Hello. Yes new to the forums and I've been reading a lot both here and elsewhere. I decided to risk getting some feedback because the folks here seem decent and I already have a doctor, now two, that I'm in discussions with on this. Often the forums I view are either about men and high estrogen, or are very hostile to new questions, or both. I'll post lab values and dates at the end of this post. I'm posting here because I'm (sadly) finding standard physician practice around the complexities of men and estrogen to be very dismissive. Like many of you, I've had to fight to get testosterone tested. And estradiol? I've had to basically get it tested on my own initiative because the doctor's office flat out refuses. I'm not seeking medical advice, simply perspectives and experiences. Thinking that one is "alone" in this experience is, in and of itself, very depressing. I'm using LabCorp for my own testing. You'll see two different "ranges". That's because my doctor's office uses a different lab.
HISTORY: Started a new very serious workout regimen and diet regimen at start of year. Very motivated, hired a trainer. Lost 25 pounds but have had difficulty putting on muscular weight. Protein can be difficult to get so I tend to supplement with whey isolate. Also BCAA. I tolerate dairy fine. Have been on androgel TRT for about ten years now. Usually my numbers are monitored about every year or less but this year I decided after a few months of no real growth and stubborn weight loss to check my T. I'd been suspicious that the gel wasn't really working well anymore and I was right. It had seriously tanked. We switched to IM test because that is always absorbed (gel isn't I gather).
Well--and this is MY fault--I screwed up the dosing and created a huge testosterone spike. Did 250mg twice a week instead of over the course of a week with two injections. I also suspected an estradiol spike but, even after an ER visit for severe edema, it was not tested. So I checked it. Was absurdly high. Nothing was done so I used Letrozole for about a week. We decided to D/C TRT for a while as I was going out of the country anyhow, get another lab of my testosterone, and then resume IM test a little more carefully. Estrogen was also checked exactly once. I've had to mostly do my own tests because it's been so low you cannot really measure it most of the time. Have not even thrown an AI at it since first week in May. I don't feel right at all but--unfortunately--I don't have a basis for comparison as the first estadiol test I ever had was April 2015 where it was stupendously high. I might have always had low estrogens, who knows? I probably aromatized the the initial IM tesosterone like crazy but then mysteriously stopped aromatizing at all. Sure I crushed it with an AI at first. But I haven't touched the stuff since having low/undetectable estradiol.
I've got one lab with SHBG and I read here that, in some men with low estadiol, this can be correlated.
Essentially am now working with an ND who will hopefully be able to make heads or tails of this. The positive side is that TRT has finally gone to a more or less "normal" place with my testosterone values. This makes me happy. It took a while. The negative side is I have no estrogen. As an aside, I have always had low HDL (good cholesterol) but my LDL is usually in the normal range. That did spike last Fall which was a motivator for all the diet and exercise. I've also always had a very difficult time putting on good muscular weight even with very consistent weight training.
So take a look. If you're going to tell me to "talk to my doctor" please know that I'm talking to two doctors. This information is not a secret though the ND has not really weighed in much yet other than to start looking closely at liver function. All my regular liver and blood tests are normal on my labs (standard medicine is VERY good about drawing comprehensive metabolic panels and CBCs) but he thinks it might be liver problems and I don't disagree at the moment.
I'm curious as to what peoples opinions and experiences are. Some of these tests are not lab standardized as to values for normal, so the level with LabCorp, for instance, would not be the same as the level for the other lab whose name I do not have right now.
4/14/15
Tesosterone, Serum 45 (LOW) NR 241 - 827 (not LabCorp)
Initiated Testosterone IM 250mg x2/week (my bad)
4/27/15
Testosterone >1500 NR 348 - 1197
Estradiol, Sensitive 161.2 (HIGH) NR 8.0 - 35.0
D/Ced IM Testosterone, Initiated Letrozole for 1 week.
5/21/15
Tesosterone, Serum 313 NR 241 - 827
Estradiol 10.4 NR 10 - 42
FSH 10.0 NR 1.4 - 18.1
LH 10.8 (HIGH) NR 1.5 - 9.3
Initiated IM Testosterone 250mg/week, split into two doses
5/26/15
Testosterone 1064 (HIGH) NR 241 - 827
6/10/15
Testosterone >1500 (HIGH) NR 348 - 1197
Estradiol <5.0 (LOW) NR 7.6 - 42.6
Progesterone 0.8 NR 0.2 - 1.4
SHBG 19.9 NR 19.3 - 76.4
7/6/15
Testosterone 873 NR 348 - 1197
Test, Free+Weak Bound 328.2 (HIGH) NR 40.0 - 250.0
Estradiol, Sensitive <2.5 (LOW) NR 8.0 - 35.0
7/27/15
Testosterone 984 NR 348 - 1197
Testosterone, Free 34.0 (HIGH) NR 7.2 - 24.0
Estradiol <5.0 (LOW) NR 7.6 - 42.6
I don't know what to think, but I have opinions. Chiefly:
1) My estrogens were always low. Then they got thrown up so so high that my body's homeostatis never recovered from the shock and has kept them undetectable ever since
2) My thyroid-pituitary-testes axis is messed up
3) SHBG bound up all my estrogen and I'm evacuating it from my body. I do drink about 120oz of water a day, lol.