It was neither for me. Was just happening because of the test i’m pretty sure.
Ah ok. I’ll carry on then. Seems to have gone away this week anyways. Last Saturday I could barely get my shoes on and had some serious cankles
I’m also dealing with LOW E2 (4) and I’ve been on TRT for 2 years (about 125mg / once a week)
I got a little inconsistent for awhile, which presumably dropped my T and E at the same time…
Should taking a couple larger shots going to help me bounce the E back up with the T?
There have been a few guys on T-Nation with chronically low E2 and the remedy is frequent moderate injections, we really need more comprehensive labs to advise. I’ll assume you have high SHBG for now.
R u taking anything for e2? Like an ai
Hi guys. I really appreciate the replies. I should probably create a new thread, but I’ve been reluctant because I’m embarrassed at my approach to TRT. Low E2 likely hasnt been doing anything for my confidence either. Been feeling like swallowing a bullet.
As for my labs, I just recently got my first round of labs. (Havnt had health insurance in close to a decade until recent) … They didnt give me the full panel, but my Doctor seems to be willing to listen / try what I ask now that I can confirm my E2 levels are low.
She doesnt know I am on TRT yet (Only had two visits, went in for depression among other things asking for my hormones checked) … I figured i’d get my results before informing her…
She told me my testosterone levels were fine as were my Estradiol levels (I waited 8 days to get my blood work done, as I wanted to deflate my T numbers slightly) … But as we all know, my E2 levels are dangerously low, and so now I can present this to her and get a follow up blood test with a more complete panel.
Total Testosterone : 476
US Estradiol 4
TSH : 1.1 (.34 - 4.8)
Something else I was a bit concerned with was…
AST levels (12 with a 15-37 range)
Bilirubin very high (2.4 on 0.0 - 1.0 range)
Alkaline Phosphate was low (45 on range of 50-135)
These all seem to do with my liver?
I am not currently taking any AI’s and havnt in the past, either.
I wrote down the complete panel that I need for my next blood test.
Any and all advice until then would be greatly appreciated.
You might lack aromatase. It’s very rare, but not undocumented.
In other words they will listen but don’t know jack about hormones which is why your hormone panel is lacking. You might as well educate your doctors on how to manage men on TRT constantly fighting with them for proper treatment. Trust me this gets old fast and it’s stressful.
A 476 ng/dL is great, for our US president who is in his mid 70’s. Health insurance is useless for TRT because no one knows how to manage men on TRT. There are a few winners who do know how to do TRT well, but they are all private in anti-aging and sports medicine.
Low levels of alkaline phosphatase can be from a deficiency in zinc.
Hi @systemlord ,
Thanks for the reply. I’m not sure if you saw, but I did intentionally suppress my T levels slightly (waited 8 days before getting labs, usually take a shot 1x / wk) … Im curious, how much would my T be fluctuating within a 7 day period? Would allowing my T to get any lower than the 476 in the past contribute to my extremely low E2?
Would my E2 fluctuate just as much & often?
Obviously I need to get more blood work done, but I cant figure out what would be causing such low E2 in this situation…
Should I try bumping up the dose/frequency before my next lab?
I knew my Doc wasnt going to be completely “in the know” when it comes to TRT/hormones, but at least she is willing to listen/learn and doesnt pretend to know everything. Last Doc was exact opposite, completely incompetent. However its still frustrating, considering.
Thanks again. Ive done a little digging around here and see you help people where you can. Any input / advice is greatly appreciated because Ive been feeling terrible and I’d like to start moving in the right direction.
When I crashed my E2 the second time I found drinking a beer or two close to bed time got it up almost twice as fast as the first time.
Very interesting. Unfortunately alcohol is a trigger for my migraines. And judging by my labs, my liver may need some attention as well…
Which gets me to thinking, SHBG comes from the liver so maybe that number is bad and I just need a more thorough panel before moving forward.
Well assuming you’re using enanthate, the half life is less than the 7-8 day half life of Test cypionate, so you will see a significant reduction in levels after 7 days. Remember testosterone spikes within 48 hours, estrogen soon follows, then begins the decline. If you are doing frequent injections, you effectively reduce this decline in levels, estrogen as well.
You need moderate doses frequently to keep testosterone and estrogen elevated, some of your testosterone is excreted through the kidneys and estrogen through the liver, unfortunately testosterone is secreted more quickly, your main source of estrogen while on TRT, so you need to keep testosterone elevated to increase the chance of T–>E2 conversion.
We have a few members (high SHBG) who need moderate injections EOD or else they are dealing with chronically low estrogen.
Unless you are able to get Total T high enough to increase estrogen to a healthy level, you may need TRT+HCG to increase intratesticular estrogen on top of the estrogen produced from the testosterone–>estrogen conversion process.
It’s nice you found an opening minded doctor, hold onto her if you can, it’s not everyday a doctors is open to learning in ins and outs of hormone therapy. The both of you will benefit.
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Thank you for the reply. I was also able to locate my previous lab from the HORRENDOUS Doctor who just tried to put me on anti-depressants before even taking my blood… I refused, explained exactly what panels I wanted, and she failed to take any of them.
However I did locate that i have a Free T3 of 2.76 (2.5-4.2) and Free T4 of .85 (.58-1.64)
So, with that said Im going to find out what my SHBG levels are, and figure out what to do from there. The idea of pinning twice a week or more freaks me out. I fear cartilage buildup more than anything since I only pin in my quads. Can you speak from experience regarding cartilage? If I didnt have to worry about cartilage, I could likely do twice a week no problem.
Never had labs prior to TRT, stupid decision, I know. Right now the thing i’m most concerned with is my mind… Ive had my highs and lows in the past but lately its just LOW and its honestly scary. I would like to get more blood work, experiment a little, potentially abandon TRT and try a restart… If no luck with the restart, there is only one option left…
Anyway, thank you very much for the help. I will reach out after next lab.
After crashing my Estradiol a month ago , i have now switched from weekly injections to micro dosing every 3 days. Haven’t had a my AI in over 5 weeks. Starting to feel better but every few days I get what seems to be belly fat that I’ve never had before and still getting swollen ankles. Should I have Estradiol checked again this soon or is this my body just getting adapted to the change?
Let it ride, you’ll go up and down a little for a while.
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After 6 weeks of Estradiol crash from AI, finally starting to feel somewhat normal again even though levels still below optimal. Belly fat and swollen ankles went away. On my 2nd week of bi weekly sub Q inject of 60mg of Test Cyp in stomach. 2 days my inj this week, belly and ankle bloat came back. Is there any chance I would be better with IM injections. Could Sub Q cause more bloat?
I have switched to SQ one week ago and feel like E2 side effects have increased instead of decreased. It could be in my head though, will have blood exam tomorrow to find out.
Changing from IM to SQ amounts to a protocol change which is no different than increasing/decreasing your dosage and causing levels to fluctuate again for another 6 weeks.
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Interesting. So it looks like I will need to wait 5 weeks before coming to a definitive conclusion about SQ