Do AIs typically increase DHT as the mechanism to reduce the estradiol?
maybe a little after a long hormonal cascade. like we see with use of pretty much any AI, in a direct result of lower estrogen, the body tries to balance the hormonal axis. in basic terms the body sense the higher testosterone and begins to metabolize both it and estrogen. this kind of why we hear of rebound gyno.
sometimes guys use a SERM that has a bunch of estrogen "managed". effectively nullifying its effects at the receptor level. this estrogen is still in circulation in a lot of instances. in particular any methyl-estro. when they quit using the SERM however, all the sudden the body senses the elevated estrogen and again, in an attempt to balance the HTPA, it raises test. test>produces a ton of aromatase to counter the extra testosterone and if the person isn't on top of things the already high estrogen combined with a bunch of test and aromatase, well it just a viscous out of control rollercoaster.
so back to your question, one of the things that happens to test is it conversion to DHT. right? so... after we pieced it all together above, it does in the end cause total hormonal manipulation in the big picture kind of way. does that make any sense?