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[jgnoonan]

I am being treated for hypogonadism and hypothyroidism. I still don’t feel great and lately have started feeling tired again, even though my labs look pretty good. To make a long story short, about 2 years ago, I was 170 lbs and in the best shape of my life. I was in the gym three days a week and looked and felt fantastic. I started feeling tired constantly and my weight shot up over the next several months to 218 lbs and went to my PCP who was useless. I also started noticing that I no longer had night time or morning erections and when I mentioned that to my PCP he checked my total T levels and they were 170. Not know what he was doing, he put me on T gels which made the situation worse. He also was uninterested in why this was happening to a 46 (now 48) year old male. I finally went to an endo who took me off the gel, waited several weeks and ran a ton of blood tests. My FSH and LH and Prolactin levels were fine but my T was low. She also felt my thyroids were near the high end of the range. She started me on a big T shot of 200mg a week and added synthroid for the thyroid. She also ordered an MRI with contrast which found a 2mm microadenoma. I started to feel better but my face got very red all the time, my blood pressure went to 160/110, and after 6 weeks my hematocrit and hemoglobin went beyond the upper range. I also at the time insisted on have estradiol tested which came back at 119 on a range where the upper end was 54.

Today I am on a shot of 150mg a week. I take a 1/4 table of Arimidex a day. I am on synthroid 88mcg, I am on high blood pressure medication, and cholesterol lowering medication. I’ve noticed that over the last few weeks I am starting to get tired again and am having trouble getting up to go to the gym. I’m getting there two days a week and doing 40 minutes of cardio on the eliptical trainer and 40 minutes of weight training although I find myself weaker and not able to do what I was doing a few months ago. I have to have a pint of blood drawn out once a month because of the blood thickening problems. I’ve asked my endo to look into hCG to see if we can boost my natural T production and perhaps lower the shots so I don’t have to go to get blood drawn every month. Here are my latest labs drawn on 10/22/09:

Testosterone Total 936 range 250-1100 ng/dL
Testosterone Free 285.8 range 46-224 pg/mL HIGH
Testosterone bioavail 562.8 range 110-575 ng/dL
SHBG 13 range 9-45 nmol/L
albumin, serum 4.3 range 3.6-5.1 g/dL
estradiol 17 range 13-54 pg/mL
PSA 0.8 <= 4.0
TSH, 3rd gen 0.26 range 0.40-4.50 mIU/L LOW
T4, Free 1.1 0.8-1.8 ng/dL

I started on the Arimidex in Sept and once my estradiol levels came down my ED issues went away. I am still 218 pounds and no matter what I do, I cannot lose weight. My face is flushed all the time and I get periods where I feel very hot and then very cold. Since it will be a year in Jan since I started with the endo, she is ordering a new MRI and the following blood work:
Comprehensive Metabol. Panel
Lipid Panel – Fasting
Total T, Free T, CBC, bioavailable T and SHBG
TSH and Free T4
Vitamin D 25 OH (I was low for this when she started and I am on 2000UI a day)
cortisol
prolactin
IGF-1
insulin
ACTH
24 hour urine cortisol and creatinine

If anyone has any guidance on this, I would appreciate any input. My endo is not super experienced with this, but she listens to me and will research stuff she doesn’t know. I pushed her on the Arimidex and am pushing her on the hCG even though my insurance doesn’t cover it and I pay out of pocket for it. I want to lose weight and go back to feeling alive again. Right now, I feel like crap. Thanks for listening.

Joe

[pmgamer18]

Hi Joe and welcome,

I am Hypopituitary but do to a head injury and I am on a mess of hormones with a pituitary problem you need to check them all and treat them even if they come back in the normal range but low normal.

If you could talk you your Dr. about doing your shots every 3 days this will help you to feel better and more leveled and this helps with thicker blood and high levels of Estradiol.

I start on this TRT 5 yrs ago after reading Dr. Shippen (The Testosterone Syndrome) book treats his self this way.

I do 80 mgs of Depo T and 400 IU’s of HCG the 2 days each in between my T shots my levels are great and I feel great.

Now you need to know your Cortisol levels and get off that T4 only med. I do Armour it is a natural dessicated thyroid you can now by from Canada Armour is not made anymore.
http://www.erfa-sa.com/thyroid_usa.htm

Most people with your problem had low Cortisol levels there pituitary dose not tell there Adrenals to make enough of it so do a morning fasting test on Cortisol if your below 15 then do a 4 x’s in a day Saliva test read about all this in this link.
http://livingnetwork.co.za/hormones/adrenal-fatigue/

The hot and cold can be your Aldosterone levels are low read about it at the bottom of the link.
I am on .1mgs of Florinef for this with a 1/2 tsp full of good Sea Salt in my water 3x’s a day. Your body can be dumping your sodium.

You can read my story at this link it will help you see how lucky you are to know this it took me over 23 yrs to figure this out.
http://forums.realthyroidhelp.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9239
In this like is how I got started treating my Adrenals and Thyroid this works great and takes time.
http://forums.realthyroidhelp.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24

I help people on the forums so they don’t have to suffer like I did.

