Regaining Health - Hypothyroidism/Hypogonadism

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

I’ve been a long time lurker of various TRT related forums and this one seems to have
some pretty knowledgeable members, so I’ll post here to hopefully gain some insight.

My issue is hypothyroidism and hypogonadism. Also having some intestinal issues – very IBS/colitis like symptoms. In June 2014 I started experiencing major fatigue, much like being hung over. I finally decided that something was wrong in January 2015 and got some blood work done. Sure enough, low T and low functioning thyroid. I have been taking supplements since Aug 2014 for this issue, so I have tried a lot of things. I have come a
long long long way since June 2014, but I am still not where I want to be. Here are the current symptoms

Dry skin
Fatigue
Lack of
concentration
Lack of libido
Weakness
Poor memory
Under eye bags
Moodiness
Anxiety

Age: 25
Height: 5’10
Weight: 158 lbs
Minus eye bags, you’d never guess this was going on by looking at me. I’m lean, muscular and athletic looking. I lift sporadically (as energy allows) and used to do BJJ (been out for the past year due to this)

Not currently taking medication for anything. But, I am taking a lot of supplements.

200 mg Sam-e
2g Red Ginseng
10000 IU Vit D (I live in the mid west)
30 mg Iodine
600 mcg selenium
Ashwaghanda
B complex
Liver fractions
50 mg Zinc nightly
400 mg Magnesium nightly
.5 – 1 mg melatonin nightly
Digestive enzymes
Boswellia for IBS like symptoms
Curcumin
50 mg DHEA
lj100 (on occasion)

Diet is good. I cook 99% of my meals. Salad with every meal. I definitely get enough protein and healthy fats. There is not much else I can do with diet, in my opinion.

2 things worth mentioning. I did pro hormones when I was 18 (yes, dumb). I ran Hdrol twice and epistane once. I PCT’d, but never did blood work. So I have no baseline test levels. The second thing; last year I started taking iodine and worked up to 15 mg without selenium. I went hyperthyroid. My thyroid gland felt like my chest muscles the day after a hard work out – very sore. I remember my heart being sore as well. An Xray in June 2014 showed calcium in my thyroid. In that same month, an endo palpated and said it was a bit
swollen. I had an antibody test at some point in 2014 and was negative for antibodies.

Labs

I have had quite a few labs done

3/18/16

Testosterone was fine. I was taking 12.5 mg Clomid and 125 mcg DSIP for test at this
time. Not currently taking either of those now. I was somewhere between 30 and 40 mg of Iodine and 400-600 mcg selenium. I doubt my testosterone results would come back like this today. Currently I have no morning wood. During this time, I did. I don’t remember much, but I do remember when I was waking up with wood!

TSH 7.539 (Iodine taken before apt)
Total T3 – 97 (0.50 – 1.50 ng/dl)
RT3 serum – 16 (10-25 ng/dl)
FT4 – 0.87 (0.50 –1.50 ng/dl)
TT – 603.9 ng/dl
SHBG – 12.10nmol/L
Free Androgen Index – 173.18 (24.30 – 110.20)
FSH – 3.5 (1.3 – 19.3 mIU/ml)
LH – 5.7 (1.2 – 8.6 mIU/ml)
Estradiol - <20 (20-47 pg/ml)

01/04/16

I was taking 15 mg of iodine, 400 mcg selenium, and 1 grain of armour. Ranges are same
as above

TSH – 2.6
FT4 – 0.90 ng/dl
TT3 – 137 ng/dl
RT3 – 19 ng/dl
TT – 320.8 ng/dl
FSH – 1.9
LH – 3.2
SHBG – 12.20
Estradiol – 20
Prolactin – 7.70 (2.60 – 13.10 ng/ml)
DHEA, serum – 4.7 (<13 ng/ml)
Cortisol, random – 14.0 ug/dl (no range. Taken at 10:30 am)

I have more labs from earlier back in 2015. My TSH was as high as 11.5~ in Jan 2015 and TT was as low as 202~ in Jan 2015. I also have some metabolic panels/cholesterol panels if that’s of interest.

