DHEA and testosterone injections

[fit4life47]

Hi folks I have been on nebido for the past 9 months as well as testogel. I was thinking about adding DHEA 50mg a day. I'm not really sure if it works with testosterone injections as it is a precursor to it.
I'm still having ed issues so wanted to give this a try to see if it helps. I was doing some reading about it and it's supposed to have multiple benefits and helping with ED is one of them. Can anyone help with some insight on this.

 

[Megatron28]

I doubt DHEA will help your ED issues. It is more likely estradiol related. What is your E2 at?

Why are you running Nebido and testogel concurrently?

Are you using hCG? I tried DHEA and Pregnenolone for a while and I didn't notice anything. Just seemed like a waste of money. hCG is an entirely different story. It made a huge difference in my TRT protocol.

 

[fit4life47]

I have to get my blood work done again this week. If I remember correctly it was high normal last time. I take a nebido shot every ten weeks but at 9 weeks I was at 240 so at 8 weeks I start to supplement with the testogel. I'm still trying to dial in correctly but I don't feel great at 240. I feel the best 2 to 3 weeks after my shot so need to measure bloods at that time to see where I'm at.

 

[fit4life47]

I'm in ireland so don't use high and I'm not real failure with it and also heard it was expensive. Doesn't hcg just keep you testicles producing sperm and testosterone

 

[fit4life47]

Spell correct is pissing me off ......that is supposed to be HGC and familiar

 

[Megatron28]

hCG "backfills" the pathways and keeps your testicles fuctioning. Testicles do more than just make sperm and testosterone. There are a lot of threads on hCG in this forum if you want to learn more about it.

You should ask your doctor to allow you to get more frequent Nebido injections. It seems stupid for your doc to prescribe you test gel for the last couple of weeks before every injection. Just go with something like a 4 week injection frequency and adjust the dose to keep your TT in the proper range.

And let me guess, you only experience ED during some of that 10 week time period. Not all the time.

 

[fit4life47]

With regards to the ED ....i think so just trying to confirm that. I have to talk to the endo because I was going to increase my injection time frame but he said my LH and FSH were very low.
FSH - <0.2 (1.3 - 19.3)
LH - <0.07 (1.2 - 8.6)*
RBC - 6.05 (4.50 - 5.50)
haemoglobin - 17.2 g/dl *(13.0 -17.0)
Haematocrit - 0.514 l/l (0.40 - 0.50)
My testosterone is in the normal range 11.4 (6.07 - 27.1) but don't feel great when here I think this translated to 240. He might also be looking at my rbc and Haematocrit as a risk but will know if these have gone up more post my next blood test.
As for the testogel....i think the pharmacy misunderstood because I think I was only supposed to get 5 sachets post the first shot if i my mood went to shit prior to my second shot but I get a new box everytime I fill my nebido prescription. I use the testogel with caution but to be honest I don't think it does much for me.

Do any of the above numbers look alarming to you?

 

[Megatron28]

With regards to the ED ....i think so just trying to confirm that. I have to talk to the endo because I was going to increase my injection time frame but he said my LH and FSH were very low.
FSH - <0.2 (1.3 - 19.3)
LH - <0.07 (1.2 - 8.6)*
RBC - 6.05 (4.50 - 5.50)
haemoglobin - 17.2 g/dl *(13.0 -17.0)
Haematocrit - 0.514 l/l (0.40 - 0.50)
My testosterone is in the normal range 11.4 (6.07 - 27.1) but don't feel great when here I think this translated to 240. He might also be looking at my rbc and Haematocrit as a risk but will know if these have gone up more post my next blood test.
As for the testogel....i think the pharmacy misunderstood because I think I was only supposed to get 5 sachets post the first shot if i my mood went to shit prior to my second shot but I get a new box everytime I fill my nebido prescription. I use the testogel with caution but to be honest I don't think it does much for me.

Do any of the above numbers look alarming to you?

11nmol = 318ng/dl. That is too low for a trough.

Test gels aromatize a lot. Why havent you checked you estradiol when you got blood work?

Your LH and FSH arew supposed to very low (i.e. Zero) while on TRT. Your HPTA is shut down. If your endo doesn't understand that he is an idiot.

Don't you donate blood regularly to manage your hematocrit/RBC levels? You are clearly due for a donation.

You really need to figure out what is going on with your estradiol. And find a doctor who has a clue. Clearly you are going to have to learn this stuff much better as well so you can start advocating for your own positive health outcomes.

