Hello everybody, thanks for reading. I can usually find what I’m looking for in the forums and don’t need to post but I’m having trouble with this one (now that I’ve written it out it seems obvious but still would like opinions). I did see a recent post about supplementing estrogen valerate that’s really interesting but would rather adjust my protocol if that works.
For the past year + I’ve had random pains which I just shrug off. It got serious around 4 months ago when I started having consistent horrible low back pain with sciatic type sensation through my right leg. I’ve tried everything; Chiro, acupuncture, pt, massage… I do have an mri scheduled and know that my L5/S1 space is nonexistent (probably been this way for a long time without symptoms) which obviously explains current symptoms even if they just now decided to show themselves. I’ve also been getting random joint pain in different locations and tightness in chest when trying to get a full breath.
I’ve been on trt for 14 years and I don’t mess with my protocol much which is currently 50mg cyp every 4 days. Years ago it was higher but I wanted to take the smallest amount in order to not raise estrogen because years ago it seemed like keeping estrogen low was the number one priority. Doesn’t seem like that’s the case anymore (this is probably the answer to my own question). In the beginning I took very small doses of an ai and I was definitely a hyper responder with bad joint pain. I also took hcg for maybe 6 months. My e2 back then was between 25-40. A few years ago I tried going subq but didn’t feel like I got the same effect.
Other symptoms beside pain;
Brain fog
Fatigue
Can’t say I’ve noticed sexual issues except maybe less powerful orgasms but I’ve been so focused on the pain that that’s all I’ve thought about.
Some labs for reference: (I know ultra sensitive is preferred but didn’t specifically request it most of the time)
3/19/24
Total 1005
Free 16.9
Estra 14.7
Estra Sensitive 16.9
6/20/24
Total 611
Free 10.7
DHEA 67 ng/dl
Estra 18.2
9/3/24
Total 735
Free 13.7
Estra 8.4
SHBG 42.3
I guess as I write this it looks obvious, raise dose and/or space out injections. Thinking if I go from 50 mg e4d to maybe 100 or 120 mg e6d that that might allow me to aromatase more and raise my e2? And I’d definitely welcome less jabs. Just get worried to change something that’s worked for me for so long even though my numbers show less effective test numbers from the same dose. I never thought I’d say this but I think I would definitely benefit from raising e2.
List any supplements you might be taking as well. Supplements that for sure lower E2, from literature and from personal experience… Melatonin, Vitamin D, Chamomile tea…
Thank you, I did look up e2 lowering supplements real quick before posting but the only ones that I could find were dim, calcium d glucarate, resveratrol etc. I do take a couple you mentioned.
Supplements I’ve taken for years everyday:
Thorne multi (half dose)
Zinc 15mg
CoQ10 100mg
Flameout fish oil (2)
Magnesium bisglycinate 200mg
D3 125mcg
Whey Protein
Starting back up with creatine
Started CurcuBrain 400mg a few weeks ago in the hopes it would lessen my joint pain.
Started drinking Sleepy Time tea (includes chamomile) maybe 6 months ago because my gf drinks it every night.
Consider dhea and pregnelone to backfill your neuro steroids and consider hcg 3 x per week at 250 to 500 iu on your non test dosing days. The first two may get you there on their own.
Thank you for the reply. I did look into pregnenolone and dhea years ago for optimization reasons but ultimately decided not to add more things. I’ll have to look into it deeper again but it makes sense that it would have an effect on e2. Hcg too since it raised e2 way back when I first started.
I have a long list of stuff that affected mine. The only one i ever knew 100% through labs though was Vitamin D. All the other stuff, i felt the familiar “joint pain/cracking” Dry skin and crappy/sleepy mood that came along with lowered e2… One was Curcumin/Tumeric, and what you also posted which was Chamomile.
Any changes in your test if your with an Rx provider did the switch and the test possibly have a mix of an AI blended into it? They do have that out there. You sound like you’d know if that was the case but who knows maybe a fuck up by the pharma and you’ve got AI in your test. Do you have another vial or able to acquire a different brand and…uhum pardon the pun, test?
Yeah it’s a Rx and I went through my vials because they’ll change brands on me sometimes but everything I have does not contain an ai. For now started dhea 10 mg, since my dhea results are low already, might up to 25mg and will get pregnenalone and dht tested before starting preg. Hopefully in the next 2 weeks. Then start preg. Other than that just upped my test cyp a bit to see if that does the trick. Thinking about giving high dosed compounded cream (200mg) on the testicles a shot. Been reading a lot of success lately with that and since I’m changing stuff up might give it a go. If nothing else it’s good to get back into a little hormonal research since I’ve been cruising for so long. Thanks