I have done Wilson’s T3 protocol twice. Once I went up to 75 mcg and then stopped. Temps
went up a bit; definitely felt a bit better after just that short run. Second time I ran up to 75 mcg and stayed there for 20 days. Temps got up to high 97s/low 98s on average. Dropped the dose by 7.5 mcg every 2 days to come off. I have been off T3 now for 3 days and I
feel pretty good compared to before this second run. Eyebags are much less apparent as the day goes on. Energy seems to increase as the day goes on. Wake up temps are in the low 97s. This AM was 97.3. After my first run, my AM temps were below 97. So, improvements are happening.

Right now I want to see the thyroid working before I start deciding what to do about
testosterone (TRT or not). If I have to take T3 or Armour, that’s fine. Based on my current feeling, I’d guess that a small dose of T3 or 1 grain of armour would have me feeling pretty damn good. I will likely get back on clomid within the next week or two to alleviate some low T symptoms, but I am letting all my sex hormones settle. As I came off the T3 protocol the second time, I started feeling what I identify as high E. I lost my morning wood even though I had way more energy. There was a certain weakness as well, but temps were as high
as they’d ever been (mid 98s). A few days before, everything was going fine in terms of libido and morning wood. So I assumed that due to metabolism ramping up, T started going up (when it was likely at a fine level) and some of that got pushed to E.

Not sure if all this info is pertinent, but if I missed something I can edit. I’m just looking for some opinions on this and which direction I should go. I am planning to run another T3 protocol if my practitioner allows and see where that takes me. If that doesn’t help, then I can go back on armour and start working on a better solution for testosterone. My biggest fear right now is TRT. I can deal with thyroid meds, but I really don’t want to go the TRT route.

-age
25
-height
5’10
-waist
30"
-weight
158 lbs
-describe body and facial hair
Little body hair. Very little facial hair
-describe where you carry fat and how changed
Don’t carry much fat. Always been lean.
-health conditions, symptoms [history]
Hypothyroid/hypogonadism/digestive issues. Most is explained above
-Rx and OTC drugs, any hair loss drugs or prostate drugs ever
No Rx right now. OTC listed above. No hair loss or prostate drugs ever
– real dangers! see this http://propeciahelp.com/overview14
-lab results with ranges
See Above
-describe diet [some create substantial damage with starvation diets]
See Above
-describe training [some ruin there hormones by over training]
Not much right now. Some running/weight lifting. No BJJ.
-testes ache, ever, with a fever?
No
-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed
Yes. They come and go

2

Please read these links found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman
advice for new guys
things that damage your hormones
thyroid basics explained

We do see thyroid problems leading to a secondary hypogonadism state often.

I would like to see a recent CBC, hematocrit and fasting cholesterol.

fT3 lab work is useful as this is the active hormone.
Do not test DHEA directly, test DHEA-S

600mcg selenium may be excessive, is this from selenium in different products?
50mg zinc may be more than needed, can lower your copper intake
50mg DHEA is a lot if getting absorbed, but absorption of DHEA can be poor.
Fish oil, nuts, flax seed oil/meal are good sources of EFA’s
No vitamin E, natural source suggested

Describe sleep issues.

Large dose iodine creates exaggerated TSH levels. Would be good to see TSH with 1-6 mg iodine per week maintenance dose.

3

I only had hematocrit done in Jan 2015. 47.9% (42-52%). I can get it done next time I go in.

No CBC. I can get it done next time

Last fasting cholesterol was 176, which was January 2016. TG 46 (<=150 mg/dl), HDL 65 (>=40 mg/dL), non HDL cholesterol 111 (<=130 mg/dl), LDL 102 (<=100 mg/dL), chol/HDL ratio 2.7 (<= 4.5). Those results are all form Jan 2016 as well.

