26 years old low lh and fsh. Clomid restart?

[Chetsteadman]

Hi. I am 26 years old. Long story short. When i was 22 i ran a month long cycle of a prohormone that seemingly wreaked havoc on my hpta. After the cycle I did no form of pct and had a severe estrogen rebound. Minor gyno/ sore joints low libido etc. This lasted months. Then the gyno sort of stopped where it was and i felt slightly better and was able to have sex. So i went on with my life but i never felt quite right. I also never did any other cycle of aas of any kind since.

So here i am 4 years later still feeling slight symptoms of low testosterone. Softer erections and low energy at times etc. I went to my doc for a physical and convinced him to test my t levels. All we did was free test which came back as 350 ng/dl. He assured me there was no problem and i was normal but after i did some research i realized these levels are not ok for a 26 year old. So i got more bw done on my own about a month later.

Results are:

Fsh - 2.1 (1.6-8.0 mIU/mL)
Lh - 3.1. (1.5-9.3 mIU/mL)
Total test - 757 (250-1100ng/dl)
E2 - 25

I didn't get free test checked this time for some reason.

So based on these results does anyone have any suggestions? I am considering doing my own clomid restart after extensive research on clomid. Maybe 25mg ed for a couple months and see where that takes me. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[kelkel]

Your total T level is just fine. If your current FT level is good then the problem lies elsewhere.
Yes, your LH/FSH numbers are not high but the end result is good, at least regarding total T. As long as your shbg level is not ridiculously high your FT should be fine.
Was that a sensitive estrogen assay?

[Chetsteadman]

No that was not a sensitive estrogen assay. The estradiol was 25 < OR = 39 pg/mL by the way. I forgot to include the range earlier. My free test was 350ng/dl about a month earlier. This was on the lower side of the range that started at 250ng/dl.

Based on this would you suggest i go for more bw?

What are your thoughts on taking clomid to increase my lh/fsh?

[Chetsteadman]

Thank you for your input btw.

[kelkel]

No that was not a sensitive estrogen assay. The estradiol was 25 < OR = 39 pg/mL by the way. I forgot to include the range earlier. My free test was 350ng/dl about a month earlier. This was on the lower side of the range that started at 250ng/dl.

Based on this would you suggest i go for more bw?

What are your thoughts on taking clomid to increase my lh/fsh?

Ok, know that unless it's a sensitive assay it will not be accurate for men. Meaning it will read lower on a sens assay as opposed to standard estradiol which is geared for women and not sensitive enough for males. Taking that into consideration I'd say your E2 is low and with that can come erectile issues.

It's a crap shoot taking clomid. Yes, it will raise your output but when off you will probably go back to your current level. My initial thought is to obtain full blood work as suggested in the Finding A Doc Sticky at the top of this forum. Many things can suppress LH levels such as hypothyroidism, cortisol, prolactin, pathologies, trauma, etc. It's really the best place to start imho. Then you can make an educated decision and move forward.

[Chetsteadman]

Ok, know that unless it's a sensitive assay it will not be accurate for men. Meaning it will read lower on a sens assay as opposed to standard estradiol which is geared for women and not sensitive enough for males. Taking that into consideration I'd say your E2 is low and with that can come erectile issues.

It's a crap shoot taking clomid. Yes, it will raise your output but when off you will probably go back to your current level. My initial thought is to obtain full blood work as suggested in the Finding A Doc Sticky at the top of this forum. Many things can suppress LH levels such as hypothyroidism, cortisol, prolactin, pathologies, trauma, etc. It's really the best place to start imho. Then you can make an educated decision and move forward.

Ok I plan on getting new bw done this weekend. I will have total test, free test, fsh, lh, shbg, an ultra sensitive estrogen assay and maybe prolactin checked.

Assuming my e2 is low, do you have any other suggestions based on the current information? Do you think that the low lh and fsh is a result of my low e2 or vice versa? Sorry about the questions.

[kelkel]

Don't forget cortisol and a full thyroid panel to include TSH, FT3, FT4, RT3 and antibodies.
Some people, especially very lean people can just run low when it comes to estrogen. More Test in most cases equals more estrogen. Less test, less estrogen is about as simple as I can put it. Other factors come into play like the previous lean comment, but that about sums it up.

[Chetsteadman]

I am pretty lean. I am about 5'8", 160. Work out hard at least 3 days a week and maintain a decent diet. This lean factor is interesting. I have never heard of this before. So I could essentially be perfectly healthy as far as my bw goes with the exception of low e2 as a result of being lean? Then I could also suffer from symptoms of e2, most importantly ed? If this were the case would there be any way to combat this?

Since I am doing this bw on my own(paying out of pocket) with labsmd, the cost for all of this is going to be over $300. There is also no test that gives me everything I need so it seems I am going to have to customize an already expensive test. Do you know of any other websites to use for bw that may be cheaper or am I just going to have to bite the bullet on this one?

[kelkel]

The aromatase enzyme is what converts T to E. One of the main places it's found is in the skin, especially fat so less fat equals less T to E conversion. Initial way to combat it in your case would be to see if anything is suppressing your Lh production as increasing it would then increase T and subsequently E. My E used to run low at around 16 on a sensitive assay scale of 3-70. I felt decent but feel much better around 30.

Check out discounted labs .com and private md labs .com. The former has the best sens assay pricing I've found so far.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11511861