Saw palmetto- nasty side affects (2024)

I started taking a prostate formula from gnc which included saw palmetto, beta sitosterol, and a couple other herbs. During the first two days I saw improvement in sexual functioning, but then after that it all went downhill. After 5 days I got erectile dysfunction and low sex drive. I have beeen offf of it for a week and im still experiencing these symptoms. I wanna know if i did any permanent damage, please someone help

It's because of elevated estrogen level. Use zinc, 50 - 100 mg a day. It shifts the testosterone/estrogen ratio back in favor of testosterone. Quit if your joints begin to crack. It indicates that the estrogen level is too low.

When im supplementing zinc, shouldn't I also supplement copper because high levels of zinc cause a copper deficiency?

Large amounts of zinc is recommended by Dr. Shippen in his book "The Testosterone Syndrome". He doesn't mention anything about copper.

i'd switch to finasteride instead its easier to control the proper doseage

Doesn't finasteride have worse side affects? My vision is blurry and I'm hopin the ed goes away soon.

Ya I was gettin back aches and blurry vision and overall weak feeling. Now that u mention raised estrogen, that makes a lot of sense. I'm also noticiing white marks on my fingernails which is suppose to mean I'm low in zinc. So I'm thinkin ill do what u said and take 50 mg of zinc daily

Ya saw palmetto is a dangerous supplement. People think because its natural it can't do any harm. Think again, that sh*t messed me up completely, I'm starting to notice some of the side effects going away now thank goodness. Its been about a week and 2 days, so i imagine after a month I should be clear of all the hell of saw palmetto.

Thanks for the advice bro. I feel my libido coming back as well ac erectile strength and my mood too. Im lucky to have noticed side affects in only 5 days of use

be glad you dropped sp so soon. I was taking saw palmetto for a year. Its been a little over a year since i dropped it and im still not 100% recovered. Im gonna give zinc a try soon see what happens.

Good luck man. I thought I was recovering but it seems i still have blurry vision, weakening muscles, body aches, the whole nine yards. Got all my hormone levels checked now, im hoping that there a lil out of wack so I can possibly get some testosterone gel or sumthin

Whatever you do, don't start messing around with steroids.

Its all a guess and check situation bro. Some peoples hormones can't handle it and some can. Also, it depends on the volume, becuase I was taking saw palmetto extract which I didn't know was actually a 10 to 1 ratio. So I was taking 320 mg capsules but lil did I know that they were 3200 mg. Saw palmetto can be helpful in very small doses, but make sure if u use it u know exactly how much your ingesting.

Well if its permanent then what the f*** can my health department do for me... I only took it for 5 days, how can it be permanent after only 5 days?

Secondary hypogonadism is usually where it ends up, if untreated. It can be difficult to deal with, but it's reversible.