Get 2000 or 5000iu oil based gel caps. These are very small. Sam’s Club sells these as well.
Thanks KS. Do you recommend a particular brand?
no
Just wait till you roll up there and the doctor tells you what you are deficient in. I would rather follow along my normal routine before getting tests done than start throwing other variables in that may throw it off. Just sayin…
The most bioavailable one I know of is in emulsifed form which many good dr’s will have available for you in the office…
Just a quick update…I made the trip up to Philly last Thursday (24 June) to see Dr. Overbeck and his assistant. The trip went well. Even got to enjoy philly cheese steaks twice in one day.
The doctor ordered just about every blood test imaginable and I went and got them all taken Tuesday. The blood filled up 19 vials worth in the Quest office! I should have those tests back in a few days.
I’m also going to be doing a saliva cortisol test for my adrenals (kit is in the mail) and a nutra-eval to assess cellular metabolism. So after this process the doc should be able to find out everything that is wrong with me and we can begin correcting it.
In the office, I was given Biotics brand emulsified Vitamin D and was told to front load it at 50,000 ius a day for 3 days. Finished that up and I’m now at maintenance dosage of 10,000 iu.
I was also given a Detox Kit that is supposed to eliminate toxins and stimulate the cleansing process of my body. The idea is to flush out all the non-habitable estrogens and restore to baseline. This treatment lasts for 4 weeks.
I’m still taking the anastrozole at 0.14 mg EOD. I’ve been taking it for about 2.5 weeks now and really don’t know what to think about it. At first I was getting morning woods and had high libido, that has significantly dropped off now. I have been looking a bit leaner in the mornings I think, but the scale is actually going up. I don’t know what to make of that, but I’m hopeful that its muscle and not fat. I’ve gotten baseline BF and size measurements, so I will be tracking that closely to see which direction they end up.
Can I just write x2? haha
You had the same drop off as I did with the adex?
Once I restarted it, I haven’t had the mind fog anymore but now I have very low energy and low libido, and I was having some testicular pain (which I have never had before). I am at 5drops every day right now, so .156mg. I think I might cut back a drop or so…
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
Can I just write x2? haha
You had the same drop off as I did with the adex?
Once I restarted it, I haven’t had the mind fog anymore but now I have very low energy and low libido, and I was having some testicular pain (which I have never had before). I am at 5drops every day right now, so .156mg. I think I might cut back a drop or so…[/quote]
You went to low my freind so stop then when morning erections return lower the dosage a bit.
Labs are in but I briefly went over them. We will have all the data in next week so schedule a phone consultation next friday for you and the other bopsy twin 
bopsy twin, hilarious
Sounds good. I should have the adrenal kit finished Monday night. I’m not sure I’m qualified to use that damn thing–I think it requires a doctorate from MIT to figure out. Haven’t opened the nutri eval yet.
I’m not sure if I had a drop off with the Adex, or if I ever saw benefit from it in the first place. I may have just gotten the morning wood because I THOUGHT I was supposed to (that whole placebo responder thing). I was just going to let my labwork indicate whether to adjust up or down (or get the real thing).
Is 2.5 weeks of anastrozole enough time to see E2 changes in the bloodwork, or would I need a longer eval period?
With adrenal fatigue, one feels beat up on stressful days. It is often recommended that you do the cortisol testing on a normal stressful day that is characteristic of days that are difficult. If you do much better on weekends, testing then might be a bad idea.
[quote]KSman wrote:
With adrenal fatigue, one feels beat up on stressful days. It is often recommended that you do the cortisol testing on a normal stressful day that is characteristic of days that are difficult. If you do much better on weekends, testing then might be a bad idea.
[/quote]
Well, I know with mine it was a normal work day with a training session in the mix, so I imagine that is “typical” for me.
HAN, good to know about the results being in. I’ll call in and schedule for Friday and I will take a day or 2 off the adex and refire at a lower dose. It’s only temporary anyway until we can figure out what’s up!! I just found it weird that it seems I don’t need as much- kind of like I hit a mini-reset or something for me.
