35 Y/O male first blood test

[boetie]

Good day, I just had a blood test done to check my testosterone levels, feeling fatigued.
Does it look like on the low side for a 35 year old male.

TESTOSTERONE (TOTAL) 11.3 nmol/L
SEX HOR. BINDING GLOBULIN 28.40 nmol/L 11.1 - 78.1
FREE TESTOSTERONE 244 pmol/L 180 - 739

Any input will be appreciated.

 

[Cataceous]

Your testosterone is on the low side, and some men have problems at this level. Was the test done fairly early in the morning? Is sleep ok? Any chance of apnea? Body weight? Is there possible overtraining? Any sexual symptoms? How is libido? There are followup tests you might run to rule out some treatable underlying causes. These include looking at levels for prolactin, free thyroid hormones (fT3, fT4), LH, FSH, zinc, vitamin D and estradiol.

 

[boetie]

Your testosterone is on the low side, and some men have problems at this level. Was the test done fairly early in the morning? Is sleep ok? And chance of apnea? Body weight? Is there possible overtraining? Any sexual symptoms? How is libido? There are followup tests you might run to rule out some treatable underlying causes. These include looking at levels for prolactin, free thyroid hormones (fT3, fT4), LH, FSH, zinc, vitamin D and estradiol.

The test was done just before 12 in the morning, I get my 8 our sleep in every night without waking up much, don't have any underling issues that I am aware off.
Body weight is about 67kg, I am on the skinny side and am active at work and on the farm but don't work out. Libido I queues could be better.

 

[Cataceous]

You should measure testosterone around 7-9 am. By noon it can be significantly off of its peak.

 

[Systemlord]

The test was done just before 12 in the morning,

Studies show loss of libido can occur <500 ng/dL (17.3 nmol/L) and there’s enough data pointing to at least a strong association at cardiovascular disease below 550 and 440 ng/dL.

If your Free T isn’t in the top 25% percentile, your risk for prostate cancer is increased by 53%!

 

[boetie]

You should measure testosterone around 7-9 am. By noon it can be significantly off of its peak.

Thanks, I will see if the dr get back to me regarding the results to go for a earlier test, otherwise I will follow up with them to scedule it

 

[boetie]

Studies show loss of libido can occur <500 ng/dL (17.3 nmol/L) and there’s enough data pointing to at least a strong association at cardiovascular disease below 550 and 440 ng/dL.

If your Free T isn’t in the top 25% percentile, your risk for prostate cancer is increased by 53%!

Thanks for the info, sorry to ask but what range would be the top 25% for free T?

 

[Cataceous]

Thanks for the info, sorry to ask but what range would be the top 25% for free T?

He neglects to mention that these studies are on older men, and their average free testosterone is less than your current off-peak value. There's a good chance that your peak measurement would put you in the top 25% of that diminished range. Best to treat these scare tactics as extraneous noise.

 

[boetie]

He neglects to mention that these studies are on older men, and their average free testosterone is less than your current off-peak value. There's a good chance that your peak measurement would put you in the top 25% of that diminished range. Best to treat these scare tactics as extraneous noise.

I went for another test, was a bit delayed but managed to get blood drawn at 09:20

TESTOSTERONE (TOTAL) 12.5 nmol/L
SEX HOR. BINDING GLOBULIN 26.90 nmol/L 11.1 - 78.1
FREE TESTOSTERONE 282 pmol/L 180 - 739

 

[Systemlord]

Best to treat these scare tactics as extraneous noise.

What @boetie won’t grow old?

I hope these scare tactics work because with these levels at only 35 years old, @boetie is on track to become at increased risk for many health problems, prostate cancer being only one.

 

[Systemlord]

Your testosterone is on the low side, and some men have problems at this level.

It’s already known prostate cancer can take up to 20-30 years to become detectable, so for all we know low levels now are starting a chain of events that could lead to prostate cancer.

@boetie is already experiencing fatigue and is most likely due to his 325 ng/dL level and it won’t stop here.

Better be safe than sorry and nip this in the bud now.

 

[Cataceous]

What @boetie won’t grow old?

I hope these scare tactics work because with these levels at only 35 years old, @boetie is on track to become at increased risk for many health problems, prostate cancer being only one.

The point is there's no proven danger at his current levels, so he can take his time to evaluate the situation without being pressured by you.

I went for another test, was a bit delayed but managed to get blood drawn at 09:20

TESTOSTERONE (TOTAL) 12.5 nmol/L
SEX HOR. BINDING GLOBULIN 26.90 nmol/L 11.1 - 78.1
FREE TESTOSTERONE 282 pmol/L 180 - 739

Still on the low side. For due diligence I would do some more testing, including what I mentioned above, to ensure that there's nothing else going on with your health. If nothing is found and you want to pursue treatment then you have various options, including a couple that are less disruptive than full testosterone replacement. In particular, a nasal gel such as Natesto provides periodic boosts to testosterone that can resolve symptoms without disabling your own testosterone production. Nasal gels or testosterone troches would be my first choice. These short-acting treatments are the simplest way to see how much you'd benefit from higher serum testosterone. If results are good but the treatments themselves are not workable over the long haul then you can always move to conventional TRT. SERMs such as enclomiphene are another option. They can be effective at normalizing natural testosterone production, but side effects are more common.

 

[Systemlord]

The point is there's no proven danger at his current levels

There’s data out there from multiple sources that suggests that these levels are not healthy and the cutoff point is much higher than 300 ng/dL.

At 325 ng/dL = fatigue, this isn’t even a hard one and just because there’s no proven danger doesn’t mean there isn’t any danger.

 

[Cataceous]

There’s data out there from multiple sources that suggests that these levels are not healthy and the cutoff point is much higher than 300 ng/dL.

At 325 ng/dL = fatigue, this isn’t even a hard one and just because there’s no proven danger doesn’t mean there isn’t any danger.

Cite the studies in which cFTV of 8 ng/dL is demonstrably unhealthy. I don't dispute that the occasional guy may have some symptoms at this level. However, that's a far cry from a significant link to life-threatening diseases.

As for fatigue, such remarks encourage guys with nebulous fatigue to think that TRT is going to be a panacea. In fact there are dozens of possible reasons for fatigue, and it's important to perform a full evaluation.