E2 getting lower, do I keep going?

[rhino5169]

Since been on TRT E2 kept climbing until I hit 63 when I was started on an AI.
Next 2 labs only came down a few point and adjusted dose each time. The 2nd time, after only coming down slightly we adjusted a good amount and in 6 weeks went from 48 to 18.

Wondering if I keep going, or lower the dose or stop it altogether.

I know first question is how do I feel?
Well, im not sure because there's many other things going on but I was sure I still had high E2 until I got the lab back and saw it's 18, so I guess I have some both high and low symptoms, which may or may not be from E2.

I've read not to crash my E2 but at what number is it crashed? If I dont actually have low E symptoms do I keep it going?

Anyone have similar experience?

 

[Vince]

Your estradiol levels are not too low but be careful. I'm sure you know all the issues that low estradiol levels causes. You may want to do labs in 6 weeks again and then they decide if you need to lower your AI.

 

[ratbag]

I find a lot of symptoms overlap between high and low E2 except for sore nipples as that always seems to indicate my E2 is too high. I tried following Phil Georgian's method of identifying symptoms as being high or low and then adjust the dose accordingly but in my case I found it really hard to do and was usually way off. I think most agree here that it's better to be too high than too low. If you've been low all your life then keeping it low would likely be ok and vise-versa. I suspect your E2 has been towards the high side and you'd probably feel better if you got it closer to 30 than your current 18.

 

[FeelingLost]

Now that your E2 is down I would go back to a maintenance lvl. Something like .25 to .50 per week.

 

[Vince Carter]

remember and assuming youre pulling in your trough that 18 is your lowest point. Most would agree you're on the threshold of going too far though. Are you low SHBG by chance? like <15?

 

[rhino5169]

Current shbg is 24.9. The last 2 labs going back to august were 27.5 and 28.8.

When I started TRT my T level was 400 ish but only that high for that test to initially get with Defy and my prior Dr had me using HCG. Before the HCG i Was 197 total T and my E2 was arund an 8!

Fast forward - on TRT it kept rising to a high of 63, which then started coming down as per my earlier post.

I think im going to continue but with a slightly less dose. For now.

 

[lowe2sucks]

yeah definitely lower the dose. your e2 isnt too low but it may continue to drop with current AI dose

 

[rhino5169]

yeah definitely lower the dose. your e2 isnt too low but it may continue to drop with current AI dose

Thank you bud.
Best of luck in your journey. You WILL succeed.

 

[FeelingLost]

snip...

I think im going to continue but with a slightly less dose. For now.

Remember when you get to your AI steady state it will be double what you are taking. I copied this from another thread
it makes my head hurt to read it but it really explains the whole half life steady state thing.

I believe many don't know about this doubling effect and that is why they end up taking too much.

This is how half lives work. For example, lets say you take 1mg of Arimidex EOD. The half life of Arimidex is 2 days. So in 2 days when you take another dose, you still have 50% of the the previous dose in your system. So if you took 1mg Monday, then took 1mg Wednesday, you have 1mg from Wednesday's dose, plus 0.5mg from Monday's dose.

So 1.5mg total in your system. Then you take another 1mg Friday. You now have 1mg from Friday's dose, 0.5mg from Wednesday, and 0.25mg from Monday's dose. So on Friday you have 1.75mg in your system. Then on Sunday you will have 1mg from Sunday's dose, 0.5mg from Friday, 0.25mg from Wednesday and 0.125mg from Monday's dose. So 1.875mg in your system on Sunday.

So on Tuesday you will have 1mg from Tuesday, 0.5mg from Sunday, 0.25mg from Friday, 0.125mg from Wednesday, and 0.0625mg from Monday. So in total on Tuesday you will have 1.9375mg in your system. So do this math one more time for Thursday's dose. Which will equal 1.96875mg, basically 2mg in your system on the 10th day.

On the 10th day you have now reached a "steady state" of this medication. This means from the 10th day on if you keep taking 1mg of Arimidex EOD, you will always have roughly 2mg in your system at all times. The amount of milligrams in your system does not continue going up from this point.

hth

 

[rhino5169]

Thanks FL..