Update:
Went to a new endo that told me to get off TRT asap and prescribed clomid 50mg/day for 2 months. I started this in early december and saw fairly little change in my symptoms. Throughout this whole period I would see intermittent changes in testicular size everyday; at some points in the day I would have full testicular size, but at most other times they were largely shrunken. My theory is that the testosterone my body is producing (or had received in TRT) was getting used up very quickly, so I did not perceive any benefits (I don’t know how or why this is happening)
My bloodwork a few weeks ago revealed this
Albumin - 4.5 (3.2-4.8)
FSH - 3.3 (1.4-18.1)
LH - 7 (1.5-9.3)
Progesterone - 0.3 (.28-1.22)
PSA - 0.61 (0-4)
SHBG - 18.1 (10-57)
Total Testosterone - 422 (160-853)
Free Testosterone - 11.3 (3.5-15.5)…2.7%
Estrogen - 32
Cortisol - 1.6 (8-19)…looks quite low
Pregnenolone - 45 (13-208)
So it looks like the Clomid worked at raising my LH levels, but I did not see a significant change in my symptoms or TT levels. Could the low cortisol be a reason for this? At this point I’m very confused as are my doctors and I’m not sure what to do.
[quote]KSman wrote:
Continuous prednisolone or episodic? Long term use can be VERY catabolic in some cases. How does use of prednisolone stack up with your perceived time-line of hormone issues?
fT3=3.2 seems to be optimal and yet temperatures are low and rT3 does not seem to be a reason. You feel cold? Any idea how long your temperatures were low?
You have [subclinical] hypothyroid symptoms with no obvious cause. But your TSH and fT4 suggest possible iodine deficiency which you refuse to discuss [08/21/2014].
Adrenals: Do you have more energy/fatigue at different parts of the day?
You need to inject T twice per week, read the stickies please.
How long have you been on TRT?
FT would be useful. With TT=1050 at day 7, I am suspicious that T+SHBG is high and inflating TT level while FT may not be that great.[/quote]
Continuous prednisolone or episodic? Long term use can be VERY catabolic in some cases. How does use of prednisolone stack up with your perceived time-line of hormone issues?
I’ve used it continuously, 2 x 20 mg/wk for years.
fT3=3.2 seems to be optimal and yet temperatures are low and rT3 does not seem to be a reason. You feel cold? Any idea how long your temperatures were low?
My temperatures have been low ever since I’ve started to see these issues.
You have [subclinical] hypothyroid symptoms with no obvious cause. But your TSH and fT4 suggest possible iodine deficiency which you refuse to discuss [08/21/2014].
I tried Iodoral 50 MG for several weeks, but saw no significant change.
Adrenals: Do you have more energy/fatigue at different parts of the day?
Yes. My energy levels definitely vary throughout the day. I seem to have more energy at night than the morning.