Hi. I've lurked here for long time but finally joined to seek help for some problems. One problem involves racetams and ACh, but I'm going to start with my simpler problem: testosterone. I know testosterone isn't directly longevity- or nootropic-related, but hopefully this is an appropriate place to ask.
After reading The 4-Hour Body I had absolutely amazing results with Tim Ferriss' testosterone regimen (essentially vitamins A & D in the right amounts from the right sources). I thought I had turned my life around. I felt like superman. I was so happy. Then the results slowly wore off and I have no idea why. I'm a 30 year old male.
Below are the results of my blood tests. They were all done at the same lab, at the same time of day, on the same day of the week.
Aug 8 2013 (before supplementation)
total testosterone: 440 ng/dL
free testosterone: 12.14 ng/dL
October 14 2013 (after starting supplementation)
total testosterone: 1422 ng/dL (actually flagged as too high)
free testosterone: 30.15 ng/dL
November 19 2013 (still on supplements)
total testosterone: 721 ng/dL
free testosterone: 14.49 ng/dL
February 3 2014 (still on supplements)
total testosterone: 476g ng/dL
free testosterone: 11.52 ng/dL
As you can see, it jumped up dramatically in the beginning, then slowly returned almost to where it started from. I don't believe the 1422 number was an error, as I definitely felt the results. My libido was through the roof, as were my confidence and energy levels. These have declined steadily just as the numbers have.
Does anyone know why this might have happened or what I should do to correct the problem??
I had my cortisol checked at the last 2 lab tests. It was 14 ug/dL Nov 19 and 11 ug/dL Feb 3. I understand these to be normal levels, though I now take supplements to lower it.
I have not had DHT checked, but since my total testosterone is low I would not expect high DHT to be the problem.
Should I have estrogen levels checked?
I thought vitamin D levels might be the problem, as my testosterone decline seemed to correlate with decreasing daylight. But I had it tested in February and it was actually high (73 ng/mL). I even think it was too high for a while after that as I had symptoms of vitamin D poisoning. Could it being too high actually lower testosterone? I tried cutting it out for a couple weeks and felt no change. Now I'm back on it.
I tried increasing the vitamins to no effect. I've recently added vitamin E and sauerkraut as per Tim Ferriss' recommendations to no effect.
I'll list all the supplements I take, in case one of them could be interfering:
-fermented cod liver oil and vitamin-rich butter fat (vitamins A, D, and K)
-regular fish oil
-additional vitamin D
-l-theanine (to lower cortisol)
-phosphatidylserine (to lower cortisol)
-vitamin B complex
-vitamin C
-CoQ10
-zinc
-creatine
-glutamine
-piracetam, acetyl l-carnitine, and citicoline (until recently as they also stopped working after amazing initial results; more on that later...)
Sorry for the long post and many questions, but as you can see I have taken a fairly systematic and proactive approach to my health and ended up back where I started. I'm ridiculously frustrated... Thanks in advance. I've really benefited from this group's wisdom over the past couple years.
Edited by existence, 08 April 2014 - 03:57 AM.