I had read that Iodine was not a good thing if I had thyroid antibodies present?
I have been taking 50mg micronized pills in the morning, I was splitting the dose morning and night but found it was keeping me up a bit more at night (I wake up anyway about 3am for a bit, I assume due to low cortisol).
I have also been taking 3-4g of licorice to support cortisol but will be discontinuing this and seeing if the pregnenolone can keep up on its own. (Reason being I am certain that the licorice has reduced Testosterone, only noticed in past week but libido, which was on rise with pregnenolone has taken a dive again)
but you don’t have any significant antibodies present, you have minimal levels which is the norm as far as I know.
I’m not saying that you should definitely start on iodine, but simply that you might want to check into it more.
from what I have read people typically dose pregnenolone upon waking and at lunch.
pregnenolone can increse progesterone - progesterone counteracts DHT a primary libido driver.
pregnenolone can also increase DHEA which in turn can convert to estrogen counteracting your T.
just depends on what pathway it takes.
Cheers PureChance, apologies if that came across as ungrateful -I am shooting in the dark somewhat with this and there is so much contradictory information written that it’s hard to separate fact from fiction.
Will read up on Iodine an will try splitting the preg ose am and lunch for a week and see if theres any noticeable improvement.
I received the results of an iron panel this morning amongst some other results and was suprised by the findings. I had been advised by various members and on other sites to ensure my iron was adequate before attempting to lower my RT3 with T3.
I was therefore really suprised to see my Iron so high:
Could it be that I all along this past 18 months, doctors have missed a relatively easy diagnosis of haemochromatosis which could explain all of symptoms, including reduced testosterone? Are blood levels like that diagnostic?
I am going my GP tomorrow to insist on a referral to a haemotologist but I wonder if this could be the missing link?
Its certainly possible though I’m not sure it is elevated enough to suggest hemacrhomatosis (though I really have no idea so dont quote me on that).
I also notice your LDH is on the high side of normal. LDH is a marker for certain tissue inflammations as well as cancer. It is used as part of the bloodwork for those with testicular cancer (I had it), when I got my LDH checked prior to my surgery, my LDH was in range but at the high end, so that should be definitely something to ask your hematologist about as well.
In the meantime, perform a testicular self-exam. Better safe than sorry.
Thanks mate - I had a testicular ultrasound back in Novemeber when they were trying to find out why my T was low and it was all clear. I’ve definitely noticed testicular atrophy though and supposedly that can happen from iron deposits.
Seeing GP on Monday so hopefully she will refer me.
Think I’m going to fork out for this NutrEval test from Genova Diagnostics, the last chance saloon in finding out why I’m feeling like I am.
Appointment with new endo today was laughable. You’d think I’d be frustrated or annoyed but unfortunately its just the sub-standard care I’ve come to expect from the NHS.
Told it likely wasn’t a hormone problem, that despite being just inside the reference range I should have zero symptoms of low test, levels shouldn’t be adjusted for age, there was no merit in getting my levels up to the top of the reference range to see if symptoms improve and all the usual NHS bs. Also told RT3 was a worthless lab and the theory it affected T3 was not accepted.
Then to really endear himself to me he said 'If your bloods come back ‘normal again’, we will re-refer you to the Chronic Fatigue Specialist for another look" (Background: I saw the top CFS expert in the country recently who categorically ruled out CFS and said I didn’t fit the profile and it wasn’t a helpful diagnosis for me. Todays endo has seen a copy of that letter!!!)
So basially having failed to label me once they want to try and have another crack.
The only upside of it was he agreed to the laundry list of blood tests I went in with. However then when I asked when I could get a copy of the results he told me he’d give them to me at the next clinic. When I asked how soon that would be he said ‘Oh quite soon, earliest one is 6 months’. Jesus f*cking wept. There will be a freedom of information request winging its way to his secretary.
As if I am going to wait that long before I am forced to self medicate or look elsewhere. I really wonder how these people get their jobs. This was a head of department as well, not some fresh faced youngster.
Just waiting on the results of my NutrEval Plus and the genetic test for HH. If it comes back normal and there is nothing to rectify in terms of imbalances or toxicities then I am ploughing full speed ahead with hydrocortisone and T3 for 12 weeks.
Hemachromatosis could explain your symptoms and cause secondary hypogonadism. But know that the gene test for the HFE gene can only confirm the condition, not negate it, i.e., it is possible to have HH without the HFE gene mutation.
Thus, if your iron panel suggests iron overload, you may have it. Did I miss it or did you not post your ferritin levels?
I also read about your clomid experiment. 50 mg per day is too high for long-term use and may explain why you felt bad. The standard protocol from what Ive read is 25 mg per day and which is what I used. Ive read guys who had to go down to 12,5 mg and even 12,5 mg EOD. Of course some people don`t feel well at all on it, but realize that lowering the dose may help.
I should also add that it is not about your levels “being elevated enough”, since they have to start rising from somewhere as you accumulate more iron in your body over time.
One flaw in diagnosing HH is that a lot of people dismiss the levels as not being significant and then wait until the levels are so high that people actually have irreversible organ damage.
