Yep, my temps are between 96.6-97.7 most days. That’s what convinced me to pay more attention to my thyroid.
I’m not trying to hijack your thread, I just noticed a lot of similarities in symptoms, and your experience gives me some ideas on where to go next. Thanks for the advice.
Yeah, sounds like you definitely wanna take a deeper look there to me, 96.6 is as low as I was. The desiccated thyroid for me has eliminated thyroid issues for the most part (T3 & T4 are both up to adequate levels), now I need to address the fact that my SHBG of 76, against my 705 TT is leaving me at 1.17% free T and I feel like trash from it… Once I get the SHBG down, I think I clear up most of the rest of my stuff.
Good luck on your end! No worries about jumping into my thread, I’m happy to help if I can.
So, for anyone that’s still paying any attention to this thread and my recent update of blood work. I followed up with the doctor whom I got the labs through and found that he was going to be largely useless to me. His glance my blood work, he said everything was fine.
He also asked my how I was feeling, so I explained my symptoms (which I’m a good hit for low E and low T and getting worse). Once I explained my SHBG being high and my free T percentage being low, he said "Well, I can give you testosterone if you want, to see what it might do for you. We can try it, at 100mg a month. We can give you the injections here and we’ll see how you feel in a couple months’.
I then asked about fertility and hcg. He said ‘I don’t worry about fertility. If you’re getting more testosterone, you should be more fertile from that’. I shook my head and prepared to leave at this point. I figured it was useless to even try to discuss estradiol levels and if I ever ended up needing an AI.
He ended up giving me a script anyway, for 10ml of cypionate, said to bring it in when I had it and they’d administer the injection. I don’t think I’m going to 1. get the script filled and 2. go back to him for any of this.
So, now I’m stuck looking for anyone in the greater Central Pennsylvania area that has any idea of what they’re doing with this stuff. Does anyone on this board have any recommendations? I’m starting to lean toward heading to Michigan or Ohio, to telemedicine with a guy I found in both locations, as a worst case Ontario type of deal, but any other suggestions are appreciated!
Defy Medical, location matters not. Guaranteed to get extremely knowledgeable hormone specialists. These guys make TRT look easy.
I think my doc just left Pennsylvania, otherwise I would recommend him.
Definitely do not go back to yours. 100mg a month(!) with no HCG…that would just wreck you. It’s not enough to last even one week, but it would be enough to shut down all your natural T production, so you would be on empty for most of the month, with elevated E as well.
@systemlord, thanks for the information on Defy. I am investigating them today. I have a couple of other options like I mentioned, I’m going to research them and figure out what I think my best option is, as they all end up with telemedicine being the way to do things.
@Redwolfe, I agree. 100mg a month, if I started it, is going to leave me feeling like death. I’m okay with some elevated E, as my e2 is low and those are the majority of my symptoms, but not like that. I’ll take the e2 raise as it follows a T raise, doing things the right way.
Thanks for the replies!
I just found out myself that creatine increases DHT quite significantly. Maybe that’s why your peeing so often at night.
Hmm. I’ve never heard that. I also haven’t been taking creatine for awhile now, it’s been probably 3 or 4 months. I’ve been reading up that low estradiol can create a difficulty retaining water, so there’s more frequent urination. As my free T is lower and my E2 numbers have been shown to be low. Based on hitting a number of low estradiol symptoms, I’m pretty sure it’s related to that too, but hey. I could be way off, I’m still just guessing at this point!
No, you’re dead on. When Ive crashed my e2 im pissing every 30 minutes it seems like.
I piss alot when it’s on the way down even though it’s not low.
