Daviduartep TRT LOG

Pharma TRT
21

Your super low SHBG is going to be a big problem in regards to free estrogen which must be insane if you estrogen level is any indication. In your case when FT is high so to with free estrogen independent of regular estrogen. The lower the SHBG the high the free hormones.

You’re iodine deficient, iodine and selenium suggested.

Most doctors are good for one thing, drugs. If you want proper care you must get out of the sick care model and pay out of pocket. Invest in your health, what good are fancy cars and houses if your health is deplorable?

22

I have no idea what a good fE2 level would then be. Good point to explore!

Is this doctor selling those herbals? [red flag]

With low SHBG, FT is still FT and does not appear high.
TT=554 was not high. TT low because SHBG is low. Works according to theory! TT understates T status.

Low SHBG may be part of higher FT–>DHT.

With those body temps take one iodoral every other day for a few weeks then 6.5mg per week as maintenance dose. Watch body temperatures.

Selenium dose is good.

was e2=31 on anastrozole?
If so, new anastrozole dose = old dose X 31/22

With low SHBG, more of E2=22pg/ml will be active and free. So from that line of though, should low SHBG guys be at E2 lower than E2=22pg/ml. Simply not known. But need to point out that SHBG+E2 is not tightly bound and then the implications of low SHBG on E2 may not be an issue at all. Sorry for the shop talk, need to think out loud with systemlord on this…

I guess for now I am sticking to E2=22pg/ml without concern for a fE2 lab.

Glucose and A1C are indicating good insulin sensitivity and diabetes is not a concern.

Good resources at lef.com!

23

Thanks systemlord and KSman for your great advice!

Yeah, I am unlucky to be on the bottom of the SHBG range, sad there is no easy fix for this than to keep a close look at free hormones.

I agree, I trust doctors less and less. I only tested for T because my father had osteoporosis at 40 years, three different doctors just stuffed him with different kinds of calcium to no avail for over a decade. I decided to research for myself, and found low T was one of the causes. I asked him to test, it was 105. I asked him to go see a doctor, who prescribed T replacement (I know, the wrong protocol, but still), he was cured of osteoporosis within a short period of time. After that I’ve seen doctors make stupid mistakes so often that I trust them very little now.

He is not selling the herbals, he just prescribed them, I can get them anywhere. I don’t think he has ulterior motives, he just doesn’t know better.

My Iodoral arrived, just started it! I will keep a close look at the temps, and keep reporting them as weeks go by.

Apr 07, labs
T - 706 (175 - 781 ng/dL)
E2 - 31 (<47 pg/mL, min sensitivity of test is 20)
Free T - 24.33 (3.17 - 19.04 ng/dL)
SHBG - 10.3 (13.2 - 89.5 nmol/L)

Yes, E2 decreased after the second increase in anastrozole dose. It is 31 now, I will wait for one or two more labs to see if it stabilizes before another dose change. Currently on 1.75mg weekly in divided doses.

T values are back to normal, I guess the previous labs were just a point off the curve, or some of the injections weren’t absorbed for some reason (does that happen?).

Thanks again guys, I will keep you posted!

24

Today I am giving a two week update with some weird twists in estradiol and TSH.

Apr 14, labs
T - 743 (175 - 781 ng/dL)
E2 - 20 (<47 pg/mL, min sensitivity of test is 20)
Free T - 25.73 (3.17 - 19.04 ng/dL)
SHBG - 10.3 (13.2 - 89.5 nmol/)
Iodine - 77.1 (45 - 100 mcg/L)
TSH - 1.01 (0.58 - 5.33 microUI/mL)

Apr 21, labs
T - 760 (175 - 781 ng/dL)
E2 - 39 (<47 pg/mL, min sensitivity of test is 20)
Free T - 26.8 (3.17 - 19.04 ng/dL)
SHBG - 9.5 (13.2 - 89.5 nmol/)
Iodine - 49 (45 - 100 mcg/L)
TSH - 2.31 (0.58 - 5.33 microUI/mL)

Wild ride on E2 levels. I am using 1.75mg of Anastrazole weekly. If labs were either consistently higher or lower it would be easier to change dosage to adjust for it, but I can’t explain this wild up and down on E2 levels.

I suspect using Durateston (which is a mix of several testosterones) might be the culpruit, since a few of them have faster half lifes, but I’d expect T and FT levels to vary more if this was the reason, but both T and FT are very consistent, and I inject EOD, which lower even more the peaks. In any case I am still looking to change for cyp, but it still out of stock here in Brazil.

TSH levels dropped from my historical 1.5~1.8 to 1.0 after two weeks taking Iodoral. Iodine levels increased as expected, from 41 to 77. But on the second test, TSH is now at 2.31, which is way higher than my previous 10~ TSH tests since 2014. Is this normal? And on a side note, does TSH have any relationship with E2?

I will give an update later with temps data as well.

Thanks!

25

Apr 28, labs
T - 601 (175 - 781 ng/dL)
E2 - 33 (<47 pg/mL, min sensitivity of test is 20)
Free T - 20.35 (3.17 - 19.04 ng/dL)
SHBG - 10.4 (13.2 - 89.5 nmol/)
Iodine - 175 (45 - 100 mcg/L)
TSH - 2.75 (0.58 - 5.33 microUI/mL)
DHT - 926 (250 - 800 pg/mL)

Since one of my suspicions for high E2 was anastrazole low quality standards, I bought standard pharmacy pills (which are much more expensive), and I am using those now. If levels get steady, then that is likely the reason. Let’s wait for a few more tests and see.

