Labs show everything is perfect except low DHEA-S and ferritin

[BatmanVAR]

I'm on a TRT+ dose (180mg a week) which puts me at about 1500 total T. Also on 4 IUs daily of HGH. And I take an AI and HCG.

E2 is perfect as is every other market I had tested (lipids, metabolic panel, blood health, electrolytes, reproductive hormones, liver, kidneys, etc.)

Except for DHEA-S which is 25 and ferritin which is 24. Stupid me, I didn't get these tested beforehand so I don't know my baseline, so I'm not sure how bad these are for me relative to my natural days.

Is this as simple as supplementing DHEA and Iron Bisglycinate? Or is there more to it and supplementing would be just putting a bandaid on the situation? I've done some reading including articles, websites, and ChatGPT and I get differing answers.

I should also point out that my hematocrit is good and I have not donated blood.

Thanks

 

[RockyP]

I'm on a TRT+ dose (180mg a week) which puts me at about 1500 total T. Also on 4 IUs daily of HGH. And I take an AI and HCG.

E2 is perfect as is every other market I had tested (lipids, metabolic panel, blood health, electrolytes, reproductive hormones, liver, kidneys, etc.)

Except for DHEA-S which is 25 and ferritin which is 24. Stupid me, I didn't get these tested beforehand so I don't know my baseline, so I'm not sure how bad these are for me relative to my natural days.

Is this as simple as supplementing DHEA and Iron Bisglycinate? Or is there more to it and supplementing would be just putting a bandaid on the situation? I've done some reading including articles, websites, and ChatGPT and I get differing answers.

Thanks

Do you have a history of blasting PED's or have you only done TRT?

Have you donated blood recently?

What is your E2 exactly? Should not need an AI on 180 mg / week.

 

[BatmanVAR]

Do you have a history of blasting PED's or have you only done TRT?

Have you donated blood recently?

What is your E2 exactly? Should not need an AI on 180 mg / week.

I did a few cycles in my early 20s, then didn't touch the stuff for 25 years. I started TRT doses in May of this year at age 46.

I have not donated blood.

I have naturally high E2 even though I'm 12% bodyfat, possible due to being on finasteride, so I did need an AI. My E2 is at 43 right now and that's with taking Anastrozole .5mg twice a week.

 

[RockyP]

I did a few cycles in my early 20s, then didn't touch the stuff for 25 years. I started TRT doses in May of this year at age 46.

I have not donated blood.

I have naturally high E2 even though I'm 12% bodyfat, possible due to being on finasteride, so I did need an AI. My E2 is at 43 right now and that's with taking Anastrozole .5mg twice a week.

Ok - the ferritin is a bit of a mystery. We're seeing it more and more in guys with a history of blasting gear, specifically boldenone, the theory being that the constant erythropoeisis from PEDs uses up the iron stores. Obviously there must be a genetic component as it's not happening to everyone. But some cycles 20 years ago would not qualify. If the rest of your CBC is normal it might be worth it to have a hematology consult.

 

[Eddie.]

What is your E2 exactly? Should not need an AI on 180 mg / week.

Considering he’s taking hcg as well it’s perfectly reasonable. 210 test and 1500iu hcg weekly with 37,5mg aromasin my estradiol was 106 lol. Hcg is a trash compound and as it seems it doesn’t even help him to increase neurosteroid production.

Op, ferritin might be a little trickier to increase but dhea-s yeah, you can supplement preferably with a micronized dhea. 50mg in the mornings will get you going, although don’t expect it to raise in just a couple weeks, it takes sometime. Start taking it and after 3-4 weeks check again estradiol because there’s a big chance it will get high.

 

[RockyP]

Considering he’s taking hcg as well it’s perfectly reasonable. 210 test and 1500iu hcg weekly with 37,5mg aromasin my estradiol was 106 lol. Hcg is a trash compound and as it seems it doesn’t even help him to increase neurosteroid production.

Op, ferritin might be a little trickier to increase but dhea-s yeah, you can supplement preferably with a micronized dhea. 50mg in the mornings will get you going, although don’t expect it to raise in just a couple weeks, it takes sometime. Start taking it and after 3-4 weeks check again estradiol because there’s a big chance it will get high.

totally missed the HCG

 

[BatmanVAR]

Considering he’s taking hcg as well it’s perfectly reasonable. 210 test and 1500iu hcg weekly with 37,5mg aromasin my estradiol was 106 lol. Hcg is a trash compound and as it seems it doesn’t even help him to increase neurosteroid production.

Op, ferritin might be a little trickier to increase but dhea-s yeah, you can supplement preferably with a micronized dhea. 50mg in the mornings will get you going, although don’t expect it to raise in just a couple weeks, it takes sometime. Start taking it and after 3-4 weeks check again estradiol because there’s a big chance it will get high.

