Help! 24 years old, High Prolactin, Low Testosterone!

[jug_head_man]

Hello, I am in need of insight. I am currently 24 years old and did my first cycle 3 years ago when I was 21. I took all the necessary precautions and had a great base from powerlifting. I hit a final weight gain of 215 total lbs at 5'10''. Here was my cycle:

12 week cycle
Week1: 500mg test E, 40mg Dbol
Week2: 500mg test E, 40mg Dbol
Week3: 500mg test E, 40mg Dbol
Week4: 500mg test E, 40mg Dbol
Week5-12: 500mg test E
Week15-18: Clomid - 100/50/50/50. nolva - 40/20/20/20
Had L-dex on hand

3 years passed and I had no issues, I was/ am a professional fitness model. I traveled Europe for 6 months and came back and was a vegetarian for 1 year. I exercise 4 times a week, throw in cardio, have a near perfect diet and probably 9-11% bf year round. I am currently 180lbs and fairly shredded. I started a finance position 10 months ago and absolutely hate it. I became depressed and lifting became my life. 4-5 months ago I started feeling extremely tired, had no sexual desire, and overall fatigued. At the time I was on creatine because I have been all natural for years after my cycle use. I decided to get some lab work done and found out my testosterone was that of a 80 year old and prolactin levels of a woman in her 1st trimester. I was/ am crushed at this point and dont know what to do. I have been seeing an endo and have another appointment next week. I dont want to go on permanent hormone repla***ent therapy. I have slightly puffy nipples (Or so I think, it could be in my head but I pay extremely close attention to my body, They feel sensitive). I usually have a cheat meal on weekends and drink occasionally ( Heavy drinking past 2 weekends because of my birthday). If I could get any advice on my next steps I would very grateful

I am still very strong although I notice my fatigue at the gym, I am maintaining my muscle mass/ weight. I have sex regularly with my gf but can only last about twice back to back in one night. It would be a test for me to try 3x in one night. I used to finish 4-5 in one night...

I sleep at least 7 hours a night and have had brain fog ever since this diagnoses

Here are blood test results thusfar:

May 17 (8:10 am)
testosterone, Free 6.4
Standard Range 5.0 - 40.0pg/mL
testosterone, Total 357.0
Standard Range 332 - 896ng/dL

Prolactin 16.0ng/mL Prolactin
Reference Ranges are as follows:
Male: 3.7-17.9 ng/mL

Insulin -Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF1) 267
ARUP Standard Range 116 - 358ng/mL

Cortisol 14.4ug/dL
Cortisol Reference Range:
Before 10am: 4.46-22.7
After 5pm: 1.7-14.1

April 12 (8 am)

testosterone, Free 10.4
Standard Range 5.0 - 40.0pg/mL
testosterone, Total 425.0
Standard Range 332 - 896ng/dL

Luteinizing Hormone (LH)3.4mIU/mL LH
Reference Ranges are as follows:
Female Ovulating:
Follicular phase: 2.58-12.1 mIU/mL
Peak : 27.3-96.9 mIU/mL
Luteal phase : 0.833-15.5 mIU/mL
Postmenopausal : 13.1-86.5 mIU/mL

Prolactin 22.9ng/mL Prolactin
Reference Ranges are as follows:
Male: 3.7-17.9 ng/mL
Normal Female(non-pregnant): 3.0-18.6 ng/mL

Free Thyroxine (FT4)1.20
Standard Range 0.78 - 2.19ng/dL

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE)26
Standard Range 4 - 60U/L

Ferritin 51.7
Standard Range 17.9 - 464.0ng/mL

Estradiol 13.4pg/mL Estradiol
Reference Ranges are as follows:
Male: 5.37-65.9 pg/mL
Female Ovulating:
Follicular phase: 26.6-161 pg/mL
Peak : 187-382 pg/mL
Luteal phase : 32.7-201 pg/mL
Postmenopausal : 5.37-38.4 pg/mL

April 6 (9 am)

Metabolic Plan
Sodium 138 Standard Range 136 - 145 mmol/L
Potassium 3.9 Standard Range 3.6 - 5.0 mmol/L
Chloride 100 Standard Range 98 - 107 mmol/L
Carbon Dioxide Standard Range 29H22 - 28 mmol/L
BUN 21 Standard Range 6 - 20 mg/dL
Creatinine 1.14 Standard Range 0.70 - 1.30 mg/dL
Glucose77 Standard Range 74 - 100 mg/dL
Calcium9.5 Standard Range 8.6 - 10.3 mg/dL
Total Protein7.5 Standard Range 6.0 - 8.3 gm/dL
Albumin4.8 Standard Range 3.5 - 5.0 gm/dL
SGPT/ALT 31 Standard Range 10 - 35 U/L
SGOT/AST37 Standard Range 14 - 50 U/L
Alkaline Phosphatase48 L Standard Range 53 - 128 U/L
Total Bilirubin0.8 Standard Range 0.3 - 1.2 mg/dL
Fasting?12
Est GFR not Afr-Am>60 >=60 mL/min

