Your DHEA was low. Assume that 25mg DHEA started after that lab result.
Middle ground FT, high LH/FSH. This suggested that testes not working well and hypothalamus and pituitary are making a valiant effort. Perhaps with DHEA supplement, DHEA–>T will improve inside the testes if process was rate limited by low DHEA.
DHEA status was unknown, do not test DHEA directly, test DHEA-S which is also cheaper. DHEA changes a lot over time and a single lab result is not your status. DHEA-S levels are quite steady.
DHEA is hydrophobic and hard to absorb. Do not take with high fiber foods, oats would be the worst. Take with higher fat meals. Ditto for Vit-D3, fish/krill oils etc.
See below to eval overall thyroid function via oral body temperatures and note that temperatures at two different times of day are needed.
In the thyroid basics sticky, note references to:
rT3
stress
starvation diets
infections acute and chronic
adrenal fatigue
Wilson’s book
AM cortisol is OK as and adrenal hormone, adrenal hormone DHEA was not.
Are you taking any medications? Cholesterol drugs?
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
- 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.
KSman is simply a regular member on this site. Nothing more other than highly active.
I can be a bit abrupt in my replies and recommendations. I have a lot of ground to cover as this forum has become much more active in the last two years. I can’t follow threads that go deep over time. You need to respond to all of my points and requests as soon as possible before you fall off of my radar. The worse problems are guys who ignore issues re thyroid, body temperatures, history of iodized salt. Please do not piss people off saying that lab results are normal, we need lab number and ranges.
The value that you get out of this process and forum depends on your effort and performance. The bulk of your learning is reading/studying the suggested stickies.