I was taking 200 mcg of selenium when I moved up to 39-42 mg iodine and started noticing a pain in my thyroid, so I bumped up to 600. Everything I read said that 200-400 was fine, but issues didn’t start happing until 2 mg. I will reduce it to 400 and see what happens.

ZInc @ 50 mg is more of an experiment. I haven’t been on it for long. Will consider dropping down to 30 mg.

I see 50mg - 100 mg used frequently for DHEA (in males). What issue do you see with using this dose?

I have a nut/seed sensitivity, so can’t do that. I rarely eat fish and don’t supplement with a fish oil supplement. I do eat Kerrygold Butter, eggs, and olive oil on a frequent basis.

What’s the vit E for? I can take a supplement if it is important.

Trouble falling asleep. When I wake up in the middle of the night, no issues falling back asleep. Just getting to sleep is the sometimes difficult part. A few weeks ago I was falling asleep the easiest I ever had in years. Not sure what I was doing then, so I’ll have to keep paying attention to that.

I’d have a hard time doing my job @ 1-6 mg of iodine. That’s not really an option right now, unfortunately. But this brings me to some question I have on iodine. When you say maintenance dose, are you implying that iodine levels should hold after “filling reserves”? I only recently went back up to 30 mg (last week), though I have been as high as 45 before. As an experiment, yesterday I took 45 mg (I had taken 45 mg previously, a few months ago). I felt the best I have since this all began. Body temps at work during this experiment were usually 97.9, but even went up to 98.1-98.3 as the day went on. Eye bags reduced to the least visible they have been in about 2 years. My concern is what iodine might be doing to my thyroid. Obviously it makes it work much harder (or maybe the pituitary is?) - am I “wearing” anything out with my TSH being presumably high? Would I be better off taking exogenous hormone for a while and letting my body heal up?

I am curious about your thyroid protocol (ksman) and what you did to stabilize things

4

With iodine deficiency and low body temperatures, you need higher doses to saturate the thyroid and RDA is treading water. Once you get back to normal, one should be able to drop to a maintenance dose and be fine. After a while, TSH levels should be lower and body temperatures stable. If that does not work, you need to look as possible thyroid autoimmune antibodies as a cause.

I never advocate high dose iodine long term. On the WWW you can find any recommendation if you look for it.

Your experiment has shown you how good you can feel and if you ever need Rx thyroid meds, you know the motivation.

You are assuming that my thyroid-adrenal situation is fully resolved - not true. Now on Rx time release T3. Iodine worked perfect a few years ago.

EFA’s are very important for general and brain health. E means essential and that designation means that the body is not able to make these itself and you need to consume. Flax seed oil/meal and fish oil caps are your options. EFA intake during pregnacy has a big effect on IQ if inadequate.

Sleep: Try to find time-release 5-6mg melatonin and take 20 minutes before you want to be falling asleep. Most products are not time release and may wake you up in 4 hours as they wear off as falling melatonin is how the brain wakes up. Melatonin release is a reflect to been in the dark, so have room as dark as possible. Vitamin C at bed time make also help.

Bags under the eyes suggests toxins and oxidative stress.
Natural source vit-E
vitamin D
EFA’s
vitamin C
perhaps CoQ10
The above does not address whatever the cause is, but may fix some downstream issues. If they are helpful, you have learned something.

5

I’ve been on 15 mg of iodine for a long time (6-8 months). Only recently did I move up to 30 mg and notice the difference. Shouldn’t I be saturated with 15 mg for that period of time? If yes, it wouldn’t make sense why taking 30 mg makes me feel better and 45 mg even better. Now something I have been thinking about is GI issues. Maybe I have poor absorption. As a side note, I take iodine on an empty stomach.

My anti bodies came back negative the one time I tested. If the test was a false negative or antibodies were low for whatever reason, what is the issue here? I have never went hyper except during my initial iodine experiments from April 2015. I always assumed auto immune thyroid stuff caused swings throughout the year. I haven’t ever had swings between hyper/hypo like other people I have talked to do (I work at a supplement store, so I hear a lot from customers).

