CS: SHBG / Best Mercury Test?

SHBG (which lowers from IR) is one of the biggest contributors to early MBP. My SHBG has been low since my youth. EXTREMELY LOW. No doctor can identify which of my blood problems are causing it. I suffer from:

- Elevated TSH [1.8-5.8] and RT3 (350)
- Low SHBG and low T
- High DHEA-S
- Extremely low pregnenelone

CS reccomended before, a mercury detox, presumably for the RT3 issue. How reliable is a mercury blood test? Is it even worth testing mercury in the blood, or is it all lodged in tissue and therefore unavailable in serum? What is the best test for mercury?

Finally, you reccomend 100mg doses of beta-sisterol to "young" people. However, young people have SHBG in the 20-30s. Mine is in the single digits. Should I be taking extra beta-sisterol in light of this?

ViolatedBird wrote:SHBG (which lowers from IR) is one of the biggest contributors to early MBP. My SHBG has been low since my youth. EXTREMELY LOW. No doctor can identify which of my blood problems are causing it. I suffer from:

- Elevated TSH [1.8-5.8] and RT3 (350)
- Low SHBG and low T
- High DHEA-S
- Extremely low pregnenelone

CS reccomended before, a mercury detox, presumably for the RT3 issue. How reliable is a mercury blood test? Is it even worth testing mercury in the blood, or is it all lodged in tissue and therefore unavailable in serum? What is the best test for mercury?

Finally, you reccomend 100mg doses of beta-sisterol to "young" people. However, young people have SHBG in the 20-30s. Mine is in the single digits. Should I be taking extra beta-sisterol in light of this?

I would recommend high dose iodine. It's not just the mercury, there are other heavy metals involved.
Are you taking any poison, (i.e, finasteride)?

I am taking finasteride now, yes. However, while this may be causing extra harm, it is not the root cause. My issues began when I was first tested for hormone deficiency at age 19 (no drugs taken.)

Issues identified:
- TSH: 2.8
- Clinical hypogonadism (T= 185)
- Low SHBG

I feel as though I have to take poison to help control my free androgens. I have to raise T with injections, and since I have to raise T, I /have/ to combat the excess DHT.

What could be done here?

ViolatedBird wrote:I am taking finasteride now, yes. However, while this may be causing extra harm, it is not the root cause. My issues began when I was first tested for hormone deficiency at age 19 (no drugs taken.)

Issues identified:
- TSH: 2.8
- Clinical hypogonadism (T= 185)
- Low SHBG

I feel as though I have to take poison to help control my free androgens. I have to raise T with injections, and since I have to raise T, I /have/ to combat the excess DHT.

What could be done here?

DHT isn't everything, and this is what is quite misunderstood. Low pregnenolone = higher stress, which = more hair loss.

Everyone's endocrine system is different, it's Russian roulette lowering DHT with something that poisons 5-AR enzyme.

There might be real reasons for low SHBG, however just guessing would recommend high iodine with co-factors and heavy metal detox.

What dose of iodine do you consider high? How high is too high?

ViolatedBird wrote:What dose of iodine do you consider high? How high is too high?

High can be a relative term when it comes to iodine, because the rats drugs and assumptions amount (RDA, aka ridiculously deficient amount) is only 125 mcg. The amount needed for the human body is 12.5 milligrams, a 100 times that amount. Depending on your 24-hour iodine (urinary excretion) level, the amount of iodine you'll need can be determined by that.

However, starting gradually and slowly (with tolerance) can be risen gradually to a 100 mg per day (if needed). It is also possible that you may need thyroid hormone replacement. Since Armour (thyroid) is no longer what it used to be, I now recommend nature-throid usually.

Armour is off the table, I believe. My T4 is already high. My FT3 is also already high. The only issue is high RT3 and high TSH (1.8-5.8, fluctuating with every test.)

I take 6.5 mcg of T3 in the morning and afternoon, out of frustration. I have no idea if it is doing good or bad things. I can't feel it at all.

ViolatedBird wrote:Armour is off the table, I believe. My T4 is already high. My FT3 is also already high. The only issue is high RT3 and high TSH (1.8-5.8, fluctuating with every test.)

I take 6.5 mcg of T3 in the morning and afternoon, out of frustration. I have no idea if it is doing good or bad things. I can't feel it at all.

Your chance of heavy metals is definitely high.

If you say you have extremely low pregnenolone, why don't you take some preg supps?...It converts to progesterone (natural 5-ar inhibitor -> DHT) in theory. I'm no expert but I would like to try it, so I've read about it recently. On this site, CS recommended transdermal, if I remember correctly. If you would like to try, be sure to read as much as you can about it before, as playing with hormones is dangerous.
Of course, one would like to know the root cause of low preg in the first place instead of supplementing it with a pill, but it is easier to get the pills and see if it works, if DHT is reduced...

mihai wrote:If you say you have extremely low pregnenolone, why don't you take some preg supps?...It converts to progesterone (natural 5-ar inhibitor -> DHT) in theory. I'm no expert but I would like to try it, so I've read about it recently. On this site, CS recommended transdermal, if I remember correctly. If you would like to try, be sure to read as much as you can about it before, as playing with hormones is dangerous.
Of course, one would like to know the root cause of low preg in the first place instead of supplementing it with a pill, but it is easier to get the pills and see if it works, if DHT is reduced...

Pregnenolone is made from cholesterol. If there is an infection or a presence of high mercury, either could cause a deficiency of cholesterol and/or pregnenolone. Or if one is taking a 5-AR blocker (even a natural one), it can reduce cholesterol and pregnenolone production.

Without enough pregnenolone is there is lack of progesterone and/or cortisol (one is usually sacrificed).

Playing with hormones is only risky if it's synthetic, because otherwise, you can just stop if there is an adverse effect and things will normalize.

