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So here's the results before starting TRT in 2022. SHBG was pretty high, and the doctor said that my free T was low and I needed TRT. I was on 200mg a week for about 6 months and didn't feel much difference, so I stopped. My total T was around 1400 and everything else was the same.
I just got this result about a year after I stopped injecting anything. Looks like the SHBG went down and my free T is a little over the high end of the range now. So if I start injecting again and stop after 6 months, do you think my SHBG will go down even more and become normal? I tried boron and other stuff and it didn't help much.
Or is my result normal now even with high SHBG because my total T is high too?
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Pre-trt you were hitting a very high TT seeing as your SHBG was sky-high.
The shitkicker here is even with your very high SHBG 76 nmol/L with a high TT 1035 ng/dL your FT would not have been low let alone lowish.
Hard to believe your doctor never tested your FT pre-trt as it is the more critical fraction of testosterone that is responsible for the positive effects.
You never posted the labs for FT which should have been tested using what would be considered the most accurate assay Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration to know where it truly sits, especially in cases of altered SHBG.
Otherwise, you would need to use/rely upon the calculated cFTV method.
Keep in mind as of now cFTV tends to overestimate somewhat when compared against the gold-standard Equilibrium Dialysis so your FT may very well be somewhat lower.
Mind you it may even underestimate FT in some cases when compared against the more accurate testing methods (ED/UF).
This is why it is critical to have your FT testing using the most accurate assays such as the gold standard Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration, especially in cases of altered SHBG.
If we plug in your high TT 1035 ng/dL, very high SHBG 76 nmol/L, and Albumin 4.3 g/dL (default) then your cFT would be 14 ng/dL which is far from lowish/low.
Again keep in mind that cFTV tends to overestimate somewhat so if you had your FT tested using ED it may very well come back somewhat lower but it still would not be considered low.
Most healthy young males are hitting 13-15 ng/dL.
On your most recent labs 12 months since you came of exogenous T you are still hitting a high TT 978 ng/dL and although your SHBG is still high 52 nmol/L it dropped down from a very high 76 nmol/L.
As you can see with a high TT 978 ng/dL and high SHBG 52 nmol/L your FT is high at almost 21 ng/dL tested using the most accurate assay ED.
This time around if you used the cFTV method again your FT would have been 17.7 ng/dL which is on the high-end for cFTV but lower than where your FT level truly sits which is almost 21 ng/dL tested using the most accurate assay Equilibrium Dialysis.
In this case, cFTV would have underestimated your FT.
Why would you even think about hopping on TRT again as your natty FT is stellar?
