TRT Causing Hypothyroid or Adrenal Issues?

Buy Lab Tests Online

shltn

Member
Hello all!

Please bear with me as I lay out what has been a pretty crazy 15 months or so of my health declining. I wasn't sure which forum to post this in as it crosses over so hopefully I chose correctly.




  • Improper root canal so infection was sealed in which caused essentially a sinus infection from Nov. 2016-June 2017 due to infection feeding directly into a sinus cavity.


  • Was on Penicillin and Clindamycin for roughly 6-8 months.


  • A specialist, who determined that the infection was feeding into a sinus cavity, redid the root canal properly.


  • Before all of this was 180-185lbs, in shape, gym 5-7 days/week, high energy. Which declined to low energy, no gym time, tired throughout day, brain fog over the course of those events.


  • Sinus infection has since cleared but energy level never resumed. Still brain fog. No motivation. Mild depression.


  • Started seeking out TRT due to the following symptoms…lethargy, brain fog, mild depression, low body temps (didn’t figure out this clue until after TRT commenced), more forgetful, dizzy / vertigo, lightheadedness, need for a nap mid-day, etc.


  • Found a clinic specializing in TRT. Got all blood-work done and on 12/19/17 was prescribed...
    • Testosterone Cypionate (200mg/ml) - 80mg Twice Per Week - Subcutaneous Injection
    • 250iu HCG - Twice Per Week - Subcutaneous Injection
    • 1/4mg Anastrozole - Twice Per Week


12/18/17 - Monday - In the TRT Clinic Office

My protocol was laid out for me. What I am being prescribed is 160 a week of Testosterone administered SC twice per week (80mg per injection) along with HCG (250iu per injection). They said they were starting me off at this dose to see how I reacted and may bump it from there depending on my levels at my next blood draw in three months. I was also given a prescription for Anastrozole (1/4mg on injection days)

My first injection was done by the nurse (assuming 160mg) IM (with no HCG I’m assuming) and I was told to come back in a week / once I received my meds via FedEX and they would walk me through self-injections, etc.

12/26/17 - Tuesday - In the TRT Clinic Office

• Test Cyp .40ml / 80mg (SC)
• HCG 250iu (SC)
• Anastrozole 1/4mg (taken at home after buying pill splitter)

I was shown how to self-inject Sub-Q and I also brought up that I would like to have blood work done ahead of the 3 months and they said they typically don’t unless there is cause and I said that I would be willing to pay for the extra fee because I want to keep a handle on it these first 6 months or so and then, hopefully, I can cruise after that.

Later that evening began to not feel well at all and that continued through the next day and then tapered off over remaining days leading up to the next injection. After some research it appeared I had probably crashed my E2.

12/29/17 - Began At Home Injections

• Test Cyp .40ml / 80mg (SC)
• HCG 250iu (SC)
• Anastrozole - Based on the assumption of crashing E2 I did not take a dose this day and resume the following injection at half the dose to try to determine if I am an “over-responder”.

12/30/17 through 1/2/18

Things kept getting worse day by day over these days. My blood pressure was rising and my anxiety / adrenaline continued to build and I am not an anxious person and have never had panic attacks or anything like that. I would also get light-headed and feel like I was going to pass out - although I never did. I guess that some of this (adrenaline, anxiety, etc.) is normal but this seemed a bit much. Plus I was adding bloat pretty fast - as much as 10lbs over the course of a couple weeks. In addition, it appears as if my memory has gotten worse over the course of treatment - not so much a fog now (except for the days I am really feeling sick) but I just forget things or what I am saying midsentence almost.

So I went in to see a doctor first thing Tuesday morning (1/2/18). My blood pressure was around 155/111 so they ran an EKG that came back “normal” and ordered blood work; which came back similarly.

After I finished at the doctor’s office I came home and took my scheduled dose. I also cut out caffeine to minimize as many additional stimulants as I could; which I drank a lot of caffeine (approx. 900+mg a day) so the headaches and other withdrawal symptoms probably have not helped. I have also ramped up my water intake (which was not good at all prior) and aim for at least one gallon a day now.

1/2/18

• Test Cyp .40ml / 80mg (SC)
• HCG 250iu (SC)
• Anastrozole 1/8mg (give or take given the difficulty of splitting them that small)

I called the TRT Clinic to discuss the issues I have been having and they ordered some follow-up blood work after being persuaded.