testosterone 284 Standard Range 241 - 827 ng/dL

TSH2.487 Standard Range 0.300 - 4.000 mU/l

Vit D3 25-Hydroxy37 ng/mL
Vit D2 25-Hydroxy<1 ng/mL
Vit D Total 25-Hydroxy37 32 - 100 ng/m
0-14 ng/mL = Severely deficient
15-31 ng/mL = Mildly deficient
32-100 ng/mL = Optimal
>100 ng/mL = Consider toxicity

Lipid Profile
Cholesterol126 Standard Range 108 - 199 mg/dL
Triglyceride46 Standard Range 26 - 149 mg/dL
HDL45 Standard Range 40 - 125 mg/dL
Chol/HDL Ratio2.8 Standard Range 0.0 - 5.0
LDL72 Standard Range 0 - 99 mg/dL

Vitamin B-12 - 756 Standard Range 180 - 914 pg/mL

[Vettester]

One of a couple things ... Your PCT never got everything fully fired back up again, or something has taken place since then that is causing your HPTA not to function completely normal. Although your LH isn't in the tank, it is slightly on the suppressed side, which is a sign of being diagnosed as secondary.

Factoring your prolactin into this equation, I highly encourage that you get your medical team to perform an MRI in the pituitary region. Again, this might very well be just the residual leftover from your cycle that never got dealt with effectively, but it could also be some other condition that developed post cycle. Rule it out to make sure.

If the MRI checks out, your best bet is to see if your doctor can help you with a new protocol that might get your HPTA working good again. I would have figured there were some Nor 19 compounds in the mix with those prolactin numbers ... Regardless, talk to your doctor about getting on a good dopamine agonist regiment, like cabergoline, which will get the prolactin to a respectable number. If they agree, talk to us about the protocol so that we can compare notes with you. Too much is not a good thing ...

IMO, that 13.4 score on your E2 is pretty low. Would presume you've been taking a AI to get it down to that score? If so, allow your estrogen to rebound a bit, at least get into the 20's. Some of your complaints with the fog, fatigue, and sexual sides can easily be compounded with the low E2 on top of the high prolactin (not a good stack).

Lipids look great! Don't worry about that BUN being a point out ... Just keep yourself hydrated, drink a little cranberry juice once in awhile for the kidneys. Your free test went down a bit from the labs in April (2.44% to 1.79%), indicating a little increase in your SHBG (probably currently at/around 36nmol/l. Were you taking any thyroid supplements? Usually good IGF-1 numbers (like yours) and good thyroid values usually help lower SHBG, just kind of odd it went up a bit from the last round. Either way, that can be managed a bit too once you get some of these other variables decided on.

See if you can approach your doctor with a few of these thoughts, along with some of the other thoughts that other members will chime in at some point.

Good luck with all of it!

[GFA]

As vette said, google prolactinoma and get an MRI done.

If MRI comes back ok then you might want to check out an HTPA restart. A recent thread someone did HCG + Nolvadex for several cycles and was able to successfully restart his test production.

[ecdysone]

I'm with GFA on this: try a restart or at least HCG and see what happens after a month or so.

[kelkel]

And start supplementing with Vit D. TSH appears slightly elevated also. More modern range is 0.3 - 3.0.

[jug_head_man]

One of a couple things ... Your PCT never got everything fully fired back up again, or something has taken place since then that is causing your HPTA not to function completely normal. Although your LH isn't in the tank, it is slightly on the suppressed side, which is a sign of being diagnosed as secondary.

Factoring your prolactin into this equation, I highly encourage that you get your medical team to perform an MRI in the pituitary region. Again, this might very well be just the residual leftover from your cycle that never got dealt with effectively, but it could also be some other condition that developed post cycle. Rule it out to make sure.

If the MRI checks out, your best bet is to see if your doctor can help you with a new protocol that might get your HPTA working good again. I would have figured there were some Nor 19 compounds in the mix with those prolactin numbers ... Regardless, talk to your doctor about getting on a good dopamine agonist regiment, like cabergoline, which will get the prolactin to a respectable number. If they agree, talk to us about the protocol so that we can compare notes with you. Too much is not a good thing ...

IMO, that 13.4 score on your E2 is pretty low. Would presume you've been taking a AI to get it down to that score? If so, allow your estrogen to rebound a bit, at least get into the 20's. Some of your complaints with the fog, fatigue, and sexual sides can easily be compounded with the low E2 on top of the high prolactin (not a good stack).