 

[fit4life47]

My hemocrit has always been slightly elevated.
Here are my numbers from Dec.
Vitamin D 41 nmol/I
Oestradiol eE2 172 pmol/L
FSH <0.2 IU/I
LH <0.07 IU/I
progesterone 0.44 nmol/L
T4 8.7 pmol/l
TSH 1.40 miU/L
B12 475 ng/l
Folate13.9 ug/L
Ferritin 39.4 ug/L
PSA 0.69 ug/l
Testosterone 11.4nmol/L

RBC 6.05
HAEMOGLOBIN 17.2
HAEMATOCRIT 0.514

There is more blood info so let me know if you want it.
Do you think my RBC, Haematocrit and haemoglobin is that bad?

 

[Megatron28]

So your E2 was 47pg/ml. And that is with TT of about 318ng/dl. So when your TT is higher your E2 is likely very high. You need to be managing your estradiol by changing your TRT protocol and/or using an Aromatase Inhibitor.

Like I said in the previous post, you are due for donating blood. Your hematocrit is too high.

You need to supplement Vitamin D too.

I can't tell on some of your other results as you forgot to include reference ranges. I don't have them all memorized.

 

[fit4life47]

Ok thanks the only ones that were out of the boundaries were the RBC etc. And E2 was at the top end. I will look to donate blood this week.
I think if my E2 is high that will cause ED as well Correct?

As far as vitamin D goes that's the Irish weather and I have a started supplement.

 

[juced_porkchop]

I doubt DHEA will help your ED issues. It is more likely estradiol related. What is your E2 at?

Why are you running Nebido and testogel concurrently?

Are you using hCG? I tried DHEA and Pregnenolone for a while and I didn't notice anything. Just seemed like a waste of money. hCG is an entirely different story. It made a huge difference in my TRT protocol.

^^ estro is important

 

[juced_porkchop]

Ok thanks the only ones that were out of the boundaries were the RBC etc. And E2 was at the top end. I will look to donate blood this week.
I think if my E2 is high that will cause ED as well Correct?

As far as vitamin D goes that's the Irish weather and I have a started supplement.

if its high normal it may still be too high for YOU to feel normal. could you start an AI like dex to help lower it?

 

[fit4life47]

I will talk to my endo about it just waiting to hear back about the time frame for an appointment

 

[Megatron28]

Ok thanks the only ones that were out of the boundaries were the RBC etc. And E2 was at the top end. I will look to donate blood this week.
I think if my E2 is high that will cause ED as well Correct?

As far as vitamin D goes that's the Irish weather and I have a started supplement.

Yes, high or low E2 can result in Erectile Dysfunction.

 

[fit4life47]

Thanks Megatron
I'll post the results of my next endo visit

 

[daleb]

Are you on any prostrate supplements or any prostrate meds?

 

[fit4life47]

Are you on any prostrate supplements or any prostrate meds?

No all I am taking is testosterone

 

[halfape211]

I doubt DHEA will help your ED issues. It is more likely estradiol related. What is your E2 at?

Why are you running Nebido and testogel concurrently?

Are you using hCG? I tried DHEA and Pregnenolone for a while and I didn't notice anything. Just seemed like a waste of money. hCG is an entirely different story. It made a huge difference in my TRT protocol.

My 2 cents. Maybe the supplementation of DHEA is more important than we may realize. It supposedly has many important benefits. As most know, Once the body gets HCG, the body (thru the HPTA pathway) makes DHEA, etc., as it did prior to T injections. That is why I agree that HCG "definitely makes a huge difference. " However, my Anti-Aging doctor believes that I should also take 50MG of DHEA daily, because DHEA is so amazing and our body may not make enough of it, even with me taking HCG. That's just his medical opinion, for what it is worth, but I don't want to miss out on the benefits of DHEA, so I supplement. I don't think it will effect ED, I just wonder that perhaps it might be good to supplement DHEA.
BTW For those Canadians using DHEA, it is kind of expensive as it is only sold in Canada under prescription. Canadians are allowed to bring back the DHEA from the USA where you can buy it cheaper as it is sold along with Vitamins, if you are just buying your personal supply. Big difference in cost!!

 

[daleb]

I was doing a lil reading the other night and found this, its not saying one causes the other, only that people with thyroid disorders sometimes have ED.
Thyroid hormones and male sexual function. - PubMed - NCBI

People with thyroid disorders can have low Vit D, low DHEA, out of whack lipid levels and can even mimmic hypogonadism symptoms.

Donate blood regularly. My ED has gotten a lot better since I started donating blood. You want to do the whole blood donation not the plasma, but if you cant do the whole blood do the plasma.