Hello, New Member Seeking Advice

[4everyoung]

Hello All, hopefully this is the right place to dump all this...
I’ve been lurking around these forums and doing a lot of reading on TRT lately since I began to suspect I was low after some blood tests, wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on my plans and bloods so I can make the best decisions going forward.
A little about me, I'm 37yrs old, 5,11", 175lbs at about 15% body fat, do weight training about 1.5 hours a day 5 days a week.
I have some but not all symptoms related to TRT:

1. Lack of motivation
2. Fatigue
3. Brain fog
4. Analysis paralysis
5. Moderate ED (believed to be at least partly psychological)
6. Lack of sex drive
7. Slower healing

I did gain about 15 to 20 lbs of fat back in 2015 which I later lost through dieting, but that was probably more due to a change in my diet at the time.
I do still get morning wood pretty regularly.

I intend to initially work up to a regiment of 35mg-T (probably E) and 400iu-HCG E3D over the course of probably 2 or 3 weeks slowly increasing my dose until I reach the stated level and then order blood work after 6 weeks at the full dose (standard TRT follow up panel from discountedlabs.com) which would be about 9ish weeks in total.

I want to start low and slowly adjust upward and I want to initially ease into the treatment as well as it just seems like a better idea than throwing a ton of hormones at my body all at once.

Question:
Does anyone know how long it takes for the body to shut down production of LH after starting TRT? I was unable to find a timetable on this and the reason I’d like to know is because I would actually like to start the testosterone first and as my body starts to shutdown LH production then I would start introducing HCG, slowly ramping it up over however long it takes for LH to shut down to the 400iu E3D regiment...it may shutdown immediately but I just don’t know.

Here are my current bloods...they are a little mixed up and I should have probably gotten my Testosterone tested again with the most recent LH/FSH/Estradiol test, are they less relevant without a side by side comparison to my testosterone?
Looks like my total testosterone fluctuates in and out of the low to mid range but the free T has been low both tests.

