Hormone fluctuations

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

Well, here it is, I’ve been searching for the answer for over two weeks now and I can find all sorts of information, much of it conflicting and so I’m putting it in a post. I know several members who have had simliar symptoms (Sx) of adrenal fatigue and/or hypothyroid conditions, but I just wanted to get a general consensus from the forum in regards to what to do, or additional advice.

I’m a 29 year old Military Service member who is suffering from some sort of ailment. I am trying to get into the health clinic to receieve some sort of treatment for whatever it is I have, and I believe it may be adrenal fatigue or some other hormone inbalance.

I’ve been an active bodybuilder for 10 years. I train hard and always have felt great during lifting and exercising. Now, I’m starting to feel sluggish and constantly fatigued. My desire to train is so low I just don’t care anymore and all I want to do is sleep and eat. This is when I started to realize that I had a bigger problem than simple depression and lack of sleeping, which is what I initially started trying to combat through supplementation and dietary changes.

My Sx’s include:
-sleeplessness (insominia)
-low energy level/fatigue
-chronic low back pain
-decreased exercise recovery
-decreased motivation to train
-mild depression
-increased hunger for carbohydrates at night
-increased hunger for salt at night
-increased thirst
-difficulty regulating weight
-non-existant libido
-increased stress level from work

I have not had lab tests done yet, and I’m not sure if they’re going to help if I don’t have a doctor familiar with endocrinology.

I’m on several supplements to try and get back to homeostasis and get my adrenal glands back to functioning properly.

-melatonin
-Vital Core (mutil vitamin with Ashwagana)
-Animal Stack PM (ZMA, GABA, L-Trypophan, Lysine, Leucine, GPC, Mucuna Puriens)

Bodybuilding supplements:
-L-Carnitine
-CLA
-Whey protein
-BCAAs
-recently dropped all fat burners (HOT-ROX)
-no more caffeine

My diet is consistantly high protein, low carbohydrate meals, moderate fat intake, divided into 6-8 meals/day.

I eat at least two salads a day with leafy grean veggies and whatever healthy veggies I can find. Typical veggies are broccoli, green beans, spinach, grean leaf lettuce, sprouts, olives, onion, garlic, mushrooms, zucchinni, peppers, cuccumbers, tomatoes, etc.

Protein sources include eggs, ground beef, lean sirloin, turkey sausage, tofu, cottage cheese, ham, chicken. Generally 3-6 oz portion sizes per meal.

Carbohydrate sources include oatmeal, whole wheat bread, bran flake cereal, and popcorn. I try and only have a source of carbohydrate for reloading purposes after weight training, but I’ve been craving salt and carbohydrates so badly at night that I feel as though I want to eat the world. I just can’t seem to get enough of either carbs or sodium.

At this point, I’m just not sure where to go from here. I was losing bodyfat on a fairly even keel dropping down to 6% BF and now I’ve just lost all motivation to keep training since I feel like crap. I still want to train hard, but the motivation is waning most days. Then when I do feel good I can generally get about 45 minutes of high intensity work done and then I’m too fatigued to do much else.

I appreciate the comments and critics.

v/r

Gremlin

2

Should I move this post around to somewhere else…a lot of views and no replies.

v/r

Gremlin

3

Get a complete fasting blood count with lipids glucose and iron.

Sex hormones TT, FT, E2

Thyroid TSH, fT4, fT3
-do you use iodized salt
-any changes to skin or nails

Adrenals: DHEA-S cortisol, 4 sample saliva based preferred

Thirst: A major thirst and pissing a lot is a major symptom of diabetes

Stress: Does major stress make you feel like your body is exhausted?

6% BF is never considered healthy

Have you been exposed to tropical parasites or diseases?
Malaria?
Head trauma, whiplash can affect the pituitary.
Vaccines?
Medications?
Reduced peripheral vision?

4

Hi,

I am a long time lurker who just recently started posting.

Did you read the sticky posts?

