Withdrawal Syndrome
The cluster that arrives after stopping, while the natural axis is still shut down: flat mood, no drive, no libido, disturbed sleep, and in some cases suicidal thoughts. Separated from dependence because dependence is about the pull to continue and this is about what happens when you do not. It is the window in which almost all of the serious psychiatric events in the literature occur.
Relationships
6 connectionsWithdrawal Syndrome increases risk of
Dependence and Withdrawal
Difficulty stopping despite harm, with low mood, lost drive and fatigue on withdrawal. Recognised as a genuine dependence syndrome in around a third of long-term users, not a character failure.
Depressed Mood
Low mood, flat drive and anhedonia. Concentrated in the withdrawal window after a cycle, when natural testosterone has not yet restarted.
Insomnia
Difficulty falling or staying asleep, often with night sweats. Its own problem, and an amplifier for every mood effect above it.
Loss of Pleasure
Things that used to be enjoyable stop landing. Distinct from low mood: a person can have normal mood and still get nothing out of food, sex, music or company. Reported most on the progestogenic and prolactin-raising compounds, and it is the effect people most often fail to name because it does not feel like sadness.
Suicidal Thoughts
Thoughts of ending your life, most often reported in the weeks after stopping rather than during use, when natural testosterone has not restarted and mood has not recovered. It is documented in case series and in withdrawal cohorts. It is listed here because leaving out the most serious outcome in the group would make everything above it read as the full picture.