T3 only has raised my testosterone, estrogen and SHBG! (Male)

[HardNut77]

Hi all,

I’ve been on T3 only for a while now and I’ve taken various amounts, up to 100mcg but now settling around 60mcg. I’ve been taking the T3 for almost two months now and just had my sex hormones pulled and it seems it’s really pushed my testosterone, SHBG, and estrogen up!

Obviously this is concerning to myself as my sex hormone levels shouldn’t be this high naturally, and also my SHBG levels are through the roof.

I’m hoping someone has similar experience with this. What should I do? Is decreasing the dose enough or can I stop completely for a few days and resume at a much lower dose like 30mcg.

Why has the T3 only raised sex hormones so much.

I’ve attached the blood tests in question. You can see the comparison to my older blood tests.

[thyr01d]

Hi - in your shoes I'd consult a hormone-wise medical practitioner rather than try to fix this yourself because I have a feeling (could be wrong) that raised testosterone can cause aggression.

[HardNut77 in reply to thyr01d]

I think that's a misconception. I'm not aggressive as all my other hormones have also come up to compensate. The balance is the same but the levelsare higher.

[thyr01d in reply to HardNut77]

Oh yes, of course, I hadn't thought of that.

[HardNut77]

Anyone? I suspect it's hard to find men in similar situations.

[jkozlow3]

I realize this is an old post but it is well known that high levels of T3 can thrown all kinds of things out of whack - particularly in men. Elevated SHBG is quite common on high doses of T3. High SHBG binds up testosterone and estrogen and makes them less active. Your "real" free testosterone (not the "calculated" one) probably would have been low (or below range) had you had it tested and your cortisol may have also been low or below range as well.

All of the above happened to me on high doses of NDT and the numbers went back to normal when I reduced my NDT dose to 1 grain and added some Synthroid (i.e. 75 mcg) to get a more physiological dose, closer to what my thyroid gland would make if it were healthy and able. I suggest you read the excellent Tired Thyroid book if you haven't already.