Has Clomid F'd Me Up or Am I just Crazy?

Pharma TRT
1

Been a google creeper the last year or so on here, and finally saw an endocrinologist this past Friday, and I feel like im about to give up.

Im a 32 year old who was prescribed Clomid in April 2017 a year after a bad car accident had left my body unable to heal itself. A year of anti inflammatory meds, 2 painkillers, and a nerve pain med… in one year of that my testosterone was lower than my 66 year old fathers. Took me forever to get a Dr to even listen to me about it being an issue.

Flash forward a bit to the last 10 months… they have been some of the hardest in my life for me. From late May to about September 2017 I was on cloud 9. Had started going back to the gym, drinking like I did in college, partying in strip clubs, flirting with every girl I saw, and felt the best emotionally and physically in a long long time.

Then October rolls around. Anxiety starts going through the roof. Im getting super weak. Like unable to lift 30 pounds in the gym weak. Start getting injury after injury. By November, im back on 2mg of Lorazepam along with Gabapentin for anxiety. Then they add Remeron, then Lexapro, then Effexxor. It got to where I couldnt leave my apt it was so bad. By January I had been to the er 2 times for chest pains… thankfully thy werent heart related. Come late March I had lost 40 pounds from not eating. From December to May I was switched from 3 different stomach meds because I just couldnt eat. Like 4 pieces of toast and a few cups of greek yogurt were it for me a day. If I got 1000 calories in me a day it was a miracle. I couldnt eat anything processed. It would throw me into a hour or more long panic attack. Which would leave me hanging out in an er thinking im dying.

Flash forward to now… Stopped Clomid in late April… Im taking Gabapentin, Lorazepam, Propanol, Remeron, and still deal with chronic anxiety and random chest pains or phantom/chronic pains that seem to move around.The attacks happen out of nowhere. Could be on a beach relaxing and bam I get chest pains or a huge wave of impending doom… Im constantly sick, and when I try and go to the gym Its like im weaker and weaker. No matter how good I eat, or what supplements I may take.

Im hoping someone can shed some light. In this insanity. Could the Clomid have my hormones out of whack? Or is it really all mental… Cus thats all the Drs can keep saying. I know anxiety can cause alot of issues, but I never have had a bout like this, or for this long, and almost drug resistant…

Here are the last 3 bloosdworks Ive had …

January

TSH 2.360
T4,FREE

2

As long as you’re on these sedatives medications it will trash your hormone production, these drugs you’re on typically see hormone levels dropping. These drugs sedate the pituitary gland and cause hormone deficiencies and eventually can cause permanent damage. I was on Klonopin for 30 years (Tourette Syndrome) and it hammered my testosterone levels and when I finally decided to get off it was too late, the withdraw process is what did me in, testosterone plumited quickly down to almost zero to pituitary failure.

Nobody can tell much of anything given extremely limited bloodwork, this has got to be the least complete blood work I’ve even seen to date. TSH of 2.3 is far from optimal, a good thyroid doctor would suspect thyroid problems by this point, however if insurance is louzy he would then tell you you’re normal since insurance companies make it difficult to get treatment covered.

Young healthy men in their prime have TSH closer to 1.0, Free T3 midrange of better, Free T4 mid range, Reverse T3 below 15 ng/dL and zeroed out on antibodies tests.

3

Thanks for your reply. I accidentally hit something on my computer and it posted this before I could finish it… prior to October I wasnt on any mental health meds. Last ones I had taken were in 2014. I still had anxiety, but it was very manageable then. Now I get super sweaty, pale, cold, or super hot, shaky and feel like im going to puke, faint and then die when I get into anything remotely stressful.