Date, Time, Test, Level, Range, Measurement
01/25/18, 8:00 AM, Total Testosterone, 265, 240 - 871, ng/dL
02/01/18, 7:50 AM, Total Testosterone, 474, 240 - 871, ng/dL
07/05/18, 11:53 AM, Total Testosterone, 551, 264 - 916, ng/dL
07/05/18, 11:53 AM, Free Testosterone, 8.4, 8.7 - 25.1, pg/mL
07/24/18, 9:50 AM, Total Testosterone, 321, 265 - 916, ng/dL
07/24/18, 9:50 AM, Free Testosterone, 4.3, 8.7 - 25.1, pg/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ALBUMIN, 4.5, 3.6-5.1, g/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, GLOBULIN, 2.8, 1.9-3.7, g/dL (calc)
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ALBUMIN/GLOBULIN RATIO, 1.6, 1.0-2.5, (calc)
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, HEMATOCRIT, 45.4, 38.5-50.0, %
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, DHEA SULFATE, 234, 106-464, mcg/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, PROLACTIN, 9, 2.0-18.0, ng/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "PSA, TOTAL", 0.5, < OR = 4, ng/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, SHBG, 20, 10-50, nmol/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, TSH, 2.13, 0.40-4.50, mIU/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "T4, FREE", 1.4, 0.8-1.8, ng/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "T3, FREE", 3.3, 2.3-4.2, pg/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "T3 REVERSE, LC/MS/MS", 14, 8-25, ng/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODIES, <1, < or = 1, IU/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES, 1, <9, IU/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "VITAMIN D, 25-OH, TOTAL ", 34, 30-100, ng/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "VITAMIN D, 25-OH, D3 ", 34, 30-100, ng/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "VITAMIN D, 25-OH, D2 ", <4, 30-100, ng/mL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, GLUCOSE, 88, 65-99, mg/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, UREA NITROGEN (BUN), 28, 7-25, mg/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, CREATININE, 1.39, 0.60-1.35, mg/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, eGFR NON-AFR. AMERICAN, 64, > OR = 60, mL/min/1.73m2
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, eGFR AFR. AMERICAN, 75, > OR = 60, mL/min/1.73m2
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, BUN/CREATININE RATIO, 20, 6-22, (calc)
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, SODIUM, 138, 135-146, mmol/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, POTASSIUM, 4.4, 3.5-5.3, mmol/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, CHLORIDE, 99, 98-110, mmol/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, CO2, 28, 20-32, mmol/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, CALCIUM, 9.5, 8.6-10.3, mg/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "PROTEIN, TOTAL", 7.3, 6.1-8.1, g/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "BILIRUBIN, TOTAL", 1.8, 0.2-1.2, mg/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE, 60, 40-115, U/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, AST, 33, 10-40, U/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ALT, 24, 9-46, U/L
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, MAGNESIUM, 2.3, 1.5-2.5, mg/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT, 5.1, 3.8-10.8, Thousand/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, RED BLOOD CELL COUNT, 5.16, 4.20-5.80, Million/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, HEMOGLOBIN, 15.8, 13.2-17.1, g/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, MCV, 88, 80.0-100.0, fL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, MCH, 30.6, 27.0-33.0, pg
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, MCHC, 34.8, 32.0-36.0, g/dL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, RDW, 12.6, 11.0-15.0, %
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, PLATELET COUNT, 107, 140-400, Thousand/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, MPV, 14.4, 7.5-12.5, fL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE NEUTROPHILS, 2968, 1500-7800, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE BAND NEUTROPHILS, DNR, 0-750, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE METAMYELOCYTES, DNR, 0, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE MYELOCYTES, DNR, 0, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE PROMYELOCYTES, DNR, 0, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE LYMPHOCYTES, 1413, 850-3900, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE MONOCYTES, 490, 200-950, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHILS, 189, 15-500, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE BASOPHILS, 41, 0-200, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE BLASTS, DNR, 0, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, ABSOLUTE NUCLEATED RBC, DNR, 0, cells/uL
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, NEUTROPHILS, 58.2, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, BAND NEUTROPHILS, DNR, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, METAMYELOCYTES, DNR, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, MYELOCYTES, DNR, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, PROMYELOCYTES, DNR, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, LYMPHOCYTES, 27.7, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, REACTIVE LYMPHOCYTES, DNR, 0-10 %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, MONOCYTES, 9.6, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, EOSINOPHILS, 3.7, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, BASOPHILS, 0.8, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, BLASTS, DNR, %,
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, NUCLEATED RBC, DNR, 0/100, WBC
08/06/18, 7:43 AM, "FOLATE, RBC", 479, >280, ng/mL
08/15/18, 9:33 AM, LH, 4.3, 1.7 - 8.6, mIU/mL
08/15/18, 9:33 AM, FSH, 1.7, 1.5 - 12.4, mIU/mL
08/15/18, 9:33 AM, "Estradiol, Sensitive", 20.4, 8.0 - 35.0, pg/mL

What do you all think? Do you have any advice or suggestions? Would love any and all input!

 

[HealthMan]

Exogenous testosterone will shut you down quickly. But you are overthinking delaying HCG because of that.

 

[MarkM]

When you begin injecting exogenous testosterone your HPTA will probably shutdown within two weeks and you won;t be producing any LH after that as long as your on TRT,

Your testosterone levels will always fluctuate somewhat so what you are seeing in fluctuation is not unusual. I would probably hold off on the HCG until you get up to a steady state of the testosterone therapy and retest.

Your Total T is low but in range, surely not optimal and your Free T is below range. You want your Free T to be in the upper end of the range regardless of what your Total T is. Free T is the work horse that does all the work. You could benefit from TRT.

I am concerned about your platelet count at 107, well below the bottom end of the range. Have you always had a low platelet count in the past?

SHBG is 20 on a range of 10 to 50. This is on the low side so as you get on your protocol you will need to consider this as it is one of the most important factors in deciding your injection protocol to have successful TRT.

Your Estradiol Sensitive (E2) is at 20.4 on a range of 8.0 - 35.0. Not a bad E2 to start with and it will increase with the start of TRT. You should be okay at this level but everyone is different.

Vitamin D is low and you need to get this up to 70 or 80.

BUN is high a little bit. You may be a little dehydrated. Are you taking why protein and creatine?