I’ve read that it is normal for TSH to increase on a first moment after iodine suplementation, since the TSH is also responsible for capturing the iodine, or something like that.

I took DHT test again, and it is a bit above normal range, is that of concern?

Thanks!

26

Your low SHBG, you need to get E2 down to 20 pg/mL. Low SHBG men have more free hormones, high DHT is of no concern. These ranges are pure statistics taken by flaw humans, how they were obtained is a problem.

28

May 05, labs
T - 723 (175 - 781 ng/dL)
E2 - 20 (<47 pg/mL, min sensitivity of test is 20)
Free T - 25.09 (3.17 - 19.04 ng/dL)
SHBG - 10.1 (13.2 - 89.5 nmol/)
Iodine - 204 (45 - 100 mcg/L)
TSH - 2.0 (0.58 - 5.33 microUI/mL)
DHT - 537 (250 - 800 pg/mL)

E2 still on free ride, even though I started using big lab meds which are high quality. So I suspect it is durateston, luckly I managed to find a pharmacy with cyp, and I will start using cyp today, let’s see if levels finally stabilize.

Iodine labs takes 2 weeks, but I always edit previous posts with pending iodine. On Apr 28, iodine was 175 (45 - 100 mcg/L). @KSman you might be interested in this progression, not sure if other people also test for iodine serum levels.

@systemlord - Yeah, I am trying, but now it not an issue with dosage, I get both <20 and 40+ without change on dosage. I hope the change from durateston to cyp fix this. I agree, and look now, DHT is normal… That’s why I like to confirm diagnosis by doing the same test a few times, and my old doc even wanted to put me on finasteride…

@donezo - That is a great question! Haha, I got so focused on numbers I forgot the real issue.

Pros

  • Increase in lean mass even with no exercise after 45 days (+6lbs/3kg of muscle, -2lbs/1kg of fat)
  • Less water retention, I previously had to go to bathroom constantly (low E2 I guess)
  • Improved sleep quality
  • More energized during the day, before I used to be sleepy all days (that still happens, but less often)
  • More energy during workout/exercise
  • Reduced anxiety

Cons

  • No noticeable change in libido, libido is still very low (No ED though)
  • No noticeable change in facial hair
  • I get brain fog and feel sleepy some days (spike of E2?)
  • Reduction on HDL cholesterol, from 40+ to 25~30

I noticed some changes in cognition, but I can’t tell whether positive/negative, I need to analyse for some more time.

So far, the most frustrating of the expectations I had with TRT, was not increasing my libido at all.

29

Finasteride what a great idea if you want debilitating symptoms for life, they need to take that drug off the market Doctors have been unnecessary prescribing drugs causing more problems as a results. Drugs aren’t the answer to everything.

30

May 19, labs
T - 733 (175 - 781 ng/dL)
E2 - 53 (<47 pg/mL, min sensitivity of test is 20)
Free T - 23.96 (3.17 - 19.04 ng/dL)
SHBG - 13.1 (13.2 - 89.5 nmol/)
Iodine - 39.9 (45 - 100 mcg/L)
TSH - 1.85 (0.58 - 5.33 microUI/mL)
DHT - pending (250 - 800 pg/mL)

May 26, labs
T - 755 (175 - 781 ng/dL)
E2 - 25 (<47 pg/mL, min sensitivity of test is 20)
Free T - 24.43 (3.17 - 19.04 ng/dL)
SHBG - 13.8 (13.2 - 89.5 nmol/)
Iodine - pending (45 - 100 mcg/L)
TSH - 1.22 (0.58 - 5.33 microUI/mL)
T3 - 3.53 (2.7 - 4.54 pg/L)
T4 - 0.9 (0.54 - 1.24 ng/dL)

As always, E2 fluctuation, so better anastrozol pills didnt solve this. Luckly I finally got my hands on cypionate and started using on May 20. E2 on May 26 is much better already, but I need more data points to conclude it was indeed the cypionate that made the difference.

TSH has been decreasing steadily on past exams (2.75 → 2.0 → 1.85 → 1.22), so I guess iodine is making a difference. I will stop doing blood iodine tests because they don’t look like a good proxy for iodine in body. I tested T3 on January and it was 0.87, well bellow range, now it is 3.53.

I am also curious why this bump in SHBG, which is welcome, since I have low SHBG, I’ve read on the internet SHBG is related to thyroid hormones, and often used as indicator of poor thyroid health, and hypothyroidism decreases SHBG. So maybe the improvement on thyroid by using iodine is increasing SHBG.

My main concern now is libido and sexual pleasure, which had little or no change after TRT, does someone benefit from increasing T dosage? Maybe experiment 1.5x the current T dosage and see how it goes? I’ve read on this forum people feel better on different T levels, maybe I am one of those, do you think it worth a try?

@systemlord: Yes, after this and several other mistakes I’ve seen doctors doing, I don’t trust on doctors alone anymore, anything they prescribe or even suggest, I will try to read as much as I can before following along. Gladly I didn’t take that hellish pill…

Thanks!

31

More T will not work, in fact it will make things worse for you. What this might mean is low testosterone wasn’t the original cause for low libido, there are so many other things that could affect libido. Medications, poor sleep, depression to name a few.

I think you need to give it more time and stop adjusting test dosage, you need to remain with good levels for several months in order for your body to heal. Keep making changes and it will never happen.