Test/estrogen/sex drive question

[Codename47]

Hi, new to the forum, but seen many of Dylan's vids and many others on educating myself about various things. So, I was wondering if Dylan or anyone else here would have an opinion on my situation. So basically, my libido is and has pretty much been non-existent for quite some time, and erections subpar. I'm also 29 and I haven't been doing anything about it until now since I have pretty good insurance. Also note, i've never done any cycles, prohormones or sarms. I plan on trying sarms when everything else is in order.
So, over the last 2-3 months or so, I got some blood work done 3 times. Among them was T4, TSH, LH, FSH, cortisol, SXHBG, estradiol, test, free test, and a bunch of others. Everything was in the 'normal' range except estrogen was a little bit high....52 pg/ml...Free test was 91, %free was 1.6, Total test was 585.
He had me try an estrogen blocker, initially suggested arimidex, but I asked him if I could do exemestane, he agreed. I took 12.5 mg(half tablet) every other day. for about 3-4 weeks. Blood work was Estrogen at 45, normal range now, Free test was 98, %free was 1.4, which is below normal, and total was 696. I also didn't really feel any different.
So, he said to try and do half a tablet daily and come back in a month. I got the results today, estrogen is STILL at 45, but free test is 186, % free 1.7, and total is 1106! I also feel NO different. He said I should go to an endocrinologist for a second opinion since the problem can't be low T.
What do you guys think? Thanks for reading and your input if you have any!

 

[ApexVallen]

1) Have you seen a urologist to get your junk physically checked out?

2) Is your erection strong on viagra? If it is, then the piping works, its something else. If you take viagra and you still can't get it up, then thats completely different situation diagnostically.

3) Do you have anxiety/depression/any other mental disorder? 95% of doctors will assume its mental when a 29 year old goes in and says he is having problems in is sex life.

4) Do you eat well?

 

[bobhead]

Have you used any other drugs, illicit or prescription.

 

[RickRock]

What was your SHBG levels? What about prolactin/progesterone?

I'm actually shocked that your estrogen didn't come down more. Most guys feel best libido wise in the 30 pg/ml range. I'd also try some Aromasin instead of arimadex which will not only be a better AI for lowering estrogen. It will also lower SHBG which can also increase libido

 

[Codename47]

1) Have you seen a urologist to get your junk physically checked out?

2) Is your erection strong on viagra? If it is, then the piping works, its something else. If you take viagra and you still can't get it up, then thats completely different situation diagnostically.

3) Do you have anxiety/depression/any other mental disorder? 95% of doctors will assume its mental when a 29 year old goes in and says he is having problems in is sex life.

4) Do you eat well?

I haven’t seen a urologist yet, just was recommended to go to an endo so far.
Haven’t tried viagra, but i’ve tried the otc ones that you can by at the store. Some of those work pretty well for erections, but not really libido.
No other illnesses. This pretty much been going on most my life, so its not something outta the blue.
My diet is decent. I eat 4-5 times a day, no fast food except for potbelly/subway. No soda, rarely alcohol. Veggies I’m lacking a bit.

Haven't used any other drugs. I don't smoke anything actually either.

Rickrock, I said I did use exemestane, not arimidex. My estrogen was never in the 30's yet outta these 3 blood tests.
My SHBG levels were, 48, 58, 52. In the order that I had 3 tests done.
My prolactin was one thing that was never checked.

 

[RickRock]

I haven’t seen a urologist yet, just was recommended to go to an endo so far.
Haven’t tried viagra, but i’ve tried the otc ones that you can by at the store. Some of those work pretty well for erections, but not really libido.
No other illnesses. This pretty much been going on most my life, so its not something outta the blue.
My diet is decent. I eat 4-5 times a day, no fast food except for potbelly/subway. No soda, rarely alcohol. Veggies I’m lacking a bit.

Haven't used any other drugs. I don't smoke anything actually either.

Rickrock, I said I did use exemestane, not arimidex. My estrogen was never in the 30's yet outta these 3 blood tests.
My SHBG levels were, 48, 58, 52. In the order that I had 3 tests done.
My prolactin was one thing that was never checked.

Quite surprised your E2 levels never went below 45 at Aromasin 12.5mg EOD. That should have lowered you in a hurry

 

[rockmfhudd]

do you have sleep apnea? and how much body fat % are you if you know that

 

[Codename47]

Quite surprised your E2 levels never went below 45 at Aromasin 12.5mg EOD. That should have lowered you in a hurry

Also 12.5 daily for about 3 weeks at least it was still at 45, but total test went up dramatically. Seems odd.

Could free test have to do with it? Its been near the bare minimum of normal range and was even below normal in one testing.

Bodyfat % is probably around 13-15. Definitely no more than that.

 

[Bio-Tech]

Bump up the exemestane a little bit

 

[RickRock]

Bump up the exemestane a little bit

Agreed. I'd even give 12.5mg ED a shot and see how that goes

(PM me for a price list for Biotech Labs and 10% discount)

 

[Codename47]

I did that. I said I used it daily in my last post!

I did that for the last blood test, which is why my total test was up so high. Total test went up a few hundred while the estradiol serum reading gave the exact number as last time, 45. Seems odd.

Thats why my doc is saying to go to an endo for a second opinion to see whats happening.

 

[chelades]

Worth it, but I've seen this before. Guys running literally cycle doses and higher of AI without even running TRT and EVERY time it eventually crashes their E2. Maybe not right away, but down the line their body just catches up for whatever reason and their mega dose kicks in. Stresses the importance of bloods because even what we know to be a consistent dose for us personally can change at any time with the way the body responds.

