what about anavar for women and chronic fatigue and immune issues?

[Brooksy Chuck]

would anavar be a better option for females for well being, immunity and recover than testo? and what kind of dr would one go to get try anavar? my endo is fine with test but not other options.. thanks!

 

[Vettester Chris]

Some HRT clinics will prescribe it, some won't ... Not too many I imagine will be keen to prescribe it to women. If so, hopefully they keep it to 10mg/day or less.

IMO, I would back up a little bit and see where the chronic fatigue is stemming from. I have no idea with any background, but I do know women in peri and post-menopausal phases will have a tendency to become iron, B12 & calcium deficient, and the decrease of endogenous progesterone production will in a lot of cases lead to estrogen dominance, which in turn will turn the table on the adrenals, and all of this plays into the thyroid function.

My point is that a compound like anavar won't do much if areas like I mentioned above are not in balance. Just my .02

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

well it is complex but my subclass immune fuctions are low and low dose test injects have been the only thing that have helped me.. i have tested adrenals via 24 hour saliva and estro and proges.. i have high estrogen.. well before the testo and low progestrone.. i can't tolerate progestrone i blow up like a water ballon even with small doses. and working on treating thyroid cause my temps would drop to 95.4 for days and i would be really ill.. i started thyroid and found out i could't tolerate thyroid without HC so i got a dr at holtorf to try HC.. they didnt really know how to dose it at the time this was a few years ago when i was healthy enough to work. the HC was like a miracle for a while.. and when i was on low dose test injections last year i felt pretty good and hardly got sick.. it caused drastic HDL drop.. like down to 28 and increased rbc even with only 20mg a week. i have been to auto immune drs' from ucsf to stanford.. as well as "cfids" drs when i could afford them.. i have a creat cfids dr at stanford that will acknowledge "past viral titers" as possible and an dr that says i have "commen varible immune defiency" sorry for the bad spelling i am recovery from rotator cuff surgery and have limited time and energy to do computer right now.. trying to recover from some flu that caused a very high fever 2 weeks ago.. funny i never got sick on t injects ..on gel and have been sick ever since i switched end of Nov.. with mild lung crap.. but 2 weeks ago infection has knocked me back. thanks for the ideas!

 

[Vettester Chris]

Couple thoughts ... a 'good' female TRT protocol would be in the 4mg to 8mg per week; possibly aiming to have serum levels in the 40-to-65ng/dl range. Now here's the thing, I'm banking you felt pretty good at the higher dose, but I'm banking you have some really high SHBG, causing your free & bio test to be very low. This is just all speculation on my part, but I've seen it with many female HRT patients over the years (including my wife), and it's pretty common stuff in the books with the likes of Dr. Reiss.

You should first start by running some additional labs to see (or post them if you have them). If your free test is low, and I would suspect in the < 1% category, you can benefit from Vitamin D therapy, and researching some nettle root with your physician. Free test is where it's at, and if you can optimize that variable, you can reduce your medication and serum level, and achieve a little more balance in your program.

It sounds like your thyroid, specifically T3 is pooling without HC therapy, and probably from other components that we've discussed. I still suspect iron, magnesium & B12 are off, all common play with estrogen dominance (the other ED!). If this has been going on for quite a while (1 year or more), you will usually see the hypothalamus is exhausted with the long periods of hyper-secretion of TSH. With ED, it's quite common to see Low TSH values, and Low T4 & T3 levels. Usually, Reverse T3 ratios will be low, and ADP (negative charge) will be higher than desired. Lastly on this subject, look at the Circadian T3 method (CT3M) with taking NDT meds or T3. It also involves supplementing D3, a variety of Vitamin B's, and Vitamin C. There's some good information to checkout at Stopthethyroidmadness.com, and Dr. Bruce Rind has some good information on the thyroid in general.

