Feel like a neutered dog at 26.

[nxckf]

Been struggling with symptoms that I thought were low T for the past 3-4 years. Since noticing I have thrown the kitchen sink at my symptoms through lifestyle, sleep, supplementation, diet (eat perfectly clean) and haven’t moved the needle that much. Spent thousands going to functional health clinics who couldn’t give me an answer, so just posting here for the odd chance that someone else may have struggled with something similar. Symptoms are little to zero libido (no morning wood ever, not sexually aroused), little to no strength or muscle gains in the gym (made some noobie gains but have been pretty stagnant for the past year or so), low energy, low drive/vigor, and just generally feeling “off”. Attached are my labs where you can see elevated SHBG, lipids pretty bad, low iron binding, and high estrogen. Yes my total and free T look great but I feel like I have a 85.7, not 857. I don’t do any anabolics, just GH and Tirz (started GH because my IGF1 came back at 151)

If you guys have any suggestions on where to start please let me know as I am at wits end with this, just want to feel better…
Thank you.

 

[buck]

Your total cholesterol points to something in your lifestyle not being on point.
You mat want to get your TSH and T4 checked. Reverse T3 is a relatively worthless blood test from most researchers i have listened to as there is not standard for testing. If using the same lab every time watching the trend with reverse T3 and even T3 may show something but those 2 are not very definitive..
Without knowing your diet, physical, emotional, stress levels It can be hard to determine.

 

[nxckf]

Your total cholesterol points to something in your lifestyle not being on point.
You mat want to get your TSH and T4 checked. Reverse T3 is a relatively worthless blood test from most researchers i have listened to as there is not standard for testing. If using the same lab every time watching the trend with reverse T3 and even T3 may show something but those 2 are not very definitive..
Without knowing your diet, physical, emotional, stress levels It can be hard to determine.

Diet is clean, no processed food aside from diet soda. Not a ton of dietary cholesterol (2-3 eggs a day max, zero processed foods aside from diet soda, diet consists of beef, greek yogurt, sweet potato, berries, brocolli and kimchi. Drink only water and black coffee, zero alcohol. Pretty much don’t eat anything outside of that.

Active lifestyle, around 12-15k steps a day, resistance train about 4-5 days a week depending on schedule, active job. I’m in decent shape, maintain 14-15%bf.

Stress level is moderately high due to being pretty busy between working full time, running an online business, and putting time into fitness. As far as emotional, I don’t have much to complain about- life is going well for me outside of how i feel, about to get married, have a good job, a nice house, good family, etc.


As far as the thyroid. I forgot to include it but TSH and T4 were in range. RT3 just happened to be in the screenshot because I was getting it re tested after it had been elevated before near the end of my cut months back.

 

[dinfar1337]

Your total cholesterol points to something in your lifestyle

diet*

anyways

get iron/vitamin d etc tested.

probably whats causing the feeling. strong good natty t level

 

[buck]

Sounds like stress may be a big player in your symptoms.
Sleeping 8 hours a day?
If you find you are not enjoying things in life as much as you once did that can be a sign for depression. Stress can do that in my experience. It was the only symptom i had as i was a machine in all other areas of life that Dr ask about when diagnosing depression.

 

[nxckf]

diet*

anyways

get iron/vitamin d etc tested.

probably whats causing the feeling. strong good natty t level

Been supplementing with vit D for a couple of years, started to back it down when it came up above range but still take it every now and then. Iron binding is low. Really don’t know what in my diet could cause such crazy lipids, maybe i’m wrong but i done see 2-3 eggs throwing it that far off considering the rest of my diet.

 

[buck]

diet*

anyways

get iron/vitamin d etc tested.

probably whats causing the feeling. strong good natty t level

Lack of activity, stress etc. can raise cholesterol levels as well*

 

[dinfar1337]

Lack of activity, stress etc. can raise cholesterol levels as well*

he said gym / 12-15k steps everyday

i assume its diet / genetics instantly which he didnt share

 

[buck]

he said gym / 12-15k steps everyday

i assume its diet / genetics instantly which he didnt share

He wrote his steps in after my post about activity. If you care to check.
I don't assume i just put out info for the person to use as they see fit.

 

[nxckf]

Sounds like stress may be a big player in your symptoms.
Sleeping 8 hours a day?
If you find you are not enjoying things in life as much as you once did that can be a sign for depression. Stress can do that in my experience. It was the only symptom i had as i was a machine in all other areas of life that Dr ask about when diagnosing depression.

