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Testosterone Replacement, Low T, HCG, & Beyond
Blood Test Discussion
High estrogens / SHBG
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<blockquote data-quote="Castaneda" data-source="post: 144963" data-attributes="member: 36807"><p>I wanted to wait a few days before posting an update, to assess things more thoughtfully.</p><p></p><p>I had a consult with Defy last week. I didn't have an opportunity to speak to a doctor, just a knowledgeable PA, but he seemed to have a few more "angles" on the matter than my current practitioner. He also concurred with me that the current provider is way off the mark, in multiple ways.</p><p></p><p>The summary is:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Some autoimmune or similar condition is kicking in and causing RT3 to spike. The labs show inconsistent numbers. T4 is coming down as a result of the Cytomel I've been taking, but RT3 is rising. My feeling is this is viral, because the high RT3 is often accompanied by cold sores. He thought a course of Acyclovir would be useful, but that's just a band-aid.<br /> <br /> I'm going to maximize sun exposure as the temps are now rising. That seems to correct RT3 problems, at least in the summer. In the meantime, the plan is to gradually increase Cytomel. I've been taking 5mcg 5x a day ... a total of 25mcg / day. He said I could go as high as 50 if I had to until RT3 was in the single digits. This makes sense.<br /> <br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Testosterone, estrogen, and DHT have all shot up since the last labs. This is because the last lab was taken before I was advised to apply T-cream trans-scrotally. DHT is high enough to cause libido issues (so the PA believes). He says it shot up because of putting so much T-cream on the scrotum. As a matter of fact, SHBG going higher is likely a sign that the body is trying to deal with excess steroid hormones, in general.<br /> <br /> The advice here was to stop applying 400mg / day to the scrotum (which was really ill-conceived to begin with) and take the dose down to 100mg, 2x a day, applied elsewhere.</li> </ol><p>So I have halved my dose and was putting it on the inner thigh and stopped Prog / DHEA completely. 2 days later I slipped into one of the worst depressions of my life. Soul-crushing anhedonia. Absolutely no motivation to do anything, suicidal ideations, the works. </p><p></p><p>In desperation, last night, I took 5mg of Prog and DHEA again, and literally within 20 minutes, everything came back online. Libido, desire, motivation, well-being. This is not placebo, trust me. Given my symptoms, I can't figure out whether I have low E from high SHBG or high E from excessive conversion of T (from over-dosing). I'm leaning toward the latter because Progesterone blocks estrogen's effects at low levels (3-5 mg). As a matter of fact, I'm very inclined to start recommending it as a natural "estrogen control" mechanism.. as soon as I can confirm that's actually what it's doing. </p><p></p><p>Long-term, the advice was to get off the cream altogether and start using sub-Q T-cypionate. But we're going to test levels first in 4 weeks to see where halving the dose has landed me. He did recommend taking 25mg of DHEA before bed along with the 5mg of Progesterone, but the thought of that unnerves me. DHEA at levels over 5mg pushes my estrogen up.</p><p></p><p>The problem at hand is figuring out what Progesterone (combined with DHEA) is doing. It has such a pronounced effect on libido and going without it causes huge problems .... I'm going to need to vet it out thoroughly. I will be ordering some straight Prog and trying that without DHEA. Then DHEA alone, both in the same amounts (5mg). Intuition says it's the combination here, but let's see where things go.</p><p></p><p>I expressed a concern that sub-Q T injections would aromatize more heavily due to higher enzymatic activity in adipocytes, but the PA didn't seem to agree that would happen. I still have enough body fat that it's a concern, nonetheless. </p><p></p><p>One thing is for certain -- something is having its way with my immune system, and it's dragging my metabolism into the dirt. It could be I need to be much more aggressive with the Cytomel in these "troughs", but I don't want to flip over to hyper-thyroid.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Castaneda, post: 144963, member: 36807"] I wanted to wait a few days before posting an update, to assess things more thoughtfully. I had a consult with Defy last week. I didn't have an opportunity to speak to a doctor, just a knowledgeable PA, but he seemed to have a few more "angles" on the matter than my current practitioner. He also concurred with me that the current provider is way off the mark, in multiple ways. The summary is: [LIST=1] [*]Some autoimmune or similar condition is kicking in and causing RT3 to spike. The labs show inconsistent numbers. T4 is coming down as a result of the Cytomel I've been taking, but RT3 is rising. My feeling is this is viral, because the high RT3 is often accompanied by cold sores. He thought a course of Acyclovir would be useful, but that's just a band-aid. I'm going to maximize sun exposure as the temps are now rising. That seems to correct RT3 problems, at least in the summer. In the meantime, the plan is to gradually increase Cytomel. I've been taking 5mcg 5x a day ... a total of 25mcg / day. He said I could go as high as 50 if I had to until RT3 was in the single digits. This makes sense. [*]Testosterone, estrogen, and DHT have all shot up since the last labs. This is because the last lab was taken before I was advised to apply T-cream trans-scrotally. DHT is high enough to cause libido issues (so the PA believes). He says it shot up because of putting so much T-cream on the scrotum. As a matter of fact, SHBG going higher is likely a sign that the body is trying to deal with excess steroid hormones, in general. The advice here was to stop applying 400mg / day to the scrotum (which was really ill-conceived to begin with) and take the dose down to 100mg, 2x a day, applied elsewhere. [/LIST] So I have halved my dose and was putting it on the inner thigh and stopped Prog / DHEA completely. 2 days later I slipped into one of the worst depressions of my life. Soul-crushing anhedonia. Absolutely no motivation to do anything, suicidal ideations, the works. In desperation, last night, I took 5mg of Prog and DHEA again, and literally within 20 minutes, everything came back online. Libido, desire, motivation, well-being. This is not placebo, trust me. Given my symptoms, I can't figure out whether I have low E from high SHBG or high E from excessive conversion of T (from over-dosing). I'm leaning toward the latter because Progesterone blocks estrogen's effects at low levels (3-5 mg). As a matter of fact, I'm very inclined to start recommending it as a natural "estrogen control" mechanism.. as soon as I can confirm that's actually what it's doing. Long-term, the advice was to get off the cream altogether and start using sub-Q T-cypionate. But we're going to test levels first in 4 weeks to see where halving the dose has landed me. He did recommend taking 25mg of DHEA before bed along with the 5mg of Progesterone, but the thought of that unnerves me. DHEA at levels over 5mg pushes my estrogen up. The problem at hand is figuring out what Progesterone (combined with DHEA) is doing. It has such a pronounced effect on libido and going without it causes huge problems .... I'm going to need to vet it out thoroughly. I will be ordering some straight Prog and trying that without DHEA. Then DHEA alone, both in the same amounts (5mg). Intuition says it's the combination here, but let's see where things go. I expressed a concern that sub-Q T injections would aromatize more heavily due to higher enzymatic activity in adipocytes, but the PA didn't seem to agree that would happen. I still have enough body fat that it's a concern, nonetheless. One thing is for certain -- something is having its way with my immune system, and it's dragging my metabolism into the dirt. It could be I need to be much more aggressive with the Cytomel in these "troughs", but I don't want to flip over to hyper-thyroid. [/QUOTE]
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Testosterone Replacement, Low T, HCG, & Beyond
Blood Test Discussion
High estrogens / SHBG
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