Yes.
Shutdown is not defined as 0 LH/FSH. Shutdown is defined as non-immediate recovery of the system after withdrawal from a drug.
A medical example of the HPTA would be treatment of prostrate cancer. There’s two ways you can suppress T production here:
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Relixe: these are GnRH receptor antagonists. They lead to 0 LH and FSH but if you drop the drugs, LH and FSH will recovery very quickly. (Testicles won’t as you all likely can imagine)
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Reline: these are GnRH-R superagonists and lead to 0 LH/FSH, but if you drop them, the recovery takes some time as the receptors are down regulated and the system is desensitized.
Number 1 is suppression of LH production, number 2 is shutdown.
In the case of AAS, where every substance is an agonist, the important variable is time exposed to the substance, since the receptor down regulation takes some time (depending on the receptor minutes to weeks).
Yes, being only suppressed leads to very fast recovery after stopping AAS, being shut down needs a PCT and time.
This is why we advice the guy with “I took 2 testosterone shots - I made a big mistake! Do I need PCT?” to not PCT. He’s only suppressed.