Irritability and anxiety on Testosterone

[xqfq]

If you haven't solved your irritability / anxiety issues you may want to test your progesterone level. Progesterone can alleviate anxiety and irritability.

When a woman is going through "PMS," her progesterone levels are dropping and estrogen is beginning to dominate.

A similar effect is seen during menopause, where progesterone drops more sharply than estrogen:

TRT may decrease progesterone levels.

On TRT, even with E2 "in range," I believe without adequate progesterone a guy could experience anxiety and irritability.

 

[fifty]

I’m good. Too many variables on trt.

I feel like a normal person again since being off.

 

[sh1973]

Right there with you fifty. After nearly a decade I’m ready to call it quits. It’s like a blind dog chasing its tail trying to figure out what works. Modern day snake oil plain and simple.

 

[Mr S]

If you haven't solved your irritability / anxiety issues you may want to test your progesterone level. Progesterone can alleviate anxiety and irritability.

When a woman is going through "PMS," her progesterone levels are dropping and estrogen is beginning to dominate.

View attachment 8104

A similar effect is seen during menopause, where progesterone drops more sharply than estrogen:

View attachment 8105

TRT may decrease progesterone levels.

On TRT, even with E2 "in range," I believe without adequate progesterone a guy could experience anxiety and irritability.

Important information to keep in mind since we are all different. Thank you for posting this.

 

[Gman86]

Labs from the morning after the last day of 4wks of 12.5mg clomid per day:

Lh 15.6 [1.7-8.6]
Shbg 68.2 [16.5-55.9]
T 970 [264-916]
FT 13.3 [8.7-25.1]
E2 sensitive 52.5 [8-35]
Dht 67 [30-85]

Direct Free T is a joke. Peace

Did the Clomid raise your SHBG that high, or was it always elevated?

 

[fifty]

Historically it was in the 60s and 70s pre trt.

 

[Nomad]

read through the entire post. It was suggested for you to address your DHEA multiple times. Did you ever try it? As someone who was on the same test, hcg, and ai as you when you were bi-weekly and suffers from PTSD I can tell you it made a HUGE difference with my irritability and anxiety. 25mg DHEA at bedtime puts me at the top end of the range.

 

[Novaman]

I tried DHEA and it was horrible for me- absolutely horrible. I could barely make it through the following day.

 

[fifty]

Dhea did not help. I thought it would. Originally I just wanted guidance on trying topical dhea or topical pregnenolone but they put me on trt instead.

 

[fifty]

I had a ordered this test last year and just got around to doing it. Do I need to be concerned about my results below or is this another, what I like to call "magic 8 ball test"?

Adrenal Stress Profile | Saliva Test - Life Extension

The Adrenal Stress Profile includes tests for saliva levels of the antibody secretory IgA (SIgA), the hormone DHEA and four measurements of cortisol.

www.lifeextension.com

 

[Sean Mosher]

I think your situation was a lot like mine.
Seems most guys have cortisol that's too high from stress or whatever.
I was always on the low end, so getting adrenals working properly before getting thyroid dialed in was 10x more trickier for me than most.
I hope you're working with a top quality doc.

 

[fifty]

I am working with myself right now. Cortisol test was my idea having been a patient of Dr Crisler long ago. Was on trt for a year recently but retired from it due to too many issues for too little benefit.

 

[Gman86]

I think your situation was a lot like mine.
Seems most guys have cortisol that's too high from stress or whatever.
I was always on the low end, so getting adrenals working properly before getting thyroid dialed in was 10x more trickier for me than most.
I hope you're working with a top quality doc.

How did u get ur adrenals working and get ur cortisol up? I suspect my cortisol is on the low side

 

[Sean Mosher]

Man, it was a long process to be honest.
Mine apparently were in bad shape.
Followed some of the advice on the stop the thyroid madness website, used adrenal extract for awhile and definitely DHEA.
Had to lower the iodine dose, basically no heavy lifting in the gym, light dumbbell work and light cardio.
It sucked lol!
And even though you're tired, have to limit the caffeine too.
In the beginning it felt honestly like your'e not even on TRT.
Thyroid meds, from what I understand and experienced, can make the problem worse, so I had to back those down as well.
It was complicated to say the least.
Then as I started to feel better, slowly add back in the thyroid meds and iodine.
Very slowly though.

