Hack My Labs: Lowish T, Very Low Estradiol, High Evening Cortisol

[Ingenol]

Me:
Male, 37 y/o
Symptoms

• low libido
• cold/low waking temp
• constipation
• water retention
• wake up 2-3 times during the night
• skinny fat, accumulate abdominal fat easily, difficulty gaining muscle
• cracking joints
• depression/anhedonia, anxiety/stress
• history of binge eating disorder

Current Supplements

• glycine
• collagen hydrosylate
• Idealabs: energin, magnoil, kuinone, occasional calcirol, retinil, and methylene blue
• aspirin
• caffeine (from 1-4 cups/coffee daily)

Diet: Peat for several years (fruit, dairy, oysters, occasional liver, etc.). I weigh ~130 lbs. and have tried protein between 80-130 g/day and typically keep fat to < 10 g/day. Zero PUFA other than the tiny incidental amounts in the usual Peat staples.

Labs:
Free T4: 0.9 ng/dL (ref 0.7-2.5)
Free T3: 3.2 pg/mL (ref 2.4-4.2)
TSH: 1.5 uU/mL (ref 0.5-3.0)

Estradiol: < 0.5 pg/mL (ref 0.5-2.2)
Progesterone: 31 pg/mL (ref 12-100)
Testosterone: 80 pg/mL (ref 44-148)

AM Cortisol: 8.9 ng/mL (ref 3.7-9.5)
Noon Cortisol: 2.2 ng/mL (ref 1.2-3.0)
Evening Cortisol: 2.6 ng/mL (ref 0.6-1.9)
Night Cortisol: 0.5 ng/mL (ref 0.4-1.0)

Hoping someone can help me hack my labs here. I've been suffering from low thyroid symptoms and despite peating for a while have been unable to resolve them. Given some of my symptoms--especially stress/anxiety, varicose veins and water retention--I expected my estrogen to be high but in fact my estradiol was extremely low.

I also tend to sleep poorly, waking up to urinate 2-3 times during the night, and it doesn't surprise me my AM cortisol is near the upper end of the range.

I'm currently keeping it very simple with the supplements but have tried almost all of the Idealabs supplements at one time or another without much impact. It seems no matter what I do I struggle to sleep well and wake up calm, rested, and warm. I tried going "all-in" and consuming significantly more calories but I just gained a lot of weight, bloated significantly, and felt poorly.

Thank you for any insight anyone may have!

 

[brix]

Post a screenshot of you typical daily diet from Cronometer.

 

[Ingenol]

Here's a typical day (I round out the B-vitamins with Energin, which is not represented here).

I'll usually also have 6-12 oysters and 4 oz. of liver per week. If I don't have any eggs I will supplement with choline. I've also tried supplementing folate since Cronometer says I'm usually low. Calories are usually ~2k; I found calories of 2.5 or 3k daily for a month led only to substantial fat gain and a worsening of symptoms.

 

[danishispsychic]

ummm. how is your blood sugar? A1C, daily glucose? 7 . out of 9 of your food choice are sugar / fructose and the fat here is v low. I tried eating like this and without the balance of say greens.... or meat, or like FAT to balance all the fructose , it would play with my blood sugar. Additionally , if I had all the coffee without lots of milk and with a meal ( and I dont mean a fruit meal ) at the same time, my cortisol would be spiked and I would not be able to sleep. Coffee with cream and sugar with a meat meal, less fruit , more fat, add green or green broth of something and personally I think you are under eating maybe. And..... where are you getting your iodine? the thing that makes a huge different in the thyroid working effectively.

 

[brix]

I would add another 1000 calories from protein and fat like @danishispsychic mentioned. Too many of your minerals and vitamins are low.

