22-M-Mild Symptoms Becoming Worse

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

This is more of a starter log since I really am not sure where to begin and am waiting on a new appointment. I’ll try to keep it brief. Basically I started off with symptoms where I had migraines, they seemed to have gone away, but now replaced with “stress headaches”. 3-4 years now I’ve had some mild depression of sorts, but past few weeks it’s gotten way worse. My lack of motivation has gone down, inability to focus, memorize, concentrate, etc. Socially I have no desires to go out really, and most social interactions tend to stress me.

Any attempts to do schoolwork, or any moderate focus result in facial flushing, and a tension in the back of my head. Last 4 weeks my eyesight has been straining BIG time. Can’t really focus driving, and they feel like they are being sucked in. (I’m always squinting now, and using my sleep mask for rest when I can). Eye doctor said perfect vision, and no focus issues though.

Now I had a brief blood test, where my doctor said everything is good except my total T levels. They were low average, 360 (healthy was 300-1200ng/dL).

In short my doctor said, some people are just a little depressed their entire lives and you really can’t do anything. We tried adderall as well but that didn’t do much as we guessed. I really can’t except a low quality of life answer like that so I’m not sure what my next step is since he said he would just schedule another blood test in a month to see if they change, but he couldn’t really do anything anyway.

Gonna post the short but complete blood work tomorrow when I receive it, and in the mean time I made an appointment with an endocrinologist because I’m not sure what to do.

BTW I have been supplementing with Iodide for 11 days I believe, body temp. is still around 95.9-96.7 upon waking on average, and day time I managed to get around 97.9 but it hasn’t budged much (did notice some increased sweating again though).

Anyway, hoping for some thoughts before I fail my classes really.

-age 22

-height 5’7.5"

-waist 33"

-weight 185lbs

-describe body and facial hair - Hairy all over except my back basically, my log shows detail. I could probably shave daily though and my barber comments on how thick my hair is.

-describe where you carry fat and how changed - I would see my log again, I think I hold fat in my love handles, lower abs, and chest big time.

-health conditions, symptoms - Used to suffer from migraines big time, seemed to have stopped in the past 2-3 years mostly. Took a few drugs, like imitrex, naproxen, and treximet together. (preventative, mild, and one for serious migraines).

-Rx and OTC drugs - I took an antidepressant for a week roughly, decided I didn’t like it and turned to diet and exercise big time. I really can’t remember the name off hand though.

-describe diet - I’ve done the v-diet three times now, and outside of that, I’m wheat free typically, very little dairy, and try to eliminate soy. I consume quite a few Biotest products, and meals revolve around chicken, eggs, steak, bacon, various greens, and the odd other meals. (Most fall within Shug’s HSM guidelines).

-describe training - Followed CT’s plans mainly, on the layer program now. Also the v-diet workouts, and before that I was doing some stuff from Dan John. I used to go all out max effort but haven’t really gone for a true max with CT’s stuff in the past 2 years. Fairly consistent, 4-5 times a week on average, sometimes 6-7 if work permits, and I’ve had a few hiccups with 2-3 weeks off.

-testes ache, ever, with a fever? - Never had any noticable problems, I however have gotten some random sharp pains which feel closer to the anus region, but def. not testes ache. Also I have woken up with a sharp pain in my side, feels like the kidney area. But that’s rare, maybe 1-2x a month.

-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed - Pretty consistent, based on a quick google I fall in the normal range. Morning sex doesn’t really seem to happen for me, and I may as well mention anything with a condom and it can be difficult to climax at times.

SUMMARY OF SYMPTOMS

Mild depression, anxiety, easily stressed, always tired except for workouts, crash an hour or so after waking, and typically feel awake around 10-11pm, eye strain, overall decrease in focus, motivation, concentration, and social lifestyle.

Sorry if I missed anything in the stickies, kind of hard to focus! Thanks in advance though.

:edit: Also, was planning on requesting the blood work from the sticky when I have my appointment

2

Possible adrenal fatigue, get Wilson’s book and see if its talking about you. Do AM cortisol, get up at a normal time and do the lab at 8AM. Do not hit the gym first. You may need a 4 sample saliva cortisol test if the 4AM and symptoms align.

NYC + student. No stress there. What are you studying?

