I just sent you an email too Doc. @physioLojik
Hey I recently ran dbol test cycle for 10 weeks. I had arimidex on hand but did not use it because I did not get any sides. Around week 8 I did get back and chest acne and still have it but not as bad in week 3 of pct. Got My blood test after my last shot of test and my estrogen was high(108) Could that have caused my acne. Thanks in advance for any help.
Anecdotally, high E causes Bacne. Iām not sure how it works, but thatās what Iāve heard.
Hi @physioLojik
I am a 45 male and have been on TRT (testim gel 50/Day) for about 3 months. i have just done may labs in order to optimise my TRT protocol. here are my results:
TT: 11.40 ug/L (2.49-8.36)
FT: 15.40 pg/mL (4.6-19.4)
E2: 13.3 ng/L (15.5-63.3)
TSH: 4.8 mUI/L (0.4-4.2)
FT4: 1.1 ng/dL (0.7-1.8)
FT3: 2.9 ng/L (2.1-4.4)
RT3: 0.09 ug/L (0.09-0.35)
I am bit puzzled of my super high TSH value of 4.8. previously the value was 4.0 and therefore i did IR (as recommended by the T Replacement forum stickies). I did 37.5 mg / day for 3 weeks with 50 mg of selenium. I am now doing Iodine of 2 x 3 mg / week with 50 mg of selenium /day. How is it that my TSH went higher instead of going down?
I am feeling better, but the honeymoon is over. Some days i am quite depressed.
Assuming i need thyroid medicaton, what protocol do you recommend? levothyroxine (T4)?,Liothyronine (T3)? both or individually? at what dosages?
many thanks
Can you quote where in the stickie the ir is? It should be deleted. @Chris_Colucci
It is my understanding that hypothyroidism is usually NOT caused by iodine deficiency esp in the US.
Also if you are taking excessive amount of iodine , which you are, your TSH will increase temporarily until you stop. I would retake thyroid labs after a few weeks after you stop The iodine
I suggest if you need treatment get dessicated thyroid like armour thyroid that contains both t3 and t4.
It is true that iodine deficiency can cause hypothyroidism. But iodine deficiency is rare in the United States and other developed countries since the addition of iodine to salt (iodized salt) and other foods.
If iodine deficiency isnāt the cause of hypothyroidism, then iodine supplements provide no benefit and should not be used.
In fact, for some people with abnormal thyroid glands, too much iodine can cause or worsen hypothyroidism.
yes, the notion of supplementing with iodine in all individuals regardless of whether an individual has an iodine deficiency or not is retarded.
If so much of the population was iodine deficient, weād all be walking around with
necks looking like this (phat goitres)
Love the visual. 
neck gainz!
I started TRT about 7 months ago. I was very inconsistent - sometimes cream, sometimes injection, sometimes Cypionate, sometimes Enthnate, Sustanon and sometimes single dose, sometimes double and some weeks skip dosage and so on.
Mainly because I had been traveling and different countriesās doctor had different stuff etc.
Anyway, past 6 weeks, Iāve been very consistent:
- 50mg Testosterone Cypionate twice a week (100mg total)
- 250 IU HCG twice a week, same time as T injection (500 IU total)
- No AI/Arimidex whatsoever
and Iāve completely lost my erections. I can manage to get hard but maybe 70% hard and even that I cant maintain it for than a minute. Cialis 5mg used to work wonders for me but even 25mg Cialis doesnt do anything anymore.
Note: Iām also on Thyroid medicine (Levothryoxine), Cholesterol medicine (Crestor) and Prediabates medicine (Metformin) - all from about 6 months ago.
After 6 weeks of consistent TRT, here are my results. Please help fix my ED!!