VT, I know with EOD dosing KSman said 3 weeks for E2 to level out but I imagine you were fine for your labs. HAN will probably have us both jump off of this stuff anyway once we know the true issues. Only a little bit longer man!!! To say I am excited for change would be an understatement!
I’m on top of it bro and all data should be in by friday…Remember the holiday weekend.
I was supposed to have a follow-up consult today for my blood test on 29 June, but Quest is dicking around getting all the labs back, so just returned partial.
But I talked with the doctors assistant anyway. He told me total T has increased to somewhere in the 500’s (wanna say mid-500) which is almost ridiculous considering it was just 372 at the beginning of June, 24 days earlier (5 June). I guess it is attributable to the Adex since I hadn’t started front-loading the real Vitamin D yet.
He recommended I also start taking B-12, which I’m going to go buy sometime this weekend.
I also ordered Biotest’s “Elite Pro Mineral Support Formula” for Zinc/Magnesium before bed. Also looking at a multi-vitamin. Going to start taking Rez-V (Biotest’s resvertatrol) as well.
Overall I’m happy about the rise in T, but am very curious to see where everything else ended up. I’d eventually like to see the TT on the high end of normal.
I’ve been noticing more energy lately, but libido has been all over the place. Definitely have been more assertive in my dealings with people at work and on the street, which I like.
Felt very anxious/restless for an hour or so yesterday–which brought back memories of when I was a testosterone-fueled college lad. Truthfully, I didn’t mind it.
That’s about all I can think of for now. Have a good weekend everybody.
Yes the waiting game is pain in the ass and is out of the control of the DR. So many people are frustrated because they can not get there results, but atleast they can be mailed to you as they come in which alot of dr’s do not allow. Sometimes getting ones e2 back in balance does increase T levels.
If one e2 levels goes to low you can have high t levels but not have the function of testosteorne at the cell levels. One needs enough e2 to make tesoterone do its job at tissue level. Looking for why e2 is low woiuld be the cause and also with indept nutritonal testing it will give more insight to what things may be out of balance. with out b-12 you can not detoxify estrogens as well.
Yeah HAN, I know its not the doctor, its the lab…my frustration was directed towards Quest. I got some of my labs in the mail today, probably same ones you had seen.
Total T was 562 ng/dL [241-827]. When I had my lab done in early June it was 372 ng/dL [250-1100]. Since the lab ranges are different, I don’t know how what to really make of the numbers. The T test I had done in May 2009 was 479 [241-827] so at least I have some sort of comparable ranges showing an increase. Any ideas why the lab ranges are different even though they are both from Quest?
E2 is not yet back. I really want to see what it is.
B-12 came back as 315 pg/mL [200-1100]. Says I’m normal but with at caveat that 5-10% of people in the 200-400 range experience neuropsychiatric and hematologic abnormalities due to deficiency.
Vitamin D, 25-OH came back at 46 ng/mL (30-100). This was before I started taking my Vit D.
Lab test also shows “high level of allergen specific antibodies” for: peanuts, sesame seeds, soybean, wheat, and walnuts. None of these fell into the ‘very high level’ so I’m not sure if its an issue or not.
So I am left with the following questions that I intend to discuss with my doc & his assistant at my official consult. If anyone has any thoughts, I appreciate any input:
- I bought this for B-12, is it ok:
-
Any need to frontload B-12? If so, what dose?
-
Maintenance dose for B-12 was told to me to be between 2k-5k ug/day. High end or low end?
-
where do I want my B-12 totals to fall?
-
Where do i want my Vit D totals to fall?
-
Are the moderate food allergies something I should be concerned with?
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Yeah HAN, I know its not the doctor, its the lab…my frustration was directed towards Quest. I got some of my labs in the mail today, probably same ones you had seen.
Total T was 562 ng/dL [241-827]. When I had my lab done in early June it was 372 ng/dL [250-1100]. Since the lab ranges are different, I don’t know how what to really make of the numbers. The T test I had done in May 2009 was 479 [241-827] so at least I have some sort of comparable ranges showing an increase. Any ideas why the lab ranges are different even though they are both from Quest?
