Help Me Plan My Strategy

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

Hey guys, I need your help!

Over the course of the past year I’ve found myself becoming more anxious, more depressed, more mood-swingy, and generally just more worn out. Worse than that, it’s become harder and harder to simply feel aggressive and assertive.

Basically, the classic symptoms of low T.

So I got a blood panel done. I didn’t go through my doctor because I don’t have insurance at the moment (quit my job to start a business, which, yes, is a HUGE stress factor, but that’s all the more reason I need all the aggressiveness I can get.)

Results (LabCorp):

Testosterone, Serum 319 (249-836)
LH, Serum 2.1 (1.7-8.6)
FSH, Serum 2.7 (1.5-12.4)
Estradiol 33 (7.6-42.6)

About me:
Age: 32
Height: 6’1
Weight: 210

I’ve always had low body/facial hair, feminine fat distribution, etc., so I can’t say I’m surprised by the results. But I didn’t expect it to be THAT low!

Well, I want to do something about it. Armed with these results, I do plan to visit a doctor. But I don’t want to go in blind. I need help formulating a basic plan of attack! Does anything jump out at you guys? Estradiol looks sky high. Could reducing that alone alleviate some of my symptoms? I know LH and FSH play a role, but I don’t know how to interpret my numbers (other than they are low).

Can anybody give me some guidance?

Thanks!

2

Word to the wise: Do not say that your E2 is sky high to a doctor…we agree with you that it is too high, but there are very few doctors who will look at that 33 E2 level and think that is the cause of your problems.

Your issues appear to be in the pituitary as your LH/FSH output is very low. You can talk to your doctor about using a SERM (clomid/nolvadex) to increase pituitary output, which should help increase your T.

Lowering E2 would also help, but it truthfully is probably not high enough to be blocking your production (but you are Estrogen dominant given your low T levels, I’m just saying I don’t think its from the actual estrogen)…

Focus on SYMPTOMS and not labwork…low/no libido, erection diffiuclt, no assertiveness…I would probably not focus so much on the “feeling tired” aspect as that could lead to a misdiagnosis of depression…

Other tests you need:
-Thyroid Panel
-Cortisol (8 am or 4x saliva, saliva preferred)

3

I actually just received my Lab results back from (LabCORP) today. I thought the test was going to be a little more comprehensive then the results I received back. I was doing this for more of a baseline to gauge my heatlh as I age. What test did you actually get from Lab Corp? This is more of a bare bones blook panel for first time results. My numbers are as follows. No Lh, FSH, or estrodial was actually tested.

Testosterone, Serum 999 (249-836)
Free Test (Direct) 13.5 (9.3-26.5)

About me:
Age: 27
Height: 6’4
Weight: 210

4

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Word to the wise: Do not say that your E2 is sky high to a doctor…we agree with you that it is too high, but there are very few doctors who will look at that 33 E2 level and think that is the cause of your problems.

Your issues appear to be in the pituitary as your LH/FSH output is very low. You can talk to your doctor about using a SERM (clomid/nolvadex) to increase pituitary output, which should help increase your T.

Lowering E2 would also help, but it truthfully is probably not high enough to be blocking your production (but you are Estrogen dominant given your low T levels, I’m just saying I don’t think its from the actual estrogen)…

Focus on SYMPTOMS and not labwork…low/no libido, erection diffiuclt, no assertiveness…I would probably not focus so much on the “feeling tired” aspect as that could lead to a misdiagnosis of depression…

Other tests you need:
-Thyroid Panel
-Cortisol (8 am or 4x saliva, saliva preferred)

[/quote]

Thanks for the heads up about the E2. I’m with you on focusing on the symptoms – problem is, anxiety is one of the main problems I’m having. The other is lack of aggression. And you know how trigger-happy docs are about prescribing anti-whatevers. (Due to having personally seen several lives severely messed up due to anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, I am extremely hesitant to get on one of those)

But I’ll try to convince him that it’s T-related.

And I will DEFINITELY be checking with him about any pituitary abnormalities. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction there.

Good news is, libido hasn’t suffered, and to my surprise, I’m stronger now at 32 than…ever. So I don’t have it THAT bad. But a little more T can’t hurt…

5

[quote]mks0129 wrote:
I actually just received my Lab results back from (LabCORP) today. I thought the test was going to be a little more comprehensive then the results I received back. I was doing this for more of a baseline to gauge my heatlh as I age. What test did you actually get from Lab Corp? This is more of a bare bones blook panel for first time results. My numbers are as follows. No Lh, FSH, or estrodial was actually tested.

Testosterone, Serum 999 (249-836)
Free Test (Direct) 13.5 (9.3-26.5)

About me:
Age: 27
Height: 6’4
Weight: 210 [/quote]

I ordered my test through privatemdlabs.com. For 50 bucks you can get a “Hormone Panel for Females”. Don’t let the name fool you, when order the test, you provide your sex, and then the tests are normalized for male ranges. It tests for T, LH, FSH, E2, and some general blood stuff.

There’s also a “Hormone Panel for Males”, but it’s $170, although it does test for a lot more things (like thyroid).