TRT detrimental to Adrenal Fatigue?

[jrbecker]

I am currently considering revisiting TRT for mild hypogonadism after a few years of being off of it. One of the reasons I went off in the first place was that I believed it might have been worsening my daytime energy levels. Obviously, this might be related to some adrenal fatigue issues.


I'd just like to know if anyone has experienced detrimental effects from TRT and what insight they have on this.

I am also wondering if anyone has seen that HCG augmentation might also help at all in this regard.

Thanks.
JB

*Just to note, in regards to treating the AF, I have had numerous trials with thyroid meds, vit D as well as DHEA and pregnenolone. Despite patient experimentation with various forms and dosages, I received little relief. As some people on this board have experienced, I found that DHEA exacerbated my depression, and pregnenolone worsened my anxiety and insomnia.

[chilln]

I am currently considering revisiting TRT for mild hypogonadism after a few years of being off of it. One of the reasons I went off in the first place was that I believed it might have been worsening my daytime energy levels. Obviously, this might be related to some adrenal fatigue issues.


I'd just like to know if anyone has experienced detrimental effects from TRT and what insight they have on this.

I am also wondering if anyone has seen that HCG augmentation might also help at all in this regard.

Thanks.
JB

*Just to note, in regards to treating the AF, I have had numerous trials with thyroid meds, vit D as well as DHEA and pregnenolone. Despite patient experimentation with various forms and dosages, I received little relief. As some people on this board have experienced, I found that DHEA exacerbated my depression, and pregnenolone worsened my anxiety and insomnia.


Even if you went the next step and supplemented with both GH (growth hormone) and T (testosterone), still nothing will happen to your adrenals until you get continuous sleep, no wake events (or only trivial wake events), with many deep sleep cycles (usually 5 or 6) during that sleep.

Your adrenals only heal at night during sleep, mostly deep sleep, and only if you're still putting out some GH (even a little GH).

The less GH and/or testosterone your body produces overnight, the deeper and longer your sleep needs to be to heal your adrenals.

Note that GH is released predominantly during the first half of the night - and that's when your adrenals need to heal the most.

Then your adrenals will start pumping out more and more cortisol during the latter half of the sleep cycle until you wake up with your body's maximum daily (baseline) level of cortisol in your serum.

Obviously your adrenals aren't going to be able to recover much during the latter half of the sleep cycle, but they still do!

I'm not sure if your E2 (estradiol) is relatively higher than your T, but I'll discuss that too (see below):

###

The complete cycle of adrenal fatigue / insufficiency is as follows - I'm not sure how far down the cycle you have progressed:

1) genetic reduction in testosterone and/or growth hormone

combined with

2) not recognizing this, while continuing to work hard and stress lots

followed by

3) insufficient overnight repairs to damaged tissues and cells due to inadequate testosterone and/or growth hormone

followed by

4) elevated cortisol to suppress the "fix me I'm broken" signals from cells, in order to match the level of the messages coming from the cells, to the rate of repair from the reduced levels of testosterone and/or growth hormone

followed by

5) continuing to work hard and stress lots

followed by

6) inadequate sleep due to elevated cortisol levels, which further limits the rate of repairs occurring nightly

followed by

7) the adrenal glands unable to cope with continuing to produce elevated levels of cortisol, continuously

causing

8) cortisol levels to go too low during the day

causing

9) drowsiness, or lack of energy during a large portion of the day.


##################################################


Aged males often also experience too high levels of E2, which also starts off for the same reasons, but operates independently, ie:

1) genetic reduction in testosterone and/or growth hormone

which causes

2) slow down of body metabolic processing rate

followed by

3) continuing to eat high glycemic index carbs

followed by

4) accumulation of belly fat, which accelerates estradiol dominance, since estradiol is stored in body fat rather than being metabolized and excreted.

###############################

In other words, adrenal fatigue / insufficiency and estradiol dominance both originate from the same root cause, ie: the genetic reduction in testosterone and/or growth hormone, but then go their separate ways.

The nasty nasty nasty thing about the two separate issues is that when a person aggravates both of them concurrently, then that person is in a place where the only way out is to:

either:
a) boost either T or GH or both, and manage E2, and force sleep.
or
b) go live on permanent vacation on a Pacific or Carribbean Island, and eat very little.

[hardasnails1973]

Depends on the persons willingness to change proper lifestyle and also their bioindivudality.

[jrbecker]

thank you for the initial feedback. To add further follow-up, I guess I should also add that...

a) a get plenty of restful, uninterrupted sleep

b) i eat a very well-balanced healthy diet...mostly revolving around the Mediterranean diet.

c) I exercise regularly and am pretty good shape...aside from the prior described issues.

[chilln]

thank you for the initial feedback. To add further follow-up, I guess I should also add that...

a) a get plenty of restful, uninterrupted sleep

b) i eat a very well-balanced healthy diet...mostly revolving around the Mediterranean diet.

c) I exercise regularly and am pretty good shape...aside from the prior described issues.



A salivary cortisol measurement will help you and your medical professional adviser how far down the AF (adrenal fatigue) slope you are at now.

Ie: if your cortisol is still high, then you are only part way down the AF slope, but if your cortisol has dropped to low, then you are a long way down the AF slope.

Ie: if your cortisol is OK for most of the day, and you only have low DHEA, then you are only at the very very beginning of AF.

But if both your cortisol and DHEA are OK for most of the day, then you don't yet have AF, and you only have insufficient energy due to low DHEA or low T, or too high E2, or insulin resistance.

So how far down the AF slope are you now ?

Or do you not have AF at all, but just low energy ?

[Dr. John Crisler]

I would be looking to other causes.

Have you been tested for Lyme's?