I find it hard to sleep 8 hours a day. I almost always have a couple wake ups in the middle, especially when trying to hit the hay extra early to get 8. Regarding depression, I don’t “feel” depressed if one were to ask me, but I also definitely don’t feel joy or excitement from things that should bring me joy. Like I just bought a house, one I thought I never could at that, and I just feel like “well, that’s good i guess”. Not excited in the least bit, thought I should be.

 

[nxckf]

This is a typical day of eating on a rest day. Only difference on training days is some of my carbs moved to before the workout. Otherwise macros and calories are similar + or - 100 with the carbs around activity.

he said gym / 12-15k steps everyday

i assume its diet / genetics instantly which he didnt share

 

[Rawnjohnson]

Fasting blood sugar is on the upper end what is your A1C? GH could be making you insulin resistant. You also mentioned you’re on tirz. Tirz can make you feel fatigued.

 

[dinfar1337]

This is a typical day of eating on a rest day. Only difference on training days is some of my carbs moved to before the workout. Otherwise macros and calories are similar + or - 100 with the carbs around activity.

get a more comprehensive bloodwork

crp not hs but normal crp

free t4, t3, tsh. asat, alat, tsat

drop gh and tirz. tirz because it can cause tirednedness and gh to see if it drops shbg

is that you in your picture with low bodyfat?

would like a full profile

bodyfat 14-15%

weight

height

age: 26

diet phase; gaining, losing, maingaining, for how long.

 

[pigeonhed]

If you measure your workout in steps, i probably won't be much help. Generally I think in sets, reps and weight, it does not translate well to steps.

 

[nxckf]

Fasting blood sugar is on the upper end what is your A1C? GH could be making you insulin resistant. You also mentioned you’re on tirz. Tirz can make you feel fatigued.

Been trying to time my carbs more around my lifts to mitigate that. I dont do any late night snacking and pin my GH a few hours after my last meal (although I know that can be minutiae.) Honestly have had the fatigue since before any peptides.

 

[nxckf]

get a more comprehensive bloodwork

crp not hs but normal crp

free t4, t3, tsh. asat, alat, tsat

drop gh and tirz. tirz because it can cause tirednedness and gh to see if it drops shbg

is that you in your picture with low bodyfat?

would like a full profile

bodyfat 14-15%

weight

height

age: 26

diet phase; gaining, losing, maingaining, for how long.

Yes that’s me. Unfortunately my SHBG was high before ever being on GH.

Bodyfat currently: 15%
Weight: 136
Height: 5’6
Age: 26

Diet phase: Gaining (250-300 calorie surplus). Been in this phase since mid October.

I only have a HS CRP result as of right now, which came back in normal range. Here is my most recent thyroid panel.

 

[nxckf]

If you measure your workout in steps, i probably won't be much help. Generally I think in sets, reps and weight, it does not translate well to steps.

I don’t measure my workout in steps…That was just an indicator of my average non exercise activity. I was not going to list every rep + set count of every lift. I resistance train 4-5 times a week, Push, Legs, Pull, active rest days. 2 real working sets for most movements.

 

[Rawnjohnson]

Why are you on tirz at 136? You’re small (not saying that as an insult) so I’m guessing you have a blazing fast metabolism. You’re also active. Have you tried getting your calories a lot higher, like 3000, to see if that gives you more energy?

 

[Rawnjohnson]

Also just noticed you don’t have a lot of carbs in your diet other than sweet potatoes and honey. Try eating 500-700 more calories in carbs and see how you feel. Don’t feed into the BS that carbs make you fat. They’re the body’s preferred energy source.

 

[nxckf]

Why are you on tirz at 136? You’re small (not saying that as an insult) so I’m guessing you have a blazing fast metabolism. You’re also active. Have you tried getting your calories a lot higher, like 3000, to see if that gives you more energy?

Yeah, not taking the tirzepatide to try and lose weight. Was mainly taking it to try and help with insulin sensitivity when taking the GH. Got on GH when my IGF1 came back at only 151. Trying to gain weight but not too quickly, bulked to 165 before and i was just a butterball. Have tried pushing calories higher but weight gain was happening pretty quickly (quicker than a realistic rate of gain for lean tissue) as well as fasting glucose creeping up. Most days it’s about 80-85.