My Protocol & New Labs

[Quester]

Congratulations on mastering the SHBG and on the patience and prudence of method by which you did it and got your whole regimen dialed-in.

IS there a connection between low SHBG and high levels of DHT? I was thinking of adding Anavar, to lower SHBG, but I don't want my DHT to get to high.

[Youthful55guy]

Congratulations on mastering the SHBG and on the patience and prudence of method by which you did it and got your whole regimen dialed-in.

IS there a connection between low SHBG and high levels of DHT? I was thinking of adding Anavar, to lower SHBG, but I don't want my DHT to get to high.

That is something I am currently investigating. Not whether my use of Winstrol or Anavar increase my DHT, but whether there is cross-reactivity in the labs. That is, picking it up as DHT.

I monitored my DHT in the early years of my protocol before I used any AAS to control SHBG and my DHT was on the high side, but not out of range. I would have suspected that driving down SHBG would have reduced DHT (as more gets metabolized), but that's not the case. I have been consistently out of range.

Ever increasing doses of Saw palmetto and Pygeum have helped bring it down slightly, but not within range and it's costing me a small fortune. I just ordered some finasteride, I'm going to start out at a very small dose (0.5mg/day) and go from there. Once I nail down a dose and decide if I'm going to continue, I'll get a doc to prescribe it for me. She's offered several times, but I've always turned it down, so I'm sure getting a script won't be a problem.

[Youthful55guy]

That is something I am currently investigating. Not whether my use of Winstrol or Anavar increase my DHT, but whether there is cross-reactivity in the labs. That is, picking it up as DHT.

I monitored my DHT in the early years of my protocol before I used any AAS to control SHBG and my DHT was on the high side, but not out of range. I would have suspected that driving down SHBG would have reduced DHT (as more gets metabolized), but that's not the case. I have been consistently out of range.

Ever increasing doses of Saw palmetto and Pygeum have helped bring it down slightly, but not within range and it's costing me a small fortune. I just ordered some finasteride, I'm going to start out at a very small dose (0.5mg/day) and go from there. Once I nail down a dose and decide if I'm going to continue, I'll get a doc to prescribe it for me. She's offered several times, but I've always turned it down, so I'm sure getting a script won't be a problem.

UPDATE: I just remembered that the reason I've been turning down the Finasteride prescription from my doc is not only the fear of the possibility of post-finasteride syndrome (if it even exists), but also because it's on the forbidden drug list for blood donations. This throws a wrench into my plans, since I donate regularly every 12-14 weeks to keep my hemoglobin in a good range.

I did a little research and found that studies in pregnant rats given oral doses of finasteride (3/100 the recommended human dose) showed abnormalities in the reproductive organs of their male offspring. I'd hate to be responsible for screwing up a kids genitals by taking the drug and donating.

The withdrawal period for donation is 1 month, so it does not make a lot of sense to be going on the drug for 8 weeks and off for 4 weeks in order to donate blood. The goal of TRT are to achieve steady hormone levels and it seems to me that going on and off of finasteride would impact that.

So, scratch the idea. The finasteride I ordered didn't cost that much, so I'll just shove it into the back of my drug cabinet, never to be used.