I’ll pick up some fish oil on monday. Can’t do flax - seed sensitivity.

I have been thinking about CoQ10 for a while now, but never bought any. I may now.

Need to look into vit E more. I don’t know much about it. Will start eating more olive oil in the mean time (seed/nut allergy, else I’d do almonds)

Do you have any concern of melatonin supplementation suppressing endogenous production?

The bags reduce as the day goes on, so I always assumed they were thyroid related. They especially reduce after exercise. They have also gradually reduced as my overall energy has gradually increased. If toxins/oxidative stress cause this as well, then it could also be related to GI issues. I always assumed I had something leaky gut related due to all my food sensitivities. Someday I’ll do a heavy metal test. Currently doing a lot of fermented foods, probiotics, boswellia, curcumin for GI. On another note, can anything be done to reduce/eliminate eye bags?

And thanks for posting. I don’t expect you to know everything, but it is helpful to talk this out with a knowledgeable person. I have done the vast majority of the work on my own and sometimes it is hard to figure out what the hell I’m doing because I can’t bounce my thoughts off someone else. This has been going on since I was 22, so I would like to be done with this (or at least have it under control) and enjoy what’s left of my 20s. I feel close to the finish line, so that’s very motivating

6

Started 25 mg clomid EOD last Tues (5/17). Moderate morning wood yesterday, a bit stronger today. Definitely thinking about sex more. Dropping down to 12.5 mg EOD now and will see how this does for 2-3 weeks

7

Morning wood still moderate, not totally full. Not too concerned with that right now, moreso concerned with thyroid and getting temps up. Once temps are good, then I’ll see what testosterone is up to. Maybe it’ll be corrected by then. If not, I have an idea to try. Temps have been up in the AM (97.5 two days in a row upon waking, household temp ~68F). Temps are doing OK - hitting low 98s at home often and usually 98/97.9 at work. Feeling better and better each day while @ 45 mg iodine. I have been on 45 mg since Friday or Thursday (5/19 or 5/20). Eye bags are yet the best they’ve been. So, progress continues. Energy steadily improving as well.

I added a fish supplement, coq10 (100 mg/day), a multi with some vit E (27 IU), and vit C (4g/day unless I start getting loose stools). Looking into mitochondrial health right now. Anyone know how to properly use ALA/ALCAR/NAC?

8

You do not need that much Vit-C!

You will need to do a lot of experimentation and observation.

You have long past thyroid iodine saturation and there my be more going on below the surface. You may need to get more serious about thyroid meds. Try CoQ10. If that helps, your natural levels are low, or perhaps you have some gene expression influencing CoQ10 creation or utilization. Such things typically are life long and are not expected to surface suddenly.

If melatonin TR helps you sleep, you need to do it.

Vit-RE, natural source. I am throwing multiple antioxidants at the problem. Vit-E is essential, not optional. Natural source contains components not found in synthetic production. If you start feeling better, you are cursed with not knowing did what.

Hold back on ALA/ALCAR/NAC to see how you respond to what you have started. You seem to be good at finding your own research, but might need to limit what you throw against the wall to see what sticks. Read up on lipoic acid in your spare time.

9

I figured I was past saturation, but I don’t understand why I continue to feel better and better this past week+ w/o making changes. I didn’t change much. Maybe I took 1 less ginseng pill or an extra rhodiola, so changes to that small of a degree. I did come off a T3 run two Saturdays ago, so that’s the only change I can account for.

My memory was wrong with Vit C doses; I thought 4g was fair. I’ll cut down to 2g. Still a fair amount, but I spread it out through the day.

Your mention of CoQ10/vit E sparked an interest in anti oxidants, so I’m looking into that now. Primarily focusing on anti oxidants as they relate to mitochondrial health. That’s what the ALCAR/ALA/NAC is about.

