Hi guys, I have browsed these forums a bit recently and decided to join. I am a Low SHBG guy and honestly, it’s taken me about 15 years of still trying to figure my issues out. I have made a little progress, but I’m not there yet.
I’ll give a short outline of the symptoms I will detail here:
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Hair loss - bald head, I am losing my beard hair now too.
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Gyno at puberty - surgically removed
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Feeling tired all the time, depressed
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Very minor benefit from TRT. Never saw any results on legitimate steroid cycles
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Subclinical hypothyroid symptoms that don’t respond to thyroid treatment - thyroid utilization issue
At puberty (before working out), I was overweight and developed gyno. I had a very soft, bloated physique. Around 18 or 19 years old (3 years after starting to workout), I had bulked up to about 235 pounds (though I was fat too) and I started to lose my hair. I had gone completely bald by about 23 or so. These seem to be common symptoms among the low SHBG crowd.
I am 31 years old, been lifting since I was 15. I have two personal training certifications and with 16 years of experience, obviously, I know a thing or two about lifting. From a young age, I can tell that I had issues progressing much more slowly than a lot of my peers. Today I am in decent shape, but honestly, I look a lot better on the outside than I feel on the inside. I’m 5’11, at about 220 pounds with probably 12-14% bodyfat. I get a lot of compliments at the gym, but honestly I just tell them that after lifting for 16 years with no breaks…it’s really not a big deal where I’m at (I truly believe this).
About a year ago I got on TRT, in the beginning, I felt a little better and I put on some lean muscle. Eventually, I just started to feel like my old self again. Tired all the time, depressed, frustrated, etc. I feel like I should be getting a lot more out of the T, and that’s my main issue for searching for an answer.
TRT was not my first experience with anabolics. I tried using steroids when I was younger and never got any results whatsoever. Legitimacy isn’t an issue, as I had even converted my own Fina back in the day and followed the steps to a T. I had even tried otc Superdrol without any results! I mean, if you don’t feel anything from that…what would actually elicit a response?
I searched all over the Internet trying to find answers for why I wasn’t responding to steroids, including joining a couple forums that flamed me viciously for making those claims (back then the research or discussion was nonexistent - so these people thought I was full of shit…it was their ignorance after all).
Today, while doing extensive testing while on TRT - at least I have some answers. It seems like when my Estrogen is high - my SHBG tanks. According to my research, this contradicts most of the studies that show that SHBG is positively correlated with E2. According to most sources - the higher your E2, the higher your estrogen will be.
Also, I started taking natural desiccated thyroid. I have subclinical hypothyroid, and this was my attempt to fix Hypothyroid symptoms and raise SHBG…as thyroid and E2 are known to stimulate the production of SHBG also.
I figured I found my cure, unfortunately, I was wrong. I feel no difference on thyroid medications…and my Free T3 levels double the top of the range. In other words, I have a very high free t3 yet still hypothyroid. While I haven’t tested TBG, thyroid binding globulin, I suspect that it is low.
Consider this - I am well-aware that sex-hormone binding globulin has been grossly underestimated in its effects. The traditional thought is that it binds to testosterone and deactivates it. More recent studies have proven that it transports testosterone into cells and helps activate it. There are also studies that show that when a person has very low SHBG, their bodies deactivate and metabolize testosterone much more quickly - this leads to low SHBG guys having a lower total T level than other men on the same dose of testosterone. I myself take 200mgs of Test Cyp a week, yet I could never break a level of 1000.
Given that SHBG has so much to do with the transport and activation of testosterone, wouldn’t TBG, another protein created by the liver, have similar effects with T3? Consider this, my total T3 level is not very high, but my free T3 level is off the charts. My body is handling testosterone similarly. Which leads me to believe that my TBG level is low and my body is mishandling the thyroid medication as well. It seems like these very high ‘free’ levels are seen as an attack on the body and dealt with swiftly by deactivating the hormones. I don’t respond to testosterone (or any steroids) and I don’t respond to thyroid hormones.
My next avenue is to start focusing on my liver. Both sex-hormone binding globulin and thyroid binding globulin are proteins created by the liver. I’ve seen some research that states that excess estrogen (last time I checked mine was at 96 with a range of 10-50) can contribute to liver disease. I had an ultrasound done on my liver about a year and a half ago and the doctor said I have a mild fatty liver going on. I don’t drink alcohol, but I do consume a lot of diet soda. The doctor recommended that I cut that out. I’ll be honest, I cut out diet soda for a while and didn’t feel different so I said screw it and went back to it.
I do want to learn more about liver function and SHBG, TBG production though. It seems like some people have had luck with liver restoration products? Can anyone comment on this? Can the low SHBG guys chime in on this? My goal is no different than anyone else, I just want to look good, feel good, and get results from steroids. I want to have the energy that a 31-year-old male should have.
Bloodwork:
