Barbaar's recovery journey

Hey guys, been on the protocol since September last year, but figured I'd start a log here too to keep myself on track and be more consistent.

I started with a 7 day juice feast which went ok, and jumped directly on the herb cycle after. The herbs hit me hard after the juice feast and I felt amazing for a week, and from there on it's been upswings and downswings as expected. I can't really notice the effects of the individual herbs anymore, but on upswings I sometimes have crazy amounts of energy which is really awesome since even before I got PSSD I was dealing with fatigue and lethargy. There have even been days where I could confidently say I had a bit of actual libido again, hell yeah. At one point my erection quality was also like 90% back to normal for a week or so, but that didn't last. Oh well I'm sure it'll return at some point.

The corona lockdown threw me off for a few weeks, but I've picked things back up again and can exercise at home with some home gym stuff. I lift 3x a week, and do cardio at least twice. I started as an out of shape CS student so it's been a learning experience for sure. Dropped 13kg of fat so far and put on a bit of muscle. I haven't done HIIT yet, but as soon as I can run 5k without taking a break I will replace running with HIIT.

Things I still need to improve/be more consistent with:
- Tighten up my diet (It was fine before, but I'm hanging out at my parent's place during the quarantine because they have a home gym and a big garden I can chill in instead of being stuck in my tiny studio apartment)
- Consistently do the breathing exercises
- Bathmate (didn't wan't to bring it to my parent's place lol)
- Full cold showers (just doing 1 minute at the end now)
- Meditation
- Go full nofap (already cut down a lot, energy levels go to shit if I don't)

I have two bottles of musclegelz andro hard ready to go for my first cycle, but I want to make sure everything else is 100% on point before I begin. Hopefully that will be within the next few weeks.

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Originally Posted by barbaar

Hey guys, been on the protocol since September last year, but figured I'd start a log here too to keep myself on track and be more consistent.

I started with a 7 day juice feast which went ok, and jumped directly on the herb cycle after. The herbs hit me hard after the juice feast and I felt amazing for a week, and from there on it's been upswings and downswings as expected. I can't really notice the effects of the individual herbs anymore, but on upswings I sometimes have crazy amounts of energy which is really awesome since even before I got PSSD I was dealing with fatigue and lethargy. There have even been days where I could confidently say I had a bit of actual libido again, hell yeah. At one point my erection quality was also like 90% back to normal for a week or so, but that didn't last. Oh well I'm sure it'll return at some point.

The corona lockdown threw me off for a few weeks, but I've picked things back up again and can exercise at home with some home gym stuff. I lift 3x a week, and do cardio at least twice. I started as an out of shape CS student so it's been a learning experience for sure. Dropped 13kg of fat so far and put on a bit of muscle. I haven't done HIIT yet, but as soon as I can run 5k without taking a break I will replace running with HIIT.

Things I still need to improve/be more consistent with:
- Tighten up my diet (It was fine before, but I'm hanging out at my parent's place during the quarantine because they have a home gym and a big garden I can chill in instead of being stuck in my tiny studio apartment)
- Consistently do the breathing exercises
- Bathmate (didn't wan't to bring it to my parent's place lol)
- Full cold showers (just doing 1 minute at the end now)
- Meditation
- Go full nofap (already cut down a lot, energy levels go to shit if I don't)

I have two bottles of musclegelz andro hard ready to go for my first cycle, but I want to make sure everything else is 100% on point before I begin. Hopefully that will be within the next few weeks.

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No. No. No. Stop the 5K. Run the sprints. What you are doing is apples and oranges. Don't bother with steady state cardio. Man.....not picking on you guys, but this thing was written for a reason. Not for shits and giggles. Don't reinvent the wheel man. It's all been done for you. JUST FOLLOW IT. Seriously.

By not going all in you're only robbing yourself. How bad do you want it? You have complete control. What you put in, is what you get out.

