Checking in with the last few days of oral body temperatures.
Note: I started my IR today, paired with supplemental selenium at 200 mcg/day.
June 17th
AM: 96.7°
Mid-afternoon: 97.3°
June 18th
AM: 96.5°**
Mid-afternoon: 97.7°
June 19th
AM: 96.5°
Mid-afternoon: 96.4°
Update
I finally got my referral to an endocrinologist, and the appointment isn’t until mid October! Pretty frustrating to say the least. There is a private lab where I live that I can pay $200 to test FSH, LH, TT, Prolactin, and SHBG. I may end up going this route, as at least I’d know if I could try an HPTA restart while waiting the 3 months to see the endo. Thoughts on this @KSman?
Checking in with today’s oral body temperatures.
Note: Today is day 2 of my IR. My mid-afternoon temperature was a little higher than the last few days, so I’m hoping that this is a sign that it’s helping.
June 20th
AM: 96.5°
Mid-afternoon: 97.9°
Checking in with today’s oral body temperatures.
Note: Today is day 3 of my IR, and it seems as though my temperatures have dropped slightly. Is this normal or something to be concerned about? I’ve felt a tad bit more fatigued yesterday and today as well.
June 21st
AM: 96.3°
Mid-afternoon: 97.0°
Checking in with this week’s oral body temperatures.
Note: I am now 7 days into my IR, and my temperatures have been fluctuating a bit, but overall seem to be improving.
June 22nd
AM: 96.5°
Mid-afternoon: 98.0°
June 23rd
AM: 97.4°
PM: 97.9°
June 24th
AM: 96.7°
PM: 97.4°
June 25th
AM: 97.3°
Mid-afternoon: 98.2°
Seems to be some progress.
Do you feel more alert? Mental clarity?
May be hard to see past the fog of low-T.
Fixed mg–>mcg, thanks!
I’m now on day 10 of my IR and I’m not really noticing too much. Maybe a slight increase in alertness and mental clarity, but overall pretty negligible.
The only time that I really noticed fatigue and brain fog was before I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (for obvious reasons). If I do indeed have low-T, I don’t really ever feel overly fatigued or in a fog now that I’m on CPAP.
I will continue to the end of my IR and then reassess where I’m at with everything at that point.
Checking in with the last few days of oral body temperatures.
Note: I am now 10 days into my IR, and my temperatures continue to fluctuate. I’ve noticed that on the days I workout, my temperature is slightly higher in the afternoon.
June 26th
AM: 96.6°
Mid-afternoon: 98.3°
June 27th
AM: 96.8°
PM: 98.5°
June 28th
AM: 97.3°
PM: 96.8°
Checking in with the last few days of oral body temperatures as I near the end of my IR.
Note: I am missing a few temperature readings, as I was away on the weekend for my birthday.
June 29th
AM: 97.0°
Mid-afternoon: 96.7°
June 30th
AM: 97.3°
Mid-afternoon: 96.2°
July 1st
AM: 97.2°
Can we quality that oral thermometer with someone else getting 98.6?
I am starting to question the reliability of this oral thermometer and will look into getting a new one this week.
Checking in with last week’s oral temperature readings.
Note: @KSman, now that I am done with my IR, I will be purchasing iodized salt to maintain an adequate iodine level. My question is with selenium. Should I continue to supplement with 200mcg/day, or is eating Brazil nuts enough now at this point?
July 4th
AM: 97.2°
Mid-afternoon: 97.9°
July 5th
AM: 97.4°
Mid-afternoon: 97.0°
July 6th
AM: 97.3°
Mid-afternoon: 98.6°
July 7th
Failed to measure due to wedding out of town, and forgetting thermometer.
July 8th
AM: 97.6°
Mid-afternoon: 98.7°
July 9th
AM: 96.9°
Mid-afternoon: 98.6°
At this point in my journey, I’m frustrated having to wait until October to see an endo. I’d like to try the HPTA restart protocol now, however, I don’t have the means to get the bloodwork done during unless I’m going to pay for it out of pocket, which will get quite expensive.
I’ve done an IR, and I guess I’ll just have to play the waiting game for a few more months…
Checking in with last week’s oral temperature readings.
Note: Now that I am done with my IR, I will probably stop checking my temperature everyday. It seems to be around the same temperature every now, and although not exactly where it should be, it seems that there has been a slight improvement since doing the IR.
July 10th
AM: 97.2°
Mid-afternoon: 98.6°
July 11th
AM: 96.3°
July 12th
AM: 97.3°
Mid-afternoon: 97.9°
July 13th
AM: 96.8°
Mid-afternoon: 98.0°
July 14th
AM: 97.0°
Mid-afternoon: 98.0°
July 15th
AM: 97.0°
July 16th
AM: 97.0°
PM: 97.2°
Seems like your temperatures are slipping, do you feel any dip in energy or alertness?
You can get some iodine and selenium in a daily multi-vit.
There are on-line companies where you order labs and go to local draw station. Not available in all USA states. NY and NJ not.
@KSman no, I haven’t really felt any noticeable dip in energy or alertness.
I’m currently salting all of my food with iodized salt and still supplementing with 100mcg of selenium/day. Is this sufficient or should I move to a daily multi-vit with both instead?
Also, I’m located in Canada so I’m having a tougher time finding a reputable lab. I came across this link http://bloodtestscanada.com/epages/6e85d474-37b2-4339-bc7d-6dafe7bbe6ce.sf/en_CA/?ObjectPath=/Shops/6e85d474-37b2-4339-bc7d-6dafe7bbe6ce/Products/PM41, but the Male Hormone Profile only measures FSH, LH, Testosterone total, Prolactin, SHBG.
