MidwestBeast in: The Case of the Mysterious Weight Gain!

[jaycuda]

This is actually pretty interesting.
If I read correctly, besides being unable to drop pass a specific weight, you can't get rid of extra fat on your stomach or is it an issue other places too?

 

[Masciaman]

never give up man good luck

 

[MidwestBeast]

This is actually pretty interesting.
If I read correctly, besides being unable to drop pass a specific weight, you can't get rid of extra fat on your stomach or is it an issue other places too?

I've always had trouble losing fat. Around age 8-10 (I can't tell without photos, which I don't have here) I went from being really skinny to chubby. However, it was always dismissed by my parents, despite nothing else really changing and my activity level being very high.

In high school (junior or senior year), I started running 7-10 miles per night. Even with that, I still carried quite a bit of extra fat. I always dismissed it, though and just assumed I needed to work harder or eat less (even though I was always eating a ridiculously low amount without knowing it).

After grad school, I started specifically training as a bodybuilder and eating like one, too and I leaned up a bit more, but honestly, before that, I was somehow leaner without really noticing it until I looked back. If you look at my bodyspace account (same name), I think I still have a number of pictures up from back then where you can see my lower back and stomach are much smaller even though I was always sucking in and had extra fat.

In May of 2010, I'd hit my best (or 2nd best, since I had extra fat on my lower back compared to a few years ago) physique at 208, but after one cheat meal and a week of trying to dial it back down, I was back up to nearly 220. That's when I tried to bulk and from that point, I've basically literally not been able to lose.

So, it went from being very difficult to, as best as I can tell, impossible.

Now before hand, I had a little extra fat on my thighs, but not much. It was mostly love handles, stomach and lower back (chest was never as lean either, though). Now, I'm to the point where I basically have rolls in the middle of my back where my lats come in (beyond sickening). I also previously had gotten my arms to show the brachial artery, which has long since gone and I don't even have forearm veins pop when I'm working out (really haven't in over a year).

 

[MidwestBeast]

never give up man good luck

Thank you. I appreciate it, man.

 

[jaycuda]

I've always had trouble losing fat. Around age 8-10 (I can't tell without photos, which I don't have here) I went from being really skinny to chubby. However, it was always dismissed by my parents, despite nothing else really changing and my activity level being very high.

In high school (junior or senior year), I started running 7-10 miles per night. Even with that, I still carried quite a bit of extra fat. I always dismissed it, though and just assumed I needed to work harder or eat less (even though I was always eating a ridiculously low amount without knowing it).

After grad school, I started specifically training as a bodybuilder and eating like one, too and I leaned up a bit more, but honestly, before that, I was somehow leaner without really noticing it until I looked back. If you look at my bodyspace account (same name), I think I still have a number of pictures up from back then where you can see my lower back and stomach are much smaller even though I was always sucking in and had extra fat.

In May of 2010, I'd hit my best (or 2nd best, since I had extra fat on my lower back compared to a few years ago) physique at 208, but after one cheat meal and a week of trying to dial it back down, I was back up to nearly 220. That's when I tried to bulk and from that point, I've basically literally not been able to lose.

So, it went from being very difficult to, as best as I can tell, impossible.

Now before hand, I had a little extra fat on my thighs, but not much. It was mostly love handles, stomach and lower back (chest was never as lean either, though). Now, I'm to the point where I basically have rolls in the middle of my back where my lats come in (beyond sickening). I also previously had gotten my arms to show the brachial artery, which has long since gone and I don't even have forearm veins pop when I'm working out (really haven't in over a year).

Do you know what body fat % you get stuck at?

 

[Onlychevy6]

So you have seen my pics is your current build like mine? Or are you hell of a lot leaner and carrying the weight your at.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Do you know what body fat % you get stuck at?

I honestly don't know a percentage. I know that when I did a test back before I left for Hawaii (early May), I was right at 20%.

11-26-08

10-30-09

2-10-10

You can see all the way back at the end of '08, I was really thin at the waist/lower back even though I didn't have visible abs, yet. October of '09 (~3 months after I started training specifically for bodybuilding)is when I really started being able to show abs when I'd flex them versus just the constant sucking my gut in I'd done my whole life. February of '10 shows being pretty lean, too (again, constantly sucking my gut in, though.

