You can learn a lot from anabolic steroid users, even if you’re not one yourself. Today Faithful Reader, I’m going to share what I’ve learned about estrogen and why as men, we should care about it. As I’ve mentioned recently in my ongoing saga of all things testosterone, our bodies maintain a ratio of testosterone (T) to estrogen (E), and do this by converting some of the T we produce into E via the aromatase enzyme. Another enzyme converts some T to dihyrdotestosterone (DHT), but we’ll save that for another day. This T/E balance is very important for proper hormonal function. Too much E, and men will get fat, grow breast tissue, have erectile dysfunction and have increased risk of depression. Too little E, and men will lose all interest in sex, have bone loss and increased risk of osteoporosis.
With men that have high levels of E and are symptomatic, an estrogen blocker or aromatase inhibitor is sometimes used to keep levels in check. Steroid users who inject T and end up with supra-physiological levels of T, will often get a complimentary rise in E through the aromatization process, so they risk symptoms of high E if they don’t keep it under control. Use of an aromatase inhibitor will help them, but what if one uses an aromatase inhibitor when their E levels are normal? They run the risk of driving E into the low range and developing those symptoms.
Let’s revisit my hormonal improvement plan briefly before we continue:
- Increase TT levels.
- Decrease SHBG levels, thereby increase Free T levels.
How did I go about this? Well, first off was dietary changes; increasing dietary fat, especially saturated fat, and lowering fiber intake. Next up were the supplements, which included DHEA and a bunch of aromatase inhibitors. The rationale was as follows:
- DHEA is a T precursor. Having more in the bloodstream should provide my body with the building blocks to make more T.
- Blocking the conversion of T to E with aromatase inhibitors would knock the T/E ratio out of whack, which would cause my body to produce more T to convert to E and restore the normal balance.
Did any of this work? Well, based on my results, yes and no. DHEA supplementation worked extremely well, in boosting DHEA levels. My DHEA went from a high normal range of 263 to a supra-physiological level of 483. Success no? Not exactly. The goal was to provide the building blocks for more T. If my body was using all this extra DHEA to build T, I wouldn’t have all this DHEA still floating around in my bloodstream.
My T levels did increase, from a borderline hypo-gonadal 364 to a low normal 476, but I don’t think the DHEA had anything to do with it. I wish I had my E levels from my first test, but I didn’t get them in that panel. But I did for my second test, and they were 17 pg/ml, which is low normal. All good right? Not exactly. The good news is, the supplements probably worked. I blocked the aromatase enzyme from converting T to E, so I produced more T, which I again blocked from converting to E. As a result, total T increased, but E likely decreased and decreased too much. While there’s no established ideal T/E ratio, most men feel pretty good with E in the 20-30 pg/ml range, and roughly 5% of the TT level. So a man with a 600 ng/dl T level and a 30 pg/ml E level probably feels great and is most likely in his 20’s. My percentage of E to T after using the AI supplements is 3.5%, which is lower than I’d like. I’ve stopped taking the AI supplements to allow my body to get my E levels a little higher again. My fear of course, is that by doing so, my body has no reason to make more T and my TT will probably drop again. So now what?
Well, before I surrender and go on TRT, I have a few more experiments I’d like to run. It’s frustrating, but also pretty damn interesting to run science experiments on myself. Come up with a hypothesis, run the experiments, check the data, and repeat.
Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) is a problem for me and aging men in general. The more of it we produce, the less free testosterone (FT) we have and mine is quite high and increased from Dec to Jan. I think I figured out why (see my post on oleic acid) and have taken steps to remedy that. By removing as much of the MUFA and PUFA from my diet as possible, particularly the oleic acid variety, and keeping my saturated fat intake relatively high, I expect SHBG to decline. Additionally, I’m taking MK 677, the growth hormone secretagogue, which should also decrease SHBG. I’ve added some more carbohydrates which should increase insulin levels a bit, which will also decrease SHBG. So if my hypothesis is correct, SHBG should be lower on my next test.
As far as increasing TT, I’m not going to go the AI route again since my E levels are low, but instead will focus solely on increasing overall levels with two supplements:
- A tribulus terristris based supplement that shows remarkable promise and
- a low dose of daily viagra if my doctor will prescribe it.
The tribulus based supplement is called Tradapharma, and while I can’t buy it directly, I can make it myself. The test results were pretty damned impressive. I had originally looked at Cialis for my T-enhancing drug of choice, but the Viagra results were much better because Viagra raised all hormone levels together, where Cialis increased T by lowering E, which I don’t want to do again.
I can see my new experiment coming clearly into focus now. The hypothesis is that a diet high in protein, high in fat (eschewing oleic acid as much as humanly possible), relatively low in fiber and carbohydrates, along with the MK 677 supplementation for increased growth hormone should lower SHBG levels, thereby increasing FT levels. Supplemental Viagra and the Tribulus supplement should increase TT levels. Not using an AI should help get E in the right range and all will be copacetic.
I have my doctor appointment tomorrow, and the new supplements should be arriving shortly. If I get the Viagra approved, I will try to be patient and give the entire experiment 30 days before I test again. If I can get my levels somewhere near the midpoint of the range, I will consider my efforts a success. But in case I can’t, I will plant the TRT bug in my doc’s ear tomorrow. Imagine how simple this would all be with just a 100 MG shot of T every week.
Joe's Blog 