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Medical student. I replace ALL my hormones.
My story: I am a medical student in my last year. I replace ALL of my hormones.
In early twenties my life was starting to go down the gutter. My life started to fall apart in every domain. At one point I was at the brink of suicide. I found out multiples of my hormnones were low.I started hormone replacement. Whereas before my life was a nightmare, it has been great ever since. I have been doing this for some years now.Life is just soooo easy (and enjoyable) if you have great energy, mood, health all the time. And again, there is nothing as powerful for these as your hormonal profile.
What I take.
But what works for me might not work for others.I personally need/choose to optimize all hormones but often for many people it is just ONE hormone that is imbalanced/deficient and replacing that is sufficientEveryone is different, but the target range I aim for is in the upper tertile of the youthful reference range. Just falling somewhere within the reference range is not “optimal”. The reference range covers 95% of the population. Certainly more than 5% of the population have hormones bad enough to warrant intervention.
* TRT: Test Cyp (50mg subQ 2x/week), HcG (250iu subQ 2x/week), anastrozole (0.25mg 1x/week), dutasteride 0.5mg 1x/week (as my androgens are high I don´t need the DHT).
* cortisol: cortisone acetate (20mg/d HC equivalent) (split into 4 daily doses)
* thyroid: 1.25 grains NDT + 6.25mcg T3 (a few hours later in the day)GH: 0.5iu genotropin pfizer (aiming for IGF1 of 250) prebed
* fludrocortisone 01.mg/d morning
* melatonin: 0.25mg sublingual prebed
This is how I look now vs. then. Note that my androgens have always been within the normal range. https://imgur.com/GWmzPJF
I personally need/choose to optimize all hormones but often for many people it is just ONE hormone that is imbalanced/deficient and replacing that is sufficient
I am aware that this is rather uncharted territory, esp. in a DIY kind of way. As a medical student in my last year I am well aware of the risks. But to me the cost-benefit analysis is a no-brainer. If I had to, I would sign a contract to rather live 10 more years with my new vitality and then die instead of living to one hundred with the dreadful state I was in before. Life is about filling time and not passing it.
I do extensive blood tests (complete hormone panel, metabolic health, general health) around every 3-4 months. I would´t dare doing anything (not even starting) without it.
Other stuff I do: keto/paleo, HIIT, weekly rapamycin, a bunch of supplements (all of them together less worth than a slight alteration in hormones), some exercise every day, sleep around 6h (wake up refreshed without alarm -before HRT I needed 8+).My goal is to find a great balance between performance/wellbeing and health/longevity. Before hormone replacement I was trying out every nootropic under the sun (modafinil, caffeine, shitty racetams, small doses of MTP, ephedrine). Now I don´t need any (sometimes a little nicotine gum while studying).
My cognition is now almost always sharp, no brain fog, great energy, motivated. The combo of good sleep + cardio + keto + good hormones is much healthier and more sustainable than any stims/nootropics. Too bad that so many people focus just on supps and nootropics. my energy levels went from the 5th percentile to the 95th percentile.
I do everyhing mostly myself because many (not all) endocrinologists are shit. Once I found what works, taking all these hormones takes less than 5min per day and no thought whatsoever. Tiny price for a huge prize.You can´t outdrug/outbiohack/outlifestyle a bad hormonal profile.
If you are interested how hormones destroyed and saved my life I wrote about my experience HERE. (I do link to my own article but I do not gain anything from it. I don´t want to sell anything and nor am I planning on in the future, all I do is want to raise awareness because I know hormonal deficiencies are soooo common but soooo overlooked.).
If you wonder about how to get started and how to approach the huge topic of hormone replacement, what to test for and how to find out if or what you need I wrote a quick practical guide HERE (not trying to sell anything). It took 1000s of hours to figure out. Hopefully some of you will find value in it. Had I known what I know now, it would have saved me lots of money, happiness, effort, researching, experimenting. And suffering
Why do I post all this?
1) Trying to provide value: Because it does just cost me a little time but perhaps can might help others out a lot. Even if it is just nudging others to get bloods done.
2) Trying to get feedback/criticism/blind spots. I am sure some of you are quite knowledgable and experienced and might give valuable feedback/criticism and point out blind spots or other stuff I didn´t think about.
My question. What are your thoughts on all this? As I am in my mid twenties, do you think this is sustainable for decades?
For questions/feedback you don´t want to post here my email: [email protected]
Comments
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I guess my big concern personally would be fucking up these axises and then losing access. The TRT dosing is pretty gentle, but doing the thyroid hormones for a few years and then not being able to access or afford them would definitely suck. I mean, if you got thrown in jail for being at a protest? 4 days later you're going to feel like hell! Lol. Of course, this is reasoning by lifestyle; not an actual criticism.
Oh while I like some of the protocols you've set out.. i.e. periodic testing.. Id also fear less informed folk trying something like this without testing. Yall know that the testing is essential here right?
I mean, you've put it lots of work and you're stating you've seen significant improvement. This sounds really cool. Your dosing seems low enough on most to circumvent side effects. You may never be able to go off this regimen. It's an interesting idea.
Something you might consider looking into.. timed release mechanisms. I imagine that if you could played around with it, you may be able to make a little injectable which releases a few of these hormones at a slow steady rate. Maybe you inject one subdermally and get a slow feed of t3 for a year? It would certainly make something like this be less work.
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And don't forget the interactions with these hormones. I have enough problems with the meds I am on and I take mct oil and fish oil for mood stabilization not to mention melatonin and birth control.
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I'm at risk of pituitary gland failure, if that happens and I've to replace hormones that it should be producing but I will let you know. :)