So I wasn't fat by any means in any of those, but I always had extra fat, but I'd gladly go back to that compared to where I'm at now.

 

[MidwestBeast]

So you have seen my pics is your current build like mine? Or are you hell of a lot leaner and carrying the weight your at.

I did not want to show these because of how embarrassed I am by them (seriously beyond sickened). However, it will show you what I've slipped into. The following pictures are from middle of May and then early June. I was still around 240-245 at this point, at least. I'm currently over 260 and I definitely don't have any pictures that would show any skin aside from arms and face, now.

I was still working out hard during this time and eating very clean and light (tried IF for at least a month of this stretch, along with paleo diet). In the past 2 months, I haven't worked out as much as I had, which obviously isn't helping me any, but I do still get into the gym at least 3 times a week if not more and I'm still cautious on calories and everything else.

My gut (though very visible) is still sucked in in those pictures.

 

[Onlychevy6]

Dude you have a good physique in those pics. I know you said your sitting at I think was 270 now? How do you look today?

Ooops disregard you posted as I was typing

 

[Onlychevy6]

Ok I know you say your disgusted. But come on now. Even with you carrying the extra weight still not bad. It not like you have the dunlap disease like I do. You look better than I do. I have been posting pics since day one. Talk about gross my god. I am a tubby sob. If I was heavy and looked like you I would be some what happy. I know you are like many and want to get lean and you will. Just have some faith. The man upstairs has a plan for you. Just be patient.

 

[fueledpassion]

Hmm, I never had childhood obesity problems. I was on HGH at age 5... the effects seemed to last all the way up to this point

 

[Masciaman]

Hmm, I never had childhood obesity problems. I was on HGH at age 5... the effects seemed to last all the way up to this point

you beast you.... lol

 

[The Matrix]

Ok I know you say your disgusted. But come on now. Even with you carrying the extra weight still not bad. It not like you have the dunlap disease like I do. You look better than I do. I have been posting pics since day one. Talk about gross my god. I am a tubby sob. If I was heavy and looked like you I would be some what happy. I know you are like many and want to get lean and you will. Just have some faith. The man upstairs has a plan for you. Just be patient.

Bro,
We need to rip this mother apart, I use a simple process which gets to the root cause of the problem in as short amount of time. Psycho neuro-endocrine- immunlogy. I specialize this stuff and once I get ceritification in this it will give me more flexiblity with working with Dr because many of them are still in the traditional mind set. They need to step it up or they will be out in the cold really fast. First of all if your dr is on board then we get specialized testing which will help to get to the bottom of this issue with out having to make you suffer any longer. These cases are a dime a dozen I deal with so it will be easy to isolate the potential issue. In these cases you have to look out side traditional medicine because one will most likely no find the answer. This is probably why they have not been able to give you clinical explaination why because you are not digging deep enough but only scratching the surface. THis is where I would dig i and work along with dr to get the proper testing done then analyze the result then present them back to him.

 

[morry]

I have so much to say and so little time to say it.

Be mindful of your PMs. I'll prob be sending one your way.

 

[MidwestBeast]

I have so much to say and so little time to say it.

Be mindful of your PMs. I'll prob be sending one your way.

I'll be on the look out. I appreciate you stopping in, man.

 

[MidwestBeast]

So I stumbled onto a thread on sleep apnea on another forum and it was pretty interesting; it was actually a subsection for a specific company founded by a bodybuilder with sleep apnea.

The video is interesting to watch/listen to at the very least. I'm hoping to get a chance to talk with this guy a bit just to pick his brain.

 

[MidwestBeast]

Ok I know you say your disgusted. But come on now. Even with you carrying the extra weight still not bad. It not like you have the dunlap disease like I do. You look better than I do. I have been posting pics since day one. Talk about gross my god. I am a tubby sob. If I was heavy and looked like you I would be some what happy. I know you are like many and want to get lean and you will. Just have some faith. The man upstairs has a plan for you. Just be patient.

