High Test, Normal E2

Hey gang,

Before I start, I don’t post a lot as I don’t have a ton to contribute but I wanted to thank everyone for the mass amount of information that I have learned for myself and the basics that I have passed along to my fellow testosterone-limited friends.

That being said, I could use some advice!

I have been on TRT ( cypionate injections, 200 mg/1cc once per week) for about a year now (previous testosterone score around 250). My energy levels have come way up and are still up and my ability to workout, train, and athletically perform are much higher than before. I have trimmed down considerably over the last year, 205 lbs down to about 187lbs, and I have reached about an 11-12% body fat. I exercise between 3-5 days a week, mostly MMA and cross fit and have really paid close attention to what I eat.

My original reason for the TRT was lack of energy and libido. I have a very attractive, young wife with a high sex drive and about a year ago I found myself not being interested like my normal once a day minimum self. I had also noticed that I no longer had any morning erections which was also slightly abnormal. Once I started the injections, EVERYTHING returned to my previous self and I no longer had any of the above symptoms for about a year.

A year later, I am still good on energy, my libido is at about 70% I would say but my morning erections are completely gone again :frowning: I have no problem getting “it up” but it does take more concentration that I am used to. What happened? My labs, which I will list below, seem fairly normal other than the higher levels of Hemoglobin and Hematocrit which leads me into my next question. I had my labs done about 6 weeks ago and then received my shot and I felt “incredible!” This faded about a week or so later but I was wondering if this had anything to do with my blood being thinned out a bit from the lab draw.

Any info/advice would definitely be appreciated! I would love to know how to get my morning wood/full libido back and any other suggestions along the way! Thanks guys!

Age 34 y/o
Height 5’11
Weight 187

46" chest
33" waist
Muscular Build

Medium facial hair, little to no body hair

Body fat 10-12%, when heavier, carry fat in love handles, thighs mostly

Normal diet, moderate exercise, and only allergy is iodine.

Only health notable health issues are minor varocosile and had a vasectomy approx. 7 years ago.