After waiting for almost six months, I finally met with an endocrinologist who was able to refer me for a more thorough panel of bloodwork. Here are the results (will update the ones that are still pending as soon as I get them). Although my testosterone levels are within range, they still seem very low for my age. However, what I’m really concerned about is the jump in TSH to 3.86. It was 2.0 during my bloodwork back in May. I’m hoping that @KSman can jump in here and help interpret these numbers. I should note that my endocrinologist had me stop taking all natural supplements for this bloodwork. The only thing that I continued taking was fish oil. I have another bloodwork appointment in two weeks to retest Testosterone, LH, FSH, prolactin and PSA.
Hematology
WBC – 4.8 [4.0-11.0] xE9/L
RBC – 4.69 [4.50-6.00] xE12/L
Hemoglobin – 146 [135-175] g/L
Hematocrit – 0.435 [0.400-0.500] L/L
MCV – 93 [80-100] fL
MCH – 31.1 [27.5-33.0] pg
MCHC – 336 [305-360] g/L
Platelets – 242 [150-400] xE9/L
RDW – 13.1 [11.5-14.5] %
Differential
Neutrophils – 2.0 [2.0-7.5] xE9/L
Lymphocytes – 2.0 [1.0-3.5] xE9/L
Monocytes - 0.3 [0.2-1.0] xE9/L
Eosinophils – 0.5 [0.0-0.5] xE9/L
Basophils – 0.0 [0.0-0.2] xE9/L
Biochemical Investigation of Anemias
Vitamin B12 – HI 767 [138-652] pmol/L
Ferritin – 258 [22-275] ug/L
General Chemistry
Glucose Fasting – 4.6 [3.6-6.0] mmol/L
Hemoglobin A1C/Total Hemoglobin – 5.2 [<6.0] %
Sodium – 141 [135-145] mmol/L
Potassium – 4.2 [3.5-5.2] mmol/L
Creatinine 104 [67-117] umol/L
Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) – 82 [An eGFR from 60-89 ml/min/1.73 m2 is consistent with mildly decreased kidney function. However, in the absence of other evidence of kidney disease, eGFR values in this range do not fulfill the KDIGO criteria for chronic kidney disease. Interpret results in concert with ACR measurement.]
Calcium – 2.28 [2.15-2.60] mmol/L
Albumin – 46 [35-52] g/L
Bilirubin Total – 12 [<20] umol/L
Alkaline Phosphatase – LO 39 [40-129] U/L
Alanine Aminotransferase – 24 [<50] U/L
Muscle Enzymes
Creatine Kinase – 164 [44-275] U/L
Lipids
Hours After Meal - 12
Triglyceride – 0.71 mmol/L
Cholesterol – 6.32 mmol/L
HDL Cholesterol – 1.34 mmol/L
Non HDL Cholesterol – 4.98 mmol/L
LDL Cholesterol – 4.66 mmol/L
Cholesterol/HDL Cholesterol – 4.7
Random Urine Chemistry
Albumin Creatinine Ratio Urine
Albumin (Urine) - <5 mg/L
Creatinine (Urine) - 20.6 [3.5-24.5] mmol/L
Albumin/Creatinine - Unable to calculate Albumin/Creatinine Ratio as the concentration of the Albumin is less than the lower limit of the analytical range of the method.
Thyroid Function
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) – 3.86 [0.32-4.00] mIU/L
Thyroxine Free (Free T4) – 13 [9-19] pmol/L
Thyroglobulin Antibody - HI 279 [<40] kIU/L
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody - HI 141 [<35] kIU/L
Pituitary Function
Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) - 2.7 [1.0-8.0] IU/L
Luteinizing Hormone (LH) - 2.2 [1.0-7.0] IU/L
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH)
Collection Time - 08:33
Prolactin - 15.1 [4.0-19.0] ug/L
Growth Hormone - 0.3 [<3.0] ug/L
Reproductive and Gonadal
Choriogonadotropin {HCG) Tumor - <1 [<3] IU/L
Estradiol - <40 [<162] pmol/L
DHEA-S - 6.5 [<15.0] umol/L
Testosterone - 15.4 [8.4-28.8] nmol/L
Testosterone Bioavailable - 5.6 [3.6-11.2] nmol/L
Bone Markers
25-Hydroxyvitamin D – 128 [75-250] nmol/L
Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) Intact - 3.0 [1.6-6.9] pmol/L
I just updated my latest lab results, mainly with Thyroglobulin Antibody and Thyroperoxidase Antibody, and both figures are extremely concerning as they measured high. There were notes with both of them saying, “Anti-Thyroglobulin antibody values up to 800 kIU/L may be seen in healthy people without demonstrable thyroid disease.” and “Anti-Thyroid peroxidase antibody values up to 250 kIU/L may be seen in 5-10% of the normal population with demonstrable thyroid disease. This incidence increases with age.” However, I am now convinced that my problems have to do with my thyroid. My mother has hypothyroidism, so there is a genetic link there as well.
I’m guessing that my thyroid is causing my high levels of prolactin, which is affecting my LH and FSH hormones, in turn causing my low testosterone levels. I’m hoping that @KSman can jump in here and provide his thoughts.
You clearly have two separate issues, your T numbers are below borderline acceptable and your thyroid is near the upper limit and then there’s the issue that these ranges aren’t narrow enough. Some doctors start thyroid treatment when TSH gets above 2.5, you don’t wait until thing get 100 percent bad, you act sooner. The problem is doctors don’t consider treatment until you reach “disease status”, they don’t optimize your health do to increases in the cost of healthcare. Very few doctors would treat your TT numbers in the UK, what did your doctor say when you told him of your experience with taking testosterone? You can’t argue with the results.