MY RECENT LAB RESULTS

[Dansk]

Ya my story mimics Jaylay777’s pretty much to a T. Was 27, had total T in the 600-700 range, SHBG in the 50’s, and very low free T. Tried everything I could to lower SHBG, just couldn’t make it budge. I’m 32 now, and been on HRT ever since. Started with HCG mono, have done clomid mono, and now on testosterone with HCG. I prefer testosterone and HCG over the other two options.

To answer your question, there’s no definitive answer to why all of us have high SHBG levels that like to bind up our free T. Could be environmental factors, or xenoestrogens in all the products we use, or all the stuff in our food. Who knows. No use worrying about it though. Not much we can do to lower it, trust me, I’ve tried.

And don’t be so hesitant. The reason people have to go up and down in their protocols, is because they are inpatient, and start with too high of a dose, or make too big of adjustments, or add too many things at one time, or implement ai’s when they shouldn’t of. All you have to do to have success is start with a low dose of testosterone only, and see how you do. Get labs done after 2 months, adjust testosterone dose up if needed, get labs done in another 2 months, adjust dose up if needed, and just keep repeating this until you feel optimal. Starting low and going slow is the way to go. This way, you will not need to go up and down in your protocol. This way just takes patience, which not many have, including myself. I’m a very inpatient person, so I understand why people go up and down in their protocols trying to figure out the quick solution. But if you start low and go slow you’ll be fine.

Thanks, I appreciate your input.

 

[Dansk]

Madman if you don´t mind me asking why do you not use Hcg knowing its benefits?

I'm the kind of person who committed myself to avoid any pharmaceutical drugs, I do believe by proper diet, exercise and managing our emotions we do not need them. To me the side effects are not worth it. I am a mind says go kind of guy, I like to push myself physically and mentally, but I can feel my body lately is saying no when I do.

So the one exception that has been in the back of my mind for the past 4 years is TRT. I don't want to go into my senior years all tired and cranky because of my hormones. I am really trying to balance the risk/reward of starting TRT in my head. It would be interesting to hear form people who are 70+ years old who have been on TRT, I think that's whats occupying my thoughts the most getting into those much older years on TRT.

When I was offered the HCG mono-therapy it was primarily to drive my estradiol up as the MD believed it was non-existent. But he did not do the sensitive test. You can see my post and labs from back then that I posted here on excelmale. I didn't believe the MD was doing the right thing and left and never went back.

To everyone who has responded to this thread It has been helpful to hear more positive experiences.

 

[Gman86]

I feel that too many men on trt tweak their protocol too often without giving the body a chance to adjust to the new testosterone level as whenever one changes dose whether increasing or decreasing..... blood levels are in flux for 6 weeks before reaching steady state and too many judge the 6 weeks as if major changes should take place as oppose to getting through the 6 week flux and than staying at those levels for 2-3 months before truly gauging how your body reacts overall to your new levels.

The 6 week flux can make many anxious and quick to react if things do not turn out as expected.

Even if one is using hcg or an aromatase inhibitor (hopefully not needed and if it is than used sensibly) many do not give it a chance and start manipulating things too quickly.

As we know always start low and go slow and patience is key!

I think u might be spot on. I’ve always been very curious about all the anecdotal stories of guys not feeling well during dose changes, or even feeling like they did pre-TRT. Basically feeling like they were on nothing at all again. This might be an extremely underrated aspect of TRT to pay attention to. I wouldn’t be surprised if it really does take the body a long time to adjust to a dose change, and if we are all tweaking our protocols way sooner than we should be after a dose change.

Very eye opening thoughts. If this happened to you, clearly it can happen to others. And I know it’s happened to others, because I’ve read a decent amount of anecdotal stories about men not feeling great on a specific dosage, but then feeling great on that same dosage 2-3 months later, quite a ways past when they had already reached steady state.

 

[Gman86]

I feel that too many men on trt tweak their protocol too often without giving the body a chance to adjust to the new testosterone level as whenever one changes dose whether increasing or decreasing..... blood levels are in flux for 6 weeks before reaching steady state and too many judge the 6 weeks as if major changes should take place as oppose to getting through the 6 week flux and than staying at those levels for 2-3 months before truly gauging how your body reacts overall to your new levels.

The 6 week flux can make many anxious and quick to react if things do not turn out as expected.

Even if one is using hcg or an aromatase inhibitor (hopefully not needed and if it is than used sensibly) many do not give it a chance and start manipulating things too quickly.

As we know always start low and go slow and patience is key!

Would you mind just posting a quick set of your labs? Just curious where your numbers all ended up. Just like a total T, free T, E2 and SHBG, if you don’t mind. I’m always curious to see labs from guys who feel great, and not on an ai. Thanks.

 

[Gman86]

I'm the kind of person who committed myself to avoid any pharmaceutical drugs, I do believe by proper diet, exercise and managing our emotions we do not need them. To me the side effects are not worth it. I am a mind says go kind of guy, I like to push myself physically and mentally, but I can feel my body lately is saying no when I do.