Thyroid does not look bad. No thryoid antobodies, Free T4 is okay, and Free T3 should be a little higher for it to be optimal. Your Reverse T3 is at 14 and you don't want it getting over 15. Your Free T3:Reverse T3 ratio is at 23.6 which is good and you definitely want it over 20.

My only concern with your blood work other than your Free T being way too low is the platelet count and that is something you might want to ask your doctor about.

 

[4everyoung]

When you begin injecting exogenous testosterone your HPTA will probably shutdown within two weeks and you won;t be producing any LH after that as long as your on TRT,

Your testosterone levels will always fluctuate somewhat so what you are seeing in fluctuation is not unusual. I would probably hold off on the HCG until you get up to a steady state of the testosterone therapy and retest.

Your Total T is low but in range, surely not optimal and your Free T is below range. You want your Free T to be in the upper end of the range regardless of what your Total T is. Free T is the work horse that does all the work. You could benefit from TRT.

I am concerned about your platelet count at 107, well below the bottom end of the range. Have you always had a low platelet count in the past?

SHBG is 20 on a range of 10 to 50. This is on the low side so as you get on your protocol you will need to consider this as it is one of the most important factors in deciding your injection protocol to have successful TRT.

Your Estradiol Sensitive (E2) is at 20.4 on a range of 8.0 - 35.0. Not a bad E2 to start with and it will increase with the start of TRT. You should be okay at this level but everyone is different.

Vitamin D is low and you need to get this up to 70 or 80.

BUN is high a little bit. You may be a little dehydrated. Are you taking why protein and creatine?

Thyroid does not look bad. No thryoid antobodies, Free T4 is okay, and Free T3 should be a little higher for it to be optimal. Your Reverse T3 is at 14 and you don't want it getting over 15. Your Free T3:Reverse T3 ratio is at 23.6 which is good and you definitely want it over 20.

My only concern with your blood work other than your Free T being way too low is the platelet count and that is something you might want to ask your doctor about.

Thank you so much for the detailed reply,

So you suggest not starting HCG right away? Is that because it would be better to see where my levels are with Testosterone and see how they change when adding in HCG? Seems like a good idea to me so I have a better idea of where to adjust later.

Free T is the main thing I'm thinking I need to focus on and will hopefully be what convinces the doc's to give me a prescription so that I don't have to go to a ugl for gear.

This is my first test for platelet count and will be talking to the doc about that this week. I've been so focused on researching hormones that I haven't looked into it much but will definitely start trying to figure that one out.

Low SHBG is one of the reasons why I want to start with an E3D protocol right out of the gate. I will focus more of my research efforts on ways to raise that number.

Been reading about the E2 to T ratio along with other anecdotes of people that feel better in particular ranges. Will definitely be keeping a close eye on it.

Will start supplementing D3 regularly...I don't get a lot of sun being fair skinned.

During the test I was taking whey protein but not creatine. I have since started talking creatine however. I try to stay fairly well hydrated but I could be better at making sure I'm in-taking the proper amount of water.

I don't know much about reverse T3 but will definitely start reading up on it more.

Thank you again for all your help!

 

[MarkM]

Yes, my recommendation would not be to start the HCG immediately and let yourself level out on your testosterone therapy so when you add HCG you can see what that one change did for you. If you start them both at the same time it will be impossible to tell.

Correct in focusing on the Free T. While it is only a small fraction of your Total T it is the one that makes everything happen. In a healthy male the Free T should be between 2% and 3% of the Total T. Looks like on your last Total T and Free T labs on 7/24 your Free T was around 1.3% of your Total T so you are definitely low.

Keep us posted on good luck on your new journey!

 

[4everyoung]

Yes, my recommendation would not be to start the HCG immediately and let yourself level out on your testosterone therapy so when you add HCG you can see what that one change did for you. If you start them both at the same time it will be impossible to tell.

Correct in focusing on the Free T. While it is only a small fraction of your Total T it is the one that makes everything happen. In a healthy male the Free T should be between 2% and 3% of the Total T. Looks like on your last Total T and Free T labs on 7/24 your Free T was around 1.3% of your Total T so you are definitely low.

Keep us posted on good luck on your new journey!

Great, thanks for the advice!