Did your endrocrinologist look at your
DHEA levels?
Your HPA axis (hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal homeostasis contrrol system) isn't working quite to normal levels.
I wonder if you might have slightly low DHEA-S, and should consider having it added to your thyroid maintenance plan, since thyroid hormone is converted from the T4 to the
T3 form in the adrenal gland.
I wondered about the rounded appearance of your face at the end of your bulking period. More than just normal fat accumulation in facial tissues. Almost the classic moon face of hypothyroidism
This begs the question - did your physician alter your synthetic T4 dosage as your body mass increased?
And then he stopped it all in May. Let you run back down again...I guess to see if your own natural production was being supressed or augmented by exogenous thyroid hormone.
The only reason we know you had some
T3 activity, is that were putting on moderately lean muscle mass, and this MUST have been due to your strict and diligent dieting...and lots of
protein. Proving once again that higher levels of
protein intake are indeed anabolic and not merely nutrients for growth (eg., certain small peptides and
amino acids have metabolic regulatory function).
Hmmm....
Check with your physician on those hormone panel results.
You *may* benefit from a modest exogenous boost of
DHEA. Maybe 25-50 mg perday. Not my call, nor yours - this should run by your physician for review and recommendation.
You *are* young, and normally this wouldn't be necesssary....but you clearly have HPA axis issues, so it is prudent and timely to inquire on your DHEA-S levels, to assess the possibility that you're not making enough adrenal corticosteroids.
I think physicians often overlook this possibility with young patients, assuming that only one hormone problem is present. The interconnected relationships between one hormone cascade and another are becoming more evident to researchers and practitioners alike, with each passing year of study and publication.
Just my thoughts this morning, after reading your excellent post, and thinking on your health status.
I can't speak for the rest here, but you surely are an amazement to me.
And I don't impress that easily....
Stallion's Progress