Heres all my levels

January

TSH 2.360
T4 1.50

WBC 4.9
RBC 6.27 Which apparently is high
MCH 24.9 Low
MCHC 31.4 Low
CREATINE 221 A little high
B12 650
EGFR 93 High
Albumin/Globulin ratio 2.3 High

Aprils Bloodwork

They checked it differently this time

TEST 869
FREE 13.8
CORTISOL 18.9
LH 6.9
ACTH 18.7
ESTROGEN 168
PROLACTIN 7.6

July 6ths bloodwork - 3 months no clomid

TEST 537
FREE 79.9
LH 5.0
FSH 3.5
SBG 56
ESTRADIOL 23

While im happy my testosterone isnt super low, I still feel like shit. I have panic attacks just sitting in my apartment alone watching the office…

I dont have any drive, mentally or physically, I still get head rushes and feel like im going to faint almost every time I get up. Sex drive/libido is dead… and the one therapy I had at the gym for stress I cant attempt to do anymore. Im by no means a bodybuilder or even a fit 32 year old. But I did get to where I could deadlift and bench 80 pounds… which was a long way from being unable to lift a backpack with a laptop in 2016. Now 20 pounds or more and my body fails me. Theres no energy, or even peace of mind despite the meds.

And then I had a Dr scare me back in April when I visited the er. Saying that trt will kill me. That her husband was on clomid and had a stroke and dudes only 40… Idk how much thats related to clomid but still. Im hesitant to go back on, but damn do I miss what high testosterone did to me. It was the best high ive had. Minus the few angry outbursts id get from time to time lol

Do any of those levels seem off? My gp wanted me to see a endo cus he wasnt sure about all the levels, but the endo brushed everything off like its all good no need to worry. Atleast he said hed let me try anastrazole if I wanted…

Sorry for the long posts. But thanks for reading this.

4

Your levels seem fine tbh, from what I’ve seen is that clomid causes alot of emotional issues for guys. I’d advise you to use Nolvadex if you don’t want to jump on TRT just yet. Your estradiol is at 168 in the first test that’s VERY high. So if you were to use nolvadex and anastrozole, they would counteract each other and you’d have to up the dose for both. Have you tried looking into HCG monotherapy?

5

Where are the ranges and units of measure?

Levels aren’t fine, SHBG is binging up bioavailable testosterone, Free T is 8.02 ng/dL = 1.49 % and 2-3 percent is considered normal, men have trouble once they dip below 10.0 ng/dL.

What was SHBG before Clomid? High SHBG men don’t normal attempt Clomid since it will raise already high SHBG even higher binding up more and more bioavailable testosterone, so that when you stop Clomid SHBG will still be binding up the majority of your bioavailable testosterone.

6

Levels aren’t “fine”

SHBG is eating up all your free test.

Benzos will absolutely destroy your ability to function properly on TRT.

Benzos are the anti-TRT. Pain meds, sedatives. No good.

You need enough testosterone to compensate for high SHBG. Mine is a similar number.

7

For whatever reason the Drs I talk to dont want to use hcg. I feel like anytime I talk about clomid to them I might as well be asking for Tren or a real steroid. I knew I had low testosterone when I was 27, but the mid to high 200s was a ok number for most Drs until I get in a car wreck and all the meds “suuddenly” are the reason why test is so low… The only thing they told me to take was Dim. The endo I saw last week was fine with anastrozole though.

8

I had to do some digging but heres a ref from bloodwork in 2015 this was 2 years before clomid.
That was the last time anyone did bloodwork with shbg

When the Dr decided to treat me for low T my free test was 434 so not much higher and that was in April 2017.

2015 levels

|Testosterone|384 ng/dL 280 - 1070 ng/dL|
|Sex Hormone Binding Globulin|27 nmol/L 13 - 71 nmol/L|
|Testosterone Free|87 pg/mL 47 - 244 pg/mL|
|Testosterone Free|2.3 %| 1.6 - 2.9 %|

9

Could the endo have overlooked that? I brought in all my paper work and he just glanced and seconds later it was like why are you here this all looks fine… lol
It was very frustrating. Is there any way I can lower the shbg myself?

Well I try and keep the benzo and hydrocodone use to a bare minimum. Maybe once a week if that… Ive been addicted to benzos before and it was hell. So now when I do take them I try and wait at least 3 days to a week before my next dose and rarely do I take more than 1 mg in a day.

I figured they would lower it slightly, so thats why I tried to keep use to an emergency.

10

Benzos increase SHBG, that might be your trigger for elevated SHBG. Any medication that effects the liver will cause SHBG to increase.