Body temps: good idea to see if someone else can hit 98.6 to quality the thermo. Sounds like ID or more serious thyroid problems. Any dry skin, brittle nails/hair? Get chilled easy? TSH, fT3, fT3. NOT T3, T3.

Any steroid or prohormone history? Hair loss drugs?

Vision problems can be from a pituitary adinoma. Some can produce prolactin. So prolactin is a must for lab work. Do you have reduced width of peripheral vision. Should be near 180 degrees, mine is slightly more. The optic nerves pass right past the pituitary and adinomas can press on the nerves.

You are in the right place. Thanks for doing your research and opening with a good post.

So you are a high T type, stocky and hairy. You probably had early strong hormones that cut off your long bone growth. You will suffer more than others with low T.

You may not have a major T problem. Low t could be a result of something else. Many symptoms of low T are the same as thyroid dysfunction.

Read the thyroid basics sticky and post your history of iodine intake: iodized salt and vitamins that list iodine. Note that others that you live with can share any iodine deficiencies and perhaps body temperature issues.

Are you routinely exposed to chemicals or fumes for last few years? Any change in such things align with change in headaches?

3

Gonna grab the book tonight, also I never workout in the AM really, noon or later always usually (just to mention for facts)

  • Studying mathematics and computer science now (and the actuarial exams on the side). Currently only taking calculus though, so the workload isn’t there yet.

I tried two thermo’s and they were very close, my Fiance hit a normal range (based on the article) though. I used to suffer from VERY bad dandruff, dry elbow batches, and hands. Fishoil and cleaning my diet seemed to help, but not 100% eliminate dandruff, and the dry patches. Hands and elbows still get pretty bad, even with daily moisturizing. Lately I have been getting chilled easily, I used to be a shorts in the winter type of guy. Nails have seemed a little “layered” especially my toes. Quality has been going down overtime.

No steroids or prohormones, I did take Alpha Male a while back though.

Seems like my peripheral vision went down, looking at my speedometer and back at the road is actually difficult now, and just being aware overall. Same goes for my dual monitor set up and even gaming (which I cut out once the eye problem started).

As far as diet goes and salt, they didn’t seem to include any iodine. I thought sea salt was good until it listed none! Unless franks red hot has it, than I’d imagine I was at 0 intake unless Biotest products carry it. I’ve been taking a potassium iodide (potassium 130mg, iodine 3.75mg) for a little over a week, and the past two days I took 3x that amount. I’m one of 8 in the house though (only clean eater) but I’ll take some body temps. tonight! All other vitamins don’t list iodine anywhere though.

The migraines I got mainly in highschool stopped after graduating, it’s possible the school had an effect. I am allergic to mold / mildew (couldn’t even take out old library books), cats (some dogs), dust, get rashes from salt water, and minor things to other stuff (just thought it might be best to include this). I do work with some harsh chemicals during my summer cleaning as a janitor and I work with some chemicals daily as a pinchaser at a bowling alley. But they don’t seem to trigger anything. The janitor job did tend to trigger a migraine, but some fumes were very potent with poor ventilation. Moldy places are an instant migraine trigger, but the migraines don’t seem to relate with the chemicals.

(hope I didn’t miss anything for now, will edit later in case!)

4

:edit: I forgot to mention my Iron was low (for the very first time I recall) I don’t have my official results yet though.

I decided to go through and paste my symptoms that match from Long Pathetic List of Hypothyroid Symptoms - Stop The Thyroid Madness

(Thyroid Symptoms from Thyroid sticky that apply)

Less stamina than others
Less energy than others
Long recovery period after any activity
Inability to hold children for very long (I don’t really hold children, but I’m not able to do things like holding a flashlight up very long)
Chronic Low Grade Depression
Often feeling cold (only as of lately, past month maybe two)
Candida (hard to say yes to this one, but I have some symptoms that relate)
Dry Hair
Dry cracking skin
Requires naps in the afternoon (they really do little, but I feel like I need one, usually now I just lay there and don’t actually nap)
Inability to concentrate or read long periods of time
Forgetfulness
Foggy thinking
Always gaining weight (I really have to work on keeping fat down)
Moody periods
Exhaustion in every dimensionâ??physical, mental, spiritual, emotional
Inability to stand on feet for long periods (absolutely 100% on this one, I can walk but standing kills me)
Complete lack of motivation (100%)
Extremely crabby, irritable, intolerant of others (on and off)
Handwriting nearly illegible (I was actually going to mention this in my log, hand writing has gotten worse, find myself switching to print and writing slowly)
Internal itching of ears (constantly dry patches in my ear, if that relates?)
Dry skin or snake skin (dry patches on elbows mainly, and back of hands)
Major anxiety/worry
Lactose Intolerance
Blood Pressure problems (last checkup she said my blood pressure was high, I mentioned maybe being a little nervous, but no different than other checkups)
Low body temperature
Allergies (which can also be a result of low cortisolâ??common with hypothyroid patients)
Headaches and Migraines
Extreme hunger, especially at nighttime (I crave big time)

