Topics

1

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Clomid - New Labs - Advice

« on: June 03, 2018, 11:22:09 pm »

Been years since I've posted here, but wanted to some feedback as I recently have new blood work I ordered on my own as the doctor only ever gets total T measure. 

I have been taking Clomid 12.5 mg or 1/4th Tablet, EOD, for about 2 years Id say. Test was taken the day after a dosing.

Issues with Erectile Strength, depression, fatigue, energy, semen volume, etc.

Test was taken in the afternoon, I had just worked out and had a protein shake, if its worth noting.

FSH          1.5 (1.6-8.0)  LOW
LH            5.0   (1.5-9.3)
Prolactin   13.9 (2.0-18.0)

Total T   519 (250-1100)
Free T   54    (35-155)
SHBG    59   (10-50) HIGH
E2        25    (<29 Ultrasensitive)

Cholesterol Total     130 (<200)
HDL Cholesterol      70 (>40)
LDL Cholesterol      38 (<100)

Glucose              62  (65-139) LOW

T3 Uptake         36    (22-35) HIGH
T4 Total            6.6  (4.5-12)


Is it strange that FSH is still low on Clomid despite it seemingly elevating LH?

Any thoughts would be appreciated as these were self ordered labs.

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Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / What Is a Varicocele?

« on: June 20, 2014, 12:17:24 pm »

Can someone tell me a little bit more about what a varicocele is? Its the one thing Ive never been tested for. My left testicle is smaller than the other, and I do have a dark purple vien under it but I don't think thats what varicocele is? A simple google search sounds like it looks sort of like a bag on the scrotum? If someone has this, would that meen he would have high LH, because it is the testes that aren't working as well due to the varicocele. Any info would be great. Thanks

3

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / How Long Does It Take to Come Back After Quitting Thyroid Medication?

« on: May 20, 2014, 02:38:41 pm »

Hi all.

So I was on a trial run of 1/2 grain of armour thryoid. I stopped 3 weeks in because I started to have hyper thyroid symptoms, elevated heart rate, anxiety etc.  I am retesting in a few weeks as we were going off old labs where I was 3.0 in free t3.

I have been off of it for a week now, and this past week have been really tired in the middle of the day and my arms feel really weak. Im assuming my thyroid function was comprimised a bit while on medication and now is slow. Question is, how long does it take to bounce back?

Lastly, I am also on 25 mg clomid every day as I stopped TRT about 3 months ago. In the begining my testicles had that "turning back on feeling" sort of like a soothing feeling. Now they have a uncomfortable ache to them. Not a huge deal, but Im wondering if that means I am not responding anymore to it. I guess blood work will tell.

Any insight on the thyroid situation would be great, my doctor said 1/2 grain wouldnt shut down natural production but Ive read otherwise.

Thanks.

4

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Will Armour Thyroid Shut Down My Natural Production?

« on: April 15, 2014, 12:17:41 am »

I wanted to start a new thread from my other topic as it is a different subject..

I have been prescribed armour thyroid. I know nothing about thyroid meds He said it was a low dose, but will that shut down my natural production which will make me need a higher dose? How does this all work? If I stop the meds will my production kick back in?

My thyroid levels were in range but not optimal.  (These are from last June)

TSH 2.57 (.40-4.50) But optimal is 1-2 he said.
T3 Free 3.0 (2.3-4.2)  But optimal is 3-5 he said.

Is it worth taking meds? He wants to see how I feel with optimized thyroid. He doesnt think T is my issue because on TRT my levels are great and I dont feel better. So I am coming off TRT and doing clomid for a few weeks.

Will better thyroid meen better T production too?

Any info helps

Thanks

5

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / SubQ Testosterone Got My T Levels to 1200

« on: April 12, 2014, 02:29:40 pm »

Hi all. Ive been on TRT for 10 weeks so far. Its more of a "trial" run to see if it solves my symptoms, and if not I will go back on low dose clomid as I am only 23.

Non of my symptoms have been addressed despite good blood results at the 6 week mark.

