591 total test with 12.9 estradiol

[justatest]

Hello,

First time posting here but have enjoyed lurking and learning from others posts.

I'm a 29 y/o male turning 30 soon and have never taken hormones and have been lifting weights off and on since 16 years old. I decided to get a hormone test done because I read that levels start to diminish at 30 so I wanted to get a baseline for that and also see if there were any abnormalities due to some symptoms I've been experiencing.

I have off and on mild joint pain, general fatigue, no morning wood, some ED and lower sex drive and some increased body fat and water retention compared to the past which as far as I've read here could be related to the low estradiol level. Also, in the past few years I had significant social anxiety which has decreased over time and all but disappeared with my start of supplementing with magnesium glycinate.

Despite those symptoms when I lift weights at the gym regularly I've never been disappointed with the progress I make in strength and size gains.

Unfortunately the test that was performed didn't include free testosterone which as I understand is an important value to know but here are the hormone levels that I know so far.

Testosterone, Serum 591 348-1197 ng/dL
Luteinizing Hormone(LH), S 6.3 1.7-8.6 mIU/mL
FSH, Serum 3.8 1.5-12.4 mIU/mL
Estradiol 12.9 7.6-42.6 pg/mL


Would anyone else be concerned about an estradiol level that low, given my symptoms and would they take steps to raise it? I suppose that would be done with either taking estrogen (which I've never heard of before for TRT) or taking testosterone to aromatize to estrogen.

I figured with a lower total testosterone level the answer would be more clear but I do wonder if I have low free testosterone despite a normal range of total testosterone so I'm curious about getting another lab done which shows that value.

Sorry for the rambling and thank you in advance for any responses.

 

[Milton]

welcome to the site! your symptoms could be atributed to hundreds of things. Hows your diet? what do you drink and eat?

 

[justatest]

Thank you Milton. And that's a very good question about my diet because it varies so much I don't think I could put a pattern on it these days but I think some days I'm calorie deficient and other days I'm in a calorie surplus.

For beverages I'm only drinking water (in varied quantities but I try to drink enough that I'm regularly heading to the washroom), unsweetened tea, coffee (usually 1 cup on weekdays) and as of a week ago I reintroduced lactose free milk again in an effort to gain some mass with my starting up weightlifting again. As for the milk I thought the whole milk might be better for me since it has fat to create hormones and then I also think maybe it has some of the that rBGH in it so I shouldn't drink it at all.

I rarely eat out (maybe 3 times per month on average and when I do it's a chipotle burrito bowl) so I'm doing a lot of cooking at home but at times I'm also eating "bad" food at home like a package of instant ramen noodles or canned soup. Lately I've tried to eat more saturated fats (again with the idea that it's helping make hormones) so I've been eating 2 slices of toast with 4 pads of butter.

I'm generally choosing chicken breasts, salmon or ground beef as my protein source and then instant white rice or potatoes for carbohydrates or toast with butter.

I also have been eating salads more and more lately.

An example of my wacky diet is as follows:

For breakfast 7:30 am I had 2 glasses of lactose free whole milk and 1 glass of water and my magnesium glycinate.
For lunch 12:00 pm I had a large baby kale salad with a 7.5 oz can of salmon and probably multiple tablespoons of full fat salad dressing, 2 slices of toast with 4 pads of butter, a glass of fat free lactose free milk and 2 probiotic pills.
For my after work snack 7:00 PM I've had an apple and a glass of a keifer yogurt drink and a fish oil pill.
I didn't eat dinner yet but am planning on going to the gym and lifting weights and then probably have some chicken, rice and vegetables and sleep around 11:00 to 12:00.

A few days ago I started supplementing creatine again but have stopped as it causes me notable water retention (which I don't mind at all in my muscles but is not so great in my face) and as I understand it that's likely due to not enough water intake.

 

[IMT staff]

That is a non sensitive E2 so your real value is closer to 2 not 12.9

Thats most likely why your having symptoms.

 

[justatest]

I went to the grocery after the gym and bought brown rice, steaks, canned salmon, frozen mixed vegetables, eggs, oatmeal and olive oil. I'm going to try to get my diet back on track eating 3 good meals per day with protein, carbs and fat.

Also, I've been reading that some foods increase estrogen levels so maybe I'll add in more of those.

 

[Milton]

Also, I've been reading that some foods increase estrogen levels so maybe I'll add in more of those.

Brocoli.

 

[oldmusclemike]

Welcome to the board

 

[appleton111]

load up on more fiber too.