Latest labs 10/13

[Rhino 2.0]

Total testosterone-657 (264-916)
Free Testosterone (direct)-23.4 (9.3-26.5)
LH-5.8 (1.7-8.6)
FSH-3.6 (1.5-12.4)
Estradiol sensative-17.2 (8.0-35.0)
SHBG-53.5 (16-55.9)

It looks like I'm neither primary or secondary and I just have high SHBG. In my next consult I am going to ask to go on TRT. My total testosterone is good but with my SHBG being so high it is really lowering my free testosterone even though my free is at the top of range. Is direct free testosterone a reliable test? I have all the symptoms of low t but with those numbers would you consider TRT?

 

[1Draw]

Total testosterone-657 (264-916)
Free Testosterone (direct)-23.4 (9.3-26.5)
LH-5.8 (1.7-8.6)
FSH-3.6 (1.5-12.4)
Estradiol sensative-17.2 (8.0-35.0)
SHBG-53.5 (16-55.9)

It looks like I'm neither primary or secondary and I just have high SHBG. In my next consult I am going to ask to go on TRT. My total testosterone is good but with my SHBG being so high it is really lowering my free testosterone even though my free is at the top of range. Is direct free testosterone a reliable test? I have all the symptoms of low t but with those numbers would you consider TRT?

JayLay what are your symptoms? Your T levels do not warrant testosterone therapy and I doubt there is a doctor who would put you on it with those levels. Have you had a complete Thyroid work up done? Symptoms are very similar and the thyroid is a short term fix once the cause has been determined where testosterone therapy is for life... Here is a good explanation of how the symptoms are very similar and what thyroid test to run:

Thyroid Symptoms in Men + How Low Thyroid Causes Low Testosterone Reverse T3 testing very important...

 

[Vince Carter]

Total testosterone-657 (264-916)
Free Testosterone (direct)-23.4 (9.3-26.5)
LH-5.8 (1.7-8.6)
FSH-3.6 (1.5-12.4)
Estradiol sensative-17.2 (8.0-35.0)
SHBG-53.5 (16-55.9)

It looks like I'm neither primary or secondary and I just have high SHBG. In my next consult I am going to ask to go on TRT. My total testosterone is good but with my SHBG being so high it is really lowering my free testosterone even though my free is at the top of range. Is direct free testosterone a reliable test? I have all the symptoms of low t but with those numbers would you consider TRT?

That makes no sense what you wrote there.

 

[Vince Carter]

Total testosterone-657 (264-916)
Free Testosterone (direct)-23.4 (9.3-26.5)
LH-5.8 (1.7-8.6)
FSH-3.6 (1.5-12.4)
Estradiol sensative-17.2 (8.0-35.0)
SHBG-53.5 (16-55.9)

It looks like I'm neither primary or secondary and I just have high SHBG. In my next consult I am going to ask to go on TRT. My total testosterone is good but with my SHBG being so high it is really lowering my free testosterone even though my free is at the top of range. Is direct free testosterone a reliable test? I have all the symptoms of low t but with those numbers would you consider TRT?

Most guys would really like to have those natural levels you have there.

 

[Rhino 2.0]

You don’t think my higher SHBG is choking my free t levels? If I plug my shbg and total t into the free testosterone % calculator it gives me a lot lower of a level than what my direct free testosterone has on my labs .

 

[Vince Carter]

It has some effect sure but you're so close to the lab range you'd never get any competent Dr to treat you with those numbers. You have something else going on perhaps but it's nothing that is encompassed in these numbers.

 

[Rhino 2.0]

all the typical symptoms of low testosterone. Weak erections, lower libido, less drive , hard time building muscle, losing fat around midsection and love handles, not able to get a pump in gym, tired quickly in gym, dick does not have much sensitivity, and no morning erections. Energy is ok but could be better. I do not have any temperature problems so I don’t think it’s my thyroid. I have taken natural test boosters and DHEA before and felt like it gave me a libido boost and I noticed I lost a little fat around my midesection.

 

[Vince Carter]

Nitric oxide stuff like Citrulline or Arginine? Circulation problems?

You're E could be LOW, for YOU the individual. With your SHBG, remember SHBG binds to E just like it does with T, you could have very little Free Estrogen. I sometimes have this thought that E should be in a range of close proximity to your SHBG number. Might be why DHEA you say has helped as it can aromatase easily under certain circumstances.

 

[Vince]

You're definitely not a candidate for trt. You need to work on your overall health.

 

[Vince]

all the typical symptoms of low testosterone. Weak erections, lower libido, less drive , hard time building muscle, losing fat around midsection and love handles, not able to get a pump in gym, tired quickly in gym, dick does not have much sensitivity, and no morning erections. Energy is ok but could be better. I do not have any temperature problems so I don’t think it’s my thyroid. I have taken natural test boosters and DHEA before and felt like it gave me a libido boost and I noticed I lost a little fat around my midesection.

