Hello again, gents...wanted to do a little update. Nothing huge to report, other than that I've been hovering between somewhere slightly below pre-PFS sexual functioning and right at pre-PFS functioning. I've not had a major DHT blast upswing since I last reported the previous one, but my upswing since then has felt pretty normal (as in pre-PFS normal) in comparison. Nothing to complain about, as it basically feels like complete homeostasis on the sexual side of things. Erection function can sometimes be hit or miss real late at night/towards the end of the day, but generally it is anywhere from acceptable to great from morning through evening. Energy, stamina,strength wise, I'm still better than my pre-PFS status. Mood is good, very focused and optimistic, just not crazy euphoric/borderline manic (in a good way) like the previous upswing.
Like I said in one of my last updates, this last "downswing" was very mild, and it's kind of getting hard to tell between a downswing and an upswing, as things seem to sort of be leveling out. In other words, the lows arent as deep and the heights arent as high, though I'm hopeful I will be able to level up to somewhere near that previous blissful crazy good upswing once I'm recovered and beyond. If that became my new normal, Id be the happiest dude around, and that's kind of what I'm intentionally working towards.
I think the area with the biggest need for improvement currently is libido, which is to be expected. With everything else progressing pretty well, that's gonna be the last to really improve I can see. Lately, its here and there, but I cant go to sleep anand expect it to be there when I wake up. It can sort of do a disappearing act at any moment, and might take hours or days to really show back up with any noteworthy presence. So long as I'm sexually functioning, I can wait it out and give it the time it needs to fully replenish.
I've continued with the testicle cooling practice, 3 x's/day at 15 min. each time, and I can say that theres been quite a number of instances where I felt a distinct libido spike shortly after completing a session. Similar to dosing pine pollen for me. Sometimes I notice a libido spike within a half hour of taking the powder. Its happened enough times that I cant help but see the correlation. But who knows, it could simply be the stimulus of the cool sensation providing a placebo libido spike...I guess it's all the same in the end.
Only other topic of interest is that I'm going to be incorporating Barlowe's brand Muira Puama into my herb rotation starting tomorrow, and Suma Root by Terra Vita soon as well. Terra Vita is the brand which makes the outstanding Catuaba (one of my top favorite herbs) recommended by CD, so I have really high hopes for that one. I'll give a review of these 2 once I've had a chance to get acquainted with each.
For anyone who missed it, I highly recommend Barlowe's maral root. Been having some great workout kicks with that one.
Also started eating a high cholesterol diet on my cistanche day (minimum 6 eggs, lots of butter, etc.), as it's apparently pretty well known that coupling cistanche with high cholesterol foods kicks its test boosting properties into overdrive...something to read into if you're like me and looking to maximize every bit of effort you're putting into all this!
One last thing I wonder if anyone can shed some light on in the context of PFS. Last couple of months I've been feeling pretty stiff upon waking up in the morning. Joints feel stiff I mean. This goes away completely within about 10-15 minutes, but it's not really something I recall being so dramatic prior to PFS. It seems like it will clear up for a week or so, and then come back for multiple weeks on end. Anyone have any ideas what this might indicate? Or know if it's something common to PFS aside from my experience? I can say that my sleep has been sort of broken up last few months as well. I wake up more throughout the night to eat. I feel like my muscles might be signaling that they need more fuel or something, despite my pretty robust diet, because I oftentimes wake up pretty damn hungry, and dont really have any choice but to satiate my hunger. I'm interested in bulking up anyway, having started as a skinny dude, so I dont really care from a weight watching standpoint, but maybe the waking up is related to the morning stiffness?