Thanks for your informative feedback bro.
I’ve been quite busy as of late and was carrying out more bloodwork among other tests to rule out any other ailments. Moreover, I went for a much-needed vacation and had to stop my routine.
As always, I’ll share my findings so that other sufferers can benefit and navigate through their healing journey.
My current rountine:
-Resistance Training 4x week.
-Diet consists of 30% fats and moderate in protein and complex carbs (around 2500 calories per day).
-Early breakfast, lunch and skipping dinner.
-No caffeine, no artificial sweeteners, and no sodas.
-Sleeping early 11:00pm max (7-8 hrs).
-Drinking plenty of water (4 liters per day).
-Supplements: multivitamin, 400mg magnesium, 15mg zinc, 1g vitamin c, only 2000IU vitamin d.
Herbs: Ashwaghandha, Rhodiola rosea (recently added), stinging nettle root (yes I know some say it inhibits 5AR hence DHT, but judging by how I feel it does seem to help me with well-being and sex drive, possibly due to freeing up testosterone through its binding-affinity with SHBG), and occasionally Korean panax Ginseng.
Other supplements: Probiotics, milk thistle, 6.25mg DHEA, and 4-6g arginine.
I’m also targetting to lose about 4-6 KGs through introducing moderate intensity cardio (30mins). Btw, it always makes me feel relaxed afterwards. Losing weight (fat mass) does help with reducing aromatase activity, which converts T into E2. I always noted that I feel worse when my body weight exceeds a certain limit (90KG). My best guess is that increased fat% results in disruption of T:E ratio. Subsequently, I resorted to AIs to temporarily correct it and this ended with my E2 getting too low.
My bloodwork revealed that my TSH is hovering around 1.9, sometimes 2.15. So I looked up ways to boost thyroid. I feel best when TSH is around 1.2 - 1.5
My fT4 is ok but my fT3 was in the lower range, so I started researching ways to increase T4 --> T3 conversion and interestingly iron came up. My recent bloodwork unveiled my ferriten is in the low-normal range probably due to several blood donations done over the course of the last months.
So I begun supplementing 100mg iron Fumerate on empty stomach alongside 1mg copper and B-Complex. I use low sodium iodized salt so don’t need to take iodine.
How does the above routine makes me feel? simply AMAZING! Yes, I still get those occasional lows every now and then but they’re nothing like those major crashes and depressive , non-existant libido, anxious, brain fog episodes
Though as @andrew89 mentioned above, most of the adaptonegic herbs I’m currently taking must be cycled as to not lose efficacy (i.e. tolerance effect). Godspeed!