E2 is not yet back. I really want to see what it is.
B-12 came back as 315 pg/mL [200-1100]. Says I’m normal but with at caveat that 5-10% of people in the 200-400 range experience neuropsychiatric and hematologic abnormalities due to deficiency.
Vitamin D, 25-OH came back at 46 ng/mL (30-100). This was before I started taking my Vit D.
Lab test also shows “high level of allergen specific antibodies” for: peanuts, sesame seeds, soybean, wheat, and walnuts. None of these fell into the ‘very high level’ so I’m not sure if its an issue or not.
So I am left with the following questions that I intend to discuss with my doc & his assistant at my official consult. If anyone has any thoughts, I appreciate any input:
- I bought this for B-12, is it ok:
-
Any need to frontload B-12? If so, what dose?
-
Maintenance dose for B-12 was told to me to be between 2k-5k ug/day. High end or low end?
-
where do I want my B-12 totals to fall?
-
Where do i want my Vit D totals to fall?
-
Are the moderate food allergies something I should be concerned with?
[/quote]
When on b-12 just ride with it no front end loading need
B-12 serum can not give accurate reading when on supplement so just take it 2-5,000 is good
I usually its water soluable - 1 x 2 times a day is best dosing to keep it in your system
Goal for D is 70-90
Food allergies can cause alot of issues depending on the person…
I had a follow-up visit with my “other” doctor yesterday (not Dr. Overbeck, but a local one). This is the guy I first went to when I decided to get this straightened out (recommended from a compounding pharmacy). It was less than exhilarating.
He had ordered my first round of blood tests in early June (posted earlier with E2 at 49 and TT at 350ish) and the sleep study. I completed the sleep study a couple weeks ago and have mild sleep apnea that was not severe to warrant treatment with a CPAP (I was very thankful for this). From what I read, suggested remedies include dental appliances and the surgery where they remove your uvula.
The doctor didn’t really seem to be concerned with either of these though. He said that my E2 would have to be much higher than 49 to affect me (WRONG!) and that my TT was slightly low, but Free T was in range so there was nothing to worry about (WRONG!). He also said my thyroid was “perfect”. Not sure what to make of that one, but I’m sure my skepticism is well warranted.
He also didn’t think the mild sleep apnea would be causing my problems.
So since he has ruled out hormones and sleep apnea, he defaulted to the only logical conclusion: depression. He explained to me that depression is viewed more nowadays as a chemical imbalance in the brain. When I reminded him that symptoms of depression shared with Low testosterone could also be a result of “chemical imbalances in the body” he basically just shrugged it off. So this doctor is pretty much fired.
He prescribed me a 2 month trail of Wellbutrin if I want to try it, but I highly doubt I will since I’m pretty sure that I’m not depressed and my hormones are causing issues. I will discuss the use of this drug with Dr. Overbeck and his assistant during my phone consult with them tomorrow (Quest labs are finally in) but I’m pretty sure they are going to tell me not to use it.
That’s all for now. I will have more to report after my phone consult tomorrow.
I forgot to mention that I have increased my frequency of anastrozole from EOD to ED, with the same volume each dose. So this puts me at about 1.0 mg a week. I have also started taking the Mineral Support formula sold on this site.
I have seen marked improvements. I am able to better focus at work and speak more confidently than I had in the past, and feel much better overall. Libido seems to be coming around too. I’m not sure if it is the introduction of the minerals, the increase of the anastrozole, or just everything coming together with the Vitamin D/B-12, but I like it.
Hopefully my phone consult tomorrow can put the last few missing pieces of the puzzle together and I will be well on the way to a normal life.
Nice dude. Let us know how that goes. F that other doc. Just another case of a misinformed doctor
great to hear.
beware that fine tuning could take awhile. .5mg Arimidex daily was too little for me. 1mg daily was too much, but it took months to figure that out.