Estradiol sensitive SUPER low - what should I do?

[lancerevo]

So i've been getting my test levels checked pretty frequently since I found out I had low T back in April of this year. Little background - 26 y/o male, 175 pounds ~13% BF, lift regularly, diet super clean and watch all my macros, not currently on TRT. Been feeling the usual symptoms of low T, low libido, constant fatigue. Got my levels checked back in April and have been consistently low:

Free test: 5.5-8.1 everytime I've checked Reference range (9-26)
Total test 410-515 (324-1026)
LH: 3.3
FSH: 3.9

All other labs have been normal, and I've checked EVERYTHING. I can provide if you would like.

Now my estradiol levels were fine also I thought - I've only been checking the normal assay. They've ranged from 14-18. But after reading more on the forums I decided to get the Sensitive Estradiol test and it came back at 4 (3-70). My test is also low, is this why my Estradiol is low? Is the low estradiol causing all my symptoms, or is it the low T? How do I fix this? Start clomid, hCG , or go straight to test?

I'm also taking multi vitamin, Vit D, and DHEA

[SEOINAGE]

Start looking into ways to bring up your free test. Also maybe ease up on your lifting routine and diet as well for a little while. Likely the low E2 can be in part to the lack of test. When they first put me on trt the dose was way too low and my E2 was much much lower and ya the combo is terrible. There's a few ways to bring up E2, not going to just go out and recommend any of them to you, but I know substances like DHEA in excess can convert.

After you have tried a few things of that nature you might consider a clomid type therapy or something similar to a PCT. If you can find a doctor that knows how to do all these things you would be even better off, but it is rare, even my doctor doesn't do this, and I feel like he has been pretty good, especially compared to my first one. You might have taken some substances throughout your lifting or other medications or who knows what in your environment that could have caused some negative impact to the HPTA, those LH and FSH values seem rather low, which makes me think if you can get the brain to want to produce more things might work their way up.

Have you checked your vit D levels yet?

Hopefully you can do a bit of research and work towards fixing this, if you need any extra help you can pm me once you get more posts, and I can point you to additional information. I've contemplated coming off trt at some point, there are a couple people I would actually consider hiring to help with it, not saying you really need that, as I think doing the research and getting started on the basics first is what you should do, but the thought of coming off of trt scares me, you don't have as much to lose in your position clomid therapy should only help when you get to possibly needing that.

[lovbyts]

I think Vit D and DHEA is a good place to start as Seoinage suggest. You need to check to see if there are any tumors or anything causing a problem.

[lancerevo]

Start looking into ways to bring up your free test. Also maybe ease up on your lifting routine and diet as well for a little while. Likely the low E2 can be in part to the lack of test. When they first put me on trt the dose was way too low and my E2 was much much lower and ya the combo is terrible. There's a few ways to bring up E2, not going to just go out and recommend any of them to you, but I know substances like DHEA in excess can convert.

After you have tried a few things of that nature you might consider a clomid type therapy or something similar to a PCT. If you can find a doctor that knows how to do all these things you would be even better off, but it is rare, even my doctor doesn't do this, and I feel like he has been pretty good, especially compared to my first one. You might have taken some substances throughout your lifting or other medications or who knows what in your environment that could have caused some negative impact to the HPTA, those LH and FSH values seem rather low, which makes me think if you can get the brain to want to produce more things might work their way up.

Have you checked your vit D levels yet?

Hopefully you can do a bit of research and work towards fixing this, if you need any extra help you can pm me once you get more posts, and I can point you to additional information. I've contemplated coming off trt at some point, there are a couple people I would actually consider hiring to help with it, not saying you really need that, as I think doing the research and getting started on the basics first is what you should do, but the thought of coming off of trt scares me, you don't have as much to lose in your position clomid therapy should only help when you get to possibly needing that.

Why do you want to come off of TRT?

Ever since I found out I had low T in April all i've been doing was reading the forums. I feel like i'm pretty versed in at least the basic-intermediate knowledge. My vitamin D was low at 28 on a reference range of 30-100 back when I checked in April, along with low DHEA at 144 on a range 134-400. Started supplementing with both, on DHEA 75mg and Vit D 10K IU a day and both values have risen.

I'm seeing an Endo in a couple weeks, I think i'm going to start with Clomid, if that doesn't work then i'll try hCG , and if that doesn't work then TRT. I think i've tried everything else I could possibly do without prescription scripts.

[lancerevo]

I think Vit D and DHEA is a good place to start as Seoinage suggest. You need to check to see if there are any tumors or anything causing a problem.

Yep been on Vit D and DHEA supplementation. Also got an MRI of my head, showed 1mm microadenoma, but my prolactin was normal at 8, so I don't think that's the cause of anything. Well if it is, I'll see what the endo has to say and maybe a clomid trial will help.

[SEOINAGE]

Why do you want to come off of TRT?

Ever since I found out I had low T in April all i've been doing was reading the forums. I feel like i'm pretty versed in at least the basic-intermediate knowledge. My vitamin D was low at 28 on a reference range of 30-100 back when I checked in April, along with low DHEA at 144 on a range 134-400. Started supplementing with both, on DHEA 75mg and Vit D 10K IU a day and both values have risen.

I'm seeing an Endo in a couple weeks, I think i'm going to start with Clomid, if that doesn't work then i'll try hCG, and if that doesn't work then TRT. I think i've tried everything else I could possibly do without prescription scripts.

It didn't give me the energy, libido boost that I expected. I don't feel that much better to be honest, other than mood is more stable and good. And if I could raise my natural levels slightly through other means, it might be worth it. I also think some of my problems are thyroid related, and that might be more of the real problem anyways. Even though I tried thyroid medication before trt, the doctor didn't do it right nor did I give it enough time. Its a big experiment.... Best libido boost I have had though is excess food....