Help me look at my labs? Female 36 NOT estrogen dominant...

I'm.No.One

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Okay I did a full blood/saliva panel but before I jump in I thought I'd share some helpful info:

Main symptoms:

1.) Exhaustion. This is probably the biggest one.

2.) Short term memory loss/issues with word recall (although I had a bad concussion last year, I'm noticing this more recently)

3.) Rapid weight gain in lower stomach/upper arms (I'm at 130lbs 5'4)

Other info:

Eating about 2600 cals a day, carb/animal protein heavy.

High unavoidable stress load.

I have clear skin, strong fast growing nails/hair, cycle normally/not painful, sleep through the night maybe waking up once to roll over.

I take:

Magnesium g, bone based calcium, Thorne Vit K, bee pollen, aspirin 1-2 325mg, .5 mg cypro topically in the evening.

Screenshot_20220413-171620.png


Few things, first of all a HUGE HAPPY DANCE this time last year I had flipped cortisol levels, zero during the day dangerous levels at night.

Now it's oddly only low in the afternoon? Still needs work but at least I'm not gana die from an adrenal crisis.

I think beyond PM eating cypro & aspirin are to thank for this.

Thoughts on how slightly raising afternoon cortisol? (Can't do caffeine, spirals me.)

My thyroid seems fine unless I'm not seeing something? Maybe this is why I never felt anything off of any of the ideal labs thyromix?

The high progesterone is totally from Progest-E, although I did stop using it a full week before I began this test & by the time I had finished the test it had been 3ish weeks.

So it's kinda crazy the levels didn't drop. I'll be staying clear of Progest-E unless someone has some differing input there.

Should I do anything to actively lower the progesterone?

The low Luteinizing Hormone threw me a bit because I cycle like clockwork/reliably ovulate.

I wonder if the progesterone is simply repressing it?

I'm not estrogen dominant though unless I'm reading that wrong?

I never really felt like I was as low T symptoms always fit me better.

Suggestions how to raise my T as a woman?

At this point I know it's been low for well over a year, it showed as low in the last cortisol test, so PM eating & all that hasn't helped. I'm almost open to supplementing at this point but how? Idea lab product you'd suggest?

I'm already taking K2/weight lifting.

Anything I'm not seeing? Connecting?
 

Dolomite

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The exhaustion might be from the high progesterone and the cypro (antihistamine). Cutting out the progesterone for now might help. And it might help the testosterone. But I don't know a lot about this. Since you are 36 and still regular, perimenopause doesn't seem to have started but it might soon. I wouldn't worry about the afternoon cortisol. Just be sure to eat a snack.

I am not as big on aspirin as many people are. I know two women a couple of years older than you who take aspirin daily and gained weight. I prefer to use it only when necessary.

I think there are some threads about long term use of cypro and side effects.

It all looks pretty healthy to me.
 
OP
I'm.No.One

I'm.No.One

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The exhaustion might be from the high progesterone and the cypro (antihistamine). Cutting out the progesterone for now might help. And it might help the testosterone. But I don't know a lot about this. Since you are 36 and still regular, perimenopause doesn't seem to have started but it might soon. I wouldn't worry about the afternoon cortisol. Just be sure to eat a snack.

I am not as big on aspirin as many people are. I know two women a couple of years older than you who take aspirin daily and gained weight. I prefer to use it only when necessary.

I think there are some threads about long term use of cypro and side effects.

It all looks pretty healthy to me.
I wish I could blame the exhaustion on the cypro/progesterone but it's been on going for years (chronic stress).

For me I feel soooo much better mentally (stress/serotonin) since taking the cypro/aspirin. It's the only thing I've introduced in the last year that's made any difference.

I'll also add the weight gain was occuring before them.

I've been off the Progest-E for about a month now so I'm sure my levels are (hopefully) a touch lower. I'll not be hopping back in it.

Low T causes exhaustion & weight gain in upper arms in women from what I've read anyhow.

Think I might try pine pollen.
 

nieciadunn

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Hello ♥️

For me when I look at the thyroid numbers they do paint a picture of some hypothyroid patterns happening. Your free t3 especially, as it’s at the lower part of the range and I notice most women do best when it’s in the upper 1/3 or so. TSH is high too. When my numbers were similar to yours I felt very tried as well.

What is your history with food? Have you dieted a lot in your life?
 
OP
I'm.No.One

I'm.No.One

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Hello ♥️

For me when I look at the thyroid numbers they do paint a picture of some hypothyroid patterns happening. Your free t3 especially, as it’s at the lower part of the range and I notice most women do best when it’s in the upper 1/3 or so. TSH is high too. When my numbers were similar to yours I felt very tried as well.

What is your history with food? Have you dieted a lot in your life?
Thanks.

No dieting at all just lots of undereating due to stress/poverty throughout my life.

However I never avoided meat/carbs/fats etc.

I've been eating PM for almost 2 years now though.

I just don't feel anything when I use thyroid. I see people talk about even using an extra drop & getting a pounding heart etc, for me it's never done that.

Someone had said free fatty acids might block my ability to use it, but I take aspirin on a regular basis so the FDA should be if it was high a lot lower.
 

Neeters 27

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the fact that you had a concussion speaks volumes to me. a concussion will always mess up your hormones. theres a doctor in my area that has written books about it, and I have seen him treat both my ex husband for low Testosterone and my son for post concussion syndrome. its Dr. Larry Komer in Burlington Ontario. he has a protocol that helps a great deal. may help you. maybe you can find his books online?
 