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

not sure which labs you are interested in ? sbgh is around 26 to 30 it seems to change a bit.. not sure if that is high or low. and free test is good with the added testo.. i do take vit d because my levels were so low.. and i take a good b complex and 3 to 4grams a day of vit c. I can not take iron with the testo as my rbc is very senstive to the 2 combined and it goes really high quickly. been working on thryoid for over a year.. i can't seem to get the free T4 to go up at all with NDT.. so now i am taking NDT 7.5mcg T3 and added a bit of T4 as an experiment to see if the FreeT4 goes up. prior to HC i had a reverse T3 issue..but last tested it was good. thanks for the ideas

 

[Vettester Chris]

BC, yes, lots of people will supplement a little extra T4 to help bring of the ratio of T4:T3, since NDT meds are usually in the 4:1 (80%) and normal functioning 'human' thyroids are in the 20:1 range (94%-95%).

Glad you got your RT3 under control. Actually, glad you checked it and knew that cortisol was playing a role in the ratio of FT3/RT3.

Also, depending on the Ref Ranges in nmol/L, your SHBG numbers look good. Again, you knew to take Vitamin D, so it's great to see that you are on top of this and doing your homework. I'm a little perplexed on the progesterone complication you have with exogenous therapy, but not saying any of this stuff ever gets real easy. Possibly a rhythmic type protocol could be a possibility if you haven't explored that area already?

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

thanks Chris not sure what you mean " Possibly a rhythmic type protocol" for the progesterone.. i am going on my 3rd week of being sick and the dr have me predisone to see if it helps with breathing- i don't have asthma..just sometimes get alot of lung issues.
so does this sound odd to you. last year i was taking 20mg a week IM of testo.. i felt great and never got sick .. prior i was getting sick with infections about every 3 to 6 months.. as soon as i stopped the injections end of nov 2013 i have been getting little lung infections since.. i had shoulder surgery on dec 5 was slight sick with lung stuff before surgery, then got sick after surgery.. then a blow out illness 3 weeks ago that has render me pretty week. since dec i have been taking some test gel..but doesnt seem to do anything in the immune depart or sex drive.. not that i need a sex drive at this point.. but just kinda using that as reference for measureing the effectiveness of the testo..seems if the gel were working i might feel it sexually, like i was with the injections? thanks

 

[Jasen Bruce]

Progesterone can cycled if still menstruating regularly. It post-menopausal women it can be used daily to treat symptoms.

Oxandrolone should not be taken long term as it can cause side effects such as elevation of liver enzymes and drop in HDL, increase in LDL. In addition it can lead to an increase in DHT (or at least receptor activity) which can cause androgen-related sides after some time. If used short term it can be great for women.


A good BHRT protocol which addresses any deficiency would be best. To help with recovery try adding 10g glutamine+5g-10g BCAA daily.

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

Progesterone can cycled if still menstruating regularly. It post-menopausal women it can be used daily to treat symptoms.

Oxandrolone should not be taken long term as it can cause side effects such as elevation of liver enzymes and drop in HDL, increase in LDL. In addition it can lead to an increase in DHT (or at least receptor activity) which can cause androgen-related sides after some time. If used short term it can be great for women.


A good BHRT protocol which addresses any deficiency would be best. To help with recovery try adding 10g glutamine+5g-10g BCAA daily.

Thank you JBruce, progesterone makes me retain a lot of water. I did fine on low dose test actually felt great but at 20mg a week my HDL plummeted saddle. All the way down to 28. I don't mind male characteristics since I identify as transgender which has taken a back burner to trying to just greet healthy enough to function again and have some kind of life.
I did the lab work last fall through Defy and still need to schedule with Dr.Saya which I am looking forward to.
I will work on glutamine and amino acids . Good suggestion thank you!

 

[Jasen Bruce]

Anytime Brooksy! You were previously doing 20mg per week of test (cyp)? And HDL plummeted? That is actually a very low dosage, esp. if FTM. A better T cyp dosage would be 100mg per week.

You'll be in good hands with Doc Saya and look forward to helping you.

