Hello gentlemen, I was previously alchemist_004 but I don't have access to that email account and can't recover the password so I just made a new account. It's been a while but I'm back with a bit of a perplexing trend in my recent lab work.
Quick history, I am 41yo, 5'9, 175lb former competitive cyclist (over 10 years). I have always eaten relatively clean, don't drink or smoke My diet consisted mostly of daily oats and brown rice meals with lots of protein, fat, and tons of veggies mixed so it was really a carb based diet for an endurance athlete who needed 3500-5000 calories on any given day. I quick cycling in early 2016 while the staples of my diet remained unchanged until recently. I also take minimal supplements:
Whole food multi
Probiotic
Omega3 1000mg
CoQ10 – 200mg
D3 – 5000iu
My protocol has been 40mg Cypionate e3.5d and 100iu daily for quite some time and I was fairly stable. I have never felt like superman, but I was consistently in a good place.
TT - 800-900 range
FT was always upper quartile
SHBG was generally in the mid to upper 30's
E2 was usually in mid 20's.
Fast forward to the last couple of months where I switched my diet (just before Thanksgiving) to address a yeast overgrowth and since I was on this path, decided to go full blown paleo which was probably a mistake. Mostly fats and protein, carbs were cut to about 150grams per day. At first, like all things it was great. Weight was coming off, skin cleared up, little things like better sleep and waking up without congestion and just felt better overall. Maybe 3 weeks ago, my libido went away completely! I will also say that work has been extremely stressful these last few months and I swim at a moderate pace for 30-60 minutes 3x per week just to keep the body in motion, but on Paleo I just didn't have the energy to really exercise and more importantly – recover. I've begun to increase my carbohydrate intake and am avoiding exercise for the next couple of weeks to see if I feel better, though being sedentary doesn't agree with me.
Recent labs taken last week.
TT 807 (348-1197)
FT direct 13.9 (6.8-21.5)
E2 10 (they messed up the test, not sensitive)
SHBG 49 (16-55)
DHEA 209.7 (102-416) *fasting
DHT 48 *fasting
A1c 5.5 (4.8-5.6) *fasting
Glucose, Plasma 100 (65-99) *fasting
It seems fairly clear that my E2 is too low (even though they ordered the wrong test). My doctor believes I may be suffering from adrenal fatigue given the amount of stress I have been under, in addition to consuming 12 shots of espresso (3x quad espresso's) daily for years, and that the drastic cut in carbs may have just compounded the issue and possibly exacerbated my yeast overgrowth or vice versa. We haven't checked cortisol yet, but we will.
I have begun to increase my carbohydrates and at my doctors recommendation (and some reading) I started taking 400mg of Ashwanagha twice per day almost a week ago which has really helped with the stress and sleep quality. I am absolutely amazed at the efficacy of this root. I have also gone back to regular black coffee (no sugar) from espresso and limit myself to one cup first thing in the morning.
At this point my number one concern is my libido, though I see a couple of things that I would like to address. My DHEA is lower than I would like it and I have read that supplementing with DHEA has the potential to raise E2 and lower SHBG but I would probably like to get another set of labs to confirm this number before I start adding another hormone. Also I am considering tweaking my protocol from 40mg cypionate e3.5 days and 100iu of pregnyl daily to 40mg and 350iu e3.5 days to see if that brings up my E2 at all while maintaining the same weekly dose before adding in DHEA. Move one target at a time.
As always, your thoughts would be appreciated.
Quick history, I am 41yo, 5'9, 175lb former competitive cyclist (over 10 years). I have always eaten relatively clean, don't drink or smoke My diet consisted mostly of daily oats and brown rice meals with lots of protein, fat, and tons of veggies mixed so it was really a carb based diet for an endurance athlete who needed 3500-5000 calories on any given day. I quick cycling in early 2016 while the staples of my diet remained unchanged until recently. I also take minimal supplements:
Whole food multi
Probiotic
Omega3 1000mg
CoQ10 – 200mg
D3 – 5000iu
My protocol has been 40mg Cypionate e3.5d and 100iu daily for quite some time and I was fairly stable. I have never felt like superman, but I was consistently in a good place.
TT - 800-900 range
FT was always upper quartile
SHBG was generally in the mid to upper 30's
E2 was usually in mid 20's.
Fast forward to the last couple of months where I switched my diet (just before Thanksgiving) to address a yeast overgrowth and since I was on this path, decided to go full blown paleo which was probably a mistake. Mostly fats and protein, carbs were cut to about 150grams per day. At first, like all things it was great. Weight was coming off, skin cleared up, little things like better sleep and waking up without congestion and just felt better overall. Maybe 3 weeks ago, my libido went away completely! I will also say that work has been extremely stressful these last few months and I swim at a moderate pace for 30-60 minutes 3x per week just to keep the body in motion, but on Paleo I just didn't have the energy to really exercise and more importantly – recover. I've begun to increase my carbohydrate intake and am avoiding exercise for the next couple of weeks to see if I feel better, though being sedentary doesn't agree with me.
Recent labs taken last week.
TT 807 (348-1197)
FT direct 13.9 (6.8-21.5)
E2 10 (they messed up the test, not sensitive)
SHBG 49 (16-55)
DHEA 209.7 (102-416) *fasting
DHT 48 *fasting
A1c 5.5 (4.8-5.6) *fasting
Glucose, Plasma 100 (65-99) *fasting
It seems fairly clear that my E2 is too low (even though they ordered the wrong test). My doctor believes I may be suffering from adrenal fatigue given the amount of stress I have been under, in addition to consuming 12 shots of espresso (3x quad espresso's) daily for years, and that the drastic cut in carbs may have just compounded the issue and possibly exacerbated my yeast overgrowth or vice versa. We haven't checked cortisol yet, but we will.
I have begun to increase my carbohydrates and at my doctors recommendation (and some reading) I started taking 400mg of Ashwanagha twice per day almost a week ago which has really helped with the stress and sleep quality. I am absolutely amazed at the efficacy of this root. I have also gone back to regular black coffee (no sugar) from espresso and limit myself to one cup first thing in the morning.
At this point my number one concern is my libido, though I see a couple of things that I would like to address. My DHEA is lower than I would like it and I have read that supplementing with DHEA has the potential to raise E2 and lower SHBG but I would probably like to get another set of labs to confirm this number before I start adding another hormone. Also I am considering tweaking my protocol from 40mg cypionate e3.5 days and 100iu of pregnyl daily to 40mg and 350iu e3.5 days to see if that brings up my E2 at all while maintaining the same weekly dose before adding in DHEA. Move one target at a time.
As always, your thoughts would be appreciated.
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