1/5/18

Follow-Up Blood Work: I did this first thing in the morning, fasted and before my injection so I guess that would be my “trough” day? So After I finished with the blood work I came home and took my injections…

• Test Cyp .40ml / 80mg (SC)
• HCG 250iu (SC)
• Anastrozole 1/8mg (again, give or take)

Things continued about as they were until Saturday afternoon they began to worsen again. My BP was back up, my anxiety / adrenaline was super high and I almost felt like I was going to “pop” from the bloat. So Saturday (1/6/18) about 8pm I couldn’t take it and decided I would try to take another 1/8th of Anastrozole - worst case I would crash and “that” felt better than “this”.

Within an hour or two I began to get some relief from the anxiety and since then my BP has come down consistently (still not where it needs to be) and I have been shedding some of the water weight slowly.

1/12/18

• Test Cyp .40ml / 80mg (SC)
• HCG 250iu (SC)
• Anastrozole 1/4mg

This same day I received my results from the follow-up blood work and my Estrogen Sensitive test said I was at 10 and I knew what was coming…sure enough my E2 crashed and I have been down ever since. I’m starting to feel some relief from the aching joints and insomnia as of 1/14/18 but still not 100%.


The next day (1/13) I had a phone consult with one of the leaders in the TRT field and he did not have any answers and I pretty much got a “Hmmm…that doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t your T levels come up with the injections?” – my blood work from 1/5 showed my Total Testosterone only raised 10 points and my Free Testosterone only 5 points. In addition my ALT went above range.

So then I decided I should go meet with another one of the leaders in the field at his office – this was a different doctor due to the fact that he was closer to me and also I heard him on a podcast talking about some of the issues I had been having.

This trip also proved fruitless and a waste of money. I had additional and extensive blood work done prior to this appointment. It showed that my cholesterol was very high – it was a little high prior to TRT but now it was over the range. It also showed that my rT3 was off the charts as well (28+) – no one had ever run a rT3 level on me before this so I don’t know where I was pre-TRT.

On this second attempt with a specialist I was told that testosterone just wasn’t for me due to the way my body reacts to it…which is totally fine if that’s the case…and that I have a SNP and it will always give me anxiety / high BP, etc.

I started TRT due to the symptoms I was having (see list above) and now I have ALL those PLUS the high BP, heart rate, anxiety / adrenaline issues and my cholesterol actually went up.

Going into this meeting and with new blood work I thought, based on what I’ve read, that there is probably some underlying issue(s) that caused this reaction to TRT and THAT ISSUE was probably what was actually causing my original symptoms in the first place but they just so happen to overlap with “Low T” symptoms. Plus, I also have the low body temp, cold extremities, etc… so I honestly thought I had hypothyroid or adrenal fatigue or something along those lines and then the testosterone just blew everything out of whack.

But alas, I was told I do not… my thyroid and the rest “are fine” and that my body just cannot tolerate testosterone. That my original symptoms / issues stem from idiot GPs putting me on antibiotics for 6-8 months due to what turned out to be a botched root canal and that I just needed up to a year to recover. I was given a Clomid script for PCT (not sure I needed it due to my only being on TRT for about 4-5wks and ran HCG throughout) and several hundred dollars worth of “pharmaceutical-grade” vitamins and I should only take their specific vitamins.

I just rolled with it in the office because I was desperate for some relief from these symptoms and didn’t really examine the “bill” until after I left but needless to say, I declined the monthly retainer fee for them to essentially “consult” me on vitamins each month. If “time” is really the only thing that is going to make me better why would I pay hundreds of dollars a month for someone to do nothing and buy way overpriced vitamins? In addition, I would be out-of-pocket for everything else due to the fact that they don’t mess with insurance in any facet – services, blood work or prescriptions.

So as a last ditch effort I thought I would post on here to get some feedback. I have an appointment with a local GP tomorrow to show him my recent blood work – my goal seems to be to get a T3-only prescription for 8-12 weeks to try to “flush” my high rT3 out since my thyroid appears to functional based on my other levels so I think some people call that “functional hypothyroid” so hopefully I can “reset it” and it will remain low. Does this sound like a solid game plan? I have some concerns of the potential side effects of T3 (heart palps, BP, anxiety, etc.) as these are exactly what I had on TRT but I plan on starting low and building up the T3 dose with blood work each month and then tapering back off once I am down to around 11 on my rT3.

