T Nation

38 and Need Guidance

T Replacement
#1

38/195lbs/ and 5’11. Executive and live a sedentary life with lots of stress.

Been low-T since 2007 (labs below). Battled anxiety for most my life and heart palps (PVC) and one event of A-fib. Brain fog, low energy and memory issues. Worst is no sex drive. I can get it up, but just don’t have the urge much. All seems related to hormones to me. I have tried compounded cream, sublingual, needle. Most made me anxious and tired. I seem to really feel worse when taking normal dosage prescribed from dr.

4 months ago I stopped TRT and really started feeling like crap. I started back up 2 month ago after new DR and labs and got some really encouraging signs from Axiron. Again didn’t work at full dose (major anxiety), but I cut back to 1/2 pump per day and for 1 entire week I felt like a million bucks. Awesome energy, very sharp mentally, no anxiety, no heart palps and sex drive through the roof. I had this feeling of just being well and my mood was greatly improved. But after 1 week, I was back to the same ol’ crappy feeling. I have not been retested since starting.

Prior to starting axiron 2 month ago (labs done 9/18) through Quest
Cholesterol total: 224 (125-200 mg/dL)
HDL: 44 ( > 40)
Triglycerides: 253 ( < 150 )
FSH: 3.1 (1.6-8.0 mIU/mL)
LH: 4.3 (1.5-9.3 mIU/mL)
Ferritin: 409 (20-345 ng/mL)
T4 Free: 1.2 (0.8-1.8 ng/dL)
TSH: 1.62 (0.40-4.50 mIU/L)
T3, Free: 3.0 (2.3-4.2 pg/mL)
B12: 1259 (200-1100 pg/mL) - been supplementing with sublingual
Folate: 7.7
DHEA: 259 (110-370 mcg/dL)
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies: <10 ( <35 )
Testosterone Total: 331 (250-1100 ng/dL)
Free T: 72.4 (35.0-155.0 pg/mL)

Also had cortisol tested via saliva and showed out of range (low) AM levels and within range after 4pm

Previous DR labs on 5/14/13
Prostate Ag: 0.4 (0.0-4.0 ng/mL)
Free T: 8.2 (8.7-25.1 pm/mL)
Estradiol: 24.3 (7.6-42.6 pg/mL)

I have been as low as 222 with Total T back in 2007. My numbers never went up much throughout the years and never felt any better except for my recent experience with Axiron.

One Dr previously (2011) put me on low dose cortisol because they thought I had adrenal fatigue, and I will say I had more energy and delt with stress better, but I swear it landed me in the hospital with Afib (cardiologist confirmed it could have). I stopped it and never have had Afib again.

I must be doing something wrong? Could it be a E2 issue? I just want to feel like I did for that brief 1 week period.

#2

newbie here so can’t help, but same situation, did u ever get any answers? Don’t see any?

#3

It’s a good idea to get labs on your own when you’re feeling good so you know where your sweet spot is.

A lot of guys feel better at 600 than at 900 TT. Maybe your best level is in the 400s because your free T wasn’t bad when your total T was 331. You can test your TT and E2 for $50.99 at privatemdlabs if you use the 15% off coupon code ke8gbah. Use the hormone test for females, but make sure you tell them you’re a male when you place the order. You can get free T, total T and E2 at healthonelabs for $65.

You’re just going to have to experiment with different levels to find what works for you.

#4

Do you have labs to post from the time you we’re injecting ?
If so, please post.
When injecting, we’re you using CYP ? How much and how often
we’re you injecting ?
Are/we’re you using anything to control T–>E2 conversion
Using HCG ?
Have you ever had SHBG checked ? If so, what is the # ?
What is your Blood Glucose like (fasting #).

Do you get any exercise ? If so, what and how often.
Use any other meds ? Supplements ? Alcohol or drugs ?
What is your diet like ?

#5

Have you read the following stickies?



Transdermals can be very inconsistent and problematic. Since you’ve used injectables before why not try that again?
Any decent protocol should include HCG and an AI like Anastrozole, preferably from the get go (read the stickies why). If you didn’t do that while injecting that could be related to feeling crap on injectables. (HCG should especially help with mood)
You didn’t say much about your lifestyle but anxiety and PVC’s suck, so here’s my 2 cents. Get on a low carb/ keto diet and eliminate most sugars (it may take as much as 8 weeks or so to get used to so hang in there). This can have a profound effect on energy and mood (make sure to eat enough healthy saturated fats to make up for the carb loss). Get on a good, strength based, weight lifting program. Do not add a shitload of metabolic conditioning type exercises in your program (so no crossfit) because that’ll fuck with your diet (you would need more carbs for that which could mess with your mood and heart, so no metcon for now). Add some mild cardio 3-5 times a week, just a brisk walk type thing for 30 min. You can sweat a bit but no panting. This can really help with your PVC’s and likely makes a difference added to a strength based program (strength training alone can actually trigger or increase PVC’s in some people so add the mild cardio) (again, keep the cardio mild, you do not want to get in a hormonal “flight” state)
Eliminate stimulants from your diet for now. Chocolate is a notorious trigger for PVC’s so, sorry, no more chocolate. You can reintroduce things slowly after a few months and see what the effect is (one thing at a time). If you really can’t live without any stimulants try some guarana in stead of caffeine, or try some Spike or (non-caffeinated) Brain Candy. Z-12 can help with anxiety but in my experience (and my wife’s as well) only try to use that strategically once or twice a week (more often can actually backfire and cause some feelings of anxiety, so you could experiment a bit with that and see how you respond). ZMA can help you sleep. If you’re an anxious person you’ll probably sweat more and lose more minerals that way so ZMA can really make a difference for that. (and too much sweating can also mess with your transdermals btw)
Good luck