Bloodwork Results (with HCG) - Check em Out

Guys,
I am 27 and have tried clomid treatment, trt w/ sub q and im shots, and most recently tried recovering with HCG and an AI. The results are after 4 weeks of only being on 140 iu Hcg/d and .5mg arimidex e5d:
Please give input! thanks in advance, mk

rbc: 5.99 (h) (4.19-5.59m/ul)
vit b-12: 913 (201-1093pg/ml)
hemoglobin a1c:4.9 (4.8-6.0%)
cortisol: 14 (5-25ug/dl)
free t4: 1.0 (.76-1.8ng/dl)
tsh: 1.68 (.358-3.74uiu/ml)
estradiol: less than 20 pg/ml
fsh: .3 (L) (.7-11.1miu/ml)
BUN: 20 (H) (7-18mg/dl)
alkaline phosphatase: 49 (L) (50-136u/l)
bilirubin total: 1.4 (H) (.2-1.0mg/dl)
dht: 226 (106-719pm/ml)
lh: .2 (L) (.8-7.6miu/ml)
ferritin: 363.4 (26-388ng/ml)
dhea sulfate: 251 (L) (280-640ug/dl)
somatomedin c: 253 (112-402ng/dl)
free t3: 3.6 (2.4-4.2pg/ml)
vit d 25oh: 32 (30-80)
free testosterone: 97 (47-244pg/ml)
total testosterone: 517 (300-1080ng/dl)

TT is high for your LH/FSH levels and FT. This suggests that SHBG is high, but your E2 level is not consistent with high SHBG.

LH and FSH are repressed by hCG. Clomid would typically increase those levels, and T andE2.

You need to specify an E2 test that resolves to lower levels.

What your levels are on hCG are not really of much use when PCT is the goal. But this does tell us somethings. hCG has a rather constant effect compared to short lived LH. So the FT results are informative. If you can only manage FT=97pg/ml while on hCG, that does not create a good prospect for post PCT results.

hCG: Have your testes become larger or firmer? What were you doing before the hCG?

You cannot dose Arimidex/anastrozole every 5 days. EOD works. It is a half life issue. With dosing ever 5 days, E2 levels will be changing a lot and lab results are thus more a artifact of lab timing. Your AI dose might also be too high. Suggest no more than 0.5mg/week for now.

Do increase your DHEA. Start taking 4000-5000 iu vit-D3 in oil capsule form.

Need time of day for cortisol, always!

Blood profile is a bit odd. Are you eating any iron fortified foods? What is blood pressure?

We need to know your energy level and how that varies over the day. What are your symptoms and complaints?

What known illnesses and meds, Rx and OTC.

Do you get cold easily?
Use iodized salt?
Iodine in your vitamins?

What supplements?

age=27
height=
weight=
waist=
fasting serum glucose
cholesterol numbers

Why did you stop TRT?

[quote]KSman wrote:
TT is high for your LH/FSH levels and FT. This suggests that SHBG is high, but your E2 level is not consistent with high SHBG.

LH and FSH are repressed by hCG. Clomid would typically increase those levels, and T andE2.

You need to specify an E2 test that resolves to lower levels.

What your levels are on hCG are not really of much use when PCT is the goal. But this does tell us somethings. hCG has a rather constant effect compared to short lived LH. So the FT results are informative. If you can only manage FT=97pg/ml while on hCG, that does not create a good prospect for post PCT results.

hCG: Have your testes become larger or firmer? What were you doing before the hCG? Yes, they are noticeably larger, firmer, and not hiked up except for maybe a few hours after i wake up. I shoot the hcg at or around noon everyday.

You cannot dose Arimidex/anastrozole every 5 days. EOD works. It is a half life issue. With dosing ever 5 days, E2 levels will be changing a lot and lab results are thus more a artifact of lab timing. Your AI dose might also be too high. Suggest no more than 0.5mg/week for now. My arimidex is dosed at .5mg/capsule. That’s all I have.

Do increase your DHEA. Start taking 4000-5000 iu vit-D3 in oil capsule form. Just bought some 7 keto dhea 25mg/cap and vit d. How much dhea would you recommend?

Need time of day for cortisol, always! The time the blood was drawn was after fasting, at 10am on 12/31.

Blood profile is a bit odd. Are you eating any iron fortified foods? What is blood pressure? Not to my knowledge, bp is usually right on point at 120/80.

We need to know your energy level and how that varies over the day. What are your symptoms and complaints? I notice myself having difficulty concentrating and do not have a real high drive for sex although I can perform fine at least once/day and probably twice. I find myself having nocturnal erections probably only 25% of the time. I just feel a reduction in stamina, and feel burned out, fatigue easy.

What known illnesses and meds, Rx and OTC. I have no known illnesses, I took accutane for 6-7months as a teen, and had cycled on/off aas (inj and orals) for probably 5 years from 19-24. I took lexapro for anxiety issues about 2 years ago and only stayed on for 10 months or so., My anxiety came to the forefront when i was dieting down for my first show and was taking ug tren enanthate. After 4-5 shots of it i had to stop because of anxiety attacks. I just started 10mg nolvadex one week ago and am tapering off the hcg.