Try not to over do it in the gym working out listen to your body and stop killing your self your sick just keep in shape.
@jgnoonan 2155 wrote:

I am being treated for hypogonadism and hypothyroidism. I still don’t feel great and lately have started feeling tired again, even though my labs look pretty good. To make a long story short, about 2 years ago, I was 170 lbs and in the best shape of my life. I was in the gym three days a week and looked and felt fantastic. I started feeling tired constantly and my weight shot up over the next several months to 218 lbs and went to my PCP who was useless. I also started noticing that I no longer had night time or morning erections and when I mentioned that to my PCP he checked my total T levels and they were 170. Not know what he was doing, he put me on T gels which made the situation worse. He also was uninterested in why this was happening to a 46 (now 48) year old male. I finally went to an endo who took me off the gel, waited several weeks and ran a ton of blood tests. My FSH and LH and Prolactin levels were fine but my T was low. She also felt my thyroids were near the high end of the range. She started me on a big T shot of 200mg a week and added synthroid for the thyroid. She also ordered an MRI with contrast which found a 2mm microadenoma. I started to feel better but my face got very red all the time, my blood pressure went to 160/110, and after 6 weeks my hematocrit and hemoglobin went beyond the upper range. I also at the time insisted on have estradiol tested which came back at 119 on a range where the upper end was 54.

Today I am on a shot of 150mg a week. I take a 1/4 table of Arimidex a day. I am on synthroid 88mcg, I am on high blood pressure medication, and cholesterol lowering medication. I’ve noticed that over the last few weeks I am starting to get tired again and am having trouble getting up to go to the gym. I’m getting there two days a week and doing 40 minutes of cardio on the eliptical trainer and 40 minutes of weight training although I find myself weaker and not able to do what I was doing a few months ago. I have to have a pint of blood drawn out once a month because of the blood thickening problems. I’ve asked my endo to look into hCG to see if we can boost my natural T production and perhaps lower the shots so I don’t have to go to get blood drawn every month. Here are my latest labs drawn on 10/22/09:

Testosterone Total 936 range 250-1100 ng/dL
Testosterone Free 285.8 range 46-224 pg/mL HIGH
Testosterone bioavail 562.8 range 110-575 ng/dL
SHBG 13 range 9-45 nmol/L
albumin, serum 4.3 range 3.6-5.1 g/dL
estradiol 17 range 13-54 pg/mL
PSA 0.8 <= 4.0
TSH, 3rd gen 0.26 range 0.40-4.50 mIU/L LOW
T4, Free 1.1 0.8-1.8 ng/dL

I started on the Arimidex in Sept and once my estradiol levels came down my ED issues went away. I am still 218 pounds and no matter what I do, I cannot lose weight. My face is flushed all the time and I get periods where I feel very hot and then very cold. Since it will be a year in Jan since I started with the endo, she is ordering a new MRI and the following blood work:
Comprehensive Metabol. Panel
Lipid Panel – Fasting
Total T, Free T, CBC, bioavailable T and SHBG
TSH and Free T4
Vitamin D 25 OH (I was low for this when she started and I am on 2000UI a day)
cortisol
prolactin
IGF-1
insulin
ACTH
24 hour urine cortisol and creatinine

If anyone has any guidance on this, I would appreciate any input. My endo is not super experienced with this, but she listens to me and will research stuff she doesn’t know. I pushed her on the Arimidex and am pushing her on the hCG even though my insurance doesn’t cover it and I pay out of pocket for it. I want to lose weight and go back to feeling alive again. Right now, I feel like crap. Thanks for listening.

Joe

[hardasnails1973]

@pmgamer18 2157 wrote:

Hi Joe and welcome,

I am Hypopituitary but do to a head injury and I am on a mess of hormones with a pituitary problem you need to check them all and treat them even if they come back in the normal range but low normal.

If you could talk you your Dr. about doing your shots every 3 days this will help you to feel better and more leveled and this helps with thicker blood and high levels of Estradiol.

I start on this TRT 5 yrs ago after reading Dr. Shippen (The Testosterone Syndrome) book treats his self this way.

I do 80 mgs of Depo T and 400 IU’s of HCG the 2 days each in between my T shots my levels are great and I feel great.

Now you need to know your Cortisol levels and get off that T4 only med. I do Armour it is a natural dessicated thyroid you can now by from Canada Armour is not made anymore.
http://www.erfa-sa.com/thyroid_usa.htm

Most people with your problem had low Cortisol levels there pituitary dose not tell there Adrenals to make enough of it so do a morning fasting test on Cortisol if your below 15 then do a 4 x’s in a day Saliva test read about all this in this link.
http://livingnetwork.co.za/hormones/adrenal-fatigue/

The hot and cold can be your Aldosterone levels are low read about it at the bottom of the link.
I am on .1mgs of Florinef for this with a 1/2 tsp full of good Sea Salt in my water 3x’s a day. Your body can be dumping your sodium.

You can read my story at this link it will help you see how lucky you are to know this it took me over 23 yrs to figure this out.
http://forums.realthyroidhelp.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9239
In this like is how I got started treating my Adrenals and Thyroid this works great and takes time.
http://forums.realthyroidhelp.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24

I help people on the forums so they don’t have to suffer like I did.

Try not to over do it in the gym working out listen to your body and stop killing your self your sick just keep in shape.

Lab numbers look good but I would suggested spliting the shot into 75 mgs Biweekly because of the low shbg. You are burning through testosterone like crazy with low shbg. I would also look at thyroid and adrenals to get proper evaluation. If on east coast please pm me give you name of a good dr.

[jgnoonan]

hardasnails: The shbg hasn’t budged from 13 in a year. What could be causing that. My dr. hasn’t brought it up as an issue. I am on the east coast and live in Connecticut. Thanks for the response and suggestions.

Joe

[jgnoonan]

pmgamer18: I will talk to my dr about splitting up the shots. I had a visit last week and asked her to consider hcg. She is going to consider it. I am hoping that with hcg, I can lower the shot from 150 to 100 and maybe the blood problem will go away. I have not heard of Aldosterone before. I will look into that and bring it up with my dr.

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