Well. That’s pretty much spot on for me. I have basically continuous thirst, I always have water on hand, that’s basically all I drink other than tea or coffee. And once I get like 16-32 ounces in for the day, the process starts. It’s usually about every 45 minutes I’m having to piss, sometimes sooner. Rarely can I make it over an hour, unless I prep ahead and stop drinking water…
In this case, my last E2 was 26.9, but prior to that was 12.5 (a year between). As I’ve been feeling progressively worse all year so far, I doubt it’s at 26.9 still, plus I’m sure my free T has dumped more, plus SHBG seems to be inclining somewhat steadily at this point (59, 65, 76).
I think this is mostly a case of I trained myself into an adrenal fatigue abyss, after my concussion and never slowed down to try to recover. If I DON’T end up on TRT, I’ll be surprised, but I’m pretty sure I can’t get my SHBG down to a low enough level to make a difference without it at this point.
Another blood work update here. I’ve initiated conversation with Defy Medical, thank you to all who recommended them on here. My consult should be in 2 weeks or so, this is the initial results for blood draw for the consult. I’m still waiting on my estradiol sensitive number, but I have the rest. Things seem to be moving a poor direction, even since the first week of February.
Really looking forward to working with Defy and figuring this stuff out and getting it under control. Thanks to all who have looked through and had any comments. I welcome any additional thoughts!
CBC With Differential/Platelet
WBC 4.4 x10E3/uL 3.4 - 10.8 01
RBC 4.87 x10E6/uL 4.14 - 5.80 01
Hemoglobin 14.5 g/dL 13.0 - 17.7 01
Hematocrit 42.6 % 37.5 - 51.0 01
MCV 88 fL 79 - 97 01
MCH 29.8 pg 26.6 - 33.0 01
MCHC 34.0 g/dL 31.5 - 35.7 01
RDW 12.8 % 12.3 - 15.4 01
Platelets 299 x10E3/uL 150 - 379 01
Neutrophils 61 % Not Estab. 01
Lymphs 22 % Not Estab. 01
Monocytes 13 % Not Estab. 01
Eos 3 % Not Estab. 01
Basos 1 % Not Estab. 01
Neutrophils (Absolute) 2.7 x10E3/uL 1.4 - 7.0 01
Lymphs (Absolute) 1.0 x10E3/uL 0.7 - 3.1 01
Monocytes(Absolute) 0.6 x10E3/uL 0.1 - 0.9 01
Eos (Absolute) 0.1 x10E3/uL 0.0 - 0.4 01
Baso (Absolute) 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0 - 0.2 01
Immature Granulocytes 0 % Not Estab. 01
Immature Grans (Abs) 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0 - 0.1 01
Comp. Metabolic Panel (14)
Glucose 91 mg/dL 65 - 99 01
BUN 16 mg/dL 6 - 20 01
Creatinine 0.79 mg/dL 0.76 - 1.27 01
eGFR If NonAfricn Am 115 mL/min/1.73 >59
eGFR If Africn Am 133 mL/min/1.73 >59
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 20 9 - 20
Sodium 141 mmol/L 134 - 144 01
Potassium 4.8 mmol/L 3.5 - 5.2 01
Chloride 100 mmol/L 96 - 106 01
Carbon Dioxide, Total 26 mmol/L 18 - 29 01
Calcium 10.2 mg/dL 8.7 - 10.2 01
Protein, Total 7.1 g/dL 6.0 - 8.5 01
Albumin 4.6 g/dL 3.5 - 5.5 01
Globulin, Total 2.5 g/dL 1.5 - 4.5
A/G Ratio 1.8 1.2 - 2.2
Bilirubin, Total 0.8 mg/dL 0.0 - 1.2 01
Alkaline Phosphatase 60 IU/L 39 - 117 01
AST (SGOT) 35 IU/L 0 - 40 01
ALT (SGPT) 79 High IU/L 0 - 44 01
Lipid Panel w/ Chol/HDL Ratio
Cholesterol, Total 136 mg/dL 100 - 199 01
Triglycerides 59 mg/dL 0 - 149 01
HDL Cholesterol 39 Low mg/dL >39 01
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 12 mg/dL 5 - 40
LDL Cholesterol Calc 85 mg/dL 0 - 99
T. Chol/HDL Ratio 3.5 ratio units 0.0 - 5.0
Testosterone,Free and Total
Testosterone, Serum 938 High ng/dL 264 - 916 01
Adult male reference interval is based on a population of
healthy nonobese males (BMI <30) between 19 and 39 years old.
