Testosterone Replacement

[marsaday]

I am male, 47 yo and take 125mcg T4 replacement for thyroid.

I have recently started testosterone replacement as well because i have been having a lot of aches and pains, plus muscle weakness. I work doing building work, so this has been a tough one to get my head round. The thyroid i am experienced with and after a while i realised it wasn't just a thyroid issue i was having.

So i finally got round to seeing a doctor and he agreed i needed to try replacement as my free testosterone level was bottom of the range. Testosterone was ok, but the high SHBG was making me low.

So i have finally got bloods done last week after 4 weeks on testosterone gel (androgel).

I have started on half the daily recommended about, so only doing one pump of gel. This = 20mg testosterone.

I feel much better on the testosterone BUT my bloods show an actual overall lower free testosterone compared to no supplementation. The big change is oestrogen has dropped.

Result one = July on one pump, result 2 = january and clean

FSH 8.9 and 11.8

LH 6.09 and 7

Oestradiol 59.6 and 93.4

Testosterone 16.6 and 18.4

Free T calc 0.251 and 0.278

Prolactin 257 and 263

SHBG 54.1 and 54.3

After the bloods i increased to 2 pumps per day (the recommended amount) BUT after 3 days i started to get a discomforting feeling in the heart area. So i have dropped back to one pump per day. The feeling was not sharp, but just a dullish different from normal feeling. Its hard to describe. It is just not a normal feeling.

Has anyone experienced an issue with the heart and T replacement. My blood pressure has lowered about 10 points since T replacement started. It is now 120/60. It used to be 128/68 approx at rest.

Dropping back to one pump per day relieves the issue. I wonder if i would need to lower the T4 as this may now be to much for my system. I am a touch lost with it. I suppose trial and error with the T4 and testosterone is the way to move forward. Any help/ insight appreciated though.

 

[japanesedude]

I'm not an expert but I think your heart problem is caused by estrogen conversion

 

[ecstatichamster]

Why are you taking T4?

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

T3 would make more sense, if one is trying to heal hypothyroidism. Or a combination of t3 and t4. T4 only will likely only make things worse( that's what happened to my father, in my country you can't get t3 very easily).

Are you using testosterone esters or pure testosterone? Both Ray and haidut have cautioned that the esters aren't good, due to the interference that the esters cause on testosterone metabolism. The fact that your estrogen levels increased by 50% shows that the testosterone gel isn't helping due to to it being aromatized into estrogen. Vitamin B3 is androgenic, and, from what I recall, lowers aromatase, so using pure test with vitamin E, niacinamide, vitamin A and thyroid( t3) will help you utilize the testosterone better.

 

[broozer]

I am male, 47 yo and take 125mcg T4 replacement for thyroid.

I have recently started testosterone replacement as well because i have been having a lot of aches and pains, plus muscle weakness. I work doing building work, so this has been a tough one to get my head round. The thyroid i am experienced with and after a while i realised it wasn't just a thyroid issue i was having.

So i finally got round to seeing a doctor and he agreed i needed to try replacement as my free testosterone level was bottom of the range. Testosterone was ok, but the high SHBG was making me low.

So i have finally got bloods done last week after 4 weeks on testosterone gel (androgel).

I have started on half the daily recommended about, so only doing one pump of gel. This = 20mg testosterone.

I feel much better on the testosterone BUT my bloods show an actual overall lower free testosterone compared to no supplementation. The big change is oestrogen has dropped.

Result one = July on one pump, result 2 = january and clean

FSH 8.9 and 11.8

LH 6.09 and 7

Oestradiol 59.6 and 93.4

Testosterone 16.6 and 18.4

Free T calc 0.251 and 0.278

Prolactin 257 and 263

SHBG 54.1 and 54.3

After the bloods i increased to 2 pumps per day (the recommended amount) BUT after 3 days i started to get a discomforting feeling in the heart area. So i have dropped back to one pump per day. The feeling was not sharp, but just a dullish different from normal feeling. Its hard to describe. It is just not a normal feeling.

