I Replace All My Hormones. Here Is What I Learned

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thingsvarious

thingsvarious

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Update: I now have a website. I frequently update my articles as I learn more about the topic. I will not be posting any updates to medium anymore, but only to my website: Hormetheus.com
 
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thingsvarious

thingsvarious

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Pardon the novice/naïve questions. Really really enjoyed your podcast with Lokzo, great temperament/ethos/ambitions/curiosity:

1) Do you have any thoughts on transdermal test rather than IV? I'm a touch needle phobic and I just have the intuition (rightly or wrongly) that a smaller dose and slower absorption topically rather than subQ would potentially raise E2 less? I already have high estrogen.
2) Is the pre-bed melatonin safe long term? I know Peat doesn't tend to look on it favorably, but I had a fantastic sleep on it last week at 0.5mg and wanted to know your thoughts.
3) Why the 0.1mg fludrocortisone first thing in the morning rather than the cortisone acetate that you spread throughout the rest of the day?
4) When do you take your 1.25 grains NDT? What brand? Why the isolated T3 shortly thereafter? I heard you mention that you think T3 alone is a lot more dangerous, so I was surprised you don't do something like 0.75 grains in the AM and then say 0.5 grains in the PM?
5) I notice on this post you mention you take pre-bed GH, but on the podcast you said you have far better sleep quality (according to aura) when you have the GH in the morning?
6) I have an inverted diurnal rhythm or cortisol where I feel like it 'picks up steam' throughout the day, so the morning is incredibly slow and sluggish, but the evening is productive but result in late nights. Would cortisone acetate in the mornings (or fludrocortisone?) work to start correcting this imbalanced rhythm? I know your replacement protocol is effectively aimed indefinitely, but in your expertise, do you think there is a chance of resetting this pattern and then titrating off whilst maintaining the new schedule? Thank you very much, really appreciate your insights.
1) Test is not done IV but i.m. or subq. Skin has a lot of 5aR so transdermal is suboptimal
2) no as long as you keep dosages reasonable
3) fludrocortisone has an extremely long biological half life
4) I take S-thyroid. 2x daily. Now I switched to 2 grains NDT with no T3.
5) I take it in the morning. messes up my sleep.
6) try blue-light daylight lamp + melatonin. Yes, chance is there
 

Quelsatron

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Have you considered that you're getting results simply because you're on TRT despite not being hypogonadal?
 
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thingsvarious

thingsvarious

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Have you considered that you're getting results simply because you're on TRT despite not being hypogonadal?
Yes. My "natural" testosterone is very low and I am fine with "replacing" my natural as I think my life is better off for it (health, looks, wellbeing) as well as that allows me a better contributor to others.
 

Quelsatron

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Yes. My "natural" testosterone is very low and I am fine with "replacing" my natural as I think my life is better off for it (health, looks, wellbeing) as well as that allows me a better contributor to others.
i meant, are you sure all the other stuff outside of TRT is necessary and effective? TRT is already known to have a shitload of benefits
 

5a-DHP

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i meant, are you sure all the other stuff outside of TRT is necessary and effective? TRT is already known to have a shitload of benefits
Thyroid is far, far more influential in both subjective and objective markers of health.
Exogenous testosterone-induced HPTA suppression is inferior to a working endocrine system, so to suggest that all of his benefits are from TRT alone is extrodindarly reductionist.
 
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thingsvarious

thingsvarious

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Thyroid is far, far more influential in both subjective and objective markers of health.
Exogenous testosterone-induced HPTA suppression is inferior to a working endocrine system, so to suggest that all of his benefits are from TRT alone is extrodindarly reductionist.
I agree.

For most people, proper thyroid treatment (which involves quite a lot of trial&error) is by far the most influential of the hormones. (Even proper) TRT is a joke in comparison
 

Jonnie

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I want to share my journey with hormone replacement because I believe it might be useful to others.

Beacuse hormones are extensively talked about here on RPF, I do think that others might benefit from some of the stuff I learned along my way.

I am a medical student in my last year. I replace all of my hormones. I have been doing this for some years now.


What I take. But what works for me might not work for others.

  • TRT: Test Cyp (50mg subQ 2x/week), HcG (250iu subQ 2x/week),

  • cortisol: cortisone acetate (20mg/d HC equivalent) (split into 4 daily doses)

  • thyroid: 1.25 grains NDT + 6.25mcg T3 (a few hours later in the day)

  • GH: 0.5iu genotropin pfizer (aiming for IGF1 of 250) prebed

  • fludrocortisone 01.mg/d morning

  • melatonin: 0.25mg sublingual prebed
Everyone is different, but the target range I aim for is in the upper tertile of the youthful reference range. Just falling somewhere within the reference range is not “optimal”. The reference range covers 95% of the population. Certainly more than 5% of the population have hormones bad enough to warrant intervention.