Labs as off 2/11/2013 - taken 7 days after normal shot of testosterone

GLUCOSE - 87 MG/DL RANGE 65-100

BUN - 14 MG/DL RANGE 8-25

CREATININE - 1.0 MG/DL RANGE 0.8-1.4

CALCULATED BUN/CREAT - 14 RANGE 6-28

SODIUM - 141 MEQ/L RANGE 133-146

POTASSIUM - 5.1 MEQ/L RANGE 3.5-5.3

CHLORIDE - 105 MEQ/L RANGE 97-110

CARBON DIOXIDE - 25 MEQ/L RANGE 18-30

CALCIUM - 10.1 MG/DL RANGE 8.5-10.5

PROTEIN, TOTAL - 6.4 G/DL RANGE 6.0-8.4

ALBUMIN - 4.2 G/DL RANGE 2.9-5.0

CALCULATED GLOBULIN - 2.2 G/DL RANGE 2.0-3.8

CALCULATED A/G RATIO - 1.9 RANGE 0.9-2.5

BILIRUBIN, TOTAL - 1.0 MG/DL RANGE 0.1-1.3

ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE - 72 U/L RANGE 30-132

SGOT (AST) - 23 U/L RANGE 5-35

SGPT (ALT) - 27 U/L RANGE 7-56


CBC W/ AUTO DIFF

WBC - 5.9 K/UL RANGE 4.0-11.0

RBC - 5.59 M/UL RANGE 4.10-5.70

HEMOGLOBIN - 17.4 G/DL RANGE 13-17

HEMATOCRIT - 50.2% RANGE 37-49

MCV - 89.8 FL RANGE 80.0-100.0

MCH - 31.1 PG RANGE 27.0-34.0

MCHC - 34.7 G/DL RANGE 32.0-35.5

RDW - 13.7 % RANGE 11.0-15.0

NEUTROPHILS - 61% RANGE 40-74

LYMPHCYTES - 27% RANGE 19-48

MONOCYTES - 10% RANGE 4-13

EOSINOPHILS - 1% RANGE 0-7

EASOPHILS - 0% RANGE 0-2

PLATELET COUNT - 279 K/UL RANGE 130-400

PSA, TOTAL - 1.6 NG/ML RANGE < 4.0 TEST PERFORMED BY SIEMENS CENTER CHEMILUMESCENT ASSAY

ESTRODIAL - 28 PG/ML RANGE < =63
ESTRODIAL INTERPRETATION

TESTOSTERONE, FREE/TOTAL WITH SHBG
TESTOSTERONE - 904 NG/DL RANGE 292-1052

TESTOSTERONE REF RANGE - SEE ABOVE

SEX HORM BIND GLOBULIN - 42 NMOL/L RANGE 16-94

CALC FREE TESTOSTERONE - 18.4 NG/DL RANGE 4.8-25.0

CALC FREE TESTO REF RANGE - SEE ABOVE

LABS DONE AT CLINICAL PATHOLOGY LABORATORIES IN AUSTIN, TX

I wouldn’t think no more blood then they take it wouldn’t be a player. I don’t know if it would even at a large amount. Not sure how all that works. How long have you been with out morning wood? Do you have any stress or anything else in your life that might be effecting you?

I haven’t had a solid morning erection in about 4 weeks or so now… Fairly moderate stress level as a business owner but nothing crazy. Thanks for the quick reply!

I don’t claim to be an expert in any of this, but here’s my two cents. Could be a circulation issue. You exercise frequently, so I’m not so sure that’s it, but could still be that. You could try cialis/viagra and see if that helps. Could be a thyroid issue, may want to get your thyroid hormones tested, especially since you’re allergic to iodine you probably have a deficiency.

Not sure how you’d go about fixing that with the allergy though…that might get you started, hopefully KSman and others who are more knowledgeable can come in and tell you in more detail what to do. I’d start by reading the thyroid sticky for now, and finding a way to either get iodine into you life (no idea how to go about this with the allergy…) or get some artificial thyroid hormones. Hope that helped a bit.

Did you get Prolactin checked? If it’s high it can affect dopamine/ libido.

This is no such thing as “allergy to iodine”. Explain why you say this. Explain how you actively avoid iodine.

Injecting once a week is a disaster. Lab results when injecting once a week are sort of meaningless.

Self inject twice a week.

You appear to have been dehydrated for your lab work.

High hematocrit can be a problem and your feeling better after does indicate that you were having problems.

Read these stickies:

  • protocol for injections
  • thyroid basics
    – post history of iodine intake from iodized salt or vitamins that list iodine
    – post your waking and mid afternoon oral body temperatures

[quote]KSman wrote:
This is no such thing as “allergy to iodine”. Explain why you say this. Explain how you actively avoid iodine.
[/quote]

Not to hijack the OP’s thread, but have you heard of high doses (25 mg a day) of iodine causing a rapid spike in TSH?

Thanks for all of the responses everyone! KSman thank you as well for coming into the conversation. I have read both of the stickies and have a pretty good understanding on both. I have spoken with my provider and he has been reluctant to allow me to do twice a week shots for some reason. That being said, I am slowly wearing him down :-).

As far as the thyroid, I have read the sticky and just do not seem to have any of the symptoms mentioned in the post. I guess nowadays I should clarify, I have a “shellfish” allergy which they deemed as an “iodine” allergy back 30+ years ago when I was diagnosed with it. I am now (within last week) taking the GNC Men’s pack vitamins which have 150 mcg of iodine (as Potassium Iodide) as well as Vitamin D (as Cholecalciferol D-3) at levels of 1600 IU.

Also, KSman, if I did switch to twice a week shots, say Monday and Thursday, when would the ideal time to do labs and how long would I want to do the new routine before obtaining new labs? Thanks!!

Quick update! So last night I had approx. 1 pint of blood drawn into four 1/4 pint syringes which started off a very dark raspberry color and by the fourth, was a much lighter reddish/purple. As I had thought night happen, I woke up this morning (7days since my last shot) with a rock hard erection. We have to be on to something here with the lack of circulation due to the high hematocrit and hemoglobin levels and not having morning erections. I will keep updating to see how long this remains the case. Shot time in a few hours, man I am looking forward to the weekend :-D.

As long as you are feeling better, check your body temps and post history of iodine as I asked before.