Hi everyone,
My name is Cap, and Im a 37yo from Minneapolis area. Im a Registered Nurse with a private group of orthopaedic spine surgeons, been working in ortho and critical care for the last 10years. Im also a very active person, kettlebell instructor and very much into movement and strength training. Im currently using Wendler's 5-3-1 program with kettlebells for a lot of my accessory exercises. I eat pretty clean and follow a gluten and dairy free diet for the last 4 years. Earlier this year I began to just not feel right. I felt sluggish all the time, especially in the morning, my sleep was terrible, i would have random bouts of insomnia that would sometimes last all night. I also had noticed a much lower sex drive than I had in the last couple of years. In talking with a friend and co-worker at the gym he recommended getting my hormones tested and led me to a doctor that he has been to at Body Logic MD.
So back in April this year I had a pretty comprehensive lab panel done. My cortisol was essentially flat all day long. My total test was 434, free 74.2. Estradiol was 17. Everything else was in normal range that was tested (CBC, LH, DHEA, Prolactin, PSA, Albumin, HgbA1C, VitD, TSH, T4 and T3 free, cholesterol, CRP and a basic chem panel.
At that time my doctor and I decided I would take hydrocortisone 5mg 2 tabs am and 1 in mid day for adrenal fatigue. We also started HcG 500iu sublingual 1 tab 3x week to see if it would raise my testosterone.
It's now been 7 months later. I feel a little better, more energy now but still not totally normal. I think both meds are working judging by how I feel. My sex drive is somewhat better, Im making some better gains in the gym but not what i think i should be making based on how Im working out and eating. I had my follow up appt with my doc.
These are my labs in December this month. Testosterone is down to 363, with free at 64.9. estradiol is down to 12. My cortisol now is on the low end of normal (actually follows the normal curve now instead of being flat) and seems to have rebounded nicely with the steroid.
My doc now said I should stay on the hydrocortisone through the holiday season and then start to ween off of it and see how i feel. If i need to stay on it i'll stay on it longer.
He gave me a few options with the testosterone. 1) do nothing, keep taking the Hcg as is. 2) increase Hcg to 750iu every other day 3)clomid 4)sub-q testosterone 0.25ml 2x a week and go back to old dose of Hcg 500iu 3x week.
I started with increasing the Hcg and have now been doing that for a week. Im leaning towards the testosterone. But here is the kicker: My wife and I are trying to have a baby. She apparently isn't ovulating and is going to start on clomid in Jan so we can hopefully conceive. I don't want to mess with my sperm count or do anything that would mess up us trying to have a baby. Im thinking I'll keep as is on the Hcg and then once we are pregnant start with the testosterone.
Nelson I just ordered your book and look forward to reading it and learning more about this.
Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated
thanks! Cap
My name is Cap, and Im a 37yo from Minneapolis area. Im a Registered Nurse with a private group of orthopaedic spine surgeons, been working in ortho and critical care for the last 10years. Im also a very active person, kettlebell instructor and very much into movement and strength training. Im currently using Wendler's 5-3-1 program with kettlebells for a lot of my accessory exercises. I eat pretty clean and follow a gluten and dairy free diet for the last 4 years. Earlier this year I began to just not feel right. I felt sluggish all the time, especially in the morning, my sleep was terrible, i would have random bouts of insomnia that would sometimes last all night. I also had noticed a much lower sex drive than I had in the last couple of years. In talking with a friend and co-worker at the gym he recommended getting my hormones tested and led me to a doctor that he has been to at Body Logic MD.
So back in April this year I had a pretty comprehensive lab panel done. My cortisol was essentially flat all day long. My total test was 434, free 74.2. Estradiol was 17. Everything else was in normal range that was tested (CBC, LH, DHEA, Prolactin, PSA, Albumin, HgbA1C, VitD, TSH, T4 and T3 free, cholesterol, CRP and a basic chem panel.
At that time my doctor and I decided I would take hydrocortisone 5mg 2 tabs am and 1 in mid day for adrenal fatigue. We also started HcG 500iu sublingual 1 tab 3x week to see if it would raise my testosterone.
It's now been 7 months later. I feel a little better, more energy now but still not totally normal. I think both meds are working judging by how I feel. My sex drive is somewhat better, Im making some better gains in the gym but not what i think i should be making based on how Im working out and eating. I had my follow up appt with my doc.
These are my labs in December this month. Testosterone is down to 363, with free at 64.9. estradiol is down to 12. My cortisol now is on the low end of normal (actually follows the normal curve now instead of being flat) and seems to have rebounded nicely with the steroid.
My doc now said I should stay on the hydrocortisone through the holiday season and then start to ween off of it and see how i feel. If i need to stay on it i'll stay on it longer.
He gave me a few options with the testosterone. 1) do nothing, keep taking the Hcg as is. 2) increase Hcg to 750iu every other day 3)clomid 4)sub-q testosterone 0.25ml 2x a week and go back to old dose of Hcg 500iu 3x week.
I started with increasing the Hcg and have now been doing that for a week. Im leaning towards the testosterone. But here is the kicker: My wife and I are trying to have a baby. She apparently isn't ovulating and is going to start on clomid in Jan so we can hopefully conceive. I don't want to mess with my sperm count or do anything that would mess up us trying to have a baby. Im thinking I'll keep as is on the Hcg and then once we are pregnant start with the testosterone.
Nelson I just ordered your book and look forward to reading it and learning more about this.
Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated
thanks! Cap