Lipids look great! Don't worry about that BUN being a point out ... Just keep yourself hydrated, drink a little cranberry juice once in awhile for the kidneys. Your free test went down a bit from the labs in April (2.44% to 1.79%), indicating a little increase in your SHBG (probably currently at/around 36nmol/l. Were you taking any thyroid supplements? Usually good IGF-1 numbers (like yours) and good thyroid values usually help lower SHBG, just kind of odd it went up a bit from the last round. Either way, that can be managed a bit too once you get some of these other variables decided on.

See if you can approach your doctor with a few of these thoughts, along with some of the other thoughts that other members will chime in at some point.

Good luck with all of it!

I opted out of getting an mri done just because my levels werent that skewed for a tumor to be present. Is this a valid assessment? The major thing I worry abotu is I am traveling to China in September for 6 months and I dont want to have to rely on a prescription the entire time im abroad. Im literally taking no supplements rightnow. I take a multivitamin, fish oil, vit d, and b complex. I was a vegetarian for the past year so I havent been on ANYTHING for quite a while.

What would keep my estrogen so low? Im not taking anything to do so.

Why am I getting slightly puffy nipples? Theyre almost sideways and slightly puffy? Is this prolactin?

Im going to talk to my endo this Thursday about dostinex. Is there anything else I should approach him about?

Thank you for the responses, this is helping so much!

[lovbyts]

Try eating a good steak once in a while and you may get back to normal. Man was made to eat meat. We were actually made to eat raw meat at one time, thats what the appendix is/was for.

[kelkel]

"You opted out of the MRI as your levels aren't that skewed" Are you judging this on one test or a track record? I have a pituitary tumor and they do not just grow overnight. They can have diverse effects that compound over time. Think "slow squeeze" which is what dropped me down to a 59 T level and sinking when I caught it.

Yes, prolactin can have those sides. Talk to your doc about caber and read this: http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...e-Caber-Thread. Your E is probably low due to your T being low. Some people just inherentely run low also. I'm one of them. And you can still have sensitive nips at low E levels.

[Vettester]

Try eating a good steak once in a while and you may get back to normal. Man was made to eat meat. We were actually made to eat raw meat at one time, thats what the appendix is/was for.

Who needs all these compounds when we have Sizzler in the neighborhood?

[Brohim]

Try eating a good steak once in a while and you may get back to normal. Man was made to eat meat. We were actually made to eat raw meat at one time, thats what the appendix is/was for.

Testosterone is made from Cholesterol. So not eating meat could have lowered your Test levels considerably. Add in a juicy steak and some eggs to your meals stat! See if that helps.

And yes high prolactin will cause gyno. You need some dosinex.

[kelkel]

Who needs all these compounds when we have Sizzler in the neighborhood?

You got a Sizzler! Damn you.....

[Vettester]

Got a Black Angus too if you really want to get anabolic lol.

[Honkey_Kong]

Got a Black Angus too if you really want to get anabolic lol.

I just don't like those steakhouses. A steak doesn't taste right if it's not cooked on a charcoal grill with KC Masterpiece rub on it. Just the thought of a ribeye with that steak rub on it makes my mouth water.

[jug_head_man]

Went to the endo on Thursday. Basically he said I was a unique patient because I do my research and hes allowing me to go any direction I d like to go. I convinced him to get me on a 2 month Rx of .5 of dostinex 2x a week. I started my first dose on Thursday evening with no effects yet. He wants to try a trial period of steroids for a month? I was confused am scared I will become dependent on this? Is this the wrong direction to take? I will be getting blood work at the end of the month and have another app mid july to go over prolactin and test levels. He was convinced my levels are low to normal and possibly getting counseling and treating my depression could fix my issues? Again, he is allowing me to take any direction Id like to go. Thoughts guys?

[jug_head_man]

FYI im not on the trial period of steroids yet, wanted to get your thoughts on this. He said if I do a month long trial period my levels will bounce back to what im at now when im off.

[jug_head_man]

bump

[kelkel]

Doc sounds good. Some can't handle the "educated" patient. Re your caber I'd drop to .25 x2 per week as that should be sufficient for you. If not you can titrate up based on BW. I do not agree with a trial period of TRT. That will just shut down your HPTA again and require more pct. Work toward boosting your production via Nolva/clomid (serms) or HCG first.

[jug_head_man]

Alright, I will drop that to .25 2x per week. Do you recommend a SERMS or HCG Blast for recovery? Both?

[kelkel]

You may try a clomid/nolva type pct or HCG /nolva combo IMO. Protocols can vary.