I've showed you this thread in the past but here it is again.
How to lower your sex hormone binding globulin

 

[Rhino 2.0]

Vince-unfortunately I tried everything to lower it and it does not work. I tried arimidex before and felt a little better but it crashed my e2 after a while because my e2 was never high it’s just that my shbg is binding up all my free t. I’m going to give TRT a shot.The doc said at my age if I find it doesn’t help me much I will have a good chance of restarting my production if I find out it dosnt help. I have a feeling it will though. Will see.

 

[Jiu Jitsu Dude]

Your free T looks good to me

 

[fifty]

Your free t is in the 90th+ percentile. Going on trt makes no sense at this time but at least you’ll make someone some money.

 

[Gman86]

Vince-unfortunately I tried everything to lower it and it does not work. I tried arimidex before and felt a little better but it crashed my e2 after a while because my e2 was never high it’s just that my shbg is binding up all my free t. I’m going to give TRT a shot.The doc said at my age if I find it doesn’t help me much I will have a good chance of restarting my production if I find out it dosnt help. I have a feeling it will though. Will see.

What Vince is saying is that your E2 might be too LOW, not high. Lowering it would only make you feel worse. He’s saying that boosting it UP might make you feel better, which I agree with.

Your testosterone, total and free, are both too high for a doctor to put you on TRT. When I first looked at your numbers, they were so good that I honest to god thought that those were your lab results while on TRT. I should of known that you weren’t tho due to your LH and FSH not being zero’d out. Both are at healthy levels though, especially LH, which is the one that is responsible for testosterone production. So you definitely don’t need TRT. But Vince took the words right out of my mouth, the first thing I thought of when you had normal testosterone levels but lowish E2 was DHEA. I would definitely get your DHEA-S levels checked. when guys go on DHEA, they usually always report that it spikes their E2, which would be a good thing for you. And also, DHEA has been known to help with almost all the symptoms that you reported.

 

[Vince Carter]

Vince-unfortunately I tried everything to lower it and it does not work. I tried arimidex before and felt a little better but it crashed my e2 after a while because my e2 was never high it’s just that my shbg is binding up all my free t. I’m going to give TRT a shot.The doc said at my age if I find it doesn’t help me much I will have a good chance of restarting my production if I find out it dosnt help. I have a feeling it will though. Will see.

You keep saying that and you're wrong. Just plain wrong. You're not listening and only fixated on what you want.

 

[Rhino 2.0]

my free t blood score does not make any sense given my shbg. How is my free t that high when my shbg is high when there was a guy on here that posted labs with a higher total t than me with similar shbg but a lot lower free test barely in range? I’ve actually had free t scored at the very bottom of this range before

 

[Gman86]

my free t blood score does not make any sense given my shbg. How is my free t that high when my shbg is high when there was a guy on here that posted labs with a higher total t than me with similar shbg but a lot lower free test barely in range? I’ve actually had free t scored at the very bottom of this range before

Before I started TRT I had a total T of almost 700, but my SHBG was like yours. So my free T was at the bottom of the range. My follow up blood work to that before TRT, my total T was around 600, and free at below the normal range this time, due to a SHBG identical to yours.

So I agree, your free T should be a lot lower. And if it was on a previous blood test, but almost at the top of the range on this blood test, I would just get another set of labs done. This high free T reading could just be an error.

 

[Rhino 2.0]

I agree, I hope it is an error because I definitely have low t symptoms. What injection frequency works for you on trt and what is you’re dosage? Whatever you’re doing would probably work for me since we have similar numbers ?

 

[Gman86]

My las set of labs were while on 120mg of test per week, 1000iu of HCG per week, and I was taking exemestane here and there, which wasn't the smartest. I've now started taking the Exemestane consistently at 6.25mg every 5 days. I inject both test and HCG every other day. Here were my labs on that protocol. I had my blood drawn before I did my injections. So this is at trough while injecting every other day.


Total T - 1370 (250-1100 ng/dL)
Free T - 201.6 (46.0-224.0)
Bio T - 397.0 (110.0-575.0 ng/dL)
SHBG 41 (10-50)
E2 Ultrasensitive - 57
E2 NOT Sensitive - 56
E2 Free - 1.35 (<0.45)

Usually my SHBG is around 50, but Exemestane lowers SHBG, so I require less total T on Exemestane to reach a good free T level. Without Exemestane, my total T needs to be around 1500-1600 to reach the top of the free T range.

 

[madman]

I agree, I hope it is an error because I definitely have low t symptoms. What injection frequency works for you on trt and what is you’re dosage? Whatever you’re doing would probably work for me since we have similar numbers ?

To put your mind at ease get your FT retested using equlibrium dialysis. TT will also be done using LC/MS-MS.

500726: Testosterone, Free, Mass Spectrometry... | LabCorp