Re: Hormone tests. Recommendations, please. Why no comments?

[Guest guest]

No comments from anyone?

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> > It helps to have the normal range (usually that is given on the test

> > results)

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> > J

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> __________Here below are the results again, this time with the lab's reference

ranges.

Sorry

> I left them off at first. Any thoughts, comments, ideas, recommendations are

invited and

> appreciated.

>

> DHEA-S (serum): 24 ug/dL (Adult Females 21 - 30y: 76-255)

> Progesterone, Serum: <10 (<10-135 for cycle Days 7-12; this was my Day 10)

> Testosterone, Serum (Total): 6.0 ng/dL (Adult Premenopausal Females: 10 - 55)

> Free T4, Direct, Serum: 1.37 ng/dl (0.6 - 1.7)

> TSH: 1.885 uIU/mL (0.350 - 5.500)

> Reverse T3: 267 pg/mL (90 - 350)

> Estrogens, Total: 51 pg/mL (Cycle Days 1-10: 61 - 394)

> Ferritin, Serum <1 L ng/mL (10 - 291)

> Antithyroglobulin Ab <20 IU/mL (0 - 40)

> Free T3, Serum: 2.8 pg/mL (2.3 - 4.2)

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>

[Guest guest]

>

> > DHEA-S (serum): 24 ug/dL (Adult Females 21 - 30y: 76-255)

> > Progesterone, Serum: <10 (<10-135 for cycle Days 7-12; this was

my Day 10)

> > Testosterone, Serum (Total): 6.0 ng/dL (Adult Premenopausal

Females: 10 - 55)

> > Estrogens, Total: 51 pg/mL (Cycle Days 1-10: 61 - 394)

Generally, I don't know much about interpreting serum tests for these

hormones. Saliva tests for DHEA, progesterone, estradiol, and

testosterone are better because they tell you the tissue effect of

the hormones, not just how much is free-floating in the serum.

However, with your low serum levels of DHEA, progesterone, estrogen,

and testosterone, I think they would have to be low in saliva, too.

If so, you would be a good candidate for DHEA, which can convert to

P, E1, and T.

I can't remember if you posted saliva results for cortisol before?

If your cortisol is low (which I would kind of expect with these

results), then pregnenolone might be a better choice, since it

converts to DHEA, progesterone, and cortisol. However, if you

are getting cortisol in some other form (eg, HC), you might want to

stick with DHEA.

I would start with low doses and see how you react before increasing.

That would mean maybe 5 mg DHEA to start and see how you do. For

pregenonolone, I would suggest starting in the 10-25 mg range.

The doses I've suggested are very low compared with Andy's suggested

doses in the book but you can work up as tolerated. I'm recommending

low doses because I also had very low hormones and I had strong and

distressing reactions to tiny doses of DHEA (2.5 mg) and cortisol

(1.25 mg) when I started them. It may or may not be necessary for

you, but it can't hurt to start low.

> > Ferritin, Serum <1 L ng/mL (10 - 291)

> > Antithyroglobulin Ab <20 IU/mL (0 - 40)

> > Free T4, Direct, Serum: 1.37 ng/dl (0.6 - 1.7)

> > TSH: 1.885 uIU/mL (0.350 - 5.500)

> > Reverse T3: 267 pg/mL (90 - 350)

> > Free T3, Serum: 2.8 pg/mL (2.3 - 4.2)

TSH is not very informative. I don't know enough about reverse T3

to say much about it.

Your free T4 is not bad. Free T3 is too low. Before you try anything

to address this, check your cortisol levels and treat those first.

Treating thyroid before adrenals can make your adrenals worse.

There are complex interactions among the different hormones. Simply

treating adrenals may lead to improved conversion of T4 to T3 and you

may or may not need to treat the thyroid.

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