I completely understand you. Unfortunately, most people come here wanting others to validate that they need testosterone; that’s what they want to hear. I don’t believe that most people are actually concerned with finding the root cause of their problem. Seems like anyone with low test these days just jumps on 200mg of testosterone a week and are satisfied because they got what they wanted. Me personally, I’d rather find the root cause of my condition and fix it (if possible) before I stay on testosterone injections for the rest of my life.
As far as getting the buy-in on the Iodine, perhaps I was too harsh in my prior statement. I think there are a ton of people here who value your knowledge. The salt thing is just hard for people to wrap their head around. Like I said earlier, most people just want to hear “yeah, you need to be on Test.” I’m seeing more and more that so many people are using low T symptoms as an excuse to get prescribed testosterone. They don’t really want the fix, they want reassurance that they need testosterone. Think those that really want to try and fix their issues naturally, will be the ones that buy-in to the iodine theory. Myself, I want to research it more because it’s interesting, but I just don’t think it’s that easy.
You have multiple problems going on to be honest, TRT or not, you need to work on them. Low SHBG is assumed, makes it difficult to dial in TRT doses. TSH indicates hypothyroidism, FSH indicates primary hypogonadism or as Ksman suggested, possible signs of cancer should be ruled out. Triglycerides are way elevated. Prolactin also maybe causing some mood issues.
Need to work on Thyroid and possibly get on a very good exercise regime if low T+thyroid is not killing you already in your motivation and energy. Find a good doc for holistic care, TRT alone would likely not be a huge relief.
I am having more labs pulled tomorrow morning. Going to run a full lipid panel, including fT3 and fT4. Now that I have been back in the gym pretty hard core 4 days per week, I’m hoping that the cholesterol and triglycerides have dropped substantially. Blood pressure is still elevated (152/102 at yesterday’s office visit) so the Dr. prescribed me 10mg of Lisinopril to help with that.
I have been on 150mg/week of Cypionate for about 2 months now with no AI. I felt great the first 2-3 weeks but then the affects started to tapper off. Could be because of thyroid, or could be Estradiol. Having Estradiol checked tomorrow to see if I need to introduce Arimidex…which I’m guessing I will at my current weekly test dosage.
As far as the Prolactin, I don’t understand why the levels are so high when the MRI results came back negative for a tumor. My doctor has referred me to an Endo here in town so I’m going to take all of my lab results and MRI results to the Endo and see what he thinks.
I would agree with you Nashtide. I wanted to wait to get labs before I just introduced Arimidex. Got my Estradiol Ultra-Sensitive LC/MS/MS pulled today so we’ll see what it shows.
So I got my lab results back today. Drastically different than the last set of labs 2 months ago. These labs were done through Quest, whereas the last ones were done through LabCorp. I know the ranges are different but please take a look and see what you think. The doctor lowered my dosage from 150mg of Test per week down to 100mg because my levels were way too high. Estradiol is sky high but he wont give me Arimidex because he thinks lowering the dosage on the test will bring them down to normal. I said no way. Anyway, here are my labs:
TSH 2.77mIU/l
range: .40 - 4.50
This is much lower than it was 2 months ago at 4.26
fT4 1.1 ng/dL
range: .8 - 1.8
T3 TOTAL: (asked for free but they must have entered it wrong): 83 ng/dL
range: 76 - 181
Prolactin 10.8 ng/dL
range: 2.0 - 18.0
This is way down from where it was before I got the MRI done. Not sure why its lower all of a sudden.
Cholesterol, Total - 179
range: 125 - 200
HDL - 43
range: >40
Triglycerides - 121
range: <150
LDL - 112
range: <130
Non HDL Cholesterol - 136
Overall, these are all much lower than they were in my last labs.
