Please keep everything about your ‘case’ in this one topic/thread.
Cortisol: Need time of day for the lab work and how many hours awake.
TSH should be closer to 1.0
Thyroid lab ranges are quite bogus.
fT3 is quite good ~mid-range. If body temperatures are low as requested last paragraph, with your TSH, we suspect that elevate rT3 is interfering with the active hormone fT3. Then the conversation goes to stress and major stress events as discussed in the thyroid basics sticky.
If thyroid function is low, you probably will not be able to absorb T gels or creams and self-injected T is your best option.
TT was low. FT was still in range, but FT is released in pulses with short half-life. So and one FT lab result does not determine your status at all. TT is the best indicator in your situation.
Have you always used iodized salt?
Thyroid function is your metabolic rate and has effects on fat gain/loss and cholesterol. T status also affects fat gain/loss,
You appear to have secondary hypogonadism, low-T with decent LH/FSH.
You could use more Vit-D3, 5000iu/day suggested, find tiny oil based gel caps
Please read the stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman
- advice for new guys - need more info about you
- things that damage your hormones
- Thyroid Basics
- protocol for injections
- finding a TRT doc
Evaluate your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky. Thyroid hormone fT3 is what gets the job done and it regulates mitochondrial activity, the source of ATP which is the universal currency of cellular energy. This is part of the body’s temperature control loop. This can get messed up if you are iodine deficient. In many countries, you need to be using iodized salt. Other countries add iodine to dairy or bread.