Honestly, don't bother running the cycle until you have most of the preliminary bases covered.

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Originally Posted by Cdsnuts

No. No. No. Stop the 5K. Run the sprints. What you are doing is apples and oranges. Don't bother with steady state cardio. Man.....not picking on you guys, but this thing was written for a reason. Not for shits and giggles. Don't reinvent the wheel man. It's all been done for you. JUST FOLLOW IT. Seriously.

By not going all in you're only robbing yourself. How bad do you want it? You have complete control. What you put in, is what you get out.

Honestly, don't bother running the cycle until you have most of the preliminary bases covered.

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Roger that, sprints from now on. I thought it would be good to build things up a bit more slowly because I have a habit of hurting myself by doing exercise stuff wrong. When I started I couldn't run at a moderate pace for 5 minutes without feeling like I was dying, now the 5k is pretty easy and feels alright.

I've also been dealing with back and neck pain for a week I think I got by doing bent over rows with less than perfect form... Like I said I'm a noob and still getting the hang of heavy lifting too (everyone here is fucking ripped, I'm not. Yet...) I fully realize that by building up the exercise a little slower it's also going to take more time to heal, but to me that is preferable to screwing up my back doing deadlifts wrong (happened before too :rolleyes:) and not being able to exercise for a month or two.

As far as the other points, my diet is back to where it was before, full paleo with dairy allowed. I just refuse to eat anything that's not ok, family thinks I'm a weirdo but whatever. Breathing exercises 2x a day, full cold showers, and stopping by my place later tonight to pick up some stuff so might as well bring the bathmate.

Will hold off on the cycle until this has become 100% routine and steady for a good while.

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Originally Posted by barbaar

Roger that, sprints from now on. I thought it would be good to build things up a bit more slowly because I have a habit of hurting myself by doing exercise stuff wrong. When I started I couldn't run at a moderate pace for 5 minutes without feeling like I was dying, now the 5k is pretty easy and feels alright.

I've also been dealing with back and neck pain for a week I think I got by doing bent over rows with less than perfect form... Like I said I'm a noob and still getting the hang of heavy lifting too (everyone here is fucking ripped, I'm not. Yet...) I fully realize that by building up the exercise a little slower it's also going to take more time to heal, but to me that is preferable to screwing up my back doing deadlifts wrong (happened before too :rolleyes:) and not being able to exercise for a month or two.

As far as the other points, my diet is back to where it was before, full paleo with dairy allowed. I just refuse to eat anything that's not ok, family thinks I'm a weirdo but whatever. Breathing exercises 2x a day, full cold showers, and stopping by my place later tonight to pick up some stuff so might as well bring the bathmate.

Will hold off on the cycle until this has become 100% routine and steady for a good while.

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Barbaar biaacz I like yo posts here again m8 ;D

Dud 5km is quite a run, it's gonna raise cortisol without substantial benefits. HIIT is gonna make yo body freak out short term and is with cold exposure/heat exposure and fasting one of the only things correlated to longevity gene activationzz
If ya wanna run do a 3-10minute one 2x a day just to get some blood rushing without getting actually exhausted.
I like your attitude cuz for me it was the same the first weeks after crash, couldn't even jogg for 2 damn minutes without needing a break grasping for air with tight chest ahaha. Feels damn good to get out of that but no need to push it further^^

And with gym and muscles, consistency will make you huge. If you manage to do chill training 3x a week in 3 years you gonna be HUGE af compared to now, especially when diet and sleep is on point.
Goin nuts in gym and hitting it 6x a week does not give exponential benefits ;D, for many even slows it down with all these brosplits around xdd

Idk if you still struggle with it, cuz I remember we had the similar dikk wrapped in rubber feelin, I never got much hang of the bathmate. But I belive this here helped me tremendously Heat Therapy for Peyronies and ED - Better Than Verapamil (at home and nearly free) - YouTube

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Originally Posted by Bankai9000