I'm significantly worse (20+lbs) from those pictures. That was a time when I'd still actually be seen shirtless, even though I couldn't stand going from abs to that. I realize in the large spectrum that things could be worse. However, when I do the math and remind myself that I've been weight-training (regularly; not off and on) for nearly 12 years, it pisses me off. I know God has a plan and this is a trial for me. I will never lose faith in Him or doubt Him; and he can transcend science. However, that doesn't mean I'm at all pleased with how things are.

The best analogy I can find for it is how people who claim they are a man trapped in a woman's body or vice versa. I am a bodybuilder trapped in a fat body and I've played by the rules and done everything I was supposed to for all that time; so it's frustrating.

That being said, this thread isn't a place for pity or a place for me to complain, so I'll get it back to what it's meant for: and that's me (with the help of all the minds on this forum) to find an answer and a resolution to this.

For one thing, I need to spend more time in prayer because I know I've long lacked in that department.

 

[Onlychevy6]

The best analogy I can find for it is how people who claim they are a man trapped in a woman's body or vice versa. I am a bodybuilder trapped in a fat body and I've played by the rules and done everything I was supposed to for all that time; so it's frustrating .

I completely understand. Heck you have seen my before pics. How I let myself go from that to a 300lb fat ass.

 

[mattrag]

It maybe some food allergy you just got? I found I have been seriously getting worse with time and have to eliminate more and more foods as I go along.

Last night for example I had some stew my mother inlaw made. It had no flour but I still got a mean reaction to it. My stomach is bloated and I feel that little air space between my belly button and innards expanding.

I have no idea why. Could be the heavy cream? All I know is eating out at all is a dangerous thing for me.

 

[chedapalooza]

Ugh.. Same boat.. Work my ass off eat right n supplement stims. No mirror or scale chsnge!

Got apt with endocrinologist but not until December 1st! Everyday is a nightmare of killing the gym n kitchen and seeing no results for my work. I feel u..

 

[mattrag]

Ugh.. Same boat.. Work my ass off eat right n supplement stims. No mirror or scale chsnge!

Got apt with endocrinologist but not until December 1st! Everyday is a nightmare of killing the gym n kitchen and seeing no results for my work. I feel u..

Your avatar looks pretty sick though!

 

[chedapalooza]

Your avatar looks pretty sick though!

That was on erase in July it worked awesome.. Now I'm taking it and can't breathe and doing more cardio n look nothing like that! Nothing!

 

[mattrag]

That was on erase in July it worked awesome.. Now I'm taking it and can't breathe and doing more cardio n look nothing like that! Nothing!

I think our bodies individually have a certain amount of "cut" cycles in us. Like enzyme conversion in our livers and what not. And that basically determines how lean we can stay. After that its like there is a wall that keeps making us fatter.. I'm pretty messed up as well. Probably close to 10g of flour that was in the bowl of stew I ate and today I feel sick, bloated to a point where my normal four pack turned into a beer gut and I have no appetite and feel nausea whenever I see food. Its horrible.

 

[MidwestBeast]

I just had my follow up appointment after the sleep study, this morning.

It turns out, I do not have sleep apnea and apparently, I sleep like a champ. I'll upload the readout from the sleep study when the doctor (out of town, currently) signs off on it to release it to me. I went through all the stages of sleep well, hit my dream sequences and had little leg movement. I was receiving at least 90% oxygen through the entire night (lowest it hit was 89-point-something for a very brief time) and it was upwards of 100% most of the night. Apparently, she said I just snore; no apnea associated with it. And that sleep study was all done from my back; which would be the time I would have the most apnea related problems.

So, that's good news. No CPAP or anything for me.

Back to digging.

I just posted (back on page 1) my most recent thyroid levels from the 20th (a month after my prior numbers that looked perfect). These look a little more like what I was expecting. TSH is up to 2.61 from 0.44. It's still in range, but not where I obviously want it. Where it's at now, is reflective of 25mcg of T3 daily, in contrast to the 100mcg/day I was dosing and cut down to the 25mcg/day dose 2-3 days before the blood draw. So, hopefully the doc will look at upping my T3 dosage and reassessing. I was thinking a low dose of T4 to go along with it, but was hesitant due to possible rT3 conversion, again. Plus, the new results show Free T4 at 0.58, up from 0.5 -- the odd thing, though, is this new read out shows it as "within range" but at the very bottom end, whereas the prior showed normal range to be 0.9-1.8; odd.