I already threw ALCAR/NAC at the wall. The stuff absolutely drained me the first day, though the effects were initially great for a few hours. Felt like total shit the next morning too until about 2 hours after waking up. These two supplements interfere with T4 → T3 conversion and I was curious about the degree to which they actually do. Looks like they really do. I hit a 97.1 temp once I got home from work, a time when I usually hit a low 98. Then I hit 97.6 15 minutes after a hot meal when I’d normally be in the low 98s. On the positive side, they do great things for cognition. Before the alcar/nac “crash”, I was feeling rather witty, a much missed part of my personality. But I’m discontinuing alcar/nac for the time being. Might need a day or two to recover, we’ll see.

I’ll pick up some quality olive oil for the Vit E. That’s really all I can do for it if I’m to get it from a natural source.

I know I keep bringing this up, but it’s a big indicator of health to me. Eyebags today were again the best they’ve been, even compared to two days ago. So that is definitely a welcomed improvement. Even with the drop in temp today/yesterday there was still an improvement.

I also dropped Sam E completely. I have been noticing a bit too much stimulation around bed time, making it extra difficult to fall asleep. No qualms about dropping supplements…one less pill to take is OK with me, esp with something with complicated effects like Sam E.

So ultimately, just some minor changes this week. Added in CoQ10, Vit C, Men’s Multi (Rainbow Light brand), Fish omega 3 supplement. Dropped Sam E. Still steadily improving, minus the alcar/nac setback…starting to get excited to be normal again. I feel it now more than ever. Intuition tells me that I just need to be patient at this point in the game.

This is a bit unrelated, but I have spring allergies for the first time in my life.

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10

Feeling uneasy about having taken the NAC. Wake up temp 96.9 now, 97.1 an hour after waking. I don’t feel like shit, but I don’t feel as good as I did early last week. Supposedly NAC is a type of chelator, so it moves heavy metals. Taking this as a lesson…patience is required

On a positive note, morning wood has improved. Libido is up. Often thinking about sex when idle. 12.5 mg clomid EOD

Starting another round of T3 tomorrow, as per Wilson’s T3 protocol

11

Yesterday night I fell into a sauna rabbit hole. Very interesting, and it actually has lots of science backing it up. @ksman, you might be interested in this Are Saunas the Next Big Performance-Enhancing "Drug"? - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

I realized that some form of detox is absolutely vital to anyone trying to regain health, so my new focus is “detoxing”. I’m tired of taking new supplements/drugs, so I will see what happens when I work on improving organ function like the liver. Coffee edema, anyone? Of course I will continue with the anti oxidant support I added in last week. No changes there.

Yesterday morning I became a bit depressed and spent the morning in the fetal position in my bed (I am not kidding). I felt that NAC had compromised the past 3 weeks of work and was unsure I’d bounce back from it. But with every valley, there is a peak. This morning I woke up and took 7.5 mcg of T3. Went and swam + did 23 minutes in the sauna. Felt great. Energy is back to where it was last week. Eyebags are further improving. At this point, I expect they’ll go away eventually; something I was never sure I’d be able to say.

I’ll keep updating this thread with what I’m doing. Apologies if it’s a bit scatter brained. Just ask for clarification on something if you don’t understand. I think this will be very helpful to people in the future. I am going at this from many different angles, some that people overlook or are entirely unaware of. Hopefully this opens the door to new ideas for dealing with fatigue and its related symptoms rather than just taking drugs and supplements. If this happens to you - you gotta completely change your lifestyle.

oh yeah, and morning wood has been fantastic

13

Here is an update

The past 8 weeks or so I focused on “detoxing”. As much as I hate the word “detoxing” (it is very fad), it is the umbrella term I use to describe the removal of toxins from the body and supporting of detoxification systems (mainly, the liver). The primary tools used were saunas (conventional heating) and coffee enemas. Supplements used include milk thistle @ 750 mg/day, 400 mg sam-e, apple cider vinegar (for circulation), niacin (for vasodilating properties), activated charcoal (toxin adsorber), and bentonite clay (toxin adsorber).

