11 months with pfs and 1 month in HCG mono therapy
Greeting to all in this community,
I have been dealing with PFS for 11 months and decided to try HCG 1 month ago. The protocol is 250 IU M/W/F. I have never experimented with HRT previously. Here is my experience.
For reference, I am a 30 year old male, previously very active, healthy, and followed an overall clean diet. I have never had a hormone panel prior to developing PFS but my labs were fully WNL when I checked before starting HCG. My E2 was around 25 and my Test was around 650.
I was using topical finasteride between 11/2024 - 07/2025. I had previously used oral finasteride intermittently for roughly 6-month increments in the past when I was 22 and 23 years old. I developed ED both times but the side effects completely reversed within 1-2 days of stopping. Subsequently, I used topical finasteride for 6-month when I was 27 with a similar experience. Therefore, I was not necessarily concerned about long-term side effects from finasteride and had no idea about PFS. However, there was one key difference between my most recent stint finasteride in 2024-2025 vs previous experiences. I noticed a seemingly small decrease in libido and mood symptoms, whereas previously, I only developed ED. Nonetheless, I wasn’t too concerned and thought these symptoms would stabilize, but they didn’t…
It was only after I stopped using finasteride in 07/2025 did I realize how far my libido had dropped and my mood had blunted. My initial symptoms at that time were as follows:
Anhedonia, inability to sleep, nightmares, emotional blunting (both while awake and in my dreams), completely asexual, rubbery penis, hard flaccid, neuropathic pain in my testicles and pelvic region, no morning wood, no sexual thoughts, thought block (both in terms of sexual thoughts as well as general cognitive ability), brain fog, depersonalization, severe GI issues ( constipation, depressed mood after eating almost anything), decreased motivation, constant death wish/passive suicidal thoughts, etc.
After doing some reading about long-term side effects of finasteride, I learned about PFS and realized I might be completely F’ed. It was a very depressing and scary time, and the stress from learning about PFS long term prognosis made things 10x worse. However, despite my level of despair, I realized nobody can help me but myself, and I needed to do everything I can to try re-creating a normal life.
Initially, I tried supplements like black maca and boron, but this didn’t help. I also began using tadalafil which helped bring my EQ from 0/10 to 3-4/10, but libido was still non-existent. I stopped the maca & boron and focused on allowing my body to heal naturally with positive mentalization, clean diet, semen retention, and edging. I would practice semen retention/edging for 3-4 days at a time, followed by 3-4 days of FAP 3x per day. I added melatonin 5mg and THC/CBD edibles 5 mg roughly 6 months into PFS which helped with sleep and silencing the dysphoric dreams. This protocol allowed me to achieve very slow but noticeable progress prior to HCG. Main improvements were in brain fog and mild improvement in libido/EQ to the point I was no longer completely asexual. Brain fog improved from 8-9/10 severity to 2-3/10 severity. Libido went from 0/10 (10 being my previous normal) to 1-2/10. I also showed improvement in my mood so that I was no longer anhedonic. However, the emotional blunting/flatness, dysphoric dreams and lack of motivation persisted.
After 1-month of HCG mono therapy, my libido is now a 6-7/10, my EQ can be up to 9-10/10 with only minimal stimulation and no tadalafil, mood, motivation, sleep, emotional blunting, and GI issues are still present but improved significantly. Brain fog has fully resolved. I am planning on running this protocol for 6 months, and hopefully, I can be fortunate enough to make a full recovery.
I know this is a long post but the PFS community was so helpful in maintaining my sanity during the toughest times, so I wanted to contribute my progress to encourage others to keep pushing.
P.S. I am a psychiatry resident physician and feel very strongly this is not primarily a psychiatric illness. PFS is a multifactorial illness with both medical and psychiatric contributions, thus making it difficult to treat. HCG felt like it “turned on” a switch in my brain that would have been impossible to do without HRT intervention. I know many people don’t see any benefit from HCG and many suffer indefinitely despite experimenting with every potential therapeutic option available. However, my experience with HCG has been life changing and I hope my progress continues over the next 5-months.
I’ll respond to some questions if my post gains traction and I’ll post once more in 5-months after concluding HCG mono therapy. Wish everybody all the best!