I am not on TRT, however, I figured this would be the best source to get the appropriate help because I face a lot of symptoms a lot of people get while on TRT.
In December, I had blood work drawn for the following symptoms:
Low Libido
Weak Erections ( takes alot to get me going )
NO morning wood…ever
Low Energy Levels
Increased Bodyfat ( lean in arms & legs, store a lot in my gut )
Difficulty Losing Weight
This has been an ONGOING issue. In the past, about 2 years ago, I was full of energy, random boners all day, sex constantly on my mind, muscle gains came easy, lost fat easy, slept like a baby etc. I had gyno surgery removed about 3 1/2 years ago, puberty induced, however I always felt fine. Out of the blue, all of those symptoms had showed up and NEVER gone away. I’m currently 20 years old and sure as hell don’t feel like I’m 20. I’ve never touched any drugs or anything of the nature.
Here were my blood results (december 2016)
Total Test : 861 ng/dL : Range ( 250 - 1100 )
Free Test : 174.8 pg/mL : Range ( 35.00 - 155.0 )
TSH : 2.41 mIU/L : Range ( .40 - 4.50 )
T4 : 1.3 ng/dL : Range ( .8 - 1.4 )
My doctor refused to test e2 (asked many times to test it for me)
I have liquidex on hand if needed. I’m going through an online service to get my e2 tested. I understand it’s hard to tell, but are the odds that my e2 is high? Or is there a chance it’s too low naturally? Is there any other tests that I should order? Thanks in advance.
Your story reads a lot like mine except my test is a little higher and I’m 23 now.
It is very likely that you have high E2 with the symptoms you listed. It can feel exactly like hypogonadism. My E2 levels were around 55-80pg/ml on the few tests I’ve had.
Of course no one can tell you without labs. But the things that really stand out for me is the difficulty losing weight, fat in the midsection… weak erections a lot to get you going. All sounds 100% the same. Do you know what your body fat is? My docs refused to do it to, then they told me that 78pg/ml was normal.
Arimidex isn’t all fun and games though, for a natty user it’s bloody hard to get dosing right and obtain constistent E2 levels. I’m an over responder and the tiniest bit of Arimidex crushes my E2. I’m considering stopping and trying zinc + calcium D glucarate but I don’t know.
We can’t really say much else right now until you get further tests. Also your TSH is a little high (bout the same as mine), you should read the thyroid sticky.
It’s hard to say exactly. With a shirt on, just seeing my arms, anyone would easily say 12-13%. Looking at my gut, 15-16%. I’ve tried zinc for awhile(at least a month) and seen no results. It’s strange though because my joints are constantly popping throughout the day. Not sure if that would related to “low e2” or not. What concerns me is if I had gyno in the past, which is from I know is caused by elevated e2, how come I never had any libido or erection issues then? I was popping stiffies 30 times a day at random times.
Hey sorry to hear about your situation. First I would definitely try to get your e2 levels checked before you did anything drastic to mess with your hormones. If your doctor won’t do it ask them if they can refer you to an endocrinologist or another doctor who will. And as an urgency point, explain to them that you had gyno surgery years ago, but however that you are experiencing the same physical symptoms as you were before the surgery, whether this is true or not it can help explain your concern for your health which idk why the fuck a doctor wouldn’t check your e2 levels if it’s causing these health risks. There’s also places online you can check out to get blood work done for around $100 so hopefully someone can reply with a link on this thread.
Second, couple questions, has your blood pressure increase while you have been experiencing these symptoms? High e2 can cause an increase in blood pressure. Do you drink plenty of water throughout the day? High e2 can cause water retention and can make you feel dehydrated and bloated, so increase in water intake can help. Do you have chest fat or does it feel more like a pocket of water? To figure this try to pinch your chest in different locations using only your pinky and index finger. If you are finding it difficult to grasp on to the “fat” than it is most likely water rentention instead of fat. Another question, how much sodium and potassium do you take in? If your sodium to potassium ratio is extremely disproportionate, like way high sodium every day and very little potassium, this can further exastrobate the water retention (if you have water retention) because sodium saturated the muscles and body with water. Sodium is needed but not too much.
Okay so say you can’t get your e2 levels checked and you’re looking at different ways to lower your estrogen. First off, I’m sorry you already bought the liquidex but in my opinion, it has much more health risks than benefits. Liquidex (arimidex) is better at keeping estrogen from growing than it is for depleting estrogen, imo. Your better option would be liquidaro (aromasin) because it is a suicide inhibitor meaning that it depletes estrogen levels and in my experience, the side effects are nearly as bad as liquidex.
But all in all you’re going to want to get your doctor to check your levels so that they can provide you a treatment plan that has pharma grade aromotase inhibitors and hopefully your insurance can cover it. But I wouldn’t worry too much man, it’s more manageable to reduce estrogen levels than it is to increase T levels. Hope this helps!
Ohh and if you do decide on liquidex be careful with the dosing. Start with 0.25ml EOD for a week or so and see how you feel and if no better then go up to 0.5ml for a few weeks and so on and so forth. But Liquidex dosing is nothing to fool around with so extra caution is necessary.
But if you get the liquidaro, start with 1ml ED and see if it’s helping and if so, get to a point where you are comfortable with the improvements and go to 1mlEOD. And then gradually work your way down in increments of 0.25ml to where you feel back to normal.
Thanks for the reply. I actually just ordered blood work through an online service. I’m testing my e2 sensitive & shbg. It’s hard to say about my chest. I’m lean in my legs, shoulders, arms (veiny and barlely grab any fat), but my chest is small, but really have no definition to it. So in a sense, compared to my arms shoulders, it looks fatty yes. I’m hoping these bloods DO show high estrogen so I can at least put my mind to ease and know what the underlying problem is. That’s what is bothering me the most is having no idea whats going on…especially since this has been such a long term thing. It’s absolutely ruining the years I’m supposed to be enjoying.
Yeah man that’s rough, but worrying about it is gonna make those libido problems worse. So I’d just relax, you’re taking the right steps to find a solution but until then, don’t worry about it too much because you’re going to find out answers soon enough. Good luck to you!
I will check my oral temperature tomorrow morning. I take this immediately upon waking correct? Also, I’m going to get blood work done very soon with e2 & shbg. I’ve had my total and free tested 3 different occasions and each time my total was in the mid 800s and my free was above upper range so I figured I could save a few bucks by not testing that again.