Yeah I've read horror stories about getting ferritin levels up. Looks fun...

 

[BatmanVAR]

Minor correction, posting here because it won't let me edit my original post: it looks like I did have my ferritin checked a year and a half ago and it was 52 (which is in range but on the low side). This was before I was on any PEDs. So it's dropped from 52 to 24 in 18 months.

It is worth pointing out that I'm vegan, so low iron is more likely for us, but I've been vegan for 4 years and my ferritin was in normal range a year and a half ago. I am probably eating a lot less iron foods this year though since I've been focusing on protein, whereas in past years I ate a LOT more greens. So I don't know maybe that's it. I'll try supplementing and recheck in a few months.

According to ChatGPT, low iron and low DHEA cause sleep and fatigue issues, something I've had for 15 years. It also says that being low in these two can cause higher DOMS and heart rate, something I've always had in my 30 years of working out. It also talks about irritability and depression, again something I've always had. So I probably can't pin it all on this unless my DHEA has just always been low my entire life. Wouldn't they be wild if supplementing DHEA magically fixes a bunch of issues I've had for decades (doubtful, but I can dream).

 

[Sera]

Considering he’s taking hcg as well it’s perfectly reasonable. 210 test and 1500iu hcg weekly with 37,5mg aromasin my estradiol was 106 lol. Hcg is a trash compound and as it seems it doesn’t even help him to increase neurosteroid production.

Op, ferritin might be a little trickier to increase but dhea-s yeah, you can supplement preferably with a micronized dhea. 50mg in the mornings will get you going, although don’t expect it to raise in just a couple weeks, it takes sometime. Start taking it and after 3-4 weeks check again estradiol because there’s a big chance it will get high.

That’s about double the hcg dose I’d recommend. From research it seems 250-300iu EOD is optimal to restore testosterone inside the testes. Maybe even lower would work 70-80% as well.

Although not saying you wouldn’t still have difficulty managing estradiol levels.

 

[Ateam2023]

There is that trt iron protocol that @Tbaz192 i think tried, i did this protocol and raised my ferritin by 50 points, its on Meso somewhere.

 

[BatmanVAR]

There is that trt iron protocol that @Tbaz192 i think tried, i did this protocol and raised my ferritin by 50 points, its on Meso somewhere.

Is this it? Fixing High Hemoglobin or Hematocrit and Low Ferritin While on TRT

 

[Tbaz192]

Fixing High Hemoglobin or Hematocrit and Low Ferritin While on TRT

Unfortunately didn’t work for me. Might have been due to low dose Reta slowing gastric emptying and the timing got thrown off.

 

[Sera]

For me, literally just taking iron supplements for a few weeks raised my ferritin. No need to over complicate it.

 

[BatmanVAR]

Fixing High Hemoglobin or Hematocrit and Low Ferritin While on TRT

Unfortunately didn’t work for me. Might have been due to low dose Reta slowing gastric emptying and the timing got thrown off.

Ah hmmm I'm on reta too

 

[BatmanVAR]

For me, literally just taking iron supplements for a few weeks raised my ferritin. No need to over complicate it.

What dosage did you take?

 

[Ateam2023]

Is this it? Fixing High Hemoglobin or Hematocrit and Low Ferritin While on TRT

I took three iron chelate and two bisglycinate per day , and follow that protocol but that's what I took, I need you to put a ferritin test on my recheck list.., but I went from like a 30 up to 81 on ferritin and all my iron markers were perfect I logged them in my blood work help log

 

[BatmanVAR]

I took three iron chelate and two bisglycinate per day , and follow that protocol but that's what I tookView attachment 364315

Thanks I'll read through it now

 

[Sera]

What dosage did you take?

Now foods 36mg iron bisglycinate

 

[Ateam2023]

That’s about double the hcg dose I’d recommend. From research it seems 250-300iu EOD is optimal to restore testosterone inside the testes. Maybe even lower would work 70-80% as well.

Although not saying you wouldn’t still have difficulty managing estradiol levels.

Every time I added hcg in the mix my estrogen became out of control and so hard to manage,

 

[Tbaz192]

What dosage did you take?

I also possibly figured out my issue being the fact I was taking high doses for months and months. My body couldn’t keep up and even build ferritin. The creation of RBC’s from the high doses took straight from my ferritin and kept it low

Dropped down to sub 150mg test a week, some weeks I only took .2 or .3ml and forgot the other dose.
my ferritin came back at 50-60 after a couple months of that, no iron supplements.

I reckon with iron supplemets id be way higher