I’d have this since end of October. It was very bad around Nov/Dec when i lost my girth. Now i get the intermittant pain and a general dull ache.
Nothing to do with preg, no.
Apparently the Leeds lab range for DHT is:
0.90-2.90nmol/L
My reading 4.9nmol/L
FFS
I have to assume my natural DHT levels ARE high though, hence my hairloss. Finasteride couldn’t even slow it down, this is probably why.
It’s worrying though - i shouldn’t be having these sides with such high levels.
I don’t know if it doesn’t directly but high estradiol in any male body will compromise them sexually and give them hypogondal symtoms. So, effectively speaking, yes. Techically speaking, I don’t know.
Colin, did you try to increase your cortisol in order to curb E2? As far as I understand, you just tried to take pregnenolone. But, at least in my experience, pregnenolone does not necessarily raise cortisol. You need to add T3 too. In some cases, even this is not enough to raise cortisol, and you must take hydrocortisone.
I think we need to be careful about this m_81. For a few reasons.
- I don’t know my full cortisol results, i need more testing. My 17-OH Prog was okay for instance, so it mightn’t be a factor.
- Even if i do have low cortisol, i dont know my pre-fin levels.
- I don’t want to become reliant on HC if not necessary. Even at small doses id be worried about long term suppression. I might try 5mg or maximum 10mg whilst in the middle of my protocol to see if this changes things, though.
as for preg, read Chillin’s latest thread. After three months of using preg himself, it stopped raising cortisol. I don’t want to have these problems down the line. I don’t advocate anyone comitting to higher doses of preg or HC for a sustained period of time unless you really know what you’re doing. End of the day, Chillin is advocating hormone supplementation. We both know the body doesn’t generally react well to hormone supplement in the long run.
Anyawy, I’m to get a full cortisol salivary test sorted out so i’ll decide on things from there. I am intrigued by my small improvements with preg though, don’t get me wrong. But first thing’s first.
As for T3, it raises SHBG. I already have good T3 readings, anyway.
My plan:
Get my serum estradiol levels down to mid-range i.e. 80-90pmol/L instead of 170’s (using small progressive doses of arimidex for up to 3 months). I think i should see a marked improvement; my other sex hormones seem to be relatively normal, afterall. Perhaps my body never readdressed the cranked estrogen that came about from finasteride, simply.
If this doesn’t work i’ll be genuinely concerned for my sexual health to be honest. From there i’ll:
- Do full adrenal testing including a salivary test for cortisol (4x)
- Consider insulin resistance test
- Get 3-adiol-G and other specific bloods done.
AH okay, I get them as well from time to time. The funny thing is that they come and go at the most random times… Theres nothing setting them off from what I can see. No matter how much sleep you get or if you excercise the day prior or what you ate… Nothing seems to have any bearing as to why they come and go… Its just an uncomfortable feeling, and it either puts me an an awful mood because of how it feels, or the mood conincides with the feeling somehow… Sorry i’m just rambling…
I was feeling great (relatively speaking) sexually for the past few weeks then i got the pains again more so the past few days. It feels so wrong it reminds me “something is wrong with me”…its pretty disheartening.
yea the dull aches suck… idk what the hell they could be… perhaps lack of dht or something from time to time, like our body is just in a crazy cycle…
Read my post here
and tell me what you think.
It can’t be lack of DHT for me, my DHT is so bloody high. I think its a circulation issue. Well i hope so.
All i know is that i better not lose any more girth. Right now i’m barely acceptable, any less will destroy me psychologically. Thank God im starting treatment next week, if my T/E levels being normalised means i get better erections hopefully this helps circulation and helps abate this issue.
Colin - please clarify if your dull ache is penis or testicles or both
I honestly havent lost any girth when im NOT erect, Im much more of a grower then a show-er. Youre DHT AND T are high but they are no being released to your blood stream id imagine.
Those are serum levels, i.e. in the blood.
Its penile pain not testicle.
yes I know, Im talking about both though.
Just a minor update.
My “improvement” has pretty much vanished. My penis is in strange condition , sometimes it looks really “malnourished” when flaccid/semi-hard. The difference between it really is light and day between its pre-fin condition. My biggest fear is just how far this can go. The girth loss is pretty perturbing but does seem to vary which tells me it’s reversible if i can hit the root problem.
I clearly have high estrogen. BUT i have very high test and DHT, too. That worries me in the sense that maybe my e2 isn’t that high in consideration with my high levels of of TEST/DHT. But i think even bodybuilders who have extremely high T levels on cycle keep their E2 midrange, is this right? I’ll check.
Anyway i have taken DIM before with no difference whatsoever. Same with zinc (100mg + at times!!). Trib helped a little with nighttime erections.
So i read about DIM again and how it really seemse to help alot of people with high e2.
So on Friday night i literally took 10 TABLETS OF DIM before bed. I reckoned if DIM would work for me at all it’d show from this experiment. NOTHING. If anything it gave me quite an erection-less nights sleep.
Pretty strange.
IF this arimidex doesn’t work even when i’ve got continued bloods showing mid-range estrogen for 6+ weeks, then i’ll be worried. This all might lead to a SERM, hCG or small levels of TRT to see if i am one of these guys who need the very high levels of testosterone to feel “normal”. It wouldn’t be ideaL but it may be necessary failing everything else.
Lastly, i’ll be looking to get my Reverse T3 measured. All other thyroids look fine but we’ll see about RT3.
By malnourished do you mean the colour too?
When I feel bad my penis takes on an hourglass shape, the tip is more pale than usual and has areas on minor blotchiness (hard to describe, but not STD blotches). It feels like rubber too, but coldness went away very fast.
It just looks deprived and not what it used to look like. The middle part has extra skin due to shrinkage. It just looks…wrong.
Noone looks at it closely like i do obviously, but its very obvious to me personally. The girth loss is sometimes really noticable at times though it narrows from the base to the tip. I’ll not go into any more detail but clearly something is fundamentally wrong. Just hope its just a simple hormonal imbalance or lack of erection strength which has brougth about reduced elasticity over time. We’ll see.
Colin - dude you have dim all wrong. Dim is a fairly benign supplement that will gradually help you loer your bad estrogen. Think 2-3 months. It will work - but popping 10 pill one night will do nothing
I’m taking erase at the moment with TD preg and clomid @ 20mg per day.
Testostrone is way up and no estogen side effects so far after 10 days.
Oh, i wasn’t aware. That would explain it. I did take it for several weeks before that but 2-3 months is maybe more realistic for my estrogen levels.
Anyway i got my bloods take now , just back from GP surgery. I swear my GP thinks im crazy but whatever. I’m pushing to get my perscription today its just up to my endo to get speaking to my GP which is proving more difficult than it really should be. I’m pretty much about to start…
Okay, any improvement?