The initial protocol was coffee enema upon waking followed by a sauna session. This showed results within a week or two, so I kept it up and started throwing in supplements. Niacin was the first I started experimenting with. There are some protocols out on the internetz covering niacin + saunas. I was desperate, so I tried it though there is not much science behind this. I am guinea pig. I used 50 mg before each sauna session until the flushing stopped. Then I went up to 100 mg. Then 200 mg, adding 100 mg once flushing stopped at a respective dose. Ron L Hubbard wrote a detox protocol suggesting that the flush was the release of toxins and the reason for the flush subsiding was due to lesser amounts of toxins. Believe what you want, I am just presenting my experience. As I worked up, I felt better and better. I was up to 2500 mg per session @ 2 sessions per day, so 5g or 5000 mg of niacin a day. I was not flushing at this dose, so I stopped use of niacin. During this time I also used bentonite clay, generally after a sauna session.

Digestive issues popped up at about 5 weeks. Major bloating occured following meals, even after just 2 cups of fruit. I figured it was enemas, so I stopped those. It is thought that enemas empty the gallbladder, so I figured there was just no bile left for digestion. I was doing at least 1 enema per day. On weekends, I’d do up to 3. Toward the 2-3 week mark, I started doing 2 enemas in a row. So, pretty serious use of enemas. I added bile salts and digestive enzymes to fix this, and that worked pretty well to correct the issue. I am still on a enzymes/bile salts for digestion but will eventually wean off them. Currently am not doing enemas and have no plans to do them on a regular basis.

I was getting results every week. More energy and eye bags improved. So, something was going right. At some point, I started using cilantro (a purported heavy metal chelator) and parsley. These made me feel like shit. The shit feeling was rectified by a sauna session, but only temporarily, The next morning, I’d feel like shit again, though a bit less like shit than I had the night before doing a sauna session. I assumed (moreso hoped) that this was toxins being released. My protocol for cilantro and parsley was 1/4 a cup per day, for two or 3 days. Cilantro and parsley must be organic. Ideally sourced locally. I did this parsley cilantro protocol twice but had to stop because it seemed to be too much for my body. I started getting pale and nauseous periodically. Pale/nausea was rectified by sauna session but returned the next day, though with lesser intensity. Noticing that it was of lesser intensity was the only reason I didn’t panic. If it had gotten worse…well, things may have went a much different direction. This was a risky path, but I was already deep in the woods without a guide.

For whatever reason, I picked up activated charcoal. I noticed it drastically improved my mood and alleviated fatigue and nausea. So I started using it frequently throughout the day. 2-3 g at a time, anywhere from 6-8 g a day. 5 days of this made a huge difference. Eyebags continued to reduce and are now almost gone, energy continued to improve. Concentrating easier. Waking up with wood every day. Feeling appropriately aggressive at times. No day time fatigue. Sleeping way better. Don’t need marijuana to sleep - I was a nightly user for years (it helped with insomnia). I don’t even think about smoking before bed now. Don’t really need sleeping pills, though occasionally I do have too much energy before bed and need to use 10 mg zaleplon. Every day gets better and better. And this is where I am now…still continuing to improve.

The major things I’m using are 1/2 grain of armour and 12.5 mg clomid EOD or E3D. I have been using these for a long time (armour or T3, clomid continuously since January), but it took “detoxification” to get them to really work well. I have not been monitoring temps; mainly focusing on how I feel and the appearance of eye bags. If those are improving, then I am getting better.