There is a lot of debate about the thyroid causing adrenal issues and vice versa so I am concerned as to which it could be. Nearest I can tell, a lot of my issues while on TRT could have been caused my adrenals freaking out since they weren’t 100% to begin with. After I start feeling better I would like to revisit TRT but not if it is going to cause all of these issues all over again.
 
Defy Medical TRT clinic doctor
I know thru TRT many men find and are exposed to these ancillary health areas, Thyroid being one of the major issues they find. Adrenal...that's not quite a medical acknowledged medical condition with a solid treatment, its more like a catch-all for mystery symptoms.
 

shltn

Member
Thank you for the reply, Vince.

Nearest I can tell it definitely uncovered a thyroid issue for me...although if had known what to look for I probably would've looked into thyroid prior to beginning TRT as the symptoms lined up. Plus, now I have blood work to reinforce those thyroid symptoms. Hopefully the doctor will agree tomorrow so I can get on the road to feeling better. I'm just hoping it's as straight forward as 8-12 weeks to get my rT3 lowered and then I can go off the T3 medicine. But at this point the TRT has really exacerbated the hypothyroid and feel worse than I ever have so I just need a solution.
 
Hi shitn Wow what a story. It sounds like you are going thru hell. While reading your post something that kept poping up in my mind was is there something wrong with your bottle of T cyp.? One member here last year got a bottle of B-12 once instead of the T cyp.

Also 160 a week as a starter protocol is unbelievely high. The only protocol that is worse is the guys who are started with 200/wk.
80-120 is far better to start with. There is plenty of time to take more later after you know a lot more about TRT.

Your body goes thru a ton of crap (bloating, acne, appetite, fever(tes-flu) and starting with 160 OMG that would suck you are going to get the max of everything.
If you would have started with 80/wk, HCG and no AI you could have gotten thru all those things with much less intensity.

My protocol after 11 months is 150/week, 900iu HCG, 0.125 EOD AI you can see my blood work after 8 weeks on this protocol here
https://www.excelmale.com/forum/sho...-Blood-Test-2018-T-followup-and-Thyriod-panel

Depending on your SCBG your TT and Free T could be way higher than mine.
 

Systemlord

Member
I think your main problem is you went to a trt clinic, they typically have horrible protocols and start guys out too high. We see a lot of guys coming from TRT clinics that just have to high levels and the AI doses are all wrong.

TRT doesn't cause thyroid problems, it can effect adrenal glands but that can be treated as well but not by a TRT clinic. These doctor's are nothing more when legal drug dealers with a prescription pad pushing insane amounts of testosterone doses.

You haven't shared any of your laps.
 

shltn

Member
FeelingLost: Thank you for the reply. It's been quite the journey :) I have wondered as well if there was something wrong with the testosterone since my levels didn't raise very much but on the other hand would I have had all the bad effects (high BP, anxiety / adrenaline, etc.) if it wasn't? So I don't know what to think but once I realized something wasn't right by my levels on the blood work I refused to inject that stuff anymore. If I ever get this other stuff straightened out I may attempt TRT again at a lower dose and see what happens.

Systemlord: I agree it was a mistake but for a lot of guys it works out fine...I just so happen to have (probably) an un-diagnosed hypothyroid issue that complicated everything...at least I'm hoping that was the case. Otherwise I have some stuff going on with my adrenals as well.

Sorry about forgetting to post the labs. Here are my latest labs.

Post-TRT-BloodWork-Jan2018_01.jpgPost-TRT-BloodWork-Jan2018_02.jpgPost-TRT-BloodWork-Jan2018_05.jpgPost-TRT-BloodWork-Jan2018_06.jpgPost-TRT-BloodWork-Jan2018_09b.jpg
 

shltn

Member
So today I went to yet another doctor who tells me that RT3 means nothing and me levels are "within range". So guess I am going to have to try to do this myself so I would appreciate any guidance on how to titrate up the dosage and what my ultimate goal would be (it seems like most are able to clear their RT3 on 50-75mcg) and then I'm assuming I would need to taper off as well?

Below are the results from my most recent blood work (2/5/2018 @ 8:49am - Fasted) and my 4x Saliva Cortisol test...

