DHT really low- makes no sense

[Zooulie12]

So I have been feeling pretty crappy lately (down depressed anxious and no libido) and decided to do labs. I had labs done and my t was -1319
E2 sensitive was - 31
Shgb- 42
Free T was 29
But the weirdest one was my dht it came in at 50pg/ml. Which is incredibly low. What makes no sense is I’m on the cream 200mg/ml I applied it 3 hours before labs. I don’t take anything that would lower DHT. I put the cream on my scrotum as well. Is this something that is treatable. I have a follow up with my dr here in less then a month.

 

[Zooulie12]

Weirdly enough though when I did injections a long time ago my DHT was 816pg/ml. I felt the cream would be the main way to increase DHT as well. Sorry but any ideas would be appreciated. My hair is thinning as well which doesn’t make sense either.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Yes, I would have thought it would be higher with scrotal T cream and at that total T level. Was the DHT measured using LC/MS? What supplements and other meds are you taking?

From wikipedia:

Ranges for circulating total DHT levels tested with HPLC–MS/MS and reported by LabCorp are as follows:[72]

• Men: 30–85 ng/dL
• Women: 4–22 ng/dL
• Prepubertal children: <3 ng/dL
• Pubertal boys: 3–65 ng/dL (mean at Tanner stage 5: 43 ng/dL)
• Pubertal girls: 3–19 ng/dL (mean at Tanner stage 5: 9 ng/dL)

Ranges for circulating free DHT levels tested with HPLC–MS/MS and equilibrium dialysis and reported by LabCorp are as follows:[72]

• <18 years of age: not established
• Adult males: 2.30–11.60 pg/mL (0.54–2.58% free)
• Adult females: 0.09–1.02 pg/mL (<1.27% free)

Other studies and labs assessing circulating total DHT levels with LC–MS/MS have reported ranges of 11–95 ng/dL (0.38–3.27 nmol/L) in adult men, 14–77 ng/dL (0.47–2.65 nmol/L) for healthy adult men (age 18–59 years), 23–102 ng/dL (0.8–35 nmol/L) for community-dwelling adult men (age <65 years), and 14–92 ng/dL (0.49–3.2 nmol/L) for healthy older men (age 71–87 years).[5]

 

[Zooulie12]

Yes, I would have thought it would be higher with scrotal T cream and at that total T level. Was the DHT measured using LC/MS? What supplements and other meds are you taking?

From wikipedia:

Ranges for circulating total DHT levels tested with HPLC–MS/MS and reported by LabCorp are as follows:[72]

• Men: 30–85 ng/dL
• Women: 4–22 ng/dL
• Prepubertal children: <3 ng/dL
• Pubertal boys: 3–65 ng/dL (mean at Tanner stage 5: 43 ng/dL)
• Pubertal girls: 3–19 ng/dL (mean at Tanner stage 5: 9 ng/dL)

Ranges for circulating free DHT levels tested with HPLC–MS/MS and equilibrium dialysis and reported by LabCorp are as follows:[72]

• <18 years of age: not established
• Adult males: 2.30–11.60 pg/mL (0.54–2.58% free)
• Adult females: 0.09–1.02 pg/mL (<1.27% free)

Other studies and labs assessing circulating total DHT levels with LC–MS/MS have reported ranges of 11–95 ng/dL (0.38–3.27 nmol/L) in adult men, 14–77 ng/dL (0.47–2.65 nmol/L) for healthy adult men (age 18–59 years), 23–102 ng/dL (0.8–35 nmol/L) for community-dwelling adult men (age <65 years), and 14–92 ng/dL (0.49–3.2 nmol/L) for healthy older men (age 71–87 years).[5]

 

[Zooulie12]

View attachment 26858

Not sure what range that is- or test. But that was the method that the clinic used for the range. It wasn’t Labcorp. It was at my local doctors office I did the labs. There range is kind of confusing

 

[Zooulie12]

I take beta blockers at time for anxiety. That’s the only new med I have taken since my last lab drawn. Sometimes proponalol and sometimes clonidine

 

[Zooulie12]

Yes, I would have thought it would be higher with scrotal T cream and at that total T level. Was the DHT measured using LC/MS? What supplements and other meds are you taking?

From wikipedia:

Ranges for circulating total DHT levels tested with HPLC–MS/MS and reported by LabCorp are as follows:[72]

• Men: 30–85 ng/dL
• Women: 4–22 ng/dL
• Prepubertal children: <3 ng/dL
• Pubertal boys: 3–65 ng/dL (mean at Tanner stage 5: 43 ng/dL)
• Pubertal girls: 3–19 ng/dL (mean at Tanner stage 5: 9 ng/dL)

Ranges for circulating free DHT levels tested with HPLC–MS/MS and equilibrium dialysis and reported by LabCorp are as follows:[72]

• <18 years of age: not established
• Adult males: 2.30–11.60 pg/mL (0.54–2.58% free)
• Adult females: 0.09–1.02 pg/mL (<1.27% free)