Travison, et.al. JCEM 2017,102;1161-1173. PMID: 28324103.
Free Testosterone(Direct) 10.7 pg/mL 8.7 - 25.1 02
IGF-1 Will Follow
DHEA-Sulfate 211.3 ug/dL 102.6 - 416.3 01
TSH <0.006 Low uIU/mL 0.450 - 4.500 01
Luteinizing Hormone(LH), S
LH 6.0 mIU/mL 1.7 - 8.6 01
Prostate-Specific Ag, Serum
Prostate Specific Ag, Serum 0.4 ng/mL 0.0 - 4.0 01
Estradiol, Sensitive Will Follow
Sex Horm Binding Glob, Serum
133.6 High nmol/L 16.5 - 55.9 01
You’re going to need super physiological doses of testosterone to move that SHBG down, larges weekly doses! Will likely have to donate blood regularly.
Hey systemlord. Thanks for the reply. I was afraid of that. I’m completely fine with having to donate blood to avoid issues, that’s easy. I’m just anxious to get started so I can get moving on it and start to get back to some sort of a normal existence. I’ve back off my lifting and such, to try to allow myself to recover (as everything has felt beat up, even without working out my muscles have felt sore). It’s only lightly helped, makes me wonder if doing that has made things worse overall…
We’ll see what happens though, I’ll keep this thread updated as I have information to add to it and start the journey.
Yikes! I thought my SHBG was high at 70+.
Keep us updated.
I was at 79 at the beginning of February. That much of a spike in 2 months seems crazy to me…but I also see that I’ve gone from hypo to hyperthyroid, so I’m sure that’s driving it up some. Or, I speculate anyway… Hopefully systemlord is right, and I’ll get on TRT soon (2 week wait for Defy consult sucks, but at this point 2 weeks is nothing after a couple years of feeling off) and get things moving the right way.
Yeah, the waiting for the consult does suck. But I checked out four clinics and went with Defy after talking to one of the doctors there.
He was very articulate in explaining my labs to me and the ways and why’s to my treatment.
The other places just pulled very basic labs…no SHBG, and said oh yeah…we will start you out on XYZ because that is what everyone takes!!!
With Defy, my protocol is pretty conservative and I was happy about that
It was a big step for me to start this, and I want it done correctly. Not cheap, but other then my T issues, I am pretty healthy and don’t want to screw myself up.
Good luck to you and please continue to update us as things progress for you.
I know once the consult is done, I’ll be on my way to getting this corrected, so I’m closer now than ever. But I’d love to be started months ago. My fault, for not getting deeper into this sooner. I’m rather sure that Defy is going to be exactly what I need though. I’m glad to hear that your experience with them was positive as well.
I agree with you, this is a huge step to take and I want to be sure I’m working with someone that understands it and isn’t just spitballing treatment ideas. I don’t mind the cost associated, that part is fine, but I am also very healthy other than the T issues going on, so I’d rather be running at optimal and not screw myself up either.
I will definitely keep things updated. Thank you for the thoughts, good luck with your side as well, I hope it keeps going well.
Last bits of blood work came in this morning. Now I wait for a consult appointment to discuss it all…
Estradiol, Sensitive 31.4 pg/mL 8.0 - 35.0
IGF-1
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I 196 ng/mL 83 - 233
I got my consult appointment scheduled with Defy. April 18th. The wait period here is gonna suck, but at least there’s a potential end in site, so hopefully by May I’ll be on my way to starting to feel a bit better. Thanks to all keeping up with this. I’ll update again once I am past that point and moving forward!