T Nation

New and Very Confused

T Replacement
#1

Hello everyone.I am new to the site so i apologize if any of my questions have already
been covered.I am a 31 year old man dealing with CFS/adrenal fatigue and have been getting
nowhere with Dr’s.I have been dealing with low energy, libido and have a very hard time
putting on muscle or losing fat around the middle.Curiously the muscle thing is only in
certain areas.Especially arms and shoulders.In the last year i have taken drastic measures
to reduce my weight.I am about 6 ft 4 and i ballooned up to 320lbs.Since last summer i
drastically changed my diet cutting out dairy, gluten and sugar and decreased portions and
am now down to 240lbs.I still need to knock off about 20 lbs.

The docs are telling me that all my hormone levels are normal, however i feel anything but.
I just had some blood work done and i am finding the levels a bit puzzling.

Estradiol 138 pmol/L 0-160
FSH 2 IU/L 1-18
LH 7 IU/L 1-9
Free T4 17.3 pmol/L 10-25
TSH 2.26 mIU/L 0.20-6.0
Total T 11.6 nmol/L 8.0-29.0
Bioavailable T 8.1 nmol/L 4.0- 16.0
Free T 348 pmol/L 175-700
SHBG 13 nmol/L 10-55

What i don’t get is why my LH is at the higher end of the range and my T isn’t.My fsh looks to be a bit low as well.I get that my estradiol should be lower and i am tracking down some Arimidex.Would this boost my T level on it’s own.The studies i have read suggest it raises free T but it makes no mention of bioavailable T.From what i understand biovailable T is the best measure of T levels.All my other blood work was excellent including lipids, vitamin D etc.According to the Dr’s in my area my T levels are good however i have all the symptoms of low T.The Dr’s i have seen(7 total including two uro’s and one endo) were absolutely useless.I am constantly hot and tired and my hair is brittle and thinning a bit(not serious but not attractive either lol).Since i can’t get anywhere with the docs in my area, any advice would be greatly appreciated.I live in Canada which makes it difficult with tests, since there are no private clinics to get tests done ,and getting a Dr to order them is like pulling teeth.

#2

Please have fT3 checked and rT3.

LH is released in pulses and has a short half life. Your lab caught a released. FSH has a longer half life and it reflects your average pituitary action.

Your E2 is reducing your T output. But why is E2 so high?

Go to amazon.ca and get Wilson’s book on adrenal fatigue.

You need to know your DHEA-S levels - in Canada you need a prescription for DHEA.

Brittle hair can be from thyroid problems. What is your body temp when you wake up, before getting out of bed. If near 97F, that is a problem.

#3

I had a saliva test done to diagnose the adrenal issues and it said that my dhea-s was at the higher end of the range.It also said that my cortisol is low but only at night.If i had to hazard a guess i would think my E2 is elevated from storing all the extra fat.I have lost a fair bit but i still have a ways to go there.The Adex should help that problem.I didn’t know that about the LH.Explains quite a bit.

I never considered the thyroid.I will look into having those tests done, and check my morning temp.
Thank you very much for your input KSman.It is greatly appreciated.

#4

Yes please look into thyroid. Dealing with case such as yours can be challenging, but I may of a guy that may be able to help you. Hes specializing in help finding the cause of your issue which may be heavy metals or other things that are much deeper hidden. He has helped me where 20 others dr’s where unable to find the root cause of the problem. I would have been living a life on SSRI, but it was all in my hormones from prolong peroid of stress. I see alot of these symptoms of looking normal in hidden heavy metal issue which I also had as well as blood sugar imbalances. Pm me for information.

#5

[quote]DonCorleone88 wrote:
I had a saliva test done to diagnose the adrenal issues and it said that my dhea-s was at the higher end of the range.It also said that my cortisol is low but only at night.If i had to hazard a guess i would think my E2 is elevated from storing all the extra fat.I have lost a fair bit but i still have a ways to go there.The Adex should help that problem.I didn’t know that about the LH.Explains quite a bit.

I never considered the thyroid.I will look into having those tests done, and check my morning temp.
Thank you very much for your input KSman.It is greatly appreciated.

[/quote]

So much for holding back info, anything else?

#6

[quote]KSman wrote:

[quote]DonCorleone88 wrote:
I had a saliva test done to diagnose the adrenal issues and it said that my dhea-s was at the higher end of the range.It also said that my cortisol is low but only at night.If i had to hazard a guess i would think my E2 is elevated from storing all the extra fat.I have lost a fair bit but i still have a ways to go there.The Adex should help that problem.I didn’t know that about the LH.Explains quite a bit.

I never considered the thyroid.I will look into having those tests done, and check my morning temp.
Thank you very much for your input KSman.It is greatly appreciated.

[/quote]

So much for holding back info, anything else?
[/quote]

Yes prying information out of people will really shed sunlight on the true case of the issue. What is your eating like, how much dairy you consume
What is your sleep patterns look like
What is current stress or emotional situation
Again what about simple vitamin D 25 oh levels ?
What about lipids.

Insulin resistance or imbalance needs to be investigated in your case since your weight gain
Also sleep apnea would also needs to be ruled out as well which I have found to be interlinked to alot of obessity and unexplained fatigue issues not resolved by TRT. Somes low thyroid can cause sleep apnea as well.

With out knowing the whole case scenerio its hard to know where to even start to isolate the issue.