido the past few days and this is one of the last few symptoms to show progressive progress - some days my libido is through the roof and other days I just dont have much. This is fine and I know its apart of the process. Sleep has been great, depression and anxiety have been greatly reduced, intrusive thoughts have greatly declined, and overall have just been feeling good to great.

Since starting the regiment I have stuck pretty closely to the prescribed listings but have been thinking about adding Apigenin (from Swanson) 50mg daily at night for sleep and adding 600mg of fadogia agrestis to the rotating t boosting supplements, any thoughts?

Best of wishes to everyone!

[Cdsnuts]

Just wanted to post a quick update for the first time in the past few months. The past few months have been great and most days I am between 80-110%. I have been experiencing a little bit of a dip in libido the past few days and this is one of the last few symptoms to show progressive progress - some days my libido is through the roof and other days I just dont have much. This is fine and I know its apart of the process. Sleep has been great, depression and anxiety have been greatly reduced, intrusive thoughts have greatly declined, and overall have just been feeling good to great.

Since starting the regiment I have stuck pretty closely to the prescribed listings but have been thinking about adding Apigenin (from Swanson) 50mg daily at night for sleep and adding 600mg of fadogia agrestis to the rotating t boosting supplements, any thoughts?

Best of wishes to everyone!

Fadogia is fine. I have not researched the other.

[OnePercent]

Fadogia is fine. I have not researched the other.

Ok thanks

[OnePercent]

I have one last question CD. I know we cycle the t-boosting herbs due to our bodies accommodating to the herb and so on but does this still apply to the bacopa I take daily in the morning with my nootropics and the ziziphus and albizia that I take at night. Should I be cycling off these as well or are these acceptable to be taken daily.

[Cdsnuts]

I have one last question CD. I know we cycle the t-boosting herbs due to our bodies accommodating to the herb and so on but does this still apply to the bacopa I take daily in the morning with my nootropics and the ziziphus and albizia that I take at night. Should I be cycling off these as well or are these acceptable to be taken daily.

You can take the nootropics (bacopa) 5 days on, 2 days off for best results. The sleep herbs you can take everynight.

[MungYarlon]

You can take the nootropics (bacopa) 5 days on, 2 days off for best results. The sleep herbs you can take everynight.

What about L-Theanine. I found it works quite well with my coffee. Could that be taken daily?

[Cdsnuts]

What about L-Theanine. I found it works quite well with my coffee. Could that be taken daily?

L-Theanine | Total Male Optimization (https://www.totalmaleoptimization.com/optimizing-the-brain/l-theanine/)

And yes, although tolerance builds quick.

[OnePercent]

Hey Guys,

Haven't posted in a long time but wanted to come back and say that I am 100% cured. I appreciate all the help and advice! Don't really want to go into a long story but my advice would be to just keep moving forward, hang out with family and friends, and push forward with the protocol. And as much as this forum was a blessing try to stay away from all things PFS and just live your life! Best of luck to everyone, we're all gonna make it! And thanks again to CD and everyone.

[lastnoirking87]

Hey Guys,

Haven't posted in a long time but wanted to come back and say that I am 100% cured. I appreciate all the help and advice! Don't really want to go into a long story but my advice would be to just keep moving forward, hang out with family and friends, and push forward with the protocol. And as much as this forum was a blessing try to stay away from all things PFS and just live your life! Best of luck to everyone, we're all gonna make it! And thanks again to CD and everyone.

Happy to hear you have reached the finish line. I love reading recovery stories. Thanks for coming back to make this post, and best of luck going forward.

[Outlaw]

Great news man! If you could write a little something in the recovery section it would be cool.

I remember we talked about UFC last summer when you first came here. You recovered on the same weekend as Francis defended his title, that's double good news haha

[Cdsnuts]

Hey Guys,

Haven't posted in a long time but wanted to come back and say that I am 100% cured. I appreciate all the help and advice! Don't really want to go into a long story but my advice would be to just keep moving forward, hang out with family and friends, and push forward with the protocol. And as much as this forum was a blessing try to stay away from all things PFS and just live your life! Best of luck to everyone, we're all gonna make it! And thanks again to CD and everyone.

Awesome!

Huge favor.

Can you please post in the recovery section? I could easily move this post but you know how ridiculous everyone is.....A post made by yourself in that section goes the furthest and is the BEST way to pay back the forum. Thank you, and congrats!!

- - - Updated - - -


Great news man! If you could write a little something in the recovery section it would be cool.

I remember we talked about UFC last summer when you first came here. You recovered on the same weekend as Francis defended his title, that's double good news haha

This ^^^^^^^^

Doesn't have to be a long, drawn out story, even something as small as this post........

[flamingpie]

Congrats my man! Always great to hear when someone sticks to the plan and get themselves out of the woods.

[Cdsnuts]

Congrats my man! Always great to hear when someone sticks to the plan and get themselves out of the woods.

Word.