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

i know 20mg a week is more like a "high end" female dose..and mostly i was taking it for sense of wellbeing- not transition..it helped alot.. 10 years ago i was on 100mg a week and they thought i had a TIA i was only 36 at the time..it was pretty intense and scary.. i do know testo is one of the things that has helped me most. i was taking enthante..actually. thanks i look forward to getting some help.. as i said i dont care about transition at this time.. i just want to find a way to get healthy, have energy and be able to be in the world and workout without getting sick.. as you may or may not know "cardio" is contraindicated for folks with 'CFIDS" yet i am hoping to find a loop hole!

yes on 20mg a week my hdl went down to 28 and stayed there as long as i was taking injections.. with gels it comes back up but i do not get the energy or recvery benefits from the gels.. odd huh? thanks for not judging me! life is hard enough.. i just want some health and life back

 

[Vettester Chris]

BC, I doubt very few if any will judge on this site. This place is open arms to anyone and everyone needing a place to reach out for health and wellness related topics. However, what I personally ask from you or anyone, please just spell it out right from the start. I made several posts based on the premise that peri or post-menopausal conditions might be contributing to your condition, presuming the ovaries and such might be factoring. You would have saved me a lot of time by just setting me straight with your situation from the get go.

Again, I don't think there's a more accommodating site out there, and as a moderator, I will work to ensure ALL members are treated with respect and dignity.

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

well thank you Chris... as i said it is complicated.. i am not transitioning at this point and i dont know if i ever will be able too after having the "possible TIA" 10 years ago at 36 that was pretty scary.. so yes it could be perimenipause causing my issues.. i was on intereferon therapy for a year 15 years ago and shortly after that was when i started having horrible hormonal issues and no energy.. the drs as you know often are no help.. and i decided to try the T and because i have "gender dysphoria' ididnt mind the masculine effects-- although my coworkers did.. but the testo restored my life - saddly becasue of the "tia?" they took me off.. but having gone to dr after dr for the past 10 years getting sicker and sicker trying everything from lyme to cfids ..and still sicker i had to go on disablily becasue of so many infections..and no answers - i got tired of being sick and tired at this point being 45 and having struggled for the past 10 years to just make a living and manage food and laundry for myself. i tried am still trying thryoid adrenal etc.. but the biggest impact is the test- when i went back on injections on the low dose 20mg last year i actuallyl had a good summer i was able to hike and go to gym, take care of my food and my apartment - i felt good ..but my hdl was very bad.. 28.
and that scares me- with the gels it comes up but the gels do nothing for my energy.. so as i have said twice i think..
at this point my concern is getting my health back as best i can... but i dont want to take estrogen- . there must be a way.. ?
i dont care if i transition or not right now.. i just want to be able to have a life-.. not be sick and exhausted all the time. hope this makes sense.
thank you

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Broosky

Have you tried low dose Adderall (10 mg twice a day) or Nuvigil (25 mg twice a day)? It can change someone's life when everything else fails and it does not decrease HDL or make you transition.

Nelson

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

Thank you Nelson good to hear from you. I did try nuvigil last summer for a short time. The benefit I think I may have gotten from the testosterone was defiantly an immune boost. As with the injections I never got any lung infections. Went off injections ad have had cold/flu stuff since Nov. With this last lung infection lasting 3 weeks and still too sick to do much. Could that low dose test boost my immunity as it seemed to? And if so I wonder why the gels aren't working? Any ideas? Thanks all!

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

I am going to try AMP from defy I am so excited they sent a $25 Birthday certificate..and my energy has been so depleted since getting the flu over a month ago along with that has come depression and continued isolation..so hoping this will help me find a way out. I even increased the effexor and while at first it worked I still fell wiped out.

 

[Brooksy Chuck]

Dug out leftover bottle of nuvigil out of desperation for energy boost. Ticket mgs on Fri. It helped a lot tried again Sat and nothing..same today just seems to make watery eye. Lol! I feel kinda more out of it. Even the shot of espresso didn't work... maybe adderal is the next step. Hopefully the amp-5 will arrive soon. Open for any suggestions thanks! I am very tempted to go back on the 20mg a week test and see how body responds. This low grade lung infection is going on 2 months.