Please note:
Low SHBG values that most of the posters who think it is a good thing are talking about is the low SHBG that one gets from taking very high doses of testosterone.
This is NOT the same as the condition we are talking about in my post.
If you have normal SHBG to start, and you drive it down with medications, that's your body responding naturally to what you've done by accelerating testosterone metabolism.
In my case, and in EROs's case, SHBG does not change and does not "find its own level." That's the issue. A liver that refuses to balance hormones - at all. It's low when it's supposed to be low and low when it's supposed to be high and low no matter what you do, even with greatly elevated estrogen.
Vestpocket
What are your actual lab values?
People with diabetes or pre-diabetes tend to have low SHBG. Have you checked your A1c?
I've checked A1C and it is normal. I had a fasting 3hr GTT and it turns out that I have insulin sensitivity (hypoglycemia from 75g glucose, but no excess insulin at all — insulin was low-normal the whole time.) Fasting insulin is 0 (below detection range.)
Here are my labs as of last week:
TT: 484 [348-1197] ng/dL
SHBG:
13 [16-55] — LOW
FT:
25.22 [5-21] — HIGH
FT%: 5.21 [1.50-4.20] — HIGH
DHT: 47 [30-85] ng/dL
Estradiol, Sensitive: 15.4 [8-35] (thanks to A-dex)
Regimen:
80mg t-cyp weekly
1.25mg Arimidex weekly
Result:
Feel like absolute shit.
I am still confused why anyone would be upset of having low SHBG not related to diabetes. You have more free testosterone. What am I missing?
The type of diabetes that lowers SHBG can be treated to an extent. Having unexplained low SHBG cannot be fixed.
Let me tell you from a decade of experience: more free T is worthless unless everything else is in balance.
So what. You can fix that with low dose anastrozole.
I would love to have low SHBG without the use of anabolics or having diabetes.
There is no such thing as fee T excess.
I have never seen anyone with free T over 5 percent of total (I have reviewed probably over 1000 blood works in 24 years)
Not low dose for my case. Free T excess exists when you have so much free T that you need breast cancer medication and when the free T fraction is abnormal.
You've now seen someone with over 5%.
The problem is:
- At 484 ng/dL, I'm already over range on E2 and FT. This causes feedback on the hypothalamus and therefore keeps my natural testosterone <350 ng/dl. Any TRT at all creates estrogen havoc.
- SHBG also binds E2 (30%), so if there isn't enough SHBG to bind T properly, it creates an excess of free E2. (I have labs somewhere to back this up.)
- I suffer from ED and inability to gain muscle, despite this "wonderful" condition, that no one who actually experiences it ever raves about.
There's a case study in the literature of a man who produces no SHBG. He doesn't have awesome gains and he doesn't have an awesome sex life. He has normal (but delayed) secondary sexual characteristics, but suffers from hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction and muscle weakness.
In short, the reason I need higher SHBG is so I can have normal lab values. Without enough SHBG, my FT and E2 (and therefore Arimidex dose) are going to be insane.
The problem with TRT and low SHBG is:
- E2 and FT are already cranked by 480 ng/dL TT.
- Adding more testosterone creates bizarre estrogen imbalances.
- I currently require
1-1.25 mg of
Arimidex per week to keep my E2 in check at a mere
484 ng/dL TT. I'm not fat. I'm not old. I'm not diabetic. I don't want to have to take this drug at all, in the first place, let alone high doses of for life. That's why I want normal SHBG.
- I feel awful, and so do many men with impaired SHBG production.
Low SHBG might be nice if you're loading up with T, but if you're on a normal
TRT dose, you're screwed.
"m0ar free T" is not magic. Balance is.
