How’s your adrenaline?
I have no adrenaline, am pretty calm considering what’s going on, but do have frustration with sick care doctors dismissive natural. An example, doctors see someone who is bloated and not a big deal, but what is causing the bloating is more important.
Testosterone must be in the 200 ranges by now, 2 weeks ago I scored a 450 ng/dL. I have learned to deal with the pain, but even I have limits.
I’m still going to work on regular basis and spending time with family.
yeet!
What’s you’re BF percentage. If it’s below say 25% I’d say you’re doing far better than the average Joe. While 25% is too high (fat percentage wise), if you’re 6 ft and 230 at 20-25% you’d have quite a lot of muscle mass underneath.
The ultrasound of my abdominal inferior vena cava looks normal. A echocardiogram and a coagulopathy panel are next on the agenda. I have been off TRT for almost 3 weeks and it seems the symptoms are starting to return and I believe stopping TRT interrupted whenever process is causing these symptoms.
Something is causing this edema, you don’t just get edema out of the blue and not have a cause for it. I’m worried doctor will find nothing and stop testing and leave me out to dry. The marks on my legs, the swelling of my gums and the numbness is now spending to my legs, arms, chest and when this sensation reaches my head, I feel fuzzy headed.
Last Night as I drift into sleep, my left hand started tingling and became numb, then my right leg, then left leg and right hand. It moved up through my body and my jaw felt tingling, then it moved into my head and cause me to feel lightheadedness and vertigo.
My left ear rings constantly 24/7.
TRT is not the cause, also I feel no different than I did 3 weeks ago, I feel exactly the same.
I had an ultrasound which showed normal abdominal vena cava, echocardiogram is next on the agenda. My doctor prescribed hydrochlorothiazide for edema and had more energy within hours, mood improved drastically and a couple of unexpected improvements.
My libido is higher and I’m confused as to how I could have erections for the fact that I haven’t injected testosterone for 3 weeks to this day. My 20+ year long term cough cycles downward after every hydrochlorothiazide tablet.
Troubling to learn that the first symptom of heart failure is a long term unexplained chronic cough caused by fluid buildup in the lungs. Two months after I started TRT my sinuses swelled up shut, the cause was edema.
My kidneys check out fine and my abdominal vena cava is normal, ultrasound of veins in legs checks out, it can only be one thing.
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So you have potentially found a solution. Will you have to stay off the Trt?
As of right now after taking hydrochlorothiazide for edema, the first half of the day is spent with symptom reduction and the latter half of the day the symptoms start to return a little bit and may need a dosage increase.
I’m unsure how long it takes for this medication to reach a stable state (half life 6-12 hrs), but it would seem theses symptoms are reaching a point where even without TRT, the symptoms are getting worse.
I went from moderate symptoms on TRT to moderate symptoms off TRT. I can only imagine what waits for me if I restart TRT.
Damn dude well take it one step at a time. I’m sure you’ll find a way. Maybe the right dose on the med will help you enjoy trt. I don’t even know much about what you are dealing with. You should join that Facebook group I’ve been inviting folks to. Many skilled professionals there that would be helpful if you made a post. Form dr Nichols to many other guys and gals who practice or consult trt.
My Total T has come in at 97 ng/dL, Free T 3.14 ng/dL, I have been getting morning erections on some mornings, not perfect, but limited erections throughout the day, been doing normal everyday stuff like 25 mile riding bikes along the boardwalk in Huntington and Newport.
My bones hurt (ribs, shoulder, collar bone) when lying in bed if I stay in the same position for too long, probably has to do with low estrogen and testosterone. Sleep on a Tempurpedic, so it’s not like it’s the bed at fault.
Iron has continued to increase after I started supplementing and has gotten too high, I felt like iron was too high for the last few days and iron is 118 and ferritin 101 has seen iron excess symptoms. I have reduced the dosage and feel better.
It would seem whether it’s testosterone, iron or ferritin, a little bit does a lot for me which probably means I do not need very high levels of anything to thrive, something I suspected for a long time. If I can do this well at 97 ng/dL, I can only imagine what 400-500 can accomplish.
A recap of my original pre-TRT labs, Total T was 120 ng/dL, Free T 7.7 pg/mL. My SHBG has decreased to 14 which means TRT increase my SHBG, not decrease which has more to do with insulin resistance which has increased since stopping TRT. The daily protocol saw SHBG increase to 22.
My thyroid labs are TSH 0.6 and the highest I’ve seen TSH on TRT is 1.01, Free T3 3.6 (2.0-4.4) Reverse T3 17 ng/dL. The Reverse T3 result is do to elevated insulin levels, increasing Reverse T3.
What’s amazing is that you’re still getting erections with such low T.
Any libido?
I do have libido, star at women all the time. I had a very strong libido naturally, I couldn’t have a conversation in a room with beautiful women nearby. It was very distracting, it was like something commanded me to look.
I believe I’m more functional now because iron isn’t in the basement like it was on TRT, you can have all the testosterone you want, you can’t have energy without iron, iron is necessary for the body to synthesize thyroid hormones.
I don’t have my Drs apt until late August, so blood work for any iron deficiencyies will have to wait til then.
Are there any sure ways to know you may be low? My thyroid is a little slow and wondering if iron is to blame.
Understanding Local Control of Thyroid Hormones:
Iron deficiency
Iron deficiency is shown to significantly reduce T4 to T3 conversion, increase reverse T3 levels, and block the thermogenic (metabolism boosting) properties of thyroid hormone. Thus, iron deficiency, as indicated by an iron saturation below 25 or a ferritin below 70, will result in diminished intracellular T3 levels. Additionally, T4 should not be considered adequate thyroid replacement if iron deficiency is present
@systemlord This was a pretty intense thread. So you corrected vitamin C which helped the iron.
Was this all that was causing the issues or was there more to it? Heart, POTS, brain etc? Any other defiencies?
Did you restart trt?
Also are all your symptoms gone? Is your heart rate better?
I’m asking bc I am going through some similar issues but not nearly as threatening as this seems.
Citric Acid - contained in vitamin C - assists the absorption of minerals. That is part of why the citrate form works the best for most people.
Yes, even after stopping the iron supplements, ferritin was measured at 68 on 8/7/19 and continued vitamin C and on 9/6/19 was measured again at 128. As you can see ferritin increased with no iron supplementation.
My problems are do to my heart not pumping correctly, I am on TRT and have mitral valve regurgitation which allows blood to flow backward in the heart. When I have an erection you can see the effects firsthand, the erection pulsates like an accordion bouncing up and down by at least plus or minus 4 inches with every beat and really looks strange.
I finds it difficult to exercise because I get swelling and pain in my left abdomen exacerbated by exercise, if I get up to go the the bathroom or perform simple tasks, I feel bad mentally and physically.
I can’t elevate my testosterone above 400 or these symptoms are worse and my heart beats with heavy fluttering.
Did you do an echo? What was your ejection fraction?
Not recently, but an eco was done at a time my testosterone was zero and I believe that is why my doc thinks its a mild case. When I stop TRT my HCT drops below range and blood becomes thin, I’ll bet my eco results would be vastly diffferent when my HCT is at the top of the ranges because my heart has to pump thicker blood.
The last time I did an eco was two years ago.
Do you have pots? What is your heart rate when resting and when you stand up?