Low sex hormone (SHBG) and testosterone levels

[Gasmanga]

Hi everyone

I have been chasing a health issue for the last two years and have just done the full thriva health profile test which has come back with a problem with abnormally low sex hormone SHBG and what looks like to me just in range but low testosterone levels, also high triglyceride and a high triglyceride/ hdl ratio

Could anyone advise on where to go with this and what I could do to make myself feel better (very low energy levels, tired all the time, brain fog, anxiety and depression, poor skin condition and hot all the time)

I was diagnosed by dr.peat with adrenal exhaustion two years ago and have been on adrenavive 2 which help a bit but not massively

Also still think this could all be linked to an issue with thyroid conversion etc

All vitamins and minerals, iron, liver function all normal

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

Lee

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Gasmanga

I can't help with sex hormones I'm afraid, but they're all linked - thyroid, adrenals, sex hormones.

However, I did pick up on this:

I was diagnosed by dr.peat with adrenal exhaustion two years ago and have been on adrenavive 2 which help a bit but not massively

If adrenals aren't working properly then nothing else will, so adrenals need addressing. As you have been on Adrenavive, have you been regularly monitoring your levels and adjusting dose if necessary?

If not then you will need to do the 24 hour adrenal profile that tests cortisol plus DHEA. Testing DHEA as well as cortisol helps with determining stages of adrenal fatigue. This test is done by Regenerus and Genova Diagnostics, details on ThyroidUK's main website, on the Private Testing page:

thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/p...

[Gasmanga in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for the reply

I have done this test and I was also very low on cortisol from am until pm when it started to rise which I was told was not right either

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Gasmanga]

I have done this test and I was also very low on cortisol from am until pm when it started to rise which I was told was not right either

How recent was the test? What have you done to try to address the low cortisol?

[Gasmanga in reply to SeasideSusie]

I done that one around a year ago, only adrenavives to be honest as I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do, I have just ordered the full thyroid profile test from thriva along with vit d and diabetes

Do you think I should order an up to date cortisol and DHEA test too ?

I’m just struggling how to process all of these results as a whole and what to do about it as there is definitely something that isn’t right here, it’s just knowing who to speak to and what to do about it all

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Gasmanga]

Do you think I should order an up to date cortisol and DHEA test too ?

If you are taking adrenal support you should be testing fairly regularly to know if it's making a difference and whether you need to alter the dose.

I am taking adrenal support and initially was testing every 3 months, the results told me originally that I needed to increase, subsequent testing told me that I no longer needed to take it at lunchtime, just in the morning. I'm still working on mine 2 years after starting the supplement.

At one point, Adrenavive became unavailable and I had to find an alternative brand. I actually changed from the Adrenavive ll (cortex only) to a whole glandular (cortex plus medulla) and this suits me better. If you haven't done well on cortex only, it might be worth you trying a whole glandular supplement to see if you fare better with that.

[Gasmanga in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks susie

I will take a look into this and will order a fresh test to look at, did you actually see a rise in cortisol levels through adrenavive 2/ whole glandular ?

I have had some side effects when I started adrenavive again around 2-3 months ago which gave me bad anxiety attacks and raised heart rate etc however i seem to have gotten used to it now and just take one in the morning

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Gasmanga]

did you actually see a rise in cortisol levels through adrenavive 2/ whole glandular?

My levels actually dropped after I started Adrenavive ll so I changed to Adrenavive lll (double the dose of Adrenavive ll). That helped improve the levels. Both Adrenavive ll and lll are cortex only.

Changing to the whole glandular improved them even more but I still struggle with the waking level and more recently my noon level has dropped so I've increased my dose (I only take it in morning as afternoon, evening levels no longer need to increase).

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Gasmanga]

Suggest you work on improving low vitamin D before retesting saliva cortisol and DHEA

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Presumably you are Male?

Are you diagnosed as hypothyroid and on any levothyroxine or NDT?

What was latest thyroid results and exactly what thyroid medication are you on?

[Gasmanga in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi slow dragon

Yes I am male 31 yrs old

I have not been diagnosed as hypo but everything is pointing towards it

I have never had any thyroid medication

Is there a way I can send you a picture of results ?

[BadHare]

Hi Lee,

Testosterone is important for hormone conversion. There’s information on the US NAHis site that might shine some light on your issue:

nahypothyroidism.org/deiodi...

There’s a list including testosterone.

It might be worth doing an overhaul if your micronutrients to make sure you have everything essential. Also check your diet is good & free from processed nasties.

Several health websites have general information re testosterone though they tend to be a tad wishywashy.

Chris Kresser’s seems to be good all round re autoimmune disorders, & you might find helpful information there.

Good luck!

[userotc]

Hi Lee. I don't think you should be thinking of 1 specific area such as thyroid but the whole system (all systems linked anyhow). I made this mistake at the outset with my hormone-related problem caused by a prescription drug.

You could visit a site called Swolesource which deals with hormones naturally.