Has anyone experienced an issue with the heart and T replacement. My blood pressure has lowered about 10 points since T replacement started. It is now 120/60. It used to be 128/68 approx at rest.

Dropping back to one pump per day relieves the issue. I wonder if i would need to lower the T4 as this may now be to much for my system. I am a touch lost with it. I suppose trial and error with the T4 and testosterone is the way to move forward. Any help/ insight appreciated though.

your e2 was very high! which is strange as you are using thyroid. maybe t4 is not the right one and the conversion to t3 is not working properliy. my impression is t3 only is a better idea to cure hypothyroid issues..im trying this myself soon.

ok,your e2 dropped while using gel, because transdermal testosterone has high conversion to DHT. and DHT controlls your e2. plus: thyroid medications can cause high SHBG. Prolaction also very high. tried nofap?

 

[Elchapchapchapo]

I would almost guarantee you have high prolactin as well, too much t can convert to estrogen which may be happening. As mentioned above t3, and. Especially aspirin and vitamin e serve as aroma tase inhibitors; aspirin can be tricky because it affects mood also

 

[nbznj]

He doesn’t have high e2 at all people. Y’all are way too quick to reiterate estrogen do this estradiol do that.

Those units are most definitely pmol/L for e2 and nmol/L for test.

Meaning that his T is in the 500s and e2 is 15ish and then 25ish in US units.

That SHBG is way too high tho. Typical when using thyroid medications.

 

[marsaday]

He doesn’t have high e2 at all people. Y’all are way too quick to reiterate estrogen do this estradiol do that.

Those units are most definitely pmol/L for e2 and nmol/L for test.

Meaning that his T is in the 500s and e2 is 15ish and then 25ish in US units.

That SHBG is way too high tho. Typical when using thyroid medications.

Thank you.

This is the product The Official AndroGel (testosterone gel) 1.62% CIII Website

My oestrogen has DROPPED after using testosterone.

They are all in pmol/nmol units as in the UK.

Yes SHBG is the issue and yes it has probably gone up due to thyroid.

I use T4 only because i find it works better. I used to use T4/T3 but T3 doesn't seem to help anymore.

My latest thyroid results show:

FT4 20 (12-22)
Ft3 4.18 (3.1-6.8)

TSH 1.31 (0.3-4)

I have noticed over the last few years my FT3 has dropped because it used to be in the 5.6. So maybe there is something going on with the T4.

TSH has come up as well over time. From 0.3 to 1.3 today. This relates to the drop in T3 i suppose and i haven't changed the T4 intake.

So jan 2018 TSH 0.3, Ft3 5.6, Ft4 23. You can see how the thyroid bloods have dropped down.

So i do have something going on.

Getting T3 in the UK is hard, so i am hoping not to have to use it.

PS; yesterday i used 2 pumps of testosterone and i felt fine. I will do the same today. I am guessing when certain hormones reach a new higher level i start to get this issue in the heart area.

So what do i do ?

Well i suppose a plants to lower the T4 from 125 to 100mcg and add in 5mcg T3 to see if this rebalances the thyroid hormones and maybe lowers the SHBG.

Testosterone has certainly helped so i will continue with the one pump a day and see if i can do 2 pumps as well.

All feedback appreciated

 

[marsaday]

Still doing 2 pumps and no heart issues so far this time.

 

[Goobz]

I find it very strange that your estradiol dropped when using test cream - whereabouts on your body are you applying it? Directly on your balls?

 

[trump_1776]

I find it very strange that your estradiol dropped when using test cream - whereabouts on your body are you applying it? Directly on your balls?

Whats the advantage of applying to your balls? Less estrogen conversion?

 

[Goobz]

Whats the advantage of applying to your balls? Less estrogen conversion?

I’m not saying there’s an advantage. I’ve heard that it converts more to DHT that route, which may mean less E2 and that’s why I’m asking him.

 

[trump_1776]

I’m not saying there’s an advantage. I’ve heard that it converts more to DHT that route, which may mean less E2 and that’s why I’m asking him.

Okay thanks just wondering

 

[Peater Pan]

That SHBG is way too high tho. Typical when using thyroid medications.

Do you know why that is?