This is how I look now vs. then. Before and after 4 years of replacing my hormones. - Imgur.

I am aware that this is rather uncharted territory, esp. in a DIY kind of way. As a medical student in my last year I am well aware of the risks. But to me the cost-benefit analysis is a no-brainer. If I had to, I would sign a contract to rather live 10 more years with my new vitality and then die instead of living to one hundred with the dreadful state I was in before.

I do extensive blood tests (complete hormone panel, metabolic health, general health) around every 3-4 months. I would´t dare doing anything (not even starting) without it.

Other stuff I do: keto/paleo, HIIT, weekly rapamycin, a bunch of supplements (all of them together less worth than a slight alteration in hormones), some exercise every day, sleep around 6h (wake up refreshed without alarm -before HRT I needed 8+).

After years of studying, researching, experimenting, testing I did a writeup about some stuff I have learned along the way.

My goal with all my writing is to point people into the right direction to remove biological shackles allowing them become the best version of themselves and live life fully.


Had I known what I know now, it would have saved me lots of time, money, happiness, effort, researching, experimenting. And suffering. I hope some of you find value in it . Enjoy.


How To Fix Your Hormones: The Ultimate Guide


I am open for any feedback and criticism.

I am sure some of you are quite knowledgable and experienced and might give valuable feedback/criticism and point out blind spots or other stuff I didn´t think about. What are your thoughts on all this? As I am in my mid twenties, do you think this is sustainable for decades?
For questions/feedback you don´t want to post here my email: [email protected]
That's crazy. Very interesting experiment... Following.
 
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thingsvarious

thingsvarious

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That's crazy. Very interesting experiment... Following.
Did this for around 2 years and only good stuff happening :) Although I was able to get off the HC (resetting my HPA-setpoint to a higher baseline) and I have now been off the HC for 4 months and I feel perfectly fine. Also, HC is the most dangerous, difficult, and most cumbersome hormone to replace.
 

Gustav3Y

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Progesterone and pregnenolone are high because of the HcG I inject, so I do "replace" these
Is it common for those who inject HcG?
Also when you say high Progesterone and Pregnenolone, you mean high in the regular sense of Lab top values, or high meaning much higher than lab accepted top values.

I have never seen this spoken of, just the regular T and E2 and that sometimes hCG administration supposedly can raise Prolactin.
 

Jonnie

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Did this for around 2 years and only good stuff happening :) Although I was able to get off the HC (resetting my HPA-setpoint to a higher baseline) and I have now been off the HC for 4 months and I feel perfectly fine. Also, HC is the most dangerous, difficult, and most cumbersome hormone to replace.

HC = cortisol I assume?
Or chorionic gonadotropin?

Man this is just so out there. I mean, I'm using some progesterone and some other stuff but this is on a whole nother level.

You might be what I think humanity will inevitably move towards; self regulating our physiology through various things.

Are you concerned at all it might backfire on you one day and you start to fall apart?
(Though I think if you manage for another 20 years the tech might be so advanced you could stay alive for another century).

Why is HC so dangerous/cumbersome?



.
 
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thingsvarious

thingsvarious

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@thingsvarious You heard about PFS (post finasteride syndrome) right? What would you recommend they do?
Yes, I have heard of it.
Personally, I´d try supplementing pregnenolone and/or progesterone (given it is caused by an abberrance in neurosteroids).
But whether that syndrome truly is systemic (concerning the whole body), I am fairly agnostic
 

Mister

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Yes, I have heard of it.
Personally, I´d try supplementing pregnenolone and/or progesterone (given it is caused by an abberrance in neurosteroids).
But whether that syndrome truly is systemic (concerning the whole body), I am fairly agnostic
Since fina is s a 5ar inhibitor and disturbs many processes in the body, why wouldn't that syndrome be systemic?

The following reactions are known to be catalyzed by 5α-reductase:[9]

And yes maybe progesterone will help, although many tried that approach already.
 
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thingsvarious

thingsvarious

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Since fina is s a 5ar inhibitor and disturbs many processes in the body, why wouldn't that syndrome be systemic?

The following reactions are known to be catalyzed by 5α-reductase:[9]

And yes maybe progesterone will help, although many tried that approach already.
Because NONE of these have their own receptor. There is just PR (progesterone receptor), GR (cortisol), MR (aldosterone), AR (testosterone).
These metabolites have slightly different affinities, but not that there would be a systemic "crisis" in the way sufferers of the PFS claim.
However, this is my opinion and I could be wrong
 

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