Chronic systemic inflammation

[tropicaldaze1950]

What is the actual science, not opinion, regarding testosterone and the reduction of systemic inflammation? My hsCRP has remained elevated for several years. Lipid panel isn't good. PSA is rising, though no cancer and gland is small and soft. My urologist believes, too, it's due to inflammation. I know, too, that testosterone isn't the end all be all for reducing systemic inflammation. I'm cutting wheat out of my diet. From my reading, it seems to be problematic in multiple ways. I've been gaining weight for years. My ideal weight should be 135. I'm now at 160. A1C is 6.6 but glucose is within normal range. Metformin gives me diarrhea. Tried it twice. Stress I can't reduce and sleep will still require medication. That goes with bipolar illness & CPTSD. Nor can I stop being the full time caregiver for my wife, now into her 3rd year of Alzheimer's.

I'm 74 and can't play games with myself. My urologist prescribed a long course of doxycycline to see if it will lower PSA and lower systemic inflammation. That antibiotic is also used in psychiatry to manage neuroinflammation. Though I'm glad he's amenable to giving it a try, if I take it and also make dietary changes, I won't know which is making a difference, though maybe I need to approach this issue both medically and nutritionally. As for testosterone, need to reduce my dose from 100 mg 2X weekly. Helped my depression, anhedonia, anxiety and ability to handle stress, but just felt like too much for me. E2 was 99 but I didn't want to add an ai. Maybe I'm too anti ai, but reducing the dose seems more sensible as I try to find an acceptable balance. To what dose or injection frequency I don't know. I know it's a matter of trial and error, but my instinct says to go with 2X weekly or maybe EOD at whatever dose I use.

Thanks.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

I've never heard of T being either the cause or cure for inflammatory issues, and I know of no logic or evidence for it being the issue. In general you likely need to be working with a good holistic/integrative Doc. There are a lot of other things to consider:
- Follow a protocol to eliminate leaky gut. This starts with getting rid of wheat, but there are other things as well. Dr. Gundry's "Gut Check" program is a good start, as is Paul Jaminet's Perfect Health Diet.
- A chronic infection such as mold or lyme could be an issue. Ozone treatments can't hurt and could be a good place to start while you look into the issue.
- Try smaller doses of metformin. I use 250mg before a carb-heavy meal, which is rare.
- Investigate CIRS (chronic immune response syndrome).
- Investigate Silver as an anti-biotic since it tends to kill bad bacteria but leave good bacteria alone. I use the Silver Biotics brand.
- An elimination diet like carnivore can be a good temporary experiment, and going to an 8-10 hour feeding window is a must in your situation
- Investigate cortisol. If it is chronically elevated that could explain many of your issues.

 

[tropicaldaze1950]

I've never heard of T being either the cause or cure for inflammatory issues, and I know of no logic or evidence for it being the issue. In general you likely need to be working with a good holistic/integrative Doc. There are a lot of other things to consider:
- Follow a protocol to eliminate leaky gut. This starts with getting rid of wheat, but there are other things as well. Dr. Gundry's "Gut Check" program is a good start, as is Paul Jaminet's Perfect Health Diet.
- A chronic infection such as mold or lyme could be an issue. Ozone treatments can't hurt and could be a good place to start while you look into the issue.
- Try smaller doses of metformin. I use 250mg before a carb-heavy meal, which is rare.
- Investigate CIRS (chronic immune response syndrome).
- Investigate Silver as an anti-biotic since it tends to kill bad bacteria but leave good bacteria alone. I use the Silver Biotics brand.
- An elimination diet like carnivore can be a good temporary experiment, and going to an 8-10 hour feeding window is a must in your situation
- Investigate cortisol. If it is chronically elevated that could explain many of your issues.

Read some abstracts about testosterone reducing inflammation and improving insulin sensitivity. Thanks for your other suggestions.

 

[Belekas]

Sorry to hear that brother. I def remember that I've read somewhere that T somehow is inflammatoty to the gut or something like that just not remember where. If I find the source I'll post it here. Def cut out wheat and all the other crap like grains, etc and see if your symptoms improve. I have been a high-carb lifter for 2 decades but had a lot of experimentation with different ways of eating and diet manipulations during that time and more or less if theres anyone who tried something that is me. Recently I have been limiting my carbs as much as possible and using them just for energy to perform my tasks, gym, etc. More healthy oils, more meat, sometimes fish as its expensive, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, diced almonds, spicy peppers, garlics, eggs and overall more fat and protein. Also make sure to stay away from products who have added Vitamin B cocktails and any other vitamins. Like those damn super market breads from simple flour which are all full of syntetic crap like niacin, iron, etc, which IMO goes straight to the bin as that shit is notorious to wreck havoc on our systems once chronically consumed. And also took me many years to find out that even a small piece of poison, taken each and every day compounds into issues later down the line, so I have conditioned my mind to eat only what is beneficial to me and my long-term health. And during all these decades focusing on health 24/7/365 I have found out that we as humans need absolutely not a lot of food, but JUST THE RIGHT FOOD to make us feel better and get the gears rolling. So everything that is crap goes straight to the bin. Will have a cheatmeal once a weak or once a few weeks and back on track. Another thing that I do is I live in constant calorie deficit pretty much all days. I wake up I don't run to eat like back in bodybuilding days, I can go without food half day, all day, hunger doesnt bother me, and I know for a fact that we all are carb/sugar addicted so its not the real hunger, unless you are running on ketones and fat adapted then you have 0 hunger at all and can go on for days without food if you know what you're doing and how to approach. To me its human nature and common sense as back in the day we all eaten like this and not every 2 fucking hours processed garbage like todays smh. Just my 2 pence as don't want to write a book for you and derail your thread but I absolutely believe in the "less is more" approach in this situation as well as in many others fwiw.