It might be worth trying Arimidex. Seeing as your body could be super efficient at recreating new Aromatase to replace what the Aromasin kills off, you may have more luck actually filling the existing receptors with Arimidex instead just to deactivate it in the serum.

Apart from that there are heaps of other reasons why guys who have great Test and great E2 levels still have no libido. It's 'somewhat' of a mystery, but guys can usually zone in on why. DHT is a big factor a lot of the time. That's actually the primary sex hormone so if your Test isn't converting @ 5AR, it's an issue.

You'll find it's why guys struggle after taking shit like Finasteride that blocks this DHT conversion.

Apart from that again, plenty of other hormone levels and brain chemicals can mess up the sex drive. Prolactin is a good suggestion to zone in on. Vitamin D. Vitamin B12. Folic Acid. The list goes on, in a chain reaction fashion.

Say you're lacking B12 and Folic, so you have compromised red blood cell production. Or less oxygenated hemoglobin, making you feel tired and sluggish and not interested in anything even remotely to do with sex. Your body is just struggling to oxygenate tissues, so while your spleen turns over red blood cells to make new ones, this only adds to the stress on your body and as always - can affect your hormonal and mental capacity. Even just basic stress and anxiety can Eff you up.

 

[Codename47]

Uggggh, well thats not reassuring, that it could be a million different things LOL. I'll see what the endo says, he should be able to identify hormone imbalances if there are some. I haven't tested DHT or prolactin levels yet, so maybe thats somewhere to start.

 

[chelades]

Definitely stay the course and see what he says. Some endo's believe that Prolactin cannot rise unless E2 rises first, so seeing as you have raised E2, that may well have also raised the Prolac. Which really does kill drive and function.

 

[RickRock]

Worth it, but I've seen this before. Guys running literally cycle doses and higher of AI without even running TRT and EVERY time it eventually crashes their E2. Maybe not right away, but down the line their body just catches up for whatever reason and their mega dose kicks in. Stresses the importance of bloods because even what we know to be a consistent dose for us personally can change at any time with the way the body responds.

It might be worth trying Arimidex. Seeing as your body could be super efficient at recreating new Aromatase to replace what the Aromasin kills off, you may have more luck actually filling the existing receptors with Arimidex instead just to deactivate it in the serum.

Apart from that there are heaps of other reasons why guys who have great Test and great E2 levels still have no libido. It's 'somewhat' of a mystery, but guys can usually zone in on why. DHT is a big factor a lot of the time. That's actually the primary sex hormone so if your Test isn't converting @ 5AR, it's an issue.

You'll find it's why guys struggle after taking shit like Finasteride that blocks this DHT conversion.

Apart from that again, plenty of other hormone levels and brain chemicals can mess up the sex drive. Prolactin is a good suggestion to zone in on. Vitamin D. Vitamin B12. Folic Acid. The list goes on, in a chain reaction fashion.

Say you're lacking B12 and Folic, so you have compromised red blood cell production. Or less oxygenated hemoglobin, making you feel tired and sluggish and not interested in anything even remotely to do with sex. Your body is just struggling to oxygenate tissues, so while your spleen turns over red blood cells to make new ones, this only adds to the stress on your body and as always - can affect your hormonal and mental capacity. Even just basic stress and anxiety can Eff you up.

Great post right here! I agree with everything said. I think it's possibly time to try arimadex to see how you respond to that, and go from there

 

[Codename47]

Well, I tried to setup the appt. with an endo, but the place recommended a urologist first. I went and he examined my stuff, and it was fine. (bit awkward, lol) He also asked a decent amount of questions, and came to the conclusion that even though there are erection problems, its not the problem since I get some type of erections during the night and in the morning still.

He believes the problem lies in not getting the desire/drive. He asked a bunch of questions, trying to figure out if there was some life altering experience or something that was traumatic in my life. Not the issue though. So he recommended a phd/clinical specialist that specializes in mens sexual health. Not exactly sure what that will do, but maybe helpful?

 

[ApexVallen]

Well, I tried to setup the appt. with an endo, but the place recommended a urologist first. I went and he examined my stuff, and it was fine. (bit awkward, lol) He also asked a decent amount of questions, and came to the conclusion that even though there are erection problems, its not the problem since I get some type of erections during the night and in the morning still.

He believes the problem lies in not getting the desire/drive. He asked a bunch of questions, trying to figure out if there was some life altering experience or something that was traumatic in my life. Not the issue though. So he recommended a phd/clinical specialist that specializes in mens sexual health. Not exactly sure what that will do, but maybe helpful?

Thats EXACTLY what happened in my urologist appointment. He basically asked a bunch of questions that the referring doctor had already asked me and then said it was all in my head and gave me some free cialis and sent me on my way.

 

[ApexVallen]

And I had waited over a year for that appointment too...

 

[Codename47]

A year?? Mine was next day lol. Why so long?

At least he was specific in the person that specializes in this though, we'll see how that goes. What did you end up doing after that? You find out anything that helped?

 

[ApexVallen]

A year?? Mine was next day lol. Why so long?

At least he was specific in the person that specializes in this though, we'll see how that goes. What did you end up doing after that?

Well the doctors have been telling me for years that I'm 'within range' and theres nothing they can do, and they're right, I am within range, its just that I am pretty low. According to some charts that I saw on here, I have the same test as an 85 year old man

You find out anything that helped?

Yeah, steroids.