[quote]m28 wrote:
Things I’ve noticed:
My hair is falling out less. I’m thinking Axiron has a higher DHT conversion rate.
[/quote]
Topicals will always have a higher DHT conversion rate from what I’ve read. When I switched to injectables I felt the same way. My hairline is receeding as it is, don’t need to speed up that process. Your E2 may still go up as you progress further, so keep that in mind.
I’ll be curious about your labs as you are in a similar situation to mine as far as routine. Keep updating!
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Its strange that everyone still clings to this myth that DHT is the sole hormone responsible for hair falling out…[/quote]
The only proof that I have is that my hair was falling out. :)[/quote]
What were your E2 levels?
I have a hard time believing that young, fit men (18-19) that are absolutely chock full of DHT rarely (almost never) have any issues with receding hair lines…while your stereotypical overweight, sedentary, balding gentlemen seems to think he is too manly (i.e. too high levels of DHT) and that is the reason for his polished top…I will forever remain convinced that E2 is the primary culprit for MPB over DHT
struggling to wake up & water retention make me think that you have adrenal or E2 issues… this fast makes me think low cortisol and issues with aldosterone (electrolyte/salt retention/water retention). you could try the pupil test (search for aldosterone sea salt pupil test).
testosterone works with cortisol, too much of one and too little of another can cause multiple problems.
a high body temp of 97.9 is a possible red flag. testing RT3 is an easy test to confirm or refute if your low body temp is caused by thyroid issues given your other readings.
Total Test 746 ng/dL (348 - 1197)
Free Test 17.2 pg/mL (9.3 - 26.5)
Prolactin 19.1 ng/mL (4 - 15.2)
Estradiol 16.5 pg/mL (7.6 - 42.6)
Vitamin D 32.5 ng/mL (30 - 100)
Progesterone 0.7 ng/mL (0.2 - 1.4)
Of all the tests I had done, I didn’t expect Prolactin to be the one that was off. I’m just now researching what to do about this. Since tapering into 25ml shots EOD, I’ve started sleeping better and am not feeling quite as lethargic during the day but it probably hasn’t been enough time to tell regardless. My vitamin D is still on the low side so I’m going to bump up to 6000 iu of vit D a day (I’ve been at 3000). One final thought - I’d reported a couple days ago that my testicles no longer hurt - that changed yesterday and they continue to periodically ache (it’s a dull ache). I really wish I didn’t have to wait so long to see a doctor that isn’t still practicing stone-age medicine and will prescribe me HCG.
*EDIT - oh well, just reread the lab sticky… copious amounts of sex the night before the blood test so I suppose prolactin was useless.
temp below 98 deg is def sign of hypo; look up “wilson’s temperature syndrome” (not Wilson’s Disease, that’s something else) on the interwebz. He’s got a free e-book for patients, very informative about reverse T3. I’ve never had rt3 tested, but I found prescription T3 - w/o T4 - worked wonders for me.
(I’ve never done his insanely complicated protocol either, found a holistic MD who helped me.)
Also maybe look up Dr. Brownstein on iodine, I’ve been taking 12 mg for a yr and a half and doin fine.