If you have HH and caught it early on, you should be happy, since the cure is rather simple (you donate blood) and any damage to your body is probably reversible. Don`t expect your doctors to know anything more about this than they do about testosterone though, so make sure you do your homework and insist to see a specialist if there is any doubt.
It would be interesting to see what your result is on the HFE gene.
Thank you for that mate - I am really looking forward to getting the HH gene test back too, going to chase them again tomorrow.
A MD who is a friend of mine offered an opinion however that for hemochromatosis to producing as severe symptoms as I have it would be advanced and the Ferritin would be much higher.
Ferritin 203 ugl (30-330)
I gave blood one day following those iron labs and my GP has since re-run them on the NHS. I haven’t had the results in my hand yet but she has told me on the telephone they have dropped to well within the reference range. I’ll be chasing up a paper copy of them with the gene results.
Hopefully it will show a cause for my elevated RT3
Interesting about the clomid as well - I’ve since read over on ATM about using lower doses.
In my mind though the most severe symptoms other than zero libido is the eyes and that smacks to me of the thyroid being the main problem rather than the low testosterone.
I Live on merseyside in the UK,who do you see in Liverpool Prof Vora?,Bowen Jones?,sorry to hear your problems,you will find the amount of stupid and ignorance within the Endo community shocking,the stories I could tell you about the crap I get,still not right after finding I had low t in 1998!!,good luck,don’t give up.
No libido at 37,gp found my T was “on the low side”,month later saw a Endo,Dr Bowen Jones,he said prolactin was high not T low(he lied),treated for the high prolactin,you get to see these clowns every six months,would not give me T because he said"it WILL make you aggresive",not might do etc “will”.Problems with libido still and depression,went to London,saw Dr Patel,private,he did bloods,then he gave a script for T(gp gave me proviron before that which was useless),felt great for 2 to 3 weeks then nothing.Since then have seen Vora,a couple of Endos in Chester(on nhs).Been on testogel then shots every three weeks,now seeing a urologist because Vora’s lot don’t know what to do(I tell them what to do but they don’t seem to understand),now on the shots again but it’s a joke,before shot T was 13.7,10 days after 12.2.21 days after shot 9.1!!fantastic.
[quote]Andy E wrote:
No libido at 37,gp found my T was “on the low side”,month later saw a Endo,Dr Bowen Jones,he said prolactin was high not T low(he lied),treated for the high prolactin,you get to see these clowns every six months,would not give me T because he said"it WILL make you aggresive",not might do etc “will”.Problems with libido still and depression,went to London,saw Dr Patel,private,he did bloods,then he gave a script for T(gp gave me proviron before that which was useless),felt great for 2 to 3 weeks then nothing.Since then have seen Vora,a couple of Endos in Chester(on nhs).Been on testogel then shots every three weeks,now seeing a urologist because Vora’s lot don’t know what to do(I tell them what to do but they don’t seem to understand),now on the shots again but it’s a joke,before shot T was 13.7,10 days after 12.2.21 days after shot 9.1!!fantastic.[/quote]
So this one shot of test every 3 weeks what kind of dosage?
Sounds fairly horrendous mate - strange that your T level isn’t budging even on the shots. Have you had adrenals / thyroid investigated? How is your SHBG if T is so low even 7 days after that shot?
I got the launry list of bloods I wanted from the man so I chalk that up as the slight positive. Is this through the urologist you are on the shots?
Mind me asking what your level was to get prescribed T by the Uro?
Getting T,I got some off the GP I saw in London,told my own gp who sent me to Prof Vora and his team did some bloods and I think(can’t remember much)it can back low(about 9.6 something)they suggested the gell,anyway seeing them every six months(or sometimes once a year)I would see a different endo each time,some were bad and the others worse but after years of this they passed me to a uro and he wanted me to do shots and advised me to get the bloods done as well(so we had an idea of what was happening!!,wow),seeing him again soon,I guess he will suggest going to shots every 2 weeks which is a joke,I might ask my Gp if I can see another endo.Good luck
Got back from seeing the Uro,showed him the blood results,he thinks I should have a shot…every 2 weeks,I asked him what was the point when it will not raise my levels much and he falls back to the default position of “it’s within normal levels”,I then told him that I tried to get the susternon 250 from a number of places but there is a problem with the supply,this throws him a bit so he says what about susternon 200 !!!.
He now also wants me to try ciallis as he thinks the problem is with the plumbing.I said given that it(susternon 250) has no effect on me and it’s so hard to get I want to go back on the gel,he agreed so he could go home.
Sorry to hear you are no further on mate. If you can get hold of your test results your SHBG might be useful and also your E2.
Did you propose more frequent shots 1x or 2x a week?
It may be worth considering applying 2 tubes of the gel so you get 10g instead of 5g. If he is not keen to let you do that then you could just try it yourself anyway. Tell the pharmacist you had your suitcase stolen and you need more - might only work once but at least you’d know then yourself whether it was worth pressing the issue of using 2x as much.