Free T3 is actually up to 3.19 from 2.7 a month ago.




A co-worker had been looking into things for me and sent me a link on copper-overload. It was just on a forum, but it was enough for me to research it a bit more (particularly after finding out sleep apnea isn't playing any role). The following link proved to be a pretty interesting read:

http://www.tvernonlac.com/copper-toxicity.html

Since there had already been mention of heavy metal toxicity, this seems worth looking into. When I picked up my thyroid labs, I left a note to see if I can get the following checked:

- copper
- ceruloplasmin
- sodium
- potassium
- magnesium
- calcium
- zinc
- chromium
- selenium

I should hopefully hear back in a day or two if he'll sign off on me having those looked into.

The information in the link I posted about everything copper can do to the adrenal glands in particular was notable.

 

[Onlychevy6]

Well the sleep test was a relief I take it. This whole thing baffles me now. Plenty of oxygen while on your back. They cant really test while on your stomach. I guess we need to go back to step one and look for something more than the obvious. We need to get you figured out.

 

[mattrag]

Hmm, heavy metal toxicity, very probable. Drinking out of copper pipes, hell even floride has been linked to competing with iodine on the thyroid receptors. Be interesting to look into

 

[MidwestBeast]

Hmm, heavy metal toxicity, very probable. Drinking out of copper pipes, hell even floride has been linked to competing with iodine on the thyroid receptors. Be interesting to look into

Hopefully the doc will sign off on the tests I've requested and if that's it, that would be fantastic, but looking at an overall heavy metal toxicity test is something I wouldn't rule out. I went kind of nuts, today, and started getting rid of all my plastic tupperware and cups. I usually drink out of a plastic 1 liter Aleutian bottle all day at work (4-6 times), but I switched over to a glass. I'll be purchasing a filter for my kitchen sink, soon, too. I drink ~2 gallons of tap water on a daily basis, I eat a ton of canned tuna and chicken (have over the years), so there are just too many possibilities.

 

[CJ_Xfit89]

Look into BPA free bottles. Gets rid of exnoestrogens(sp?)
Also, tin foods can be problematic...
Dr mercola has stuff on his site about this topic

 

[RickRock13]

Hmm, heavy metal toxicity, very probable. Drinking out of copper pipes, hell even floride has been linked to competing with iodine on the thyroid receptors. Be interesting to look into

i would think that unless you were doing something out of the ordinary, that wouldnt be much of a concern to the average person. Otherwise we would see a lot more people with thyroid problems....but then again maybe there are and they just dont know it?

 

[MidwestBeast]

i would think that unless you were doing something out of the ordinary, that wouldnt be much of a concern to the average person. Otherwise we would see a lot more people with thyroid problems....but then again maybe there are and they just dont know it?

Well, when you look at how many people are obese in our country, it isn't that far of a stretch. I'm not saying it's heavy metals or thyroid problems; but just something. I'm pretty sure I've had thyroid problems for a very long time. However, I think something else just kicked in in the past year or so. I used to be able to lose weight, even though it was far harder than it should have been, but then I hit that wall where it flat out didn't matter what I did.

So for my case, it very well could be thyroid problems that were complicated when copper started screwing with levels (I'd previously tried adding in iodine to help, but it didn't). It very well may not be copper, but if it was, it would make sense.

 

[TheDarkHalf]

I still think you should go get your genome mapped......maybe you have something going on at that level....maybe you should have a conversation with a specialist...couldn't hurt

 

[bdcc]

I mean this with a lot of respect and don't want this to come across in any other way.

We have a lot of people here with knowledge that it is easy for us to make suggestions. How many of us are experts at the stuff being suggested? I appreciate when someone is stuck trying to come up with ideas is as helpful as can be. It is also damaging because it becomes a game pin the tail on the donkey.

Everyone here is being helpful, it is great to see. I just don't want 100 ideas thrown at MWB and watch him spend thousands without result. I know someone who has done the same.