:edit: Added Symptoms of Low Cortisol

inability to handle stress
inability to handle interactions with others
inability to focus
rage or sudden angry outbursts
exacerbated reactions to daily stress
no patience
easily irritated
headache
extreme fatigue
scalp ache (also a big one but not all the time, I always used to complain 1-2x a week)
low back pain (this is a huge one, I remember complaining quite a bit to my Fiance)
motion sickness (not sure if related, but I can’t do anything but sit in a moving vehicle)
dark circles under my eyes
difficulty falling asleep
frequent urination (I drink a lot, always pretty thirsty)
worsening allergies

5

Briefly read the adrenal fatigue symptoms from the book, I certainly fall into them but I’ll take the full scoring test and work on adding those tests in too.

6

What you report speaks to a profound chronic thyroid problem. That itself is a stress and can affect the adrenals.

Is your neck thick around your thyroid gland? Asymmetric? Lumpy when you feel it? ID leads to goiter.

How many mg’s of iodine are you planning on taking?

The mental effects of your thyroid problem might be affecting visual processing. And with an eye exam, everything can be optically OK.

Note that when TRT guys start TRT with thyroid and/or adrenal fatigue, they can feel worse because the other systems can’t support the restored metabolic rates that TRT creates.

So who else in your family unit is ID?

7

:edit2: I’m actually becoming unsure how much iodine I’m taking now, if anyone could comment on the product I listed below and clarify that would be great. Became rather confused after reading other products and sources of iodine.

:edit: I took the adrenal fatigue test, and it put me in the severe category, with the scoring high in the energy, food, and aggravations.

I haven’t been able to test anyone in my family for AM yet, but my sister and mother (who also shares a lot of my symptoms) had a low daily temperature of 97.7 and I for the first time just clocked in at 98.2 (which is the highest yet) but this morning was still 97

In total I took of (potassium iodide complex) over the course of 9-10 days 52mg iodine and 1.82g of potassium (from potassium iodide and chloride, supplying 80mg elemental potassium). I didn’t wanna push up the daily dose because of the potassium part and a lack of knowledge, but I was aiming for the guild-line total in the thyroid sticky.

Just checked my neck (as best I could), did the Dr.OZ steps from his show I just found haha, and it seems fine to me. Visibly it looks normal (to me) and I drank some water and felt the area and didn’t notice anything that may stand out.

8

:edit: Added symptoms of low cortisol above. Looking into the saliva test right now.
:edit2: “Conversely, foods high in potassium such as fruit (especially bananas
and dried figs) make adrenal fatigue worse.” should I drop my iodine product for this reason? It’s high in potassium, but not sure if they relate in the same way. Ordering Iodoral off amazon to be safe anyway.

I can’t receive the results directly in NY it seems, but I have the print out so I need to find a scanner. But some quick results that are noted out of range. My doctor also gave me the code to add prolactin for my next blood test, I’ll be taking that one in three weeks (he told me to wait 1 month).

Ferritin - 9 - L - 20-345 ng/mL (range) (this can be related to hypothyroidism and celiacs right?)
WBC - 3.4 - L - 3.8-10.8 Thous/mcL (range)
RDW 15.6 - H - 11.0-15.0% (range)

and for now I’ll just post

TSH W/REFL FREE T4
TSH - 3.09 - 0.40-4.50 mIU/L (range)

Testosterone, Total, Males - 360 - 241-827 ng/dL (range)

I also wanted to add for the sake of being complete, I had a car accident on 11/2009. I’m not sure it completely relates, as I was having migraines way before than, and some symptoms (but not close to the degree of how bad they have become in the recent past). I had several scans and they said I was fine, and I also turned down all pain meds. Was probably doing around 55 and hit a tree / flipped the truck so there was some force involved but I walked away unharmed.

