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hannes joubert
New member
Hi All, been a while, but I am back now.
A quick recap maybe?
I was assaulted at school at the age of 14, my nads were swollen up to the size of grapefruit for about a week, but I thought nothing of it. Then I had a healing crisis 12 years ago when I turned 30. I assumed it was stress related due to work, was sick for close on 3 months, bedridden, thought I was going to die yadda yadda...long story short, I never thought of hormonal balance then. let's see, I became depressed, my hair started falling out, I gained weight, I struggled to lose it even with clean calorie restricted diet, exercise etc, I get sick at the change of every season and struggle to get well again before the next change, I became moody, no libido, no motivation etc etc the list goes on, but I think that everyone reading this forum knows all the symptoms so I won't harp on about that here.
I have just recently had my bloods done, the results below:
Test Result Reference Indication
Kidney Function Normal
Liver Function Normal
S-PSA 1.46 ng/ml 0.0 - 4.0 Normal
S-TSH 0.91 uIU/ml .35 - 4.94 Low
S-Progesterone <0.3 nmol/L 0.4 - 3.1 Low
Estradiol (E2) 72 pmol/L 40 - 161 "Normal"
Total Test 6.7 nmol/L > 12 nmol/L Low
Free Test 196 pmol/L 180 - 739 Low
SHBG 12.8 nmol/L 11.1 - 78.1 Normal
DHEA 2.29umol/L 3.8 - 13.1 Low
LH 4.0 U/L 1.8 - 8.2 E/L Normal
S-Cortisol 64 nmol/L 101 - 535 Low
So I'm glad that my liver, kidneys and prostrate are all in good order, given my age and everything else I have done in my 42 years (that's another looooooooooooooong story).
However...my thyroid, test, progesterone and cortisol are very low, too low...
From my limited research, it would seem that treating the low progesterone would be a good point to start as it works in tandem with test, works against est. and could assist with the thyroid and cortisol.
Whaddya think? It may also be an easier route than doing TRT? Albeit more expensive.
Expanding on going on the progesterone cream treatment, I am thinking that my E2:Free Test ratio is also too high given that my free test is in the low range and my E2 is in the middle of the range, indicating to me estrogen dominance which equals an aromatase inhibitor (not sure how powerful an estrogen antagonist / inhibitor progesterone is...) should be used if I am going to increase T
Also, am I right in thinking that using HcG (pregnyl?) would assist with low LH and thereby increase total / free T? Not to worried about SHBG, it seems okay for now.
Am I correct in thinking that if E is brought down, progesterone is increased, total and free T increased, then DHEA should be brought back into line, with DHT being kept in check by the progesterone?
The thyroid (according to my limited research) should pull back into line if these other hormones start moving to optimal levels?
Cortisol? Well, I was on prednisone for a two week period that ended 2 days before the bloods so I am letting that one slide until the next bloods in 3 months time.
So my current thinking is:
1) Progesterone cream on the higher dosage side
2) An AI
3) HcG to get T going again
or would straight forward HRT with cypionate, an AI with progesterone cream be better?
I don't mind going on either, but I would like to optimise my hormone levels and ratios to each other on the higher end of the scale as I have already lost 12 years (the best years) of my life and would like to make the next 12 what the last 12 should have been...huh? i.e. I want to start living again.
Anyway, I am here for advice and opinions please, does anyone have anything based on the above results?
Any replies with constructive criticism or even kind advice would be appreciated. I can do this alone but I would prefer not to....
Thanks
Hannes
A quick recap maybe?
I was assaulted at school at the age of 14, my nads were swollen up to the size of grapefruit for about a week, but I thought nothing of it. Then I had a healing crisis 12 years ago when I turned 30. I assumed it was stress related due to work, was sick for close on 3 months, bedridden, thought I was going to die yadda yadda...long story short, I never thought of hormonal balance then. let's see, I became depressed, my hair started falling out, I gained weight, I struggled to lose it even with clean calorie restricted diet, exercise etc, I get sick at the change of every season and struggle to get well again before the next change, I became moody, no libido, no motivation etc etc the list goes on, but I think that everyone reading this forum knows all the symptoms so I won't harp on about that here.
I have just recently had my bloods done, the results below:
Test Result Reference Indication
Kidney Function Normal
Liver Function Normal
S-PSA 1.46 ng/ml 0.0 - 4.0 Normal
S-TSH 0.91 uIU/ml .35 - 4.94 Low
S-Progesterone <0.3 nmol/L 0.4 - 3.1 Low
Estradiol (E2) 72 pmol/L 40 - 161 "Normal"
Total Test 6.7 nmol/L > 12 nmol/L Low
Free Test 196 pmol/L 180 - 739 Low
SHBG 12.8 nmol/L 11.1 - 78.1 Normal
DHEA 2.29umol/L 3.8 - 13.1 Low
LH 4.0 U/L 1.8 - 8.2 E/L Normal
S-Cortisol 64 nmol/L 101 - 535 Low
So I'm glad that my liver, kidneys and prostrate are all in good order, given my age and everything else I have done in my 42 years (that's another looooooooooooooong story).
However...my thyroid, test, progesterone and cortisol are very low, too low...
From my limited research, it would seem that treating the low progesterone would be a good point to start as it works in tandem with test, works against est. and could assist with the thyroid and cortisol.
Whaddya think? It may also be an easier route than doing TRT? Albeit more expensive.
Expanding on going on the progesterone cream treatment, I am thinking that my E2:Free Test ratio is also too high given that my free test is in the low range and my E2 is in the middle of the range, indicating to me estrogen dominance which equals an aromatase inhibitor (not sure how powerful an estrogen antagonist / inhibitor progesterone is...) should be used if I am going to increase T
Also, am I right in thinking that using HcG (pregnyl?) would assist with low LH and thereby increase total / free T? Not to worried about SHBG, it seems okay for now.
Am I correct in thinking that if E is brought down, progesterone is increased, total and free T increased, then DHEA should be brought back into line, with DHT being kept in check by the progesterone?
The thyroid (according to my limited research) should pull back into line if these other hormones start moving to optimal levels?
Cortisol? Well, I was on prednisone for a two week period that ended 2 days before the bloods so I am letting that one slide until the next bloods in 3 months time.
So my current thinking is:
1) Progesterone cream on the higher dosage side
2) An AI
3) HcG to get T going again
or would straight forward HRT with cypionate, an AI with progesterone cream be better?
I don't mind going on either, but I would like to optimise my hormone levels and ratios to each other on the higher end of the scale as I have already lost 12 years (the best years) of my life and would like to make the next 12 what the last 12 should have been...huh? i.e. I want to start living again.
Anyway, I am here for advice and opinions please, does anyone have anything based on the above results?
Any replies with constructive criticism or even kind advice would be appreciated. I can do this alone but I would prefer not to....
Thanks
Hannes