- You could have heavy metal toxicity, loads of people have it, I have had mine tested and there were high readings but I was not tested because I suspected anything. Heavy metal toxicity and thyroid problems can be associated.
- You could have adrenal issues
- You could have high xenoestrogen levels
- You could have gene mutations. A lot has been written about the MTHFR gene with an easy asparagus test to identify whether you have mutations in it


How many of these things, if tested to be high would reverse the problem if he sorted it and how many are secondary? For example, when I paid for tests to be done I had extremely high levels of arsenic, I have extremely high cortisol levels, I had dysbiosis, pathogens, vitamin and mineral deficiencies etc.

Blake could test something, say "hey, I have high levels of mercury from my fillings, maybe that contributes to my thyroid issue (very plausible)" then he pays hundreds to thousands of dollars getting them removed and going on a heavy metal detoxification programme. He could buy an infra-red sauna to detoxify suspected plastics. He could never touch a BPA containing receipt again, buy water filters for the entire house so no chlorine, metals or contaminants enter his water supply and are absorbed transdermally or orally, he could do a LEAP test and find 75 food intolerances and 3 severe allergies causing an immunological response resulting in raised cortisol, he could pay thousands of dollars to get his genomics results to find certain gene mutations and issues and he could still have the same issue that he started with, "mysterious weight gain".

I am all for these tests. I just want to make sure that we are a help, not a hindrance. There are things I could have added to this thread from the beginning but I don't want to say "maybe it is this?" because without any assessing, we are just having guesses, which adds to confusion and potentially makes this a longer process.

All I am saying is, before you remortgage your house to pay for all of this testing, please do it in an educated manner as possible. Let's maybe discuss issues first without blind suggestion. We all want this resolved.

Ben

 

[mattrag]

I mean this with a lot of respect and don't want this to come across in any other way.

We have a lot of people here with knowledge that it is easy for us to make suggestions. How many of us are experts at the stuff being suggested? I appreciate when someone is stuck trying to come up with ideas is as helpful as can be. It is also damaging because it becomes a game pin the tail on the donkey.

Everyone here is being helpful, it is great to see. I just don't want 100 ideas thrown at MWB and watch him spend thousands without result. I know someone who has done the same.

- You could have heavy metal toxicity, loads of people have it, I have had mine tested and there were high readings but I was not tested because I suspected anything. Heavy metal toxicity and thyroid problems can be associated.
- You could have adrenal issues
- You could have high xenoestrogen levels
- You could have gene mutations. A lot has been written about the MTHFR gene with an easy asparagus test to identify whether you have mutations in it


How many of these things, if tested to be high would reverse the problem if he sorted it and how many are secondary? For example, when I paid for tests to be done I had extremely high levels of arsenic, I have extremely high cortisol levels, I had dysbiosis, pathogens, vitamin and mineral deficiencies etc.

Blake could test something, say "hey, I have high levels of mercury from my fillings, maybe that contributes to my thyroid issue (very plausible)" then he pays hundreds to thousands of dollars getting them removed and going on a heavy metal detoxification programme. He could buy an infra-red sauna to detoxify suspected plastics. He could never touch a BPA containing receipt again, buy water filters for the entire house so no chlorine, metals or contaminants enter his water supply and are absorbed transdermally or orally, he could do a LEAP test and find 75 food intolerances and 3 severe allergies causing an immunological response resulting in raised cortisol, he could pay thousands of dollars to get his genomics results to find certain gene mutations and issues and he could still have the same issue that he started with, "mysterious weight gain".

I am all for these tests. I just want to make sure that we are a help, not a hindrance. There are things I could have added to this thread from the beginning but I don't want to say "maybe it is this?" because without any assessing, we are just having guesses, which adds to confusion and potentially makes this a longer process.

All I am saying is, before you remortgage your house to pay for all of this testing, please do it in an educated manner as possible. Let's maybe discuss issues first without blind suggestion. We all want this resolved.

Ben

very true, but i think MWB just is putting it out there for everyone as well to perhaps look to any and all problems. totally get how we can be steering him on an endless path to health, but sometimes we have to explore all regions of the problem to get an answer.

 

[bdcc]

I agree. I know he is looking for support. I am just encouraging that people ensure their suggestions are helpful, some of the stuff being suggested is extremely expensive to test for and may not solve his main purpose.

 

[MidwestBeast]

I certainly appreciate all of your concerns and all of your suggestions/input, as well. I've talked with Ben outside of AM about this a bit and I'll just share it here, as well.

