Gains were great for a bit but have hit a wall.

Shbg is quite high which is def ****ing me free test wise. SSRI and high amount of life stress certainly not helping that.

One of the questions asked to the doctors on that podcast was like “I’m 25 with 700 test and 45shbg” and the Dr was like hmm that’s a fairly high shbg so I’d want to further investigate that.

But it’s more about symptoms than numbers. I have most symptoms other than erectile problems.


I mean the actual majority of men (according to them) have hormone imbalances.

Some more labs. Low FSH. Something seems clearly up so I've been calling some places trying to get this looked into more by someone who knows.




7/16

BN

5x205, 5x215, 3x225, 1x235, 24x135, 15x135

DB OHP

4x10x45s

Cables flys ss T.Pushdowns

4x

T. Overhead EXT ss Dips

4x

7/20

BN SLingshot,

5x245, 4x255, 3x265, 1x275

Smith machine OHP,

5x6x135

T. OH Ext.

5x8x45

Chest flys ss T. EXT

4x


Going down the Hormones road. Going to try to get optimized. My Primary was actually cool with giving me Test, which I was surprised with. But I'm looking for an expert in the area. It's complicated and nuanced obv.

7/22
Climbed

7/23

Wide/Med PU

BW x 14, 12, 10, 10, 9

BN

5x205, 5x215, 3x225, 1x240, 1x245, 22x135

Smith Machine OHP

5x7x45s/ea

DB OH T. EXT

4x8

7/24

Climbed

7/25

Inc BN

4x5x185, 5x175

SQ

10x135, 2x6x185. Heh felt heavier than I would have thought! Just seeing how it goes. Have an epidural in back next Thurs.

1 arm PU training

4x

Very Wide grip PU

4x6xBW

Meadows 3 way Shoulder raises

4x8x5lb

Here's the labs the DR I'm going to see on Monday ordered:
Decent sized difference in T and Free T this time (although Free T was calc differently)

Lol so that T-Free is in pg/ml, in other words move the decimal--5.6


Today I saw Dr. Keith Nichols and his wife Angie Nichols, out of T1 institute in Cookeville, TN. I was very impressed with them. They're lovely people and are at the forefront of hormone therapy and the actual science behind it. Somehow I lucked out they happen to be only 1.5hr drive from me.

The post meal fatigue I've been experiencing really rang a bell with Dr. Nichols as he used to experience the exact same thing, and even when having super low carb meals--same here. He told me he would go to starbucks and get the egg whites + coffee and be in dire need of a nap 2hrs later. Sure sounds familiar!

Initially he wasn't going to give me Thyroid but after talking more about this fatigue and memory issues he decided to.

Tomorrow we get started.

The protocol:

AM: Thyroid, Pregnenolone, Test (2 clicks)--scrotum gel (he says all of his patients eventually end up liking this the best).

PM: Thyroid, DHEA, Melatonin, Vit D3, Test (2 clicks).

I'm going to pass on HCG atm.

He guessed my Test numbers would need to be in the 1500s range to feel better (with high SHBG, which is a good thing in some respects, just need more Test). But it's a guess, he treats symptoms and doesn't number chase, which makes so much sense.

Say goodbye to natty training.

This is just giving me a lot of hope. Been some dark ****ing times lately. Went hiking (flat) with the gf on Sunday at about 2pm. In my sweat and 90degree weather all I wanted was to just sit down next to a tree and go to sleep, just so exhausted for about half the hours in the day--waves of debilitating fatigue.

7/28

BN

185 x 10,11,10,8,7

Med/Wide PU

14, 12, 10, gassed

Dips

3x10


7/30

Climbed.

Sounds promising, with one caveat - has anyone been able to narrow down the cause of your hormone issues?

No. I'm not sure there has to be a cause other than just genetic, environment, getting older. Some of these symptoms I've had on and off for a while, to varying extents, but certainly worse lately. They used prolactin as a metric to gauge pituitary gland problems--she said it was fine/not pituitary tumor etc. There wasn't any other mention or indication that there needed to be further testing to find a root cause.

Fwiw these are full symptom lists with approx dates related to hormones I compiled.

7/31

BN

225x5 (tie PR!), 230x3, 235x2, 225x3, 205x5, 185x10

Strange I must be getting placebo effects early (1st dose tonight)!

Hammer Curls ss Cable straight bar curls

4x ea

Reverse OH T. Ext ss DB flys

3x ea

T. EXT

4x.

Well that was randomly nice to have.

8/3

BN

205x5, 195x6, 195x5

Just felt like pure ******* so I quit.

Head was pounding all day. Also had hiccups on and off all day for prob 5hrs total. Read it could be post epidural.

8/4

Chest Cable flys SS Seated DB curls

4x

Reverse T. EXT OH ss Inc DB press

4x

T. Ext + dropsets SS Chest supports rows.


Meads 3 way shoulder raises


Climbed.

Felt pretty good today. First time in a while sustained energy all day. Duno, I'll take it.

Glad to hear you're feeling better. You've already started your hormone therapy protocol, right?

Monte,

Yeah, 7/31.

-------------------------------

This looks solid. Was feeling around after some chest pain last night.

Are you birthing Kuato?

fml

This is since you started the cycle, or it appeared before?

Idk exactly, noticed it last night. Don't see how it could be related to hormones but idk.

TC,

Maybe it's time to visit Dr. Sandra Lee?

In all seriousness, though, that seems like something you should get checked out ASAP. Best wishes as always.

Sheeeeet, update?

Gainsville. No reason to log anymore. Or even lift weights. Maybe just a little Smith machine, leg extensions and leg curls.

It looks the same. I get pain there when engaging core to pick myself up when lying down. But haven't tested it today.

I went to ER and made them Xray me (don't care $6k deductible is longggg gone). Dr was dismissive and said it was fine. Xray apparently didn't show anything to indicate otherwise. She was like you just had gas/are backed up. I went to a Chiro to get their opinion. They also didn't think much of it. Mentioned it to Ortho when I had a follow up. She was like that's a bit strange but idk seems OK.

I don't understand how I this (Xyphoid process) can go from me never noticing it to protruding but everything's k.

Allergist ran a bunch of tests yesterday. Have a c-spine MRI tomorrow. Idk, I feel ****ing terrible, the fatigue is unreal. Trying to eat as bland as I can to perhaps find something there.

Loco,

Sure.

8/7 Climbed

Man, I would sooooooo be trying to pop that. Wait, your doctor said that's poop? Yikes, that's pretty backed up!

No no it’s hard, I think it is* my xyphoid process but something is making it protrude outward to where it’s noticeable.

Hmmm.... First time I've ever heard a doc say this...

(watch the transference to your gf though)

Interesting choice on putting you on thyroid with an already normal TSH level.

Good luck with the alien in your chest.

Yeah tbh I find it a little annoying, imprecise, and hindering so far.

We’ll see. I would go to subcutaneous injections once a day instead, if so. What do you do/prefer?

One of these things is giving me headaches. Suspect it’s thyroid actually atm. The problem with taking 6 things all the sudden is it’s hard to troubleshoot if things aren’t right, or I get certain side effects.