His message to me
Re: Finasteride
I’m doing great. Got on TRT + HCG eod. After 6 months on that, libido and mood began to decline somewhat. I started Wellbutrin, piracetam (1/2 tsp twice a day), and low dose naltrexone (3mg daily) 2 years ago, and I feel great. I can’t understate the positive effect this has has on my career, marriage, family, etc. I doubt I would be in the leadership roles I am now without everything above. I haven’t been on this board in almost 3 years, but feel free to post it on the main board. Hopefully this will help you and others as well.
thinksteroids.com/forum/mens-health-forum/high-shbg-low-estradiol-134259445.html
Can anyone figure this out?
First post here. Any help here would be greatly appreciated. I am 37 y/o, libido declining and all the classic low test symptoms for 2 years. Total T 2 yrs ago was 550, so I figured that couldn’t be the problem. I didn’t know about checking free T at the time. Was taking finasteride at the time. Stopped 1 year ago. Started taking tribulus, which helped for awhile for whatever reason. Things have gotten significantly worse, so started looking into reasons. Thank god for this site. Blood work:
3/10/2008 (felt really crappy that day w/ libido, mood, etc)
DHT 28ng/dl (25-75)
Total serum cortisol 11.7 mcg/dl (4-22)
Total testosterone 313 ng/dl (241-827)
3/13/2008 (bad day as well)
Estradiol 12 pg/ml (13-54)
FSH 2.7 mIU/ml (1.6-8.0)
LH 3.2 mIU/ml (1.5-9.3)
Prolactin 2.0 ng/dl (2.0-18.0)
TSH 1.11 mIU/L (0.4-4.5)
T-3 Uptake 33% (22-35)
Free T-4 1.2 ng/dL (0.8-1.8)
Hematocrit 42.8% (38.5-50)
Total cholesterol 168 (125-200)
LDL 106 <130
HDL 40 >=40
Trig 108 <150
Albumin 4.5 (3.6-5.1)
Globulin 2.3 (2.1-3.7)
AST 24 (10-40)
ALT 23 (9-60)
Glucose 73 (65-99)
IGF-1 260 ng/mL (106-255)
Ferritin and transferrin normal
3/20/2008 (felt better mentally than other days, but still no libido)
Total testosterone 511
Free testosterone 0.58 ng/dL (0.95-4.3)
% free testosterone 0.11 (0.32-0.5)
From the little I know, it looks like my sex hormone binding globulin is too high. Thyroid is normal, estradiol is not up, I rarely drink, IGF-1 is not low. I am 5’10", 165 lb, 12% body fat so obesity not the reason.
So here is the question. Do I just need to get on HRT or is there something else to do?