Total T (1200)
SHBG 30
E2 Ultrasensitive 28  (scale is <29)

CRP <1

All other tests were in range. To be honest my body felt better on clomid (and mentally feel just as bad on both).  Joints are still a major major problem too.

Im surprised that my body doesnt feel better. I wasnt sure if TRT would fix my mental health issues because I know those are more complex, but I was sure that my body would feel better. My body felt good for a brief window on clomid (until shbg got too high and e2 and the physical problems came back)

Any advice?

My protocol has been

50mg subQ e3d
350 HCG  e3d
1/4 AI e3d

I changed it to just Mon/Thurs on all 3, and started doing IM injections in the shoulder for cyp.

I was stunned when I saw the blood work, I thought for sure my T was in the tiolet and I wasnt absorbing the subQ or something. But apparently not. Im surprised a low dose of subQ brought me so high.

Also should add, I got pretty bad gyno on one side. Real big lump. After about 5 weeks. I started running low dose tamoxifin for the past 2 weeks to get rid of it, so far it is shrinking.

6

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Mixing Testosterone Cypionate with HCG and SubQ Absorption Question

« on: April 07, 2014, 02:29:49 pm »

Hi all. Is it possible to mix test cyp with hcg do minimize the amounts of shots one takes?

I started off with subq. Ill have blood work results soon, but I dont think I was absorbing it well at all. Last shot I switched to IM just to see. (still using the 29 ga 1/2 inch insulin syringe) in the shoulder. Im lean so I could get away with the small needle. It was the first time in my 9 weeks of TRT I felt atleast a tad bit better as my joints and body and bones felt better.

So Im going to switch to IM but I was wondering this. If I am not absorbing Cyp via subq, does that mean I am not absorbing hcg subq too?

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Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / How to dose AI with clomid

« on: April 01, 2014, 06:10:16 pm »

Hi all. Does any one have experience with this? I want to go back on Clomid, as injections seem to make everything worse. \

Last time I did clomid I didnt control e2 or shbg. I was wondering the best way to go about doing that and how to dose/time it.

Thanks

8

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Probiotic fatigue

« on: March 31, 2014, 02:07:39 pm »

This thread will probably get moved I wasnt sure where to put it.

But is it possible for a probiotic to make you very fatigued? I started taking one a few days ago, per doctors request. The first two days I was EXHAUSTED. Now its hard enough battling depression and trying to tune in HRT, so I couldnt afford the extra fatigue. Stopped taking it on the third day, and wasnt as tired.

Is that common to feel fatigue while starting a probiotic?

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Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / HCG Timeline to Eliminate Testicular Achiness

« on: February 18, 2014, 04:55:19 pm »

Hi all. I need some advice about HCG. So Ive been on TRT for only 2 weeks. and HCG for only 1 week. Yesterday was my last HCG shot (500IU 2x a week)

I noticed today my testicles have a really uncomfortable ache to them. Almost like I got kicked in the balls. I was wondering how long HCG takes to work? I would think that while on HCG I would not have pain in the testicles. Does this mean the HCG isnt working, or I just havent given it enough time. So far I have taken 3 shots over the past 8 days of 500 IU. Sub Q.

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Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Oxytocin Risks

« on: February 11, 2014, 06:42:07 pm »

Peak, you list lowered oxytocin as a risk on HRT. Is that from the shutdown in the brain? or from the actual endogenous T? I have read people on HRT who become MORE caring/empathetic etc after raising their T levels. Probably from lifting depression, as depression takes away feelings in general.

Are you saying that if you go on HRT, you might never get back those caring feelings?

Im sort of confused on your position there.

11

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / IM vs SubQ

« on: February 10, 2014, 02:57:02 am »

Hi I am currently doing 50mg 2x a week of subQ. I am in my first week. But I am curious on what people think of the difference between subq and IM.  It seems to me like people with IM feel results faster?

I am worried I wont absorb subq properly. My doctor said there is no reason to do IM, as subQ is just as effective and is the proper way to do TRT. Something about how the oil is absorbed/delivered I forget. He said more about why theres no reason to do IM over subQ but I forget. I mean, subQ is easier so I hope it works as the injections dont hurt. Ive never done an IM injection, so maybe those arent bad either.