**Thyroid**
TSH 1.280 uIU/mL 0.450-4.500
Thyroxine (T4) 7.8 ug/dL 4.5-12.0
Triiodothyronine,Free,Serum 3.7 pg/mL 2.0-4.4
T4,Free(Direct) 1..39 ng/dL 0..82-1.77
Reverse T3, Serum 26.2 High ng/dL 9.2-24.1

**Iron and TIBC**
Iron Bind.Cap...(TIBC) 308 ug/dL 250-450
UIBC 202 ug/dL 111-343
Iron Saturation 34 % 15-55
Ferritin, Serum 83 ng/mL 30-400

**CBC**
Glucose, Serum 97 mg/dL 65-99
Uric Acid, Serum 4.3 mg/dL 3.7-8.6
BUN 9 mg/dL 6-24
Creatinine, Serum 1..02 mg/dL 0.76-1.27
eGFR If NonAfricn Am 91 mL/min/1.73 >59
eGFR If Africn Am 105 mL/min/1..73 >59
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 9 9-20
Sodium, Serum 139 mmol/L 134-144
Potassium, Serum 4.5 mmol/L 3...5-5..2
Chloride, Serum 99 mmol/L 96-106
Carbon Dioxide, Total 25 mmol/L 18-29
Calcium, Serum 9.5 mg/dL 8.7-10.2
Phosphorus, Serum 3.2 mg/dL 2.5-4..5
Protein, Total, Serum 6.7 g/dL 6..0-8...5
Albumin, Serum 4..6 g/dL 3..5-5.5
Globulin, Total 2.1 g/dL 1.5-4.5
A/G Ratio 2.2 1.2-2.2
Bilirubin, Total 0.4 mg/dL 0.0-1.2
Alkaline Phosphatase, S 51 IU/L 39-117
LDH 147 IU/L 121-224
AST (SGOT) 24 IU/L 0-40
ALT (SGPT) 37 IU/L 0-44
Iron, Serum 106 ug/dL 38-169
Cholesterol, Total 256 High mg/dL 100-199
Triglycerides 117 mg/dL 0-149
HDL Cholesterol 73 mg/dL >39
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 23 mg/dL 5-40
LDL Cholesterol Calc 160 High mg/dL 0-99
T. Chol/HDL Ratio 3.5 ratio units 0..0-5.0
Estimated CHD Risk 0.6 times avg. 0.0-1..0
WBC 6.0 x10E3/uL 3..4-10.8
RBC 4.82 x10E6/uL 4.14-5.80
Hemoglobin 14.4 g/dL 13.0-17.7
Hematocrit 42.9 % 37.5-51.0
MCV 89 fL 79-97
MCH 29..9 pg 26.6-33.0
MCHC 33.6 g/dL 31.5-35..7
RDW 12.4 % 12.3-15.4
Platelets 256 x10E3/uL 150-379
Neutrophils 60 % Not Estab.
Lymphs 26 % Not Estab.
Monocytes 9 % Not Estab.
Eos 4 % Not Estab..
Basos 1 % Not Estab.
Immature Cells
Neutrophils (Absolute) 3.6 x10E3/uL 1...4-7..0
Lymphs (Absolute) 1.6 x10E3/uL 0.7-3.1
Monocytes(Absolute) 0.5 x10E3/uL 0..1-0.9
Eos (Absolute) 0.2 x10E3/uL 0.0-0.4
Baso (Absolute) 0.0 x10E3
Immature Granulocytes 0 % Not Estab.
Immature Grans (Abs) 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0-0.1

**4x Saliva Cortisol Results**
Cortisol Morning - 18 nmol/L (optimal range 18-35) (ref. Interval 5.1-40)
Cortisol Noon - 1.7 nmol/L (optimal range 6.0-12) (ref. Interval 2.1-16)
Cortisol Evening - 3.3 nmol/L (optimal range 2.0-5..0) (ref. Interval 1.5-8.0)
Cortisol Night - 1.1 nmol/L (optimal range 1.0-4.0) (ref. interval 0.33-7.0)
DHEA - 197 pg/mL (ref.. Interval 137-336)
Secretory IgA 118 μg/mL (ref. Interval 75-330)
 

Joe Sixpack

Active Member
Your thyroid looks pretty good. Your TSH is 1.28 which is excellent. Your FT3 and FT4 levels are in the upper part of normal range, which is also good. Your RT3 is high as you noted. If you are recovering from infection, this elevated level is expected. Elevated RT3 will often resolve itself after a while. You will see high RT3 during and after periods of stress (infection is a stressor). I doubt that you would get many doctors who would want to touch your thyroid given your lab profile.

Your Estrodiol is very low. THis could very well be making you feel bad. Do your joints ache?

