22 Years Old with Low T... Suggestions?

[tengounapregunta]

Hey everyone,

three months ago, I bought an over the counter AI called Elim1nate. It commonly goes by arimistane. I was not taking exogenous test, but I wanted to take it to improve my T:E ratio. Stupid, I know. I ended up crashing my estrogen, and I have been having symptoms for the last 3 months.

I was beginning to feel better last month, but still h ad no morning erections, little libido, and feeling anxious. I tested myself and received a total test of 619.7 ng/dL (348-1197) with free test at 16.8 (9.3-26.5). Estradiol was at 21 (7-42.6 pg/ML). Seems okay, but I still had symptoms...

Yesterday, I was feeling like complete trash. Exhausted, libido was gone, weak erections, you name it. My scrotum has been feeling high and tight, too. I tested free Test and estradiol to see what I would get... Total test was at 374 ng/DL. (241-827)- In a month, it cut by half! Estradiol was measured at less than 12 pg/mL (no standard range). What the heck?! To emphasize, these were two different labs so I don't know if I am comparing apples to apples correctly or not... I want to take T to get rid of my symptoms and hopefully get my sex life back, but I want to have kids and be fertile... Why is this hapenning? Did the OTC AI really trigger all of this? Before that, I was a horny bull. Now, I feel like a little boy, half of what I used to be

Please offer me some suggestions!

 

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Hey everyone,

three months ago, I bought an over the counter AI called Elim1nate. It commonly goes by arimistane. I was not taking exogenous test, but I wanted to take it to improve my T:E ratio. Stupid, I know. I ended up crashing my estrogen, and I have been having symptoms for the last 3 months.

I was beginning to feel better last month, but still h ad no morning erections, little libido, and feeling anxious. I tested myself and received a total test of 619.7 ng/dL (348-1197) with free test at 16.8 (9.3-26.5). Estradiol was at 21 (7-42.6 pg/ML). Seems okay, but I still had symptoms...

Yesterday, I was feeling like complete trash. Exhausted, libido was gone, weak erections, you name it. My scrotum has been feeling high and tight, too. I tested free Test and estradiol to see what I would get... Total test was at 374 ng/DL. (241-827)- In a month, it cut by half! Estradiol was measured at less than 12 pg/mL (no standard range). What the heck?! To emphasize, these were two different labs so I don't know if I am comparing apples to apples correctly or not... I want to take T to get rid of my symptoms and hopefully get my sex life back, but I want to have kids and be fertile... Why is this hapenning? Did the OTC AI really trigger all of this? Before that, I was a horny bull. Now, I feel like a little boy, half of what I used to be

Please offer me some suggestions!

I took otc AIs when I was young too, they're total garbage, as you had to learn the hard way. Your first lab was literally perfect (great total, free, and estradiol). The second one was less than ideal, but as you noted, the labs were different. More importantly, what time of the day did you complete both labs? In order to get a truly accurate reading, you need to test in the morning (between 7 and 9AM) with the same lab. If by any chance you tested around 8PM the second time around, it's not surprising you may have had a lower result. I recommend testing again using Labcorp (the first one you did) in the AM.

 

[tengounapregunta]

I took otc AIs when I was young too, they're total garbage, as you had to learn the hard way. Your first lab was literally perfect (great total, free, and estradiol). The second one was less than ideal, but as you noted, the labs were different. More importantly, what time of the day did you complete both labs? In order to get a truly accurate reading, you need to test in the morning (between 7 and 9AM) with the same lab. If by any chance you tested around 8PM the second time around, it's not surprising you may have had a lower result. I recommend testing again using Labcorp (the first one you did) in the AM.

I took the second exam at around 1:00 PM. Not fasted. Do you think that makes a difference? Also, could my libido/erection problem stem from the AI I took? Two doctors think that this will all go away on its own and the endocrine system just needs to take its time to go to homeostasis.

 

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

I took the second exam at around 1:00 PM. Not fasted. Do you think that makes a difference? Also, could my libido/erection problem stem from the AI I took? Two doctors think that this will all go away on its own and the endocrine system just needs to take its time to go to homeostasis.

Typically AIs are short-acting and everything reverts to normal once they are cleared from your system. It can take some time, but not more than three months. I am curious, why did you think it was necessary to improve your T:E ratio? Did you perform any bloodwork before taking the AI? At any rate, yes, getting your testosterone checked at 1PM after having eaten meals can definitely impact your results. I highly suggest ordering blood work from Discountedlabs.com and checking your testosterone free/total first thing in the AM, fasted (between 7-8 is really ideal). You can test estradiol again if you'd like (sensitive estradiol), but there's a very good chance that if your T levels are good that your estradiol will also be fine. Make sure to use Lab Corp because the knowledge base on hormones is primarily comprised of results derived from Lab Corp. We all know that a total of 600 on a Lab Corp test is good, we don't know if a total of 374 in a different lab is as bad as it sounds. For example, the Quest free testosterone ranges/values are somewhere around 10x higher than Lab Corp's. Lastly, if you watch a lot of pornography that can induce many of the same symptoms as actual hypogonadism, particularly reduced sex drive. That's always something to take into consideration when addressing younger, presumably single males and sexual dysfunction.

 

[a_crossfitter]

All of your symptoms can be attributed to many things; however,:

-Go to bed early and wake up early. ---->Get better sleep
-Eat real food. ----> Stay away from processed garbage.
-Try eating more animal fats ----> Perhaps start a ketogenic diet.

 

[Vince]

Labs should be done first thing in the morning, after fasting for 12 hours. All your symptoms sounds like low estradiol levels. You should recover but it will take time.

 

[tengounapregunta]

Labs should be done first thing in the morning, after fasting for 12 hours. All your symptoms sounds like low estradiol levels. You should recover but it will take time.

I've heard it takes time. I'm 12 weeks off of the AI, and still have symptoms. However, they're getting a lot better. I hadn't had morning erections in months, and I'm recently starting to experience them again. In addition, libido is very very low, but I can feel it coming back. I guess it's just taking a lot of time in my case to recover because I'm not on exogenous test. Additionally, I'm a pretty lean man, which means I don't aromatize much to begin with. I just hope I can make a full recovery and that I didn't damage anything.