| LH | 1.5 -9.3 mIU/ml | 0.5 |
|---|---|---|
| FSH | 1.6 - 8.0 mIU/ml | <0.7 |
| SHBG | 10-50 nmol/L | 11 |
| Free Testosterone | 35.0-155.0 pg/ML | 283.1 |
| Total Testosterone | 250-1100 ng/dl | 997 |
| Estradiol E2,LCMS Ultrasensitive | < = 29 pg/ml | 66 |
| Total Estrogen | 60-190 pg/mL | 298.4 |
| Prolactin | 2.0-18.0 ng/ml | 17.7 |
| DHT | 16-79 ng/dl | 35 |
| DHEA Sulfate | 106 - 464 mcg/DL | 596 |
| IGF-1, LC/MS | 53 - 331 ng/ML | 190 |
| FT3 Free T3 | 2.3 - 4.2 pg/ML | 3.3 |
| FT4 Free T4 | 0.8 - 1.8 ng/DL | 1.2 |
| TSH | 0.4 - 4.5 mIU/L | 1.0 |
| Reverse T3 rT3, LC/MS | 8-25 ng/DL | 16 |
| PSA, % FREE | >25% | 31% |
| PSA, FREE | unknown range | 0.5 |
| PSA Total | <OR=4.0 ng/ml | 1.6 |
| Ferritin | 20-345 ng/ml | 49 |
| Hematocrit | 38.5-50% | 48.90% |
| CHOL/HDLC RATIO | <5.0 (calc) | 3.9 |
| Cholestrol TOTAL | < 200 mg/dl | 196 |
| LDL/HDL ratio | 2.5 | |
| HDL cholestrol | > 40 mg/DL | 50 |
| LDL cholestrol | < 100 optimal | 124 |
| Non HDL Cholestrol | < 130 mg/DL | 146 |
| TRIGLYCERIDES | < 150 mg/dl | 114 |
Any help would be appreciated!
*Labs were done 2 days after injection and about a 1.5 day before my next injection.
@hicreatine I answered your email bro. 
@charlie12 more of this crap haha. And yes @unreal24278 all of the goiter lol.
1 Like
How would you approach the above?
Individual assessment. Almost certainly neurotransmitter related. Small tweaks needed to his protocol and then additions of supplements that support individual neurotransmitters. Works pretty well 
So what would you be looking at on his blood test to show you that itās neurotransmitter related? Or is it just prior experience on cases similar to this one?
A combo of comments that heās made directly to me covering what heās done previously and my experience with patients.
Thereās still a ton of talk on the TRT forum about SHBG being used as a sole indicator to dictate how an individualās TRT protocol should be dosed + frequency of injections + everyone on there assuming their issues with fatigue and/or low libido is E2 related.
Unfortunately some of the advice being given is likely to cause a bit of harm (for instance ED shots causing a ton of scar tissue to build up over time).
ED shots of cycle of prop/TNE/ other short esters (acetate etc) makes sense for short durations of time. ED shots of test for TRT foreverā¦ Thatās gonna cause a nice build up of scar tissue over the yearsā¦
I had an individual argue with me about pharmacokinetics of esterified testosterone being irrelevant 
apparently science doesnāt matter anymore.
I know your a busy man but are you able to elaborate on signs that would point you to this? It would help myself and probably 95% of this forum to understand this aspect of AAS use.
Hey man. Itās super individual and requires a lot of communication back and forth to get to the actual breakdowns of what Iād use per patient. Itās why emailing is much easier.
@unreal24278 I just had a conversation with Eric Serrano about this yesterday haha. If anyone on here knows him he can get pretty fiesty - we said that shbg dosage shit is the single biggest bs move in hormone replacement right now. Guys donāt seem to understand how quickly shbg changes and it truly has nothing to do with how your body aromas and eliminates testosterone - thatās hepatic and genetic.
@unreal24278 their argument is lower dosages give them lower rates of aroma so they think itās helpful to them. At the end of the day if someone wants to stick themselves Ed (Iāve done it with prop) thatās their business. But telling people itās required with shbg being low is blatant horseshit
Libido is a function of serotonin and dopamine among other factors - estrogen is required for serotonin and nitric oxide production etc. libido is dramatically more complicated than e2 numbers and shbg. If it were that easy why are guys in my practice having e2 over 100 with raging libido and then guys with e2 in the 30s feeling like trash? People donāt bother to ask themselves about life stress, sleep, diet, toxins, drugs, etc. these are basic things
The majority of the issues with libido are mental and neurological based.
1 Like
@physioLojik would estrogen being required for serotonin mean that higher levels (of E2) be beneficial for depression?
On that line, I saw a study the other day that 500 mg per week of testosterone is very effective for treating depression. Unfortunately I donāt think that my doctor would go with that one!
1 Like