This is very jumbled, so the takeaway here is if you’re having hormonal issues, then look into some form of detoxification. I think saunas and charcoal are the safest and easiest tool and much more user friendly than some of the crazy shit I did, like coffee enemas. I am not sure why these tools have worked so well for me. Perhaps there is some validity to concerns of the widespread pollution in our environment. Maybe endocrine disruptors are a real threat? I think we may see a major, unprecedented health crisis emerging in the next 10-20 years. It will make the current diabetes/CVD/obesity epidemic look like peanuts. People will start ageing much quicker. Lifestyle diseases will start to happen earlier in life. This is of course also due to the fast paced, stressful lifestyle most people in first world countries live. Add in the shittier and shittier quality foods people are eating. It isn’t an issue of macronutrients, but a severe lack of micronutrients/enzymes in the diet. Factor in pesticides/herbicides/fungicides/ect in the foods. Hormones in the meats. The world hasn’t ever seen this before at this scale. It will be interesting. I work at a supplement store so I talk to a minimum of 50 people per day about health, so my observations carry at least a bit of weight. Pardon the tangent

I get tnation alerts to my main email account, so I’m happy to clarify any points. My thinking is a bit messy but maybe there is something valuable here. This info is more so valuable to those who are not having success with traditional methods of restoring HPTA/taking exogenous hormones/ect…

almost forgot to add - I love feeling horny again

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14

You are doing so many off-beat things that when anything does not go well, no one will know what it is. Suggest that you try living a normal life and see what happens.

15

living a normal life wasn’t an option. this has been my life.

Everything is going good. I stopped doing saunas 12-13 days ago and starting noticing day to day improvements. I did 1 session at about the 7 day mark and felt like total shit after; slowly improved over the course of 2-3 days. Of course I have nothing to prove this, but I still think something is coming out/being excreted from my body. Eye bags are continuing to fade. They are very close to gone by the end of the day now. My hands don’t get cold during the day. At one point 2-3 weeks ago, I’d get cold hands when the room temp was 72-74F. That is not good.

Practitioner had me switch back to compounded T3 about 2 weeks ago. We started at 7.5 mcg 2x a day but that was too much. Falling asleep was very difficult. Down to 7.5 mcg once a day in the AM. So good news on the thyroid front as well.

I have been off clomid for ~3.5 weeks now. Still getting morning wood. So I wanted to see what was going on there. Got some blood work done for sex hormones and a metabolic panel. Did not do thyroid stuff because I’m on T3.

GLUCOSE
89 mg/dL
70-100 mg/dL

				UREA NITROGEN
				20 mg/dL
				7-22 mg/dL
			
			
				CREATININE
				0.98 mg/dL
				0.50-1.50 mg/dL
			
			
				GFR NON AFRICAN AMER
				107 mls/min
				>=60 mls/min
			
			
				GFR AFRICAN AMERICAN
				123 mls/min
				>=60 mls/min
			
			
				SODIUM
				138 mEq/L
				135-145 mEq/L
			
			
				POTASSIUM
				4.2 mEq/L
				3.5-5.1 mEq/L
			
			
				CHLORIDE
				99 mEq/L
				100-109 mEq/L
			
			
				TOTAL CO2
				29 mEq/L
				23-33 mEq/L
			
			
				CALCIUM
				10.1 mg/dL
				8.7-10.5 mg/dL
			
			
				TOTAL PROTEIN
				6.5 gm/dL
				6.0-8.0 gm/dL
			
			
				ALBUMIN
				4.8 gm/dL
				3.3-4.8 gm/dL
			
			
				BILIRUBIN, TOTAL
				0.6 mg/dL
				0.0-1.4 mg/dL
			
			
				SGOT/AST
				33 U/L
				1-42 U/L
			
			
				SGPT/ALT
				57 U/L
				1-50 U/L

		                ALK PHOSPHATASE
				62 U/L
				42-121 U/L

Sorry for formatting.