Barbaar biaacz I like yo posts here again m8 ;D

Dud 5km is quite a run, it's gonna raise cortisol without substantial benefits. HIIT is gonna make yo body freak out short term and is with cold exposure/heat exposure and fasting one of the only things correlated to longevity gene activationzz
If ya wanna run do a 3-10minute one 2x a day just to get some blood rushing without getting actually exhausted.
I like your attitude cuz for me it was the same the first weeks after crash, couldn't even jogg for 2 damn minutes without needing a break grasping for air with tight chest ahaha. Feels damn good to get out of that but no need to push it further^^

And with gym and muscles, consistency will make you huge. If you manage to do chill training 3x a week in 3 years you gonna be HUGE af compared to now, especially when diet and sleep is on point.
Goin nuts in gym and hitting it 6x a week does not give exponential benefits ;D, for many even slows it down with all these brosplits around xdd

Idk if you still struggle with it, cuz I remember we had the similar dikk wrapped in rubber feelin, I never got much hang of the bathmate. But I belive this here helped me tremendously Heat Therapy for Peyronies and ED - Better Than Verapamil (at home and nearly free) - YouTube

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Yo dawg haha. I think getting your cardiovascular fitness up can only be a good thing tbh, but I agree HIIT is probably more bang for your buck. I was doing the runs on a threadmill anyways which in my experience is less harsh than outside.

And yea my dick is still pretty fucked up lol. Bent, twisted and dented, definitely lost some girth too... Although in the week where my EQ was better it was hardly noticable so at least I'm sure it's not permanent. I'll check out the heat therapy stuff.

Anyone else get extremely lethargic from magnesium? I recently started taking some magnesium malate before bed and I've been super unproductive for several days and my entire body feels heavy and tired all the time. Kinda feels like what being depressed felt like before pssd but without the sadness

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Originally Posted by barbaar

Anyone else get extremely lethargic from magnesium? I recently started taking some magnesium malate before bed and I've been super unproductive for several days and my entire body feels heavy and tired all the time. Kinda feels like what being depressed felt like before pssd but without the sadness

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Back down on the dose and take it every other day instead.

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Originally Posted by Cdsnuts

Back down on the dose and take it every other day instead.

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Thx CD will do. Funny that it has such a pronounced effect on me. I tried magnesium chloride and citrate (as opposed to malate) before and they didn't do much.

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Originally Posted by barbaar

Thx CD will do. Funny that it has such a pronounced effect on me. I tried magnesium chloride and citrate (as opposed to malate) before and they didn't do much.

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Once you get the dose right, it will work wonders for you.

Hey guys what's your opinion on CBD oil? I've been under a ton of stress lately and it's causing a bit of insomnia. A few days ago I had like 1/4th of an edible lol, I didn't feel stressed for the first time in weeks and slept like a baby. I'm hoping CBD will help with sleep too, but without the other mental effects (whether it actually helps or not I don't know yet).

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Originally Posted by barbaar

Hey guys what's your opinion on CBD oil? I've been under a ton of stress lately and it's causing a bit of insomnia. A few days ago I had like 1/4th of an edible lol, I didn't feel stressed for the first time in weeks and slept like a baby. I'm hoping CBD will help with sleep too, but without the other mental effects (whether it actually helps or not I don't know yet).

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I've seen multiple reports of CBD having 5ARI-type effects - I think @Freepressright had a post here that outlined the issue. It might not be a problem for you, but I would be hesitant to recommend it. I've never used the stuff. I'll say marijuana didn't have a whole lot of negative effects to me during recovery.

