I can’t be of much help bro but I agree your E2 & DHT are both on the low side despite your good Testosterone level. That said, low carb diet may have a negative impact on Testosterone & even E2.
Did you try to go back to normal diet to reverse your symptoms? Raising E2 through SOY is total “BS”. In fact, eating too much soy may further lower E2.
Do you workout? It’s surprising that your have high cholesterol despite being on crush diet. How is your gut doing? Do your suffer from gastrointestinal issues?
E2 & DHT balance each other out so it makes sense that your DHT is also low’ish.
Symptoms of low E2 include:
Depression
Low libido
Anxiety
Achy joints
Fat gain especially around midsection
Problems with digestion
Hair loss
Dry skin
Do you have any of them? To be frank with you, some men feel better on higher E2 and some may feel better on lower E2. It’s all about ratios especially T:E2 & E2:DHT
I never got my DHT tested but I think it must have been low too because my E2 was very low. Body always try to reach a state of homeostasis. Speaking of which, do you happen to have an older bloodwork ? One before your crush diet. If yes, then it can help you as a baseline.
In the meantime, steer clear from high doses of fat soluble vitamins D, A, & K, green tea, olive oil, zinc, boron, melatonin, fish oil & of course any anti Aromatase supplements and drugs. They all lower E2 and you really don’t want that now.
-0 Libido
-No depression, but feeling really flat emotionally etc.
-A bit of anxiety, no sense of calmness in my body like before
-no achy joints
-I seem to hold all my water in my stomach, like bloated, loss of fat below eyes, toes, etc.
-No Hair Loss, No dry skin, but I have dry eyes, dry armpits, dry penis glans etc.
-Frequent urination, stress incontinence, and weaker stream like I cant push the urine out harder?
Many of those symptoms are indeed caused by low E2.
For starters, try upping your carbs, get enough sat fats, get adequate sleep, don’t over-train and stay away from E2 lowering stuff I told you about. A mild multivitamin should be fine.
Btw, did you test for thyroid & adrenals?
Consult with a good gastroenterologist/internist and see if you can get a proper diagnosis.
Libido is usually the last thing to return after you fix the underlying causes. Have you tried any herbs such as Long jack? It helped me before.
I find your approach very interesting. I’m thinking of changing the probiotics I’m currently taking for another type. I also take inulin as a prebiotic to feed my gut’s bacteria, but I don’t know which bacteria I’m feeding.
When you say “Probiotic X: Contains specific bacteria that is scientifically proven as anti-inflammatory.”
Which bacteria stands are you referring to ?
hey again… So I believe this all was caused by my severe caloric restriction/eating disorder I developed as well as overtraining… Looking back I now accept that I had some body image issues, but who doesn’t?!? I truly don’t know what depression is, I can say that I have never been depressed… Before It was mostly highs, now its just empty feeling, I dont feel doomed/suicidal.
About 6 months into the diet and training I noticed that my morning wood was absent, then hit it me its been absent for a long time? As well as my libido… I remember panicking and trying to get an erection, but it was cold and wouldn’t respond. Believe it or not I even felt my testicles and it was like they were the size of 3 or 4 raisins… It went away a little and I would say the right testicle has fully recovered, but my left testicle feels 40% of normal size…
I Immediately gained the weight back as it seemed the obvious culprit… even quit cardio completely , ate a bunch of peanut butter sandwiches, meats, eggs etc… No difference in anything… Eventually tested t and it came back at mid 400’s and for a long time I thought this was the issue… However Total T has been in upper 600’s for the last 2 years and 0 improvement in symptoms which lead me to doing research where I read about e2 and dht…
LH 4,5 (1,7-8,6)
FSH 3,2 (1,5-12,4)
Test 21,2 (8,6-29)
SHBG 28 (18-54) last test showed 19
Prolactin 285 (86-254) seems high to me , but no one seems to care
ACTH 8,1 (1,6-13,9)
Cortisol 486 (133-537) first test was high at 748
Dhea-s 12,51 (4,34-12,2) **** HIGH
E2 12 (11.5-35)***** LOW!?
DHT 176 (350-850) **** LOW!?
Progesterone 0,12 (up to 0,15)
Growth Hormone <0,050 (up to 10)
IGF-I 216 (115-355)
Insulin I 15,7 miU/L
Insulin II 92,1 miU/L
Name of test OGGT 2H (0’120’)
Thanks for your reply. Have been busy with exams and couldn’t find time to login on here, it indeed sucks waiting years to just be okay but there’s no other way around. I just got my blood work done yesterday and now i am totally convinced that my path is more or less coinciding with yours. I tried explaining my endocrinologist the symptoms but he would totally brush aside telling that my blood work was totally normal and further believes its psychological! He prescribed be B12 (methyl) supplements as my levels were low. Is it safe to take them? These are my levels, what do you make of it?
Your free T is low and e2 is reallly low. Either or both of those could be causing you issues. Most people feel best with fee T on the high side of the “normal” range if not a little over it. E2 should be 20’s minimum in my opinion.
My free t is 39 (on TRT)
Your TSH is problematic as well. I would get free t3, free t4 and reverse t3 tested to see what’s going on thyroid wise. You really should be closer to 1 for tsh.
My TSH has been consistent throughout ie. 1 month since fin cessation( 4 pills in feb 2017) to now, hovered around 2.90 - 3.15. I have serious doubts on the DHT test too, most symptoms i suffer from can be attributed to low DHT. There’s also a possibility that DHT is true but it wont just bind to the androgen receptors. I am from India and the docs have no clue about PFS, this forum is my best shot.
I was prescribed 1500mcg methylcobalamin, if the problem is with methyl donors would cyanocobalamin be tolerable ? Cyanocobalamin is the only alternative to B12 supplementation.
My E2 was around 21 this January, shocking that its at these levels now. Anyway i am looking to redo the blood work again. I had only around 4-5 sleep the night before giving the sample. Usually my T is around 600. My TSH has been consistent throughout ie. 1 month since fin cessation( 4 pills in feb 2017) to now, hovered around 2.90 - 3.15. Does fin mess up thyroid ? Haven’t really come across that.
There are other B12 vitamins also. Although
methylcobalamin is the most natural form of B12. Hydroxocobalamin is the one that is used when injecting. Hydroxocobalamin is water-soluble and its difficult to get to enter to your cells. Cyanocobalamin requires a transformation processs when body turns it into methylcobalamin and on that process there forms little amount of cyanide also which is a poison as we know. Then there is the fourt which is adenosylcobalamin. That also needs a transformation process on your body to turn to methylcobalamin. I have also wondered what B12 we could use out of these. I think its might be more of the dosing. If we start with small dosing like 250-500mcg and upper that little by little to maybe 1000mcg. If any trouble stop or reduce…?