Onto sex hormones…cue climatic music

ESTRADIOL
30 pg/mL
>20-<47 pg/mL

LUTEINIZING HORMONE
3.7 mIU/ml
1.2-8.6 mIU/mlFSH

FSH
3.9 mIU/ml
>1.3-<19.3 mIU/ml

PROLACTIN
7.80 ng/ml
2.60-13.10 ng/ml

TESTOSTERONE,TOTAL
624.9 ng/dL
175.0-781.0 ng/dL

				SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULIN
				21.40 nmol/L
				 
			
			
				FREE ANDROGEN INDEX
				101.33 %
				24.30-110.20 %

Super happy about the T/FAI. That is ~3.5 weeks off clomid. Never thought I’d see that again. The sex hormones look good to me, but if anyone sees something else please chime in. Maybe E is a bit high? i’m assuming there is still some clomid floating around

Not sure what to make of the ALT. It isn’t that out of range, but it is high. I do not know anything about ALT besides it’s a way to check liver function. Fitting in with the “body getting rid of some junk” line of thinking? Don’t know. Does this mean my liver is working relatively hard or that it’s busy?

I don’t know much about the metabolic panel either. Nothing stuck out to me, but if anything sticks out to someone else then drop a comment.

Really happy with the progress. It’s crazy to think back to even 6 months ago compared to where I am now

16

ALT: Were you doing any resistance training and had sore muscles?

Nice recovery. 0.5mg/week anastrozole might get you nearer to E2=22pg/ml and then LH/FSH and T may go up. I do not know lab range for SHBG in nmol/L. Is that high?low If SHBG goes down, then FT ratio should improve. SHBG changes can be slow as liver responds to changed T and E2 levels.

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I started doing basic weight training 5-6 days a week beginning about 2-3 weeks ago. I wasn’t noticeably sore on day of test, but had worked out the previous 2 days.

http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/test-catalog/Clinical+and+Interpretive/9285

GIves a 10-57 nmol/L for SHBG range

Could the E2 just be because of lingering clomid? If I don’t need drugs I don’t want to use them. Don’t know much about anastrozole but know some guys do not have a good time when playing with E2 drugs. I’m pretty stable right now and am continuing to improve in feeling/mood week to week. Maybe this will correct itself?

if E2 control becomes necessary…any experience with OTC stuff like d calcium glucarate? Or fenugreek (testofen) for improving free T?

apparently the 2 isomers in clomid have very different half lives. i will look into this later to see which has a longer half life and what that action of that isomer is. if i remember right, one is estrogenic and one is not. if the estrogenic one has a longer half life, then that may explain the higher E2.

http://www.peaktestosterone.com/Clomid_Half_Life.aspx

don’t know if peakT is a good source

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E2 labs are not going to detect clomid itself.

You can wait and see if after ~3.5 weeks those lab results were not representative of an end state. I have not seen that OTC products to lower E2 are effective or cost effective. So you are on your own with that venture. But if you feel that the labs may have been too soon, its not clear what you should do.

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@KSman are you still using T3? What is your dose/dose frequency/type of T3? I remember you mentioning it in a previous thread but I can’t find it

Btw, I haven’t taken any scripts (including clomifene) since Aug 16’. Still feeling better every month. Taking way less supplements now. I have a better idea of what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to be done. Currently waiting on hair mineral analysis test results. Started the cutler protocol last week. Current line of thinking is heavy metals. Maybe that’s why my body temps couldn’t get up, even when taking huge amounts of T3. Hope I’m right. Hair test will hopefully tell something

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Toxins: Any exposure to fire retardant protective clothing? Bromines? Do you work around chemicals?

I take 25mcg time release T3 in the morning. That is a compounding pharmacy only item. The pharma option is fast release.

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No chemical exposure that I’m aware of

Got back hair analysis. According to Cutler’s counting rules, the test implies issues with mercury. Add to that my experimentations with saunas and chelators, I may have found the issue. Of course, I can’t be certain. It could be something else. But that’s the direction I’ll go now because it’s made the biggest difference. This isn’t a detox forum so I won’t go into details, but for the sake of future readers I’ll post the results. I’m just happy to possibly know what the issue is…that relieves so much stress. Detoxing is easy…just a long process.

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