Thanks for reply.
I’m not sure what to explain? @KSman
I haven’t done anything regarding iodized salt. I barely put salt on my food and if I do, doubt it’s iodized. Haven’t paid attention to it, ever.
I did not have any other disease states in my life. My thyroid seems good, i hit 98.6 in the afternoon every day. Morning temps fluctuate but i don’t care for that, my labs are good and basal temps vary. I am at 98.6 in the day, that’s Thyroid problems shot down for me. Progestrone, DHEA, Cortisol were all fine for me as well. Your problems are linked to the vasectomy i would think.
I would advise you on one thing, if you have found a good doctor, listen to him. Don’t think too much/look for other problems. You can deal with those once the more visible and obvious problems are solved.
You also need to get LH/FSH and prolactin numbers, please do it ASAP.
You need to understand, look at your salt container.
Does someone else cook and use salt then?
T3 hormone has 3 iodine atoms
T4 hormone has 4 iodine atoms
Iodine deficiency can create major problems, such as cold hands and feet.
Every cell in your body can slow down. Getting more iodine can fix these problems.
Where are you living now and for how long. Some countries have iodine put in bread or dairy.
Please get oral temperatures, because I asked.
Thanks @equalo212 - what you say makes sense. I have a tendancy to get overwhelmed with info sometimes. I came into this two days ago thinking my problem was all testosterone/hormonal based.
Will ask Dr about getting LH/FSH and prolactin #s. Don’t think they were on most recent bloodwork. I wish I asked yesterday.
I did get them back in March. Not Prolactin though.
LH 4.8 (1.7 - 8.6)
FSH 2.8 (1.5 - 12.4)
@KSman -
We live in New England, Northern CT.
When using salt for cooking, dinner, etc it’s Costco Seal Salt or Himalayan rock salt that we use. I’m understanding concepts and potential deficiencies with Iodine, just didn’t understand your line of question “explain iodine”.
Will work on oral temps.
We see guys messed up taking these healthy salts all of the time. Iodized salt was introduced almost 100 years ago to address goiters and mental retardation caused by iodine deficiencies. Your children are at risk too.
It is so insane that doctors never ask about ones iodine intake when its a very critical part of ones health and vitality. Health food stores sell this stuff that harms people and they have no excuse for staying silent.
I have been through all the troubles and feelings of overwhelmness for a lot longer. I didn’t know anything about all this 6 months ago.
Don’t worry, take things step by step. Everything will be turn out for the better.
Your LH/FSH are not high like I would expect. Maybe there’s a problem with the pituitary. Many are mixed, i.e, both the pituitary and the testes are not functioning optimally. This can happen when one side of the coin is damaged, the other side also gets damaged after some time. You could give SERMs a shot. Ksman can advise better on that.
That test was only at three weeks after the Vas. I will try to have done again. My guess is a lot has changed since then…especially with the epididmoorchitis that I went through.
My left little guy seems to have lost a lot of its firmness. Seems smaller and softer.
While there may be different causes of lost or weak reflexes, hypothyroidism has that as a symptom. You can read these: lack of reflexes thyroid - Google Search
The thyroid lab ranges are very wide and the medical definition of hypothyroidism involves extremes. With low thyroid function or subclinical hypothyroidism, there are still symptoms. Subclinical simply means that most doctors will simply say that you are normal.
I also had an epidimoorchitis bout last month for the first time. That’s when i discovered the varicocele’s and they leave a dragging ache most of the time. Can some problem with testes lead to infections? i do not know.
Wow this is really interesting.
If reflexes being absent are an indicator of low thyroid, then I’ve had this going on for about seven years minimum. I suppose by eating healthy & exercising a lot etc. maybe I’ve been able to keep my symptoms at bay?
I just listened to a podcast from Chris Kresser and he talks about supplementing with iodine and a correlation also with bromide. He also mentioned gastrointestinal issues that can arise via low thyroid. I wonder if any of my heartburn issues could be related?
I guess none of this takes away from the fact that I have pain in my scrotum and testosterone/hormone issues as well. It’s just all being unconvered/coming together at the same time for me. And my guess is that with all the stress I’ve been under over the last three months both physically and mentally, my thyroid could have definitely suffered and worsened.
@KSman what do you recommend for an iodine supplement? I am going to pick something up today if possible. And selenium too. I know you probably mentioned it in the stickies. I’m out and about now so if you are checking this, please let me know.
Thanks again for everything.
what has left a dragging ache for you? The epididimoorchitis or the varicocele’s?
I don’t know, my urologist said that the infection was very mild and should not be causing the pain i described and it’s my suspicion that the ache was amplified by the existing varicoceles. I have some degree of pain left even after the infection is cleared up. Don’t know what to think of it.
And you haven’t had any surgeries down there right?
Nope. No injuries/surgeries ever.
What did you do for the infection/pain? Did you take anything?
I was prescribed 500mg levoflaxcin for 14 days and an anti inflammatory (5 days) for the infection. It cleared up on the 13th day IIRC.
Interesting. I took doxy for 30 days. Symptoms improved about 5-6 days after and have plateaud the rest of the way
I’m more interested in TRT vs SERMs because I want to tackle multiple issues at once.
Ive been feeling shit for three+ months, have major ED Issues, anxiety/depression, low Free T as well as other hormones low and/or out of whack, with SBHG using/effecting my TT.
I have pain presumedly from congestion, back up of sperm, which happens - and TRT has been shown to greatly improve pain levels by shutting down production. Here’s one study but there’s plenty of other literature and anecdotals.
Plus there’s the autoimmune side, which you never know about.
One thing I noticed in your symptoms that I don’t see often but I also suffer from is the intense sleepiness and fatigue/hungover feeling after sexual activity. It’s almost like I can’t stand and need to lie down. There’s also some discomfort followed down there after ejaculation, sometimes even without! Don’t know if low T has to do something with it but haven’t seen too many people complaining about this here so I thought unrelated.
I also have no libido/urge to engage in sex mostly and I have always been perplexed by the definition of libido in these cases. I find a complete lack of enjoyment in sex, maybe due to fatigue. I’m more open to gf trying to please me though. Don’t know why the difference in both.
@equalo212 - Interesting - yea, it’s definitely not a common thing. And never affected me before vasectomy, but I think there is some sort of hormonal imbalance going on here across the board. My libido has been nowhere near what it used to be either. Not completely gone, but just took a big dip. And forget about staying hard. I don’t even get close to as hard as I used to…and if there is a stoppage of any kind…goodnight.
@KSman -
Oral temp this AM was 97.6
Armpit temp this AM was 97.3
Thanks guys, CT
If one is deficient, then you are doing iodine replenishment and that is high dose for two weeks, 50mg. See the sticky.
Thyroid affects immune system too.
High dose iodine will displace bromines, if they have gotten into your body. Some citrus drinks have bromated vege oils which are getting phased out. Discussed in the sticky. Some medications have bromines.
You have not posted info that is requested in the advice for new guys link! Maybe there is something there that I could use.
Your stress reactions do suggest adrenal fatigue - see the sticky.
TSH, fT3, fT4, rT3 may tell a story.