I feel lost and defeated need advice

[Jdoe32]

Symptoms: no libido, low energy, brain fog, depression, anxiety, poor concentration. HCG treatment for 2 months (3000 IU - fertility), felt major improvement. One year later started HCG mono, which could've evolved into TRT+hcg over time if all worked well.

Before starting HCG: • total T 6.09 (1.75 - 7.81 / ng/ ml); • free T 8.42 (1.00 - 28.28 / pg/mL); • FSH 5.66 (1.27 - 19.26 mlU/ ml); • LH 2.64 (1.24 - 8.62 mlU/ ml); • SHBG 75.30 (13.3-89.5 nmol/ L).

After 4 weeks on HCG 3000 IU/week (blood draw before pinning): • total T 5.97 (1.75 - 7.81 / ng/ml); • free T 8.10 (1.00 - 28.28 / pg/mL); • E2 30.17 (<15 - 31.5 pg/mL); • FSH <0.20 (1.27 - 19.26 ml/ ml); • LH <0.20 (1.24-8.62 mlU/ml); • SHBG 82.70 (13.3-89.5 nmol/L); • prolactin 9.82 (2.64-13.13 ng/ml).

After 3 months with 3000iu, Dr added 1500 more (for a total of 4500 despite mentioning to her that my last blood was drawn days apart from pinning day), for one more month (this time blood draw in the morning, 2 hours after I injected HCG), because I didn’t felt any symptoms relief besides some energy and a bit of libido which disappeared fast through the 6th week:

• total T 9.56 (1.75 - 7.81 ng/ml) high,
• Free T 17.73 (1.00 - 28.28 / pg/mL),
• E2 53.59 (<15 - 31.5 pg/mL) - high;
• PSA 1.05 (0 - 4/ng/ml) - usually I had it 0.8-0.9.

Need advice:
I suspected that high E2 may have canceled any benefits that could come with both high T levels, but Dr disagrees. She may be right and I could be wrong, but I have the feeling that while she is well intended and open minded to help, her experience with male hormones is limited. Idk..is just a feeling. She decided to have everything to a stop for 10 weeks and reevaluate after my PSA drops to base level. So:
1. it is safe to presume that my symptoms are not T related?
2. I didn't felt improvement when T raised, because of E2?
3. The raise in psa levels scared me a bit, how soon can I expect a drop in level?

P.S. I tried to post only what hormones I thought to be relevant to this case. If any more informations are needed, please ask.

 

[McLovin.]

my take on this is go back to what felt good if you're purely looking to feel those symptom relieves and you felt great on 3000iu's with an E2 around 30 then i would say try to match those levels again. Your E2 levels could have crept up after those 4 weeks which made you fall out of the balance of E2 and test where you felt best. you can try a small dose of AI aromasin and see if that improves any symptoms just don't over do it


this all being said with your original numbers already seemed pretty decent its a shame we don't know your E2 before going on HCG.

if you get off of HCG your HPTA is shut down as we can see from your LH and FSH

FSH <0.20 (1.27 - 19.26 ml/ ml); • LH <0.20 (1.24-8.62 mlU/ml

so you will need to pct to get your natural production back its possible that your body bounces back on its own but less likely depends on a bunch of things age is one of them the younger you are they easier it is for your body to recover

 

[Jdoe32]

my take on this is go back to what felt good if you're purely looking to feel those symptom relieves and you felt great on 3000iu's with an E2 around 30 then i would say try to match those levels again. Your E2 levels could have crept up after those 4 weeks which made you fall out of the balance of E2 and test where you felt best. you can try a small dose of AI aromasin and see if that improves any symptoms just don't over do it


this all being said with your original numbers already seemed pretty decent its a shame we don't know your E2 before going on HCG.

if you get off of HCG your HPTA is shut down as we can see from your LH and FSH

so you will need to pct to get your natural production back its possible that your body bounces back on its own but less likely depends on a bunch of things age is one of them the younger you are they easier it is for your body to recover

My pre-HCG E2 was mid range. So decent numbers all over (except high SHBG and low-ish free T), but a lot of symptoms. With relatively the same numbers, last year while on HCG I felt amazing. I don’t understand why it’s all different one year apart, this time wasn’t the same even when I was on the same protocol, before up-ing the dose.
I stopped HCG cold turkey two weeks ago, my Dr don’t want me to do pct. She just wants to stop everything for 10 weeks and see psa get to base level. Kinda scared me too. I don’t have a problem with quiting cold turkey tbh. I’m 44 yo, but I’m willing to give my body a chance to fight his own battles. Also, when I asked my doc for AI she said there is no need, because she doesn’t think my E2 is the culprit, so no point in adding more meds. As I said, I suspect that while she is well intended, could lack expertise.

 

[McLovin.]

most people here will have their own opinions about how high or low E2 is supposed to be. To me that points to the fact that its different for everyone imo you just have to find a good balance between E2 and Test that being said its completely possible that how you're feeling has nothing to do with hormonal balance but with your surroundings so give that a thought think about your living situation and whatever was going on around you. i know there is also a connection between test and dopamine levels but i dont know too much about that but its possible you had improvements through increased dopamine release which you then got used to but this is a speculation without proof.
for now since you already quit for 2 weeks i would suggest you sit that out for a couple of weeks and see how your body reacts your PSA will drop in that time surely. if you still have symptoms after a while i would personally try to experiment with an AI to find a good E2 level.

Im sure other members on here will have some good suggestions on things to try or test out

 

[Jdoe32]

most people here will have their own opinions about how high or low E2 is supposed to be. To me that points to the fact that its different for everyone imo you just have to find a good balance between E2 and Test that being said its completely possible that how you're feeling has nothing to do with hormonal balance but with your surroundings so give that a thought think about your living situation and whatever was going on around you. i know there is also a connection between test and dopamine levels but i dont know too much about that but its possible you had improvements through increased dopamine release which you then got used to but this is a speculation without proof.
for now since you already quit for 2 weeks i would suggest you sit that out for a couple of weeks and see how your body reacts your PSA will drop in that time surely. if you still have symptoms after a while i would personally try to experiment with an AI to find a good E2 level.

Im sure other members on here will have some good suggestions on things to try or test out

Thank you

 

[MA11]

Symptoms: no libido, low energy, brain fog, depression, anxiety, poor concentration. HCG treatment for 2 months (3000 IU - fertility), felt major improvement. One year later started HCG mono, which could've evolved into TRT+hcg over time if all worked well.

...

So you did HCG only for fertility reasons?

 

[Jdoe32]

So you did HCG only for fertility reasons?

The first time I did, yes. When I saw that my lifetime depression, lack of libido, anxiety and all that got way better, I tried to do HCG as a mono therapy for symptoms relief, with the intend of switching to TRT+low dose HCG in time, to preserve fertility as well. But I had my ass handed to me big time