I'm hopeful that I'll be moving within the next few months to a job back near my hometown and all of my family. Given that, I'm not trying that hard to find a new doctor or a specialist down here. My experience with doctors this entire time is that they'll agree with me, sign off on tests, etc., but show no concern about my weight gain. I suppose since I can still walk on my own, don't require oxygen and I can still fit in "regular" sized clothing, they don't see what I'm going through as anything serious. Since that has been the environment and attitude thus far, I've learned to do as much research as I can on my own and as long as the doctor signs off on my blood work and insurance will cover it, then that's what I'll keep doing.

Whenever I move, I will immediately seek out a high quality doctor and/or specialist who actually will spend the time to see to it that we address this.

Until then, I'm just doing what I can on my own and ruling things out. Hopefully I'll hear back soon about the copper/minerals testing and can get that done. The funny thing about that is as I request more and more blood work, he hasn't requested to see me, again. I know if I was a doctor, I'd probably be thinking, "why the heck is this guy doing this and this; I need to get him in here to discuss this."

 

[mattrag]

I agree. I know he is looking for support. I am just encouraging that people ensure their suggestions are helpful, some of the stuff being suggested is extremely expensive to test for and may not solve his main purpose.

Yea... I know it can be frustrating MWB. Id honestly try seeing those chinese docs. I assume they are on the cheaper side. See what they say. Many of those who have made amazing come backs from downs in their lives have said that these docs have helped them correct imbalances etc.

Robb Wolf, Chris Kresser.. and Im sure a lot more online have gone to a functional medical practitioner and found answers that helped them reach their goals. Im not telling you to visit one. Just see how much it would cost to visit one, if its in your price range then re evaluate and see where to go from there. This is the "natural" way of going about it, Id think it'd be cheaper, last longer, and involve less complications and tests.

Good luck man, here to learn from you and everyone else. Thanks for posting this stuff dude, its a real struggle and takes real courage to post those pics and the test results and share with us your story.

 

[LiveToLift]

Well if we could just combine our problems we could both find a happy medium! I eat til I drop and seem to lose a pound! Good luck man my problem has always been the opposite of yours. Hope these doctor's can give you some type of closure!

 

[MidwestBeast]

Just a separate question:

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/nutrition-health/185662-blood-tests-advice.html

 

[MidwestBeast]

Just an update:

I scheduled a follow-up with my doc on Monday just to discuss some things and pick his brain as to what he personally thought may be at bay. He suggested labs to check prolactin and growth hormone. He felt that if those came back normal it would "effectively" rule out the pituitary as a culprit (based on everything else I'd had tested) and if that were the case, he recommended meeting with a specialist at Vanderbilt or possibly UK for a second opinion.

Well, prolactin just came back high out of range and he recommends a brain MRI. Their office is in the process of setting that up and getting back to me.

What was odd was that the blood test checked "human growth hormone" and it came back at 0.04 (ref range: 0.01 - 3.61, or something really close to that). That seems very strange as in January I had IGF-1 checked and it was something like 139 or 159 with the max range being ~170 (it's posted in my labs, but I'm not gonna go dig it up atm).

Anyway, just an update for anyone who was curious or for anyone else who may be suffering a miserable sentence like me, lol.

 

[mattrag]

Thx for the update!!

Man it's looking worse but getting closer!

 

[MidwestBeast]

Just had a brain MRI this evening; specifically a dynamic MRI that looked at the pituitary (what that means is that I was hooked up to an IV, too, and there was a 4 second window to get an image, for part of it, after the contrast injection).

Anyway, I stuck around after to speak with the radiologist and there were no tumors or anything out of the ordinary. In the big picture, that's great news. In regards to this, it leaves me back at the drawing board.

 

[LiveToLift]

Good to hear it came up clean!

 

[mattrag]

Just had a brain MRI this evening; specifically a dynamic MRI that looked at the pituitary (what that means is that I was hooked up to an IV, too, and there was a 4 second window to get an image, for part of it, after the contrast injection).

Anyway, I stuck around after to speak with the radiologist and there were no tumors or anything out of the ordinary. In the big picture, that's great news. In regards to this, it leaves me back at the drawing board.