CausticSymmetry wrote:
Pregnenolone is made from cholesterol. If there is an infection or a presence of high mercury, either could cause a deficiency of cholesterol and/or pregnenolone. Or if one is taking a 5-AR blocker (even a natural one), it can reduce cholesterol and pregnenolone production.

Without enough pregnenolone is there is lack of progesterone and/or cortisol (one is usually sacrificed).

Playing with hormones is only risky if it's synthetic, because otherwise, you can just stop if there is an adverse effect and things will normalize.

Thanks for posting this. I remember when I was taking fin I had a very low resistance to stress...Now it makes sense, based on your posts: fin -> 5-AR blocked -> decreased pregnenolone -> higher stress. I was always curious why, maybe this is the reason.
The same thing happens to me when I take other natural 5-ARs (saw palm, neetle, ...) as well as iodine (this is what I still don't understand why. Can iodine reduce preg or block 5-AR? ...or maybe it's something else about iodine and stress).

Iodine pulls out toxic halides and metals, which can provoke symptoms until it higher levels of iodine and toxic substances are bled out. However, to be sure everything is okay, optimizing adrenal function is a good step if there's any doubt.

To be more technical, finasteride prevents the conversion of allopregnanolone which modulates GABA receptors.

I am happy to see that someone updated Wiki to now include this:

Anxiety and depression are common side effects of 5α-reductase inhibitors such as finasteride and dutasteride, and they are believed to be caused, in part, by the prevention of the endogenous production of allopregnanolone.

This is why taking pregnenolone shouldn't work to remedy these side-effects from finasteride while on the drug. Even if you supplement pregnenolone, it won't be metabolized to allopregnanolone, and therefore won't help. In fact.. In theory (and in my personal experience) it may increase anxiety because it also has a positive activity for NMDA receptors which can be simplified to bee seen as the opposite of calming GABA receptors:

Mood Elevation
Pregnenolone is known to modulate at least two key nerve receptor systems in the brain: NMDA receptors and GABA receptors. NMDA receptors, which weaken with age, are involved in learning, memory, and alertness. Pregnenolone enhances NMDA receptor function. GABA receptors promote relaxation, mental slowing, sedation and sleep. Benzodiazepine drugs (Valium, Librium, Xanax, etc.) activate GABA receptors, while pregnenolone inhibits GABA receptors. Thus, too little NMDA activity combined with excessive GABA activity would tend to promote mental sluggishness and depression. Since pregnenolone raises NMDA activity and lowers excessive GABA activity, pregnenolone seems to be a natural antidepressant. Indeed a recent study of 27 depressed patients found that their cerebrospinal fluid (which circulates through the brain and spinal cord) was significantly lower in pregnenolone than in 10 non-depressed volunteers. Cerebrospinal fluid levels are generally believed to accurately reflect levels of various biochemicals in the brain.

Keep in mind that everyone is different and the best way to evaluate anything is to try it. What I'm saying is that pregnenolone might actually help some on finasteride, but in theory it shouldn't. My interpretation is that it may help with depression but aggravate anxiety, so one should use it accordingly. The NMDA/GABA pathway is pretty tricky to balance, and pregnenolone should work wonders for those not on finasteride because it works to modulate both.

Hope this helps

I agree, Pregnenolone will not compensate for fin or dut use as originally hoped. However, it can either help with anxiety or make it worse, depending on the user. Also, it should be first used transdermally.

My issues began long before finasteride, and I did not see them worsen from its use. I only mention this to remove it from the equation as the primary cause, although it may very well be a contributor to dysregulaton.

I have tried oral pregnenelone. I took a whole gram (1000mg.) This served only to give me a mild headache. I also tried 300mg per day for a few weeks. I did not notice anything, good or bad. I also tried LifeFlo transdermal pregnenelone which, like the 300mg of oral pregnenelone, was subjectively indiscernible. Absolutely junk, really.

While I have high TSH and high T3/T3, my body temperature is totally normal. I once thought cortisol was making up for thyroid resistance, but my 24-hour cortisol labs have just come back, and my cortisol is dead average morning and afternoon, but higher than average during evening and bedtime.

Could it be cellular resistance, and my body simply needs a higher thyroid output?

CausticSymmetry wrote:Iodine pulls out toxic halides and metals, which can provoke symptoms until it higher levels of iodine and toxic substances are bled out. However, to be sure everything is okay, optimizing adrenal function is a good step if there's any doubt.

How can one be sure it has high mercury, since I've heard that mercury goes into the brain, thyroid, organs...It does not appear in the blood tests in high quantities, even if you have it stuck in your organs. Is it a good idea to take iodine (a few days before the test) which pulls out metals from their "hiding places" and move them into the blood (?) when they will be seen by the blood test? ...if it doesn't appear at the test even after iodine intake, one can be pretty sure there is no metals (at least not in high quantities) in your body?

mihai wrote:

CausticSymmetry wrote:Iodine pulls out toxic halides and metals, which can provoke symptoms until it higher levels of iodine and toxic substances are bled out. However, to be sure everything is okay, optimizing adrenal function is a good step if there's any doubt.

How can one be sure it has high mercury, since I've heard that mercury goes into the brain, thyroid, organs...It does not appear in the blood tests in high quantities, even if you have it stuck in your organs. Is it a good idea to take iodine (a few days before the test) which pulls out metals from their "hiding places" and move them into the blood (?) when they will be seen by the blood test? ...if it doesn't appear at the test even after iodine intake, one can be pretty sure there is no metals (at least not in high quantities) in your body?

From what I understand, you body is constantly removing very small amounts of mercury. If you have any in your system, it will be coming in very minute, but testable amounts. At least -- that's what the people who sell the tests kits say.