But I rather have  a painful shot than battle my symptoms, so Id just like to make sure my doctor is right and subQ is just as effective as IM.

12

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / New protocol. First timer. Help

« on: February 05, 2014, 05:08:37 pm »

Started Today.

100mg 1x a week subq with 29 gauge 1 cc needles.

HCG 500IU 2x a week (but I may lower the dose, but my doctor prescribed this)

Arimedex .5 MG 2x a week (again, seems like a high dose)

My doctor thinks subQ is much better, and easier, and blood work comes back similar for IM and subQ

But I noticed that on the bottle of cypionate , it says for IM use only.ub

Will sub Q take longer to notice benefits

Thoughts?

13

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Is This How a Clomid Restart Would Work?

« on: January 30, 2014, 08:36:32 pm »

Got my results, blood taken 24 days post clomid. (On clomid my LH was 8 and T 600's.) Currently not on any sort of T therapy. That was my second attempt at a clomid restart.

Total test. 730 (250-1100) Awesome right?

Free Test. 53.5 (46-224) Way lower in relation to my Total T. Not good!

Bio available T. 107 (110-575) LOW

SHBG 69 (10-50) HIGH. Clomid really rises my SHBG I think.

Estradiol ultrasensitive 28 (<29) Good, especially since Ive had e2 at 6 and 7 in the past.

DHEA Sulfate 363 (110-510)

LH 2.7 (1.5-9.3) I expect this to keep dropping.

Prolactin 10 (2-18)

Vit D3 67 (30-100)

Vit D2 <4 (no range given)

Total Vit D 67 (30-100)

All blood counts were in range so I wont post them.

I expect for LH to drop further, as last time I tried clomid it took 3 months post clomid to drop down to below range. This test was only 24 days post clomid. Also, I am on wellbutrin, which can indirectly raise total T levels.

Also, Quest always seems to come up high for total T for me. On blood work 2 weeks apart, one from my local hospital, one from quest, quest came in at 600 while hospital lab was high 380. (This was months ago before any T therapy). Free T always comes up low.

Advice?

14

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Proposed Regimen, Trial HRT

« on: January 23, 2014, 08:56:40 pm »

Hi all. So I have been off of clomid for a few weeks and can already tell my levels are tanking again. Back pain, weak joints, achy testicles. I was on clomid for 2 months, 25mg eod, and it helped a little with my physical symptoms but didnt help any mental symptoms. Depression, anxiety, low libido. I am getting full blood work done next week, and then have a follow up appt mid Feb, to go over it and start trial HRT (assuming everything tanked again which I think it already is).

To recap, when I am off clomid, my LH is under 2, my T is under 400. On clomid, LH and T increase, but I dont feel better. So now I will try HRT. If this doesnt make me feel better than well I guess I am screwed and will give up trying to find quality of life again.

I am only 23, but I cant live with the symptoms I have, so I might as well try to see if it helps, as my quality of life is literally zero.

My doctor is willing to work with me and here is what I am going to propose to start..

Test Cyp. 100mg weekly, IM injection
HCG 250 IUs MWF. SubQ
Add AI if needed, and split dose to 2x weekly, if needed (but I prefer to only have to inject once)

Any comments or critics of this proposed plan? Hopefully this is the answer for me, as all the psych meds the regular doctors are pushing at me make me feel even worse!

Also, my plan is to stay on HRT until it is dialed in for a few months, and if it doesnt make me feel better then, Ill go back to clomid.

Thanks

15

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Study on T and depression/stress

« on: January 03, 2014, 05:33:19 am »

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22373497

Testosterone prevents but not reverses anhedonia in middle-aged males and lacks an effect on stress vulnerability in young adults.


Saw this study and it really brought me down further. I have been suffering from severe anhedonia (inability to feel joy/blunted emotions) for 9 months now. When it started my T was in the 300s.  Clomid brings me up higher but the anhedonia doesnt lift. I just came off clomid and if my levels tank again then Im going on TRT.

But this made it seem hopeless, as it seems that once you get anhedonia, testosterone doesnt help to fix it. It only prevents it.

Can anyone say differently? I hope so.