Your cortisol is kind of low in the morning and lower normal at other times. Here again, this maybe suboptimal but adrenal issues are notoriously difficult to treat.

One last obs. Your LP(a) is pretty high. You are asking for heart disease long term if you do not get that under control.
 

blackebob

Member
Defy seems to be the tried and true option on here for TRT. Why are you hesitant to guve them a shit? For what you have spent, I would quit throwing darts at GP'S, and call defy.
 

shltn

Member
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]
If you are recovering from infection, this elevated level is expected. Elevated RT3 will often resolve itself after a while. You will see high RT3 during and after periods of stress (infection is a stressor). I doubt that you would get many doctors who would want to touch your thyroid given your lab profile.
[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Well you're right about the “most doctors” part from my experience so far. But other than that I think you're probably just not familiar with elevated RT3 (I wasn't either until I discovered it was the cause of my health issues and now have spent countless hours reading and researching over the past month or two). My infection was cleared up back in June 2017 and my hypothyroid symptoms have not gone away so it does not “resolve itself”. Are you familiar with “Wilson's Temperature Syndrome”? It is very similar to what I am experiencing where my thyroid is functional but my RT3 is elevated and is what is causing all of my hypothyroid symptoms (long list that I think I wrote above). Running a course of T3 for 8-12 weeks seems to resolve this issue for the majority of people but I just cannot find doctor locally who has treated this. There are some in neighboring states but they claim the treatment could cost up to $10k and I don't have that kind of money - especially when it is a couple hundred dollars in medication.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]
Your Estrodiol is very low. THis could very well be making you feel bad. Do your joints ache?
[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]The low E2 stems from the previous TRT Clinic putting me on AI when it wasn't necessary and I am an “over-responder” I guess because within 3-4 weeks my E2 crashed twice. I did have the typical crashed E2 symptoms for a while in addition to my hypothyroid (insomnia, aching joints, severely dried out, etc.) but those have pretty much gone away. Plus, that wouldn't account for the past year and half I have been having my symptoms or the low body temps, etc.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]
Your LP(a) is pretty high. You are asking for heart disease long term if you do not get that under control.
[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]I agree but cholesterol is also tied to thyroid. In fact, from what I have read, doctors used to use cholesterol as an indicator for thyroid issues. I can attest that I personally saw my cholesterol jump 30-40 points along with my RT3 jumping ~2.5 points due to TRT “blowing up” my system as soon as I started injections and then they both came down once I stopped TRT although still not to pre-TRT levels as of my last blood work.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]
Defy seems to be the tried and true option on here for TRT. Why are you hesitant to guve them a shit? For what you have spent, I would quit throwing darts at GP'S, and call defy.
[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]I have nothing against Defy but if you read my backstory - I already tried TRT and because I had an unknown thyroid issue my system could not handle it. It was like trying to race a car that wasn't running on all cylinders...I had crazy high BP, anxiety and my hypothyroid state worsened.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Once I get my thyroid lined out I MAY try TRT again but that remains to be seen and all I can think about is just feeling “normal” again. My biggest issue (other than hypothyroid) with trying TRT is I tend to have a high hematocrit naturally and mine jumped up 6 points in the short 3-4 weeks I was on TRT so that means I would have to donate blood very frequently (already did once) and then you are stuck in “merry go round” trying to keep your iron up...I've read a bunch of threads on that topic and it seems there is no solution if you are someone who naturally has a high hematocrit.[/FONT][/FONT]
 


snip...
I have nothing against Defy but if you read my backstory - I already tried TRT and because I had an unknown thyroid issue my system could not handle it. It was like trying to race a car that wasn't running on all cylinders...I had crazy high BP, anxiety and my hypothyroid state worsened.

You don't have to be on TRT for Defy to help you with your thyroid. There are several defy patients here that are not taking T.
 

shltn

Member
I actually just got off the phone with them. It looks like a possibility. They are looking over my existing blood work to see if it will suffice to get me going.
 
Buy Lab Tests Online
Defy Medical TRT clinic

Sponsors

enclomiphene
nelson vergel coaching for men
Discounted Labs
TRT in UK Balance my hormones
Testosterone books nelson vergel
Register on ExcelMale.com
Trimix HCG Offer Excelmale
Thumos USA men's mentoring and coaching
Testosterone TRT HRT Doctor Near Me

Online statistics

Members online
5
Guests online
4
Total visitors
9

Latest posts

bodybuilder test discounted labs
Top