Testosterone, Total - 1226 ng/dL
range: 250 - 1100
No surprise, your E2 is sky high and your HCT is high. All the result of too much T and no AI. Reducing your dose to 100mg will help right away with the HCT. The E2 WILL NOT come down to optimal levels just by reducing the T dose. It will come down slowly, but will still be way too high. If I were you, I’d either find a new doc or order some research liquidex.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say I need to find a new doctor. This guy listens to me and lets me make suggestions for treatment. His PA was the one who called me to discuss results. He had me on Arimidex a few years ago when I first got on TRT. I’m sure he would listen to me if I actually talked with him about the E2 levels. His PA is kind of a bitch and thinks she knows everything. The thing that sucks is that I’m back to feeling like shit. Not as bad as I was before TRT, but I can definitely fell the effectiveness wearing off. I’ll order some Liquidex if I can’t get him to agree to prescribing me Arimidex.
Why would you stay with and continue to pay a doctor who is not treating you correctly? Because he’s a good guy? You need adex, that’s not even up for debate! But, it’s your life, good luck…
So the doctor had me lower my dose to 100mg/week and will not prescribe Arimidex until after I get E2 levels re-checked. Wants me to wait 6 weeks (3 more weeks at this point) until I can get my E2 levels checked. I have lowered my dose but as you can see above in my last labs, my E2 level was sky high; not sure if that LC/MS/MS test is truly accurate though. They weren’t happy that my FT was over double the high end of the range. Bad news is I still feel like I did before I started TRT. I just can’t make myself get out of bed at 5:00 AM like is was before. I’m down to going to the gym maybe twice a week. I would just order the Arimidex online but I want to see where my E2 levels are at 100mg/week first so I can establish a good baseline for where it is.
KSman, my TSH dropped from 4.26 on May 26 to 2.77 in late June. While 2.77 is still a little elevated, it isn’t that bad…for now. I want to see if it continues to drop on its own on my next set of labs. Doctor obviously doesn’t see any issues with the level.
I haven’t done anything about Iodine.
Current body temps are low all day. Starts off in the upper 96’s and usually tops out around 98.2 in the afternoon before it declines again in the evening.
Yes, I’m currently injecting 1x per week. I don’t see the benefit of 2 x per week.
KSman, I hear you loud and clear, but I’m confused and trying to understand it more. If the T3 and T4 levels are low, the pituitary gland produces more TSH in order to stimulate the Thyroid gland to manufacture more T3 and T4, therefore increasing their blood levels. If that’s the case then with me, where my T3 and T4 levels are in the low range, that should trigger my pituitary to increase THS levels which should stimulate the Thyroid to increase the T3 and T4 level too, BUT I’m guessing because my Thyroid isn’t functioning properly, the pituitary is releasing more TSH but the Thyroid isn’t doing its part to increase the T3 and T4 levels?
Furthermore, if my TSH levels are elevated due to low T3 and T4, then we can assume that the hypothalamus is functioning correctly and producing TRH…which then tells the pituitary to stimulate the thyroid? So the hypothalamus is most likely functioning correctly?
I’m just trying to narrow down what might be causing the issue. Maybe I’m just not understanding the whole process.
Yes, the hypothalamus and pituitary can be assumed to be working normally.
The feedback system can sometimes lead to higher TSH and good T3, T4 output. But with guys we see hear, that is often not the case and may be generally true.
Try injecting twice a week and let your body indicate if better for you with steadier T levels. Your E2 production is changing too. Then your lab results would typically be highly affected by lab-injection timing. With changing levels, E2 management with anastrozole will be affected.
Just got my lab results back and finally got doctor to prescribe Anastrozole. I can’t get in to the Endo until the end of October so I’ll have to wait on the Thyroid piece. I was at 150mg Cypionate per week but the Doctor had me lower my dose down to 120mg per week because my Test levels were too high. They are still high so they want to lower my dosage even more. Not sure why my FT is so elevated compared to total. Anastrozole dosage will be 1mg per week.
36170 TESTOSTERONE,FR(DIALYSIS) AND
TOTAL(LC/MS/MS)
Total Testosterone: 838 ng/dL RANGE: 250-1100
Free Testosterone: 272.1 pg/mL RANGE: 35-155