 

[TheBeard]

ummm. how is your blood sugar? A1C, daily glucose? 7 . out of 9 of your food choice are sugar / fructose and the fat here is v low. I tried eating like this and without the balance of say greens.... or meat, or like FAT to balance all the fructose , it would play with my blood sugar. Additionally , if I had all the coffee without lots of milk and with a meal ( and I dont mean a fruit meal ) at the same time, my cortisol would be spiked and I would not be able to sleep. Coffee with cream and sugar with a meat meal, less fruit , more fat, add green or green broth of something and personally I think you are under eating maybe. And..... where are you getting your iodine? the thing that makes a huge different in the thyroid working effectively.

Spot on

 

[Ingenol]

Thank you all! I'll have to get my blood sugar measured, but I don't notice uneven energy or any of the classic blood sugar issues.

I always have coffee with 200-500 calories of protein+carbs but I'll try adding more fat and more protein as well overall. Perhaps I'm underrating the effect of coffee on my sleeping given I never have trouble falling asleep, only with waking up throughout the night and not feeling well-rested the next morning.

What food sources are recommended for iodine? I've read Ray's comments along the lines of "the myth of iodine deficiency" and was under the impression that the RDA was (in his opinion) far too high.

 

[schultz]

You don't appear to get all of your micronutrients, and if that cronometer log represents a normal day for you then you are chronically not getting enough micronutrients. You did mention Energin and oysters, so the chronically low nutrients might be magnesium, selenium, folate, choline? Anyway something to consider.

Regarding estrogen: You have estrogen like symptoms (varicose veins, edema, cortisol). Just because it is low on a blood test doesn't mean your body isn't under the influence of an excess of estrogen, it just means the estrogen in your blood is low.

 

[danishispsychic]

I would add another 1000 calories from protein and fat like @danishispsychic mentioned. Too many of your minerals and vitamins are low.

totes agree.

 

[lampofred]

Could be a result of low uric acid & excess blue light. Do you eat enough protein and especially purine-rich meat, and do you regularly get red light?

 

[mangoes]

Have you had your prolactin checked? It can help indicate tissue estrogen status. Sometimes you can have low serum estrogen but high tissue levels.

 

[Ingenol]

Could be a result of low uric acid & excess blue light. Do you eat enough protein and especially purine-rich meat, and do you regularly get red light?

Oh interesting. I do use 10-20 minutes of intense red light (Red Light Man full body light) 3-6 times/week and consume 4-6 oz/week of liver as well as shrimp weekly, both of which have purines. Is there something specific in my labs or symptoms that suggests low uric acid?

I agree with you and other posters upping the protein is worth a shot, although in the past I've found I do better on closer to 100 g/day than 130.

Have you had your prolactin checked? It can help indicate tissue estrogen status. Sometimes you can have low serum estrogen but high tissue levels.

I haven't--that's a very good idea. I agree many of my symptoms seem like high estrogen which is why the estradiol was surprising to me but it might make sense that tissue concentrations are high.

 

[Barry]

I think your diet looks good.. but no skim milk or orange juice? These are the main staples of a peat diet, right? Seems like a lot of honey. I wouldn't eat dried fruit, especially dried mango. I would look very closely at what is in that. A lot of glycine, but glycine is the ultimate supplement, but you should consume some of it right before bed, along with honey. Your progesterone levels are a bit low.

 

[reality]

You need some more dietary fat IMO. Coconut oil, butter, beef/lamb/dairy fat, dark chocolate, eggs, occasional olive oil

 

[GelatinGoblin]

Need Niacinamide, B1, more Sunlight, waking up at your coolest (tempature wise) which is 4-5 AM and going to sleep at 7-9 PM
More Gelatin stock and definitely more Zinc; also check your Iron levels. Good luck :)

Oh and I almost forgot... MORE SATURATED FAT!!! In the evening with some Protein, without carbs. Remember that Carbs and Fat are always to be taken with some Protein. Esp. Fat since animal fat comes with the animal Protein.

 

[Explorer]

Drink more juices and carbs in general, give try to Tongkat Ali and other androgenic anti cortisol Thyroid stimulatory supplements, take a D+K supplement and ideally get as much sunlight as possible, also drink more milk especially raw milk which is very nutritious and more protein, magnesium etc.