So basically, I'm a 21 year old man from New Zealand, 4 months ago, I used 5% minoxidil foam for 2 weeks twice a day, by the 2nd week I had noticed I stopped getting morning erections/nocturnal erections, lowered sex drive, watery ejaculate, premature ejaculation and the very reason I am on this board:
A shrunken penis (in terms of
girth) felt more limp/floppy/lighter than before, however in its flacid state it hung lower than before. But didn't lose any length when it was hard/soft, only
girth in its limp state.
When I got erections, I noticed a a curvature to my penis which wasn't extreme, but still very much noticeable to say the least. At first I didn't pay it much attention, however my erections felt different, they felt more hollow and not as hard as before, but appeared the same (for the most part, excluding the additional curve).
For roughly 2-4 weeks after getting these side effects, I would get dull aches in my flacid penis/testicles and sometimes in my urethra when I attempted to try kegels.
My flacid penis perpetually hangs at roughly 4-5 inches in a skinnier state, as opposed to before, where it hung at only 3 inches but was fatter and more full. It hangs as if it's being stretched out, or more detached than usual.
I was doing research on the state of my penis and discovered "peyronies disease", I felt that my symptoms fitted the description, however I found no one else with peyronies stating they had a lower hanging flacid penis as a result of this disorder. So I decided to see a urologist and told him about the state of my penis.
I listed all of the side effects I have encountered since using and discontinuing the use of minoxidil 5% foam. I told him about the newfound curvature, the fact its become skinnier whilst flacid and feels different when erect. He examined my penis and felt for
plaque/
fibrosis/scar tissue and told me there was no signs of anything there. I then asked him what would explain why my penis hangs lower than normal, he gave me no answer. He also gave me a prostate exam and told me everything was fine there too. I left slightly reassured, but still perplexed due to the fact that I have no idea what is going on with my penis. I read many people with peyronies or other penile ailments who get misdiagnosed or not taken seriously by their endos/doctors, so I decided to do more research.
I googled "lower hanging loose flacid penis" and found people posting on forums speaking about a potential "suspensory ligament tear", which is when the ligament that is attached to the penis stabilizes the direction of the erection and holds it in place is injured/torn it can make the flacid hang lower than usual. So I started following up on this, and it seemed like my penis may be experiencing that as opposed to peyronies. I emailed my urologist and asked him about that as a possibility, he responded
"it would be a very unusual injury based on your description of things, quite hard to diagnose and my general advice would be to avoid any investigation or procedures for this unless really necessary."So since receiving his email, I decided to get a referral to a radiologist for an ultrasound scan to see if there is any sign of scar tissue/
fibrosis that may have been overlooked. So I'm not sitting here guessing what is going on.
In summary:
I noticed a slight curve in my erect penis (some times see a slight curve whilst flacid)
Unsure whether it is an injury that I had acquired from a girl sitting on my lap in that same week of quitting minoxidil or peyronies
(I feel like I'd know if it was an injury such as a ligament tear).
I appoligize for the seemingly unstructured walls of texts I have written for you all, I have been trying my best to be as pedantic as I possibly can with given details.
It has been 4 months since I have had these problems and my erections have been getting better/stronger, they feel very hard to the touch, perhaps more hard to the touch than they were before this entire ordeal. Would peyronies give me harder feeling erections than before? I also have noticed sometimes my flacid penis feels more firm than usual, and other times my penis feels more flexible/bendy than normal. I really don't understand why that is happening.
I know many will say my side effects from minoxidil unbelievable, impossible or in my head, like A LOT of people have said to me, but I have seen hundreds of men complain of the exact same symptoms after using minoxidil/rogaine. I have suffered for almost 4 months now. (I quit using minoxidil on the 12th of June) due to the fact that it does not directly effect hormones. But I have done extensive research at the possibilities as to why it effected me the way that it did. I read that minoxidil acts as a potassium channel opener. The potassium channels actually regulate the secretion of prolactin. High levels of prolactin can cause
Erectile Dysfunction, low libido, depression, muscle wastage, low testosterone, gyno and many more. That is the theory that has made the most sense to me as to why I feel like I have been shut down in regards to libido etc.
I just got my prolactin and other hormones tested today, I will get them back tomorrow. That is when I will update this thread and let you know whether or not high prolactin levels is the root of all of this.
I am 100% certain without a doubt minoxidil has caused these issues for me.
I have also read excessive amounts of prolactin can cause formation of
fibrosis in the penis and/or throughout the body.
This is my bloodwork 2 weeks after stopping minoxidil: (my testostorone seems low range imo realative to my age, and my TSH seems like it may have been low functioning at this time too)
B12: 849 pmol/L ( 170 - 600 )
H
Folate: 10.0 nmol/L ( > 7.0 )
Haemoglobin: 161 g/L ( 130 - 175 )
RBC: 5.32 x10e12/L ( 4.30 -
6.00 )
HCT:0.47 L/L ( 0.40 - 0.52 )
MCV:89 fL ( 80 - 99 )
MCH: 30.3 pg ( 27.0 - 33.0 )
Platelets: 293 x10e9/L ( 150 - 400 )
WBC: 8.4 x10e9/L ( 4.0 - 11.0 )
Neutrophils: 3.94 x10e9/L ( 1.90 -
7.50 )
Lymphocytes: 3.34 x10e9/L ( 1.00 -
4.00 )
Monocytes: 0.85 x10e9/L ( 0.20 -
1.00 )
Eosinophils: 0.21 x10e9/L ( < 0.51 )
Basophils: 0.04 x10e9/L ( 0.00 -
0.20 )
TSH: 3.7 mIU/L ( 0.30 - 4.00 ) Comment: Consistent with euthyroidism.
Ferritin: 77 ug/L ( 20 - 320 )
Testosterone: 13.2 nmol/L ( 8.0 - 29.0 )
Oestradiol: 90 pmol/L ( < 161 )
My current supplement stack atm is 15mg of zinc a day, 500 IU of vitamin E, 2 tablets of vitamin b6, 2 tablets of
l-arginine, 1 magnesium tablet before sleep. Also, the curvature hasn't seemed to worsen in the course of these 4 months, seems stable, and also have not felt any pain since the 2-4th week from coming off the minoxidil. Welcoming all feedback. Thank you. I am very concerned I may have ruined my self for life. I'm only 21 and my penis was 100% fine before all this, so was my libido.
Author
Topic: Minoxidil induced peyronies? Age 21 (Read 2924 times)
December 03, 2014, 10:26:00 PM