Other studies and labs assessing circulating total DHT levels with LC–MS/MS have reported ranges of 11–95 ng/dL (0.38–3.27 nmol/L) in adult men, 14–77 ng/dL (0.47–2.65 nmol/L) for healthy adult men (age 18–59 years), 23–102 ng/dL (0.8–35 nmol/L) for community-dwelling adult men (age <65 years), and 14–92 ng/dL (0.49–3.2 nmol/L) for healthy older men (age 71–87 years).[5]

Sorry I also forgot to mention, I was recently prescribed Ritalin, and I take cabergoline for rls at times. And my prolactin was 1. But I thought prolactin that was high was more correlated with DHT decrease. I see dr saya in less then a month. I just hope whatever is going on with my DHT is curable. The low levels of it, have me more concerned then low levels of T

 

[sammmy]

Beta blockers can cause hair thinning.

 

[Systemlord]

I just hope whatever is going on with my DHT is curable.

In order for testosterone to convert to DHT, you need 5 alpha-reductase enzyme to do it. It’s similar to an aromatase deficiency, where there isn’t enough of the enzyme to convert testosterone to estrogen, estrogen replacement is needed.

There is no cure for this.

 

[Zooulie12]

In order for testosterone to convert to DHT, you need 5 alpha-reductase enzyme to do it. It’s similar to an aromatase deficiency, where there isn’t enough of the enzyme to convert testosterone to estrogen, estrogen replacement is needed.

There is no cure for this.

It’s weird though, because when I did injections my DHT levels were 816pg/ml. I wouldn’t think the enzyme would just randomly disappear.

 

[Zooulie12]

In order for testosterone to convert to DHT, you need 5 alpha-reductase enzyme to do it. It’s similar to an aromatase deficiency, where there isn’t enough of the enzyme to convert testosterone to estrogen, estrogen replacement is needed.

There is no cure for this.

So basically what you’re saying is I’m essentially screwed the rest of my life? I’ve seen that some compounding pharmacies (with scripts) can compound DHT cream

 

[Gman86]

I would personally order another DHT test with a different lab. Are u able to order through discounted labs where u live? I wouldn’t worry too much until u get a follow up DHT test done and it also comes back equally as low. Hopefully it doesn’t and it was just a lab error obv

 

[Zooulie12]

I would personally order another DHT test with a different lab. Are u able to order through discounted labs where u live? I wouldn’t worry too much until u get a follow up DHT test done and it also comes back equally as low. Hopefully it doesn’t and it was just a lab error obv

Yeah- say it does, are there things to increase it? I’ve read proviron does. I have also read articles of men with no DHT and high T and they feel fine

 

[Gman86]

Yeah- say it does, are there things to increase it? I’ve read proviron does. I have also read articles of men with no DHT and high T and they feel fine

Not sure if there’s things to raise 5ar enzyme activity tbh. There’s obv ways to increase DHT, but ur already doing the main one, which is scrotal cream. Didn’t know Proviron can. That’s interesting if it’s true

But I wouldn’t worry too much. It seems like it’s most likely a lab error, especially with it being so dramatically low, and u experiencing some hair loss. But if it ends up being correct, I still wouldn’t worry too much. Clearly ur 5ar enzyme was working great not long ago. So if ur DHT does come back super low again, I would then try to figure out if it’s something ur taking that’s lowering ur dht. It’s hard to believe that ur body would just go from having healthy 5ar enzyme activity to non existent 5ar activity in such a short amount of time on its own. If ur DHT does come back extremely low again, my money is on it’s something that ur taking that’s messing with ur 5ar enzyme activity/ lowering ur DHT levels

 

[Zooulie12]

Not sure if there’s things to raise 5ar enzyme activity tbh. There’s obv ways to increase DHT, but ur already doing the main one, which is scrotal cream. Didn’t know Proviron can. That’s interesting if it’s true

But I wouldn’t worry too much. It seems like it’s most likely a lab error, especially with it being so dramatically low, and u experiencing some hair loss. But if it ends up being correct, I still wouldn’t worry too much. Clearly ur 5ar enzyme was working great not long ago. So if ur DHT does come back super low again, I would then try to figure out if it’s something ur taking that’s lowering ur dht. It’s hard to believe that ur body would just go from having healthy 5ar enzyme activity to non existent 5ar activity in such a short amount of time on its own. If ur DHT does come back extremely low again, my money is on it’s something that ur taking that’s messing with ur 5ar enzyme activity/ lowering ur DHT levels

The only other thing I could think of was I just started taking ksm-66 roughly a week before my labs. Around 600mg a day.

 

[Gman86]

The only other thing I could think of was I just started taking ksm-66 roughly a week before my labs. Around 600mg a day.

Ya not sure if that can affect DHT or not. But I would put money on it being something that ur taking that’s causing these extremely low DHT levels, if it ends up not being a lab error

Was just reading a fb post all about Ashwanghada giving people anhedonia and making them depressed. Be careful with that stuff

 

[Systemlord]

I have also read articles of men with no DHT and high T and they feel fine

This can’t be true for everyone. That’s like saying every man would have no side effects from high estrogen.