I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what causes things like penile shrinkage and atrophy—specifically when the texture starts feeling way more coarse and rubbery, or when veins start popping out that weren't there before. On top of that, there's a major loss of sensation and it often feels cold to the touch, almost like there’s zero blood flow getting down there.
If this is a hormonal issue, which specific hormones are we talking about? Is it a case of something being too high, or did something drop too low? I've seen a handful of guys bring this up in different places, but I haven't really found a single post where someone actually figured it out and fixed the problem.
This is easily the symptom that's stressing me out the most, mainly because I'm worried it's the only one that might lead to permanent damage. Does anyone know if the shrinkage people talk about here can actually be reversed back to its original size, or are we looking at actual tissue loss that can't be recovered?
Really hoping someone here has some experience with this or has managed to get things back to normal.
man i feel your pain, that's literally the most stressful thing that can happen. from what ive read it's usually a blood flow/nitric oxide thing combined with high dht or maybe crashed estrogen. have u had your bloodwork done lately? usually getting your hormones back in range fixes the "cold" feeling pretty quick.
dude i had this exact same thing happen after a rough cycle. it felt like a cold rubber band lol... super scary. for me it turned out my e2 was way too high and i was holding tons of water everywhere else but nothing was getting "there." it definitely went back to normal once i dialed in the ai so dont panic too much.
the "veins popping out" sounds like it could be high blood pressure or just extreme stress/anxiety making everything tighten up. when ur in fight or flight mode your body pulls blood away from your junk to your vital organs. try some daily cialis (like 5mg) - it helps keep the blood flowing and prevents that atrophy feel.
i've seen guys on other boards talk about this and usually they say it's reversible. tissue doesnt just disappear overnight unless theres like serious trauma. its more likely just a lack of blood flow making things "hibernate" for a bit. definitely check your prolactin too- that can kill sensation fast.
honestly man the stress of worrying about it makes it 10x worse. i had a period where i was convinced i was shrinking but once i stopped obsessing and got my test levels stable everything "filled out" again. it took like 2 months though so u gotta be patient.
are u taking any hair loss meds like finasteride? some guys get that "rubbery" texture from those because of the dht block. if not, it could be low dht too. hormones are a balancing act and if one is too low it messes up the whole plumbing.
the cold to the touch thing is classic low blood flow. i started taking l-citrulline and it helped a bit but honestly 5mg cialis is the gold standard for this. keeps things "awake" during the day so u dont get that shrinkage from inactivity.
dont listen to the people saying its permanent tissue loss- that's super rare. your body is just reacting to a hormonal imbalance. as soon as u fix the root cause (probably e2 or prolactin) the sensation usually comes back.
man i went through this and it was the worst 3 months of my life lol. i thought i was broken forever. turns out i just had super high sympathetic nervous system activity because i was overtraining and stressing out. take a week off and focus on recovery, might help more than u think.
check your fasting glucose too! sometimes if your blood sugar is all over the place it messes with the tiny capillaries down there. but yeah- its most likely just a temporary hormone shift. hang in there bro u will get back to normal.