Stay strong brother, You will figure it out!

 

[tropicaldaze1950]

Sorry to hear that brother. I def remember that I've read somewhere that T somehow is inflammatoty to the gut or something like that just not remember where. If I find the source I'll post it here. Def cut out wheat and all the other crap like grains, etc and see if your symptoms improve. I have been a high-carb lifter for 2 decades but had a lot of experimentation with different ways of eating and diet manipulations during that time and more or less if theres anyone who tried something that is me. Recently I have been limiting my carbs as much as possible and using them just for energy to perform my tasks, gym, etc. More healthy oils, more meat, sometimes fish as its expensive, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, diced almonds, spicy peppers, garlics, eggs and overall more fat and protein. Also make sure to stay away from products who have added Vitamin B cocktails and any other vitamins. Like those damn super market breads from simple flour which are all full of syntetic crap like niacin, iron, etc, which IMO goes straight to the bin as that shit is notorious to wreck havoc on our systems once chronically consumed. And also took me many years to find out that even a small piece of poison, taken each and every day compounds into issues later down the line, so I have conditioned my mind to eat only what is beneficial to me and my long-term health. And during all these decades focusing on health 24/7/365 I have found out that we as humans need absolutely not a lot of food, but JUST THE RIGHT FOOD to make us feel better and get the gears rolling. So everything that is crap goes straight to the bin. Will have a cheatmeal once a weak or once a few weeks and back on track. Another thing that I do is I live in constant calorie deficit pretty much all days. I wake up I don't run to eat like back in bodybuilding days, I can go without food half day, all day, hunger doesnt bother me, and I know for a fact that we all are carb/sugar addicted so its not the real hunger, unless you are running on ketones and fat adapted then you have 0 hunger at all and can go on for days without food if you know what you're doing and how to approach. To me its human nature and common sense as back in the day we all eaten like this and not every 2 fucking hours processed garbage like todays smh. Just my 2 pence as don't want to write a book for you and derail your thread but I absolutely believe in the "less is more" approach in this situation as well as in many others fwiw.

Stay strong brother, You will figure it out!

Thanks man. I know we've compared notes about T, diets, medications. Aside from never having been a lifter, I've been experimenting with diets since I was young. Lots of food sensitivities as well as pollen/mold allergies. Basically a mess most of the time! And from the time I was 20 until I was 42, I was gluten free, dairy free and no eggs. Still had migraines, two or three colds a year, mood swings... Diet didn't help. But from my teens until I was 50, erections galore and and a sex drive that never quit. At 50, bipolar re-emerged. Erections began to fade out, as did libido. No doctor back then ever figured it out. I had too much faith in them but I presumed my endo would work with me to figure it out. Ha! Back to the program, lol.

Went shopping and spent $143 on salad fixings, fruit, shrimp, cheese, nuts & seeds, quality olive oil which is all I ever buy. I also eat beans and been drinking kefir for the past few weeks, which I believe you were trying a few months ago. The issue I've always run into when trying to clean up my diet, along with dumping gluten, is never having enough to eat; always feeling hungry. I'd reach for a piece of bread or two or cookies or pasta for dinner. I'm not anti-wheat. A large portion of the world lives on it and thrives on it, but for me, best to let it go. And possibly dairy and eggs, but one thing at a time.

As I wrote, my urologist gave me a long term rx for doxycycline to determine if it will bring down my PSA and help in other ways, since my hsCRP is high, too. I'd prefer to improve with diet, alone. I'm thinking of paying for a PSA test every month to gauge if changing my diet is lowering it. As for testosterone, I'm on the fence about stopping it. I didn't start on it until I was 53. Had poor erections and low libido. Some, or all of that, I've come to believe, was from a deteriorating, dysfunctional marriage. But taking injections has made me stronger and more muscular. Worked up to 130 push ups, daily. And sex with my wife has been history for years. Now with her having Alzheimer's, sex would feel exploitive. Being a caregiver is exhausting and emotionally destabilizing. I know it's not something I can do for too much longer. Another reason to remain on T; to keep me resilient. My urologist is in agreement. But, bottom line is that I have to reduce the level of bodily inflammation, if not eliminate it. Modifying the diet is the easiest way, IMO. We have to stay healthy in order to live to fight another day!