Stay on DHEA. It is not water soluble. Take it with a meal that has more fats and oils that will drag it from gut to blood stream. Avoid taking with high fiber foods. Same advice for pregnenolone, progesterone, Vit-D3, Vit-E.
fT3=4.9 seems ideal, but TSH=1.9 shows a problem. TSH should be near 1.0. Thyroid hormone ranges are stupid and in range means nothing.
Your picture perfect thyroid results are hiding a problem.
Check oral body temperatures to see where thyroid function is. If body temps, see below, are low, see the thyroid basics sticky for terms: fT3, rT3, adrenal fatigue, stress, Wilson’s book. rT3 can be elevated and blocking fT3, the only active hormone, and then TSH increases attempting to fix the problem. Do not ignore comments re needed selenium.
With thyroid problems TRT success can be difficult.
Your experiments are perplexing. Suggests that your testes might be defective. But low DHEA might rate limit DHEA–>T inside the testes.
With your different attempts, did you notice any changes to your testes?
T base has a short half-life. T esters are time release.
T suspension makes me need to ask about your use of gear, cycle durations and PCT.
Cholesterol–>pregnenolone take place in the mitochondria inside every cell in your body. Mitochondria make ATP the energy source for your cells and that is regulated by, drum roll, fT3 as part of your body’s temperature control loop. So body temperatures are a good guide to what is going on under the hood or bonnet if from UK.
Pregnenolone–>DHEA and pregnenolone–>progesterone–>cortisol happen in the adrenals. Details here: Steroid hormone - Wikipedia
Mitochondria are regulated by fT3 and enabled by CoQ10 that is made in the liver and that can be inhibited in some by statin cholesterol medications. Mitochondrial activity generates free radicals and antioxidants are needed to clean up the mess and prevent damage to mitochondria. Vits C, natural source E and others are helpful.
Please read the stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman
- advice for new guys - need more info about you
- things that damage your hormones
- protocol for injections
- finding a TRT doc
Evaluate your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky. Thyroid hormone fT3 is what gets the job done and it regulates mitochondrial activity, the source of ATP which is the universal currency of cellular energy. This is part of the body’s temperature control loop. This can get messed up if you are iodine deficient. In many countries, you need to be using iodized salt. Other countries add iodine to dairy or bread.
KSman is simply a regular member on this site. Nothing more other than highly active.
I can be a bit abrupt in my replies and recommendations. I have a lot of ground to cover as this forum has become much more active in the last two years. I can’t follow threads that go deep over time. You need to respond to all of my points and requests as soon as possible before you fall off of my radar. The worse problems are guys who ignore issues re Thyroid, body temperatures, history of iodized salt. Please do not piss people off saying that lab results are normal, we need lab numbers and ranges.
The value that you get out of this process and forum depends on your effort and performance. The bulk of your learning is reading/studying the suggested stickies.