 

[Gman86]

Man, it was a long process to be honest.
Mine apparently were in bad shape.
Followed some of the advice on the stop the thyroid madness website, used adrenal extract for awhile and definitely DHEA.
Had to lower the iodine dose, basically no heavy lifting in the gym, light dumbbell work and light cardio.
It sucked lol!
And even though you're tired, have to limit the caffeine too.
In the beginning it felt honestly like your'e not even on TRT.
Thyroid meds, from what I understand and experienced, can make the problem worse, so I had to back those down as well.
It was complicated to say the least.
Then as I started to feel better, slowly add back in the thyroid meds and iodine.
Very slowly though.

How long did it take until u felt better enough to add the thyroid meds back in?

 

[Sean Mosher]

How long did it take until u felt better enough to add the thyroid meds back in?

I think around 6 weeks or so I started slowly adding back in the iodine and thyroid NDT.
I get much better absorption I've noticed when I supplement the NDT with iodine.
Adrenals weren't by any means 100% (I could tell by feel) but slowly brought everything back up.

I can totally see, looking back, why someone whose adrenals and/or thyroid are out of whack could perceive zero benefit from TRT.
Been there.
The symptoms were pretty much the same.......muscle weakness and lack of endurance in the gym, fatigue, loss of libido, etc....

 

[fifty]

Man, it was a long process to be honest.
Mine apparently were in bad shape.
Followed some of the advice on the stop the thyroid madness website, used adrenal extract for awhile and definitely DHEA.
Had to lower the iodine dose, basically no heavy lifting in the gym, light dumbbell work and light cardio.
It sucked lol!
And even though you're tired, have to limit the caffeine too.
In the beginning it felt honestly like your'e not even on TRT.
Thyroid meds, from what I understand and experienced, can make the problem worse, so I had to back those down as well.
It was complicated to say the least.
Then as I started to feel better, slowly add back in the thyroid meds and iodine.
Very slowly though.

Did you ever mess with adrenal cortex supplements or hydrocortisone? I looked into adrenal cortex supplement (Thorne Research adrenal complex) but according to the latest STTM info you should take 4 caps AM, then 3 at noon, then 2 at dinner, then 1 at bedtime. The STTM book also mentions that hydrocortisone can significantly lower testosterone which may require TRT to balance out.

It seems like a rabbit hole I don't want to go down... thoughts?

 

[Sean Mosher]

I've used both with success in the past.
I don't think you'll want to be on either long term, but to get the adrenals functioning properly so you can get back to optimizing thyroid and testosterone.

With the adrenal cortex, I didn't take quite that many but that dosing makes sense based on low cortisol levels IMO.

Have personally never heard of the correlation between hydrocortisone and low T, but I was on TRT at the time anyways.

 

[fifty]

Labs 10 months after cessation of TRT in case anyone cares.

T 781 [264-916]
FT 8.9 [6.8-21.5]
SHBG 66.5 [16.5-55.9]
E2 SENSITIVE 23.7 [8-35]
DHT 60 [30-85]
IGF-1 117 [83-233]
LH 7.1 [1.7-8.6]
TSH 2.080 [0.450-4.500]
Hematocrit 47.2 [37.5-51.0]

Last hematocrit was 51.4 in January 2020. My fix for this was nasal strips put very low on my nose at night and 120+ oz of water per day. I had tried $1000 CPAP but 9cent nasal strips are better.

 

[Gman86]

Labs 10 months after cessation of TRT in case anyone cares.

T 781 [264-916]
FT 8.9 [6.8-21.5]
SHBG 66.5 [16.5-55.9]
E2 SENSITIVE 23.7 [8-35]
DHT 60 [30-85]
IGF-1 117 [83-233]
LH 7.1 [1.7-8.6]
TSH 2.080 [0.450-4.500]
Hematocrit 47.2 [37.5-51.0]

Last hematocrit was 51.4 in January 2020. My fix for this was nasal strips put very low on my nose at night. I had tried $1000 CPAP but 9cent nasal strips are better.

How u feelin off TRT with these numbers? Love the nasal strip hack lol