New labs w/ protocol + symptoms

Got labs back.


Labs from 5/18 vs labs 3 months ago when I was feeling a lot better (I have only been feeling bad for the past 10 days or so, thought I crashed estrogen from AI use):


-Hemoglobin up to 16, previously 15
-WBC up to 7.5 from 7.0
-Sodium down to 137 from 143 (134-144); sodium is always near 144, never this low (not sure if significant)
-Ferritin low 100's, Iron Sat% 60% (this is always high like this; no change from last labs). If Ferritin was also high I would be more concerned. For now, I will just keep an eye on this.
-Vit D down to 43 from 62 (WTF its summer now!)
-DHT down to 42 from 47
-Estradiol, sensitive, up to 32 from 26 (I thought I was suffering from low E symptoms!!
-Reverse T3 up to 21.2, was 19.2; Free T3 down to 4.0, was 4.5 (range 2-4.4)
-high but in range fasting insulin, yet A1C below range of 4.7; fasting glucose 85
-CRP is <.3 which is really nice to see
-SHBG has gone down from 22 to 15. This part is pretty disapointing as I had gotten my SHBG up from about 11 to 22. I guess this could be in part due to my decreased thyroid state.

How I feel:
-good libido still
-wood not amazing but okay
-anxiety has been worse
-ability to handle stress. I feel like this has been really bad the last couple of weeks. DHEA tested about the same though.
-sleep has been oddly good in spite of everything else
-my body hurts. no strength, joints, bones hurt. This pointed to low E for me, but clearly that wasn't the case. (maybe decreased Vit D?)


Protocol:
-.26mg TC daily
-430iu hCG E3D (1k iu / wk)
-I took .125mg Arimidex every 3.5D in month of April. I took my AI after getting the above labs, so this E2 was technically at its high point. That is the last AI I have taken (5/18)
-Thyroid 2 grains daily
-B complex daily, magnesium daily
-I have decreased my Vit D supplement from 5kiu ED to twice a week since I figured I would be getting more sunlight. I think I will start taking it daily again.


Thanks for anyone who took time to read that.

You didnt test your TT and FT?

Sorry, I did. TT low 723 and Free T 28.1. Those are pretty standard scores for me so I wasn't triggered to include those, which of course I should have considering this is a TRT forum. lol

Low vs high estradiol symptoms sometimes are very similar. Your SHBG is low (mine was really low when i tried daily injections as well). Given your low SHBG you probably should try to lower your estradiol a bit to see if you have any improvement of symptoms. Your FT is on the higher end so a dosage reduction might be something you can try. Both high testosterone and estradiol can cause some of the symptoms you mentioned.
I would try to decrease your dosage to maybe 22mg a day and see how you feel. Aiming low 20s FT and low mid 20s estradiol

Meanbreen your Reverse T3 is too high. Needs to be less than 15. You need a T3 med like cytomel to decrease it. What type of thyroid med are you on? Here are 2 very good descriptions and how to treat it:
https://www.restartmed.com/reverse-t3/
https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/reverse-t3/

Echo the sentiment on the RT3.
That definitely needs to be dealt with.

I am a bit confused on the RT3 issue and how to handle it. Sure, t3 will lower it, but that doesn't address the cause of the rt3. It will come back if I don't take t3 indefinitely. I take 2 grains of NDT each day currently. So what's causing this? My iron looks more than adequate. My CRP is virtually 0, meaning I have low inflamation? Is this just a cortisol issue, or is my liver not good? I supplenent 200mcg selenium daily and my zinc has tested near top of range in previous tests.

meanbreen said:

I am a bit confused on the RT3 issue and how to handle it. Sure, t3 will lower it, but that doesn’t address the cause of the rt3. It will come back if I don’t take t3 indefinitely. I take 2 grains of NDT each day currently. So what’s causing this? My iron looks more than adequate. My CRP is virtually 0, meaning I have low inflamation? Is this just a cortisol issue, or is my liver not good? I supplenent 200mcg selenium daily and my zinc has tested near top of range in previous tests.

Click to expand...

Have you ever tested your ferritin? Low ferritin is a cause as well as blood pressure meds, especially beta blockers (metoprolol), diabetic meds, anti seizure and anti depressants, and so on. Any surgery can put stress on your system as well. Extreme stress can also be a cause. Read thru the link to see if any of the causes apply to you. Once you remedy the cause, then your conversion rate of T4 to T3 should return to normal but, you have to get your RT3 less than 15 and your ratio of T3/RT3 over 20. You can start taking cytomel and this will help you lower your RT3 and hopefully you will find out what caused it in the first place.

I know, my RT3 was 28.1 in Feb and have been on Cytomel 20 mcg day since then and symptoms have disappeared so far. Have a consult coming up so, will be interesting to see what my levels are now. My RT3 was caused by frequent donations which lowered my iron and ferritin along with a killer sinus infection.

Good luck!