Do you get cold easily?I find my hands and feet are cold very often.
Use iodized salt? No
Iodine in your vitamins? yes, 150mcg

What supplements? Supplement wise I take a multi vitamin, 4g fish oil, 200mg milk thistle. just started the d3, dhea, and zma.

age=27
height=5’11"
weight=182lbs. (was at 188-190) while on trt)
waist=32.0
fasting serum glucose=not too sure, but on blood work it shows est. avg. glucose at 93.93mg/dl
cholesterol numbers=
cholesterol 169mg/dl
triglycerides 114mg/dl
hdl 39mg/dl
ldl 107mg/dl
Why did you stop TRT? I initially felt my symptoms decrease the first month or two, but then felt the same as before. I would like to have kids someday and i’d like to try and fix whatever problems may be present if at all possible so I’m not dependant on a drug the rest of my life.

[/quote]

I had a saliva test 1/5 for cortisol:

Cortisol Morning (saliva) 7.9 ng/ml 3.7-9.5
Cortisol Noon (saliva) 1.4 ng/ml 1.2-3.0
Cortisol Evening (saliva) 0.8 ng/ml 0.6-1.9
Cortisol Night (saliva) 0.4 ng/ml 0.4-1.0

How does your energy level track the cortisol levels?

What PCT procedures have you followed to try and fix this?

Do you have liver markers from you lab work?
What are you taking lately that might be loading up your liver.
Orals can be very hard on your liver.

Can you open the anastrozole capsules? Where are you located - USA?

[quote]KSman wrote:
How does your energy level track the cortisol levels?

What PCT procedures have you followed to try and fix this?

Do you have liver markers from you lab work?
What are you taking lately that might be loading up your liver.
Orals can be very hard on your liver.

Can you open the anastrozole capsules? Where are you located - USA?[/quote]

My energy levels definitely go down as the day goes on. I feel like I could sleep more than 8-9 hours but that is all i really have time for. For the first 3 hours after I wake up I don’t feel too bad, but feel like I could take a nap around noon. I was on 140 iu hcg/d for 6 weeks then have been tapering down the last 2. I started nolva at 10mg/d last week and plan to run it for one month. My ast and alt came back a bit high last year when I had this same bloodwork done and billirubin was fine, however this year ast/alt were fine and billirubin was elevated. Not sure what it could be from. Haven’t done oral aas in 3 years and took accutane 10 years ago, only drink once every few months. Yes, the arimidex caps can be opened, and yes I’m in the U.S.

thanks,
mk

hCG and a SERM at the same time is a very bad idea - LH receptor overload is possible and E2 issues too.

“I find my hands and feet are cold very often.”
fT4 should be mid range, not even close.
Please measure and report waking body temps, write them down, check when you first wake up.

You may have thyroid and adrenal issues, and yes, they are intertwined and can affect the HPTA as well.

You do appear to have weak adrenals.
Read this and see what fits:

You would be expected to have mood and apathy issues as a result of these things, more work to be done to determine and get any needed treatment. What docs consider needed may not be helpful.

High potency B-vit complex will improve HDL which should be higher.

What stimulant use history, caffeine, ephedra etc?

[quote]KSman wrote:
hCG and a SERM at the same time is a very bad idea - LH receptor overload is possible and E2 issues too.

“I find my hands and feet are cold very often.”
fT4 should be mid range, not even close.
Please measure and report waking body temps, write them down, check when you first wake up.

You may have thyroid and adrenal issues, and yes, they are intertwined and can affect the HPTA as well.

You do appear to have weak adrenals.
Read this and see what fits:

You would be expected to have mood and apathy issues as a result of these things, more work to be done to determine and get any needed treatment. What docs consider needed may not be helpful.

High potency B-vit complex will improve HDL which should be higher.

What stimulant use history, caffeine, ephedra etc?

[/quote]

thanks again for diving into this issue with me. It appears there may be a few things contributing to why I’ve been feeling this way for the past 3 years and TRT only seemed to have been putting a band-aid on the problem. I have started 4k iu vitamin d3, 50mg 7keto dhea, am eating plenty of fruits and veggies, trying to minimize iron consumption, taking 10mg nolvadex/day to try and get the top half of the hpta working, and will start recording waking body temp and report back here. The high ferriting does bother me a bit and am wondering if that may be contributing to the high liver values. At what level does hemochromatosis start to be a concern?
As for adrenal and thyroid numbers, not really sure what to do to correct those? Your help is much appreciated!

MK

"What stimulant use history, caffeine, ephedra etc? "

In the past, I have used ephedra, caffeine, etc but ever since I started having issue with anxiety, 3-4 years ago, these kinds of things have just made the anxiety surface and create a very uncomfortable feeling for me. I am thinking that while I was dieting and using tren pre contest back in early 07 is when things really went haywire. The anxiety attacks started and I quit the aas without any pct and most likely never restarted my hpta 100% because of it.