This is also roughly one year after I was taking migraine medicines (as listed above). My mom said today she thinks the migraine medicines changed me (moody, distant, secluded, overall mean / angry person (thanks mom!)). But since it’s close to the car crash it’s tough to say. If I related it to grades, I really started dropping the ball in 2008 failing my first class, 2009 I was doing bare minimum but no real complaints, and 2010 I failed my college courses big time. (just open thinking here for now, I tend to forget stuff!)

Also, if anyone wants to chime in. The past month I started taking some extra supplements I had laying around, like b12, b6, magnesium, potassium, zinc, Q10. Should I stop these during this time or keep as I was? (also I use a nootropic stack of vinpocetine, aniracetam, and DMAE which I originally started for the brain fog issues) + Flameout, I3G, superfood. My personal thoughts were to start the supplements outlined in Wilsons book, diet, and lifestyle (as best I can) right away + keep at iodine supplementation.

9

Results of the tests from Wilsons book,

Iris Contraction, doing this I watched my pupil dilate immediately, and than returned to normal instantly but than continue to dilate every second. Doing the test in the complete darkness, my pupil would contract immediately, than dilate and contract after 8-10 sconds, repeating this. PM test, same thing. Eyes are sore though this time around over the course of the day.

Blood Pressure laying down was 121/52 and than standing up it went to 140/73. I’ll repeat this over the day I suppose. Not sure what it means, but since it didn’t go down I’m good right? PM reading is, 130/66 139/88 (I probably could have rested a bit longer at first but doubt that mattered with the outcome!)

Sergents White Line - After doing this, 10 seconds or so passed and it turned to a red line. No problem there. PM, same deal again.

10

Iodoral came in today, I had two days or so where I felt pretty decent while at work but today I feel just awful again. Took about 50mg today putting my total intake around 200mg close to two weeks, I feel fine with the high dose so I will continue with that for the remaining two weeks or so.

My mother said she has the same symptoms as well, and she was reading about hashimotos and said that seemed to be us (not that I think I have it). Endo appointment is tomorrow, still slightly confused on what I really should be asking him but aiming for

-TSH, free t4 + t3, and reverse t3. Also going to see if he will add a cortisol test as suggested before I pay for my own 24hr saliva test.

11

Get TPO AB and thyroglobulin AB to rule out hashi

12

Thanks Tuna,

Just got back from my endo. She actually seemed pretty down to earth unlike my regular doctor and was more than happy to eliminate any problems that she can after I told her what my doctor said. She was absolutely against iodine supplementing though, and she actually did go on to explain why (which made sense). But I repeated my diet has absolutely 0 iodine intake because of foods I eliminated, and that I don’t eat out. For now she wrote

TSH, ft4, TP0+tgAbj, Total Testosterone, FSH, Lu?. prolactin, and I got her to add AM cortisol for peace of mind. She said she doesn’t really know how to treat adrenal fatigue because the medications are so harsh but I said I would just go with lifestyle fixes for now if it was the case.

I didn’t want to push anything else on her because she did explain everything, and I wanted to stay on her good side, and I really didn’t feel confident enough to ask for other stuff because I couldn’t argue why still.

She did mention that she can do results over the phone though, so if you guys think I should add other stuff before my first test maybe I can call. Otherwise I was going to ask next visit when I felt I actually understand. (still very overwhelmed, even after reading the stickies, linked websites, and some several times)

13

:edit: not relevant now, will post blood results when I get them.

14

Doctor called back when I requested a copy of my blood work before my appointment, while I didn’t get a copy she did say my testosterone was up to 460 (+100 from last) BUT my thyroid was not fine. It was on the elevated side, but not by much. I believe just a little over 4.5 if I heard her correctly. Also the other thyroid tests she said her elevated above normal.

She mentioned synthroid over the phone and is probably going to put me on that. I’m going to reread the stickies but would love some thoughts before I go into this appointment, I’ll be sure to request a copy of blood work on Friday as well.

Also I am just about at the cap for the iodine intake, and I have not felt better at all. Body temperatures are still a bit low while they did improve, but overall I would say it had no noticeable effect on my symptoms.

(cortisol she said was also fine, didn’t get any numbers yet though)