Damn I didn't know it was a 5ARI.. although I have taken it before without any lasting issues. I think I'll carefully try a low dose, the lack of sleep is really getting to me and actual sleeping pills do mess me up for a while (found that out the hard way lol)

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Originally Posted by barbaar

Damn I didn't know it was a 5ARI.. although I have taken it before without any lasting issues. I think I'll carefully try a low dose, the lack of sleep is really getting to me and actual sleeping pills do mess me up for a while (found that out the hard way lol)

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Yeah sleep pills are hit or miss. Especially avoid the pharmaceutical ones. I found something that always worked for me when I had the crippling insomnia was the Iron Mag Labs “Dream N Grow” product. Combined melatonin, GABA, L-Theanine, others - with Kratom. It worked really well for me but I used it only in dire situations.

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Originally Posted by Maxout777

Yeah sleep pills are hit or miss. Especially avoid the pharmaceutical ones. I found something that always worked for me when I had the crippling insomnia was the Iron Mag Labs “Dream N Grow” product. Combined melatonin, GABA, L-Theanine, others - with Kratom. It worked really well for me but I used it only in dire situations.

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Ah Dream N Grow sounds good! Although it has 5-htp which messes me up big time. Last time I took it (before I went on the protocol) I felt like I crashed all the way back to square one.

From the recommended sleep herbs the only thing I haven't tried yet is albizia, I'll have to include some in my next herb order. The others work ok, I especially like ziziphus but it doesn't really help you fall asleep, it just makes your sleep really deep and restful.

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Originally Posted by barbaar

Ah Dream N Grow sounds good! Although it has 5-htp which messes me up big time. Last time I took it (before I went on the protocol) I felt like I crashed all the way back to square one.

From the recommended sleep herbs the only thing I haven't tried yet is albizia, I'll have to include some in my next herb order. The others work ok, I especially like ziziphus but it doesn't really help you fall asleep, it just makes your sleep really deep and restful.

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Good catch - I forget from the other forum, you're PSSD. Definitely avoid the Serotonin-based substances and my advice is null now.

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Originally Posted by Maxout777

Good catch - I forget from the other forum, you're PSSD. Definitely avoid the Serotonin-based substances and my advice is null now.

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Besides 5htp the other ingredients sound good (although I'm not sure about melatonin), and most of them I have on hand already so I might just try making my own 5htp-less version if the CBD doesn't do the trick.

Definitely feeling a bit more relaxed now so fingers crossed it does!

Finally got a good 8 hours of sleep so that worked! Even woke up with morning wood.

I do feel a little out of it and more emotionally numb than usual, but if that is just temporary then CBD is a decent emergency sleep solution for me.

Will stop taking it for now and see how long it takes to go back to "normal".

Good to hear! I’ve always wanted to try it for post-WOD recovery in CrossFit since I’m always sore AF, but have been hesitant to try it since reading FPR’s post here.

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Originally Posted by HOPE

Hey Barbaar, don’t know if you will find this - but how have you been? Anyway I can contact you?

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You realize you quoted me and not Barbaar?

Hey Barbaar, how have you been? I know you have made great strides I heard and believe you are well on your way to recovery after a Discord update from a fellow friend of yours. Are you willing to give an update to the forum — anyway I can contact you?


P.S - Apologies to Maxout, this keeps happening as I accident reply to the last post in a thread. Won’t happen again, so just mind me this time.

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Originally Posted by Maxout777

You realize you quoted me and not Barbaar?

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Wait, you’re not barbaar?

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Originally Posted by Turnover25

Wait, you’re not barbaar?

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No bro - I am CD, remember?

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Originally Posted by HOPE

You guys haven’t figured it out yet…? We’re all fake accounts run by CD and English himself to promote home brewing.

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Russian bots

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Originally Posted by Maxout777

No bro - I am CD, remember?

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Oh that’s right my bad CD777

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Originally Posted by Turnover25

Oh that’s right my bad CD777

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Lol, now you're talking. What is humorous about this the most is I offered to that gentleman that continues to throw that accusation around to get on a Skype call with myself and CD. You can clearly tell we're not the same person, as I was raised in the Deep South wiregrass, and CD's from Jersey. Pretty sure those have entirely different accents..... but hey, what do I know.