Where to go from here?

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#1

I have hypogonadism and severe brain fog/anxiety as a result of 4 months use of Saw Palmetto. My Endo said my blood work looks “promising” since my LH and FSH aren’t in the toilet. Any advice for me?

Total Testosterone Serum: 374 ng/dL [348-1197]
Free Testosterone (Direct): 10.8 pg/mL [9.3-26.5]
Estradiol (Roche ECLIA methodology): 14.0 pg/mL [7.6-42.6]
Estrogens Total: 69 pg/mL [40-115]
Estriol Serum: <0.3 ng/mL Range Not Established.
SHGB: 21.8 nmol/L [16.5-55.9]
Potassium Serum: 4.3 mEq/L [3.5-5.3]
DHT: 27 ng/dL [16-74]
Prolactin: 8 ng/mL [2-18]
FSH: 4.2 mIU/mL [1.4-18.1]
LH: 5.6 mIU/mL [1.0-12.0]

My Endo has given me some Maca to try and help boost my total T levels, but it’s not help. She is considering putting me on Test cream mixed with Progesterone. I have little knowledge of all of this. Would this seem like a good protocol to try?

#2

I haven’t seen many people here having success with just supplementing testosterone.

Increasing testosterone indirectly, however, has helped some people. Lowering estrogen, lowering SHBG, or increasing progesterone or DHEA appear to be more promising.

But you should read for yourself. http://www.propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3250&hilit=TRT

#3

yeah, I would personally wait on the Testosterone, many anecdotal reports of positive effects on progesterone supplementation within a good 4-5 months of use. Might actually dip below baseline upon first usage. It also appears many of our symptoms are in fact refelective of estrogen dominance/low progesterone. It is my personal opinion that something got screwed at the Progesterone Receptor/gene.

#4

Thanks for the advice guys. So looking around on here I see that these 2 tests can show your Alpha 5 Reductase activity (which would I guess be the best measure of how well you would respond to HRT)

But are these 2 tests the same, or totally different?

3alpha-diol G (Androstanediol glucuronide-- “Adiol-G” for short): metabolite of DHT, measures 5AR-II activity
Androsterone glucuronide (another metabolite of DHT that measures 5AR activity)

I’m asking because my Kaiser Dr. will probably not order these, and I will have to go through Labcorp which has the Androsterone Glucuronide, but not the 3alpha-diol G test.