OP
I'm.No.One

I'm.No.One

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I'm.No.One

I'm.No.One

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the fact that you had a concussion speaks volumes to me. a concussion will always mess up your hormones. theres a doctor in my area that has written books about it, and I have seen him treat both my ex husband for low Testosterone and my son for post concussion syndrome. its Dr. Larry Komer in Burlington Ontario. he has a protocol that helps a great deal. may help you. maybe you can find his books online?
Thanks I'll give him a look.
 

amz

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Please read a bit about thiamine and stress, insulin resistance, chronic fatigue, weight gain around the waist and so on. No metabolic processes can function properly in the absence of enough thiamine.
You can find plenty of articles on the website hormonesmatter.com

Under intense stress, thiamine deficiency/insufficiency will set in in just 3 weeks. You mentioned in another thread chronic stress for 13+ years.
You also mentioned mold in your home.
And low potassium, which is inextricably related with thiamine and working together to make the heart function properly.

I was bedridden for 7 years with chronic fatigue and insomnia and the list is way too long to weite here.

I started to get better only when I added in thiamine as TTFD with a low dose of dicalcium phosphate (that was the formulation of the company selling the supplement). Until then, I applied all all sorts of advice about diet, hormones etc, you name it.

And it’s not just thiamine - it’s the fact that only after taking it was I able to tolerate all the other B vitamins, vitamin D, a small dose of natural progesterone for my endometriosis, etc.

My opinion, based on years of trying everything under the sun with little to no results, is that the first layer of health is related to micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Then come hormones. Then the rest, depending on each individual’s health issues.
 
OP
I'm.No.One

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Please read a bit about thiamine and stress, insulin resistance, chronic fatigue, weight gain around the waist and so on. No metabolic processes can function properly in the absence of enough thiamine.
You can find plenty of articles on the website hormonesmatter.com

Under intense stress, thiamine deficiency/insufficiency will set in in just 3 weeks. You mentioned in another thread chronic stress for 13+ years.
You also mentioned mold in your home.
And low potassium, which is inextricably related with thiamine and working together to make the heart function properly.

I was bedridden for 7 years with chronic fatigue and insomnia and the list is way too long to weite here.

I started to get better only when I added in thiamine as TTFD with a low dose of dicalcium phosphate (that was the formulation of the company selling the supplement). Until then, I applied all all sorts of advice about diet, hormones etc, you name it.

And it’s not just thiamine - it’s the fact that only after taking it was I able to tolerate all the other B vitamins, vitamin D, a small dose of natural progesterone for my endometriosis, etc.

My opinion, based on years of trying everything under the sun with little to no results, is that the first layer of health is related to micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Then come hormones. Then the rest, depending on each individual’s health issues.
Heya, this is a really old thread & a lot has changed since.

I did finally find the root of most of my issues & it wasn't thiamine.

I was B12/ folate deficient, severely. It also was made insanely worse by using supplements suggested on this forum (no one made me take them, it was just a factor) such as aspirin/pepcid/cypro.

I suspect pernicious anemia as I discovered it runs in my mothers family.

I'm only about 2 months into treatment with self injection (B12 pills, even sublingual, are pointless once you're genuinely depleted) & a huge amount of my issues have already resolved or are slowly resolving.

The low potassium was via a hair test & I honestly don't know how reliable that was.

However Potassium is an important cofactor for B12 so it's heavily in my diet at this point.

Side note that my temps are absolutely perfect after using B12/folate. I even wake up at 98.6!

Anyhow, it can take years to recover from long standing B12 deficiency, if I have PA that means injections for life + loads of liver.

I think people drastically overlook B12 on this forum via hyper focusing on thiamine.
 

amz

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I’m glad to hear you discovered the root cause of your problems! Many times it’s about a deficiency or a combination of various deficiencies.

B12 deficiency is one of the more common deficiencies out there and many people told me about it for more than 10 years. B12 shots never did anything for me. It surprises me that nobody recommended B12 shots to you.

I believe people who are on this forum are those for whom B12 shots never worked. Probably those for whom various i.v. Vitamins/minerals didn’t have much of an effects.

Thiamine is rarely looked into both here on this forum and the vast majority of alternative medicine doctors (big names). It’s a pity.
 

sunny

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Heya, this is a really old thread & a lot has changed since.

I did finally find the root of most of my issues & it wasn't thiamine.

I was B12/ folate deficient, severely. It also was made insanely worse by using supplements suggested on this forum (no one made me take them, it was just a factor) such as aspirin/pepcid/cypro.

I suspect pernicious anemia as I discovered it runs in my mothers family.

I'm only about 2 months into treatment with self injection (B12 pills, even sublingual, are pointless once you're genuinely depleted) & a huge amount of my issues have already resolved or are slowly resolving.

The low potassium was via a hair test & I honestly don't know how reliable that was.

However Potassium is an important cofactor for B12 so it's heavily in my diet at this point.

Side note that my temps are absolutely perfect after using B12/folate. I even wake up at 98.6!

Anyhow, it can take years to recover from long standing B12 deficiency, if I have PA that means injections for life + loads of liver.

I think people drastically overlook B12 on this forum via hyper focusing on thiamine.
Did you find those deficiencies on a standard blood test?
 

Peatress

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I’m glad to hear you discovered the root cause of your problems! Many times it’s about a deficiency or a combination of various deficiencies.

B12 deficiency is one of the more common deficiencies out there and many people told me about it for more than 10 years. B12 shots never did anything for me. It surprises me that nobody recommended B12 shots to you.

I believe people who are on this forum are those for whom B12 shots never worked. Probably those for whom various i.v. Vitamins/minerals didn’t have much of an effects.

Thiamine is rarely looked into both here on this forum and the vast majority of alternative medicine doctors (big names). It’s a pity.
Are you sure about this? Search the forum if you haven't done so.
 

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