Well at least you know you dont have a tumor.
Always a plus. Man though it is odd that you are having such mean problems. Maybe you are just going through early andropause?

 

[TheDarkHalf]

I still say map the genome....

 

[MidwestBeast]

Good to hear it came up clean!

Thanks, man.

Well at least you know you dont have a tumor.
Always a plus. Man though it is odd that you are having such mean problems. Maybe you are just going through early andropause?

Oddly enough, I was praying for a tumor the whole time I was having the MRI done. How messed up is that? When I say tumor, I'm referring to a small tumor on the pituitary; not a golf-ball sized one smack-dab in the middle of my brain. I know you don't really "hope" for a tumor, but it would have been an answer to all of this; it just leaves me wondering, again. And I've never studied andropause to really know what it is.

I still say map the genome....

You're probably already on vacation, but I repped/pm'ed you to ask if you had any info on this. I'm meeting with a new doc (guy who lifts at my gym) next week. I'm trying to rule more stuff out/find the answer lol.

 

[mattrag]

Andro pause is just low the slowing down of our HTPA. Like menapause (sp) for women.

Just basically TRT therapy to get you bumped back up. Or maybe some DHEA/Preg?

 

[MidwestBeast]

Andro pause is just low the slowing down of our HTPA. Like menapause (sp) for women.

Just basically TRT therapy to get you bumped back up. Or maybe some DHEA/Preg?

I'm pretty sure it's something different than that. Back in January (first blood labs), my test/estrogen were in good order (test wasn't AS high as I'd like, but still well within normal range) and my libido still feels like I'm a teenager most of the time. Between that and my use of exogenous thyroid hormone, that shouldn't be an issue.

My top thoughts (as far of a stretch as they may be) at the moment are:

- heavy metals and/or xeno-estrogens working at a cellular level (I drink tons of water, so it could be from tap water/pipes and/or all the canned tuna/chicken I've eaten over the years, plastic I always used to drink out of until a month or so ago, etc.).

- some type of food allergy/reaction (though this is a stretch for me, because I don't see that keeping me from losing weight; plus, it would be odd that it kicked in just a year and a half ago)

- something still just hindering the conversion of thyroid hormone (I don't know what it would be though, based on everything I've had tested)

- something happening at a cellular level (maybe related to other aspects already mentioned) that is triggering fat cells to grow or be targeted (I know how crazy that sounds, but I'm running out of ideas lol)

- I've always had issues with stomach cramps in my lower abdomen; perhaps something happening where waste isn't properly being removed from my body, spilling over (I'm aware of how ridiculous that one sounds, but when I was in high school I went over a full week, while on vacation, without having a bowel movement -- purposely holding it because of a hatred/fear of public toilets, and also for more than a weekend while gone, too. Both times, I ate a lot and when I did have the first bowel movement afterward, it wasn't anything more than normal; doesn't make sense, although I've never heard of that being an issue or problem)

 

[Jasen]

I have similar problem I believe I have some sleep issue I wake up at mornings sore.... Also I hate this part if I eat enough for muscle I get fat if i drop my cals first thing happened I loss muscle loll FML I will try sprinting soon but I have for a long time believe thyroid and sleep very issues I also abused stims a lot too

 

[mattrag]

I have similar problem I believe I have some sleep issue I wake up at mornings sore.... Also I hate this part if I eat enough for muscle I get fat if i drop my cals first thing happened I loss muscle loll FML I will try sprinting soon but I have for a long time believe thyroid and sleep very issues I also abused stims a lot too

seems as though this is a very common problem. I too have this problem. I used stims for around 8 years to lose weight lol.

 

[MidwestBeast]

I should have meetings with 2 different doctors, this week. One is a doctor who lifts at my gym and the other is an endocrinologist at a top university. I'm also looking at stuff to do with MC4R gene mutations (look it up; interesting stuff).

The bottom line is that crushing rT3 and bringing my TSH down to near hyperthyroid numbers did nothing to benefit me, so there is something hindering that from being effective even though the numbers have changed. On top of that, something is creating high prolactin (though apparently it's not a prolactinoma on the pituitary, as the MRI effectively ruled that out) and arguably high cortisol (24 hour came back through the roof, but AM and PM serum draws did not; still have never had 4x saliva done).