Without the recommended blood tests, no one can really help you (from what I have seen in other posts).

Actually, I just looked and was not able to find anything in the sticky posts on recommended blood tests. That is probably something that should be added to the top.

(hmmm, I guess I waited to long to hit submit. Didn’t see Ksman’s reply.)

5

I finally got a script to get a blood test done this Friday to measure pituitary, thyroid, T-levels, lipid, and glucose. Thanks for your reply Kman, I appreciate it. I wish I would have seen this post prior to going to the doctor b/f I asked to get blood work done. I’m pretty sure the PA that I saw doesn’t know anything about endocrinology. He basically asked me what I wanted to test for…damn, should have just come in with a list. Of course, I didn’t even know if I could get the blood test done. But he was like, okay, you want you’re blood test done, alright. I’m going to measure for diabetes and electrolytes, what else do you want tested? Honestly I was quite shocked, but he’s a good guy.

I’m not quite sure what it is, even after extensive researching on T-Nation, I still can’t seem to pinpoint what’s going on. The adrenal fatigue theory seems to fit, but so does pituitary or HGH excretion, diabetes, etc. So I guess we’ll just have to wait and see where the blood numbers fall to see what’s really going on.

Where’s an endocrinologist when I need one. Again thanks for the replies gentlemen.

v/r

Gremlin

6

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So I finally receieved my lab work back. I’m not sure if it will tell the full story, since I forgot my list of things I was going to have the doc check up on, but maybe it will tell me something. From the looks of things it seems that I’m pretty normal. Anything you notice?

v/r

Gremlin

7

I notice you don’t have lab ranges so its hard for anyone to tell if you are “normal”

8

I just wrote a long write up but get a serum testosterone test next time (early AM). Much more reliable than a urine test.

9

[quote]JLWilson wrote:
I just wrote a long write up but get a serum testosterone test next time (early AM). Much more reliable than a urine test. [/quote]

I believe it was a serum test. I just forgot to put Serum in the column above, that’s why there’s a space.

v/r

Gremlin

10

Gotcha…well your testosterone levels are at 420ng/dl. A tad low but your cortisol level is a little high too. Ranges are needed, especially on the T3.

11

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Okay, new roster, now with ranges. Thanks for all the commentary gentlemen. I think my diet may be the problem with the low testosterone.

v/r

Gremlin

12

I bet if you had a reverse T3 test it’d be pretty high. Usually during periods of high stress, your body has difficulty converting T4 to T3, which is the more active form of thyroid hormone. This can lead to hypothyroidism symptoms.

Some people call this Wilson’s Syndrome, but the American Thyroid Association and AACE have yet to accept that diagnosis. Seeing as how your cortisol is pretty high as well, this seems pretty consistent. Change your diet and retest in a month.

13

P.S. Your metabolic is extremely out of whack!!! Are you sure those ranges are right? I don’t think a couple are lined up.

Your BUN is 4x the top of the normal range (36)

14

Please double check ranges for AST, LDH, ALK PHOS, cholesterol [total, LDL?]

T3 Plus is low, whatever that is.

FT4 needs a range.

NA and K are both at high end. Urine PH is low.

15

Sorry fellas, I had to scrub through the numbers again in Excel. Apparently some of the ranges just weren’t lining up with what I had created before. Thanks again for the input.

As for the BUN, I guess I’m intaking enough protein, but it may be burning off a lot as energy judging by the elevated level of urea production. Or do you think it’s more of a problem?

v/r

Gremlin

16

I see elevated TSH, however you are holding fT4 right at midrange. Ideally, you would not need that much TSH to do that.

I asked if you were using iodized salt. Wasting my breath?

17

No, sorry KSman. I’ve been using iodized salt all the time. I have cravings in the evening for salt, therefore I’ve been having air popped popcorn with a good portion of salt. I think I sweat so much when I train that my body gets depleted of sodium fairly rapidly. I’m not sure what to do about this problem.

v/r

Gremlin