So the one exception that has been in the back of my mind for the past 4 years is TRT. I don't want to go into my senior years all tired and cranky because of my hormones. I am really trying to balance the risk/reward of starting TRT in my head. It would be interesting to hear form people who are 70+ years old who have been on TRT, I think that's whats occupying my thoughts the most getting into those much older years on TRT.

When I was offered the HCG mono-therapy it was primarily to drive my estradiol up as the MD believed it was non-existent. But he did not do the sensitive test. You can see my post and labs from back then that I posted here on excelmale. I didn't believe the MD was doing the right thing and left and never went back.

To everyone who has responded to this thread It has been helpful to hear more positive experiences.

I’m honestly the same way. I’ve been a health freak since I was 14. I’m 32 now. I avoid medications like the plague, and I’m a nurse, so I hate having to give all my patients “poison” everyday. Doctors are only good for acute illnesses or injuries, anything chronic, stay far far away from doctors that just want to prescribe you mediations. These are just band aids, and not only don’t treat the underlying cause of the problem, but can sometimes actually make the underlying problem worse!

So I understand your mindset. But testosterone is bio-identical. It’s the same exact molecule that your body produces. Has no side effects like synthetic medications have. And you have to factor in that you are putting urself at a very high risk for pretty much all chronic disease by having a low free testosterone level. Testosterone is pretty much the number one thing you can take to increase insulin sensitivity and prevent diabetes. Low testosterone puts you at a much higher risk for getting Alzheimer’s/ dementia. Your muscles can atrophy, which you can kind of prevent your skeletal muscles from atrophying by working them out, but what about muscles that you cannot workout, like your intestine muscles, which need to stay strong to process food. There’s just other muscles that need to stay strong as well, which testosterone is needed to prevent those from atrophying. The heart is obviously a muscle as well, but I’m pretty sure you can keep that fairly strong by working out and exercising. I could be wrong though. Just having low testosterone could cause it to atrophy a little overtime, regardless of whether you exercise or not. Other things to consider is testosterone increases nitric oxide, which is a powerful neurotransmitter that increases circulation as well as relaxing the blood vessels, very very important neurotransmitter for cardiovascular health. Testosterone also increases the amount of red blood cells in your blood, and also the amount of oxygen that’s on each red blood cell. This is huge. This means that plenty of oxygen is getting to every part of your body, including your brain, obviously. So with low testosterone, it’s the opposite. Low testosterone leads to decreased bone density. Bone density is extremely important for overall health and longevity. A vast number of older men/ women have a fall, break a bone/ bones, and consequently die within the following year. I could go on and on about the risks you are putting yourself at by not treating your low testosterone level, but trust me, you have nothing to worry about. The only thing you should be worrying about is the damage you are doing to your health by having a low testosterone level everyday. We only get one body, and one chance at this life. You want to try and make that one body last as long as you possibly can. I know I do.

 

[Dansk]

I’m honestly the same way. I’ve been a health freak since I was 14. I’m 32 now. I avoid medications like the plague, and I’m a nurse, so I hate having to give all my patients “poison” everyday. Doctors are only good for acute illnesses or injuries, anything chronic, stay far far away from doctors that just want to prescribe you mediations. These are just band aids, and not only don’t treat the underlying cause of the problem, but can sometimes actually make the underlying problem worse!

So I understand your mindset. But testosterone is bio-identical. It’s the same exact molecule that your body produces. Has no side effects like synthetic medications have. And you have to factor in that you are putting urself at a very high risk for pretty much all chronic disease by having a low free testosterone level. Testosterone is pretty much the number one thing you can take to increase insulin sensitivity and prevent diabetes. Low testosterone puts you at a much higher risk for getting Alzheimer’s/ dementia. Your muscles can atrophy, which you can kind of prevent your skeletal muscles from atrophying by working them out, but what about muscles that you cannot workout, like your intestine muscles, which need to stay strong to process food. There’s just other muscles that need to stay strong as well, which testosterone is needed to prevent those from atrophying. The heart is obviously a muscle as well, but I’m pretty sure you can keep that fairly strong by working out and exercising. I could be wrong though. Just having low testosterone could cause it to atrophy a little overtime, regardless of whether you exercise or not. Other things to consider is testosterone increases nitric oxide, which is a powerful neurotransmitter that increases circulation as well as relaxing the blood vessels, very very important neurotransmitter for cardiovascular health. Testosterone also increases the amount of red blood cells in your blood, and also the amount of oxygen that’s on each red blood cell. This is huge. This means that plenty of oxygen is getting to every part of your body, including your brain, obviously. So with low testosterone, it’s the opposite. Low testosterone leads to decreased bone density. Bone density is extremely important for overall health and longevity. A vast number of older men/ women have a fall, break a bone/ bones, and consequently die within the following year. I could go on and on about the risks you are putting yourself at by not treating your low testosterone level, but trust me, you have nothing to worry about. The only thing you should be worrying about is the damage you are doing to your health by having a low testosterone level everyday. We only get one body, and one chance at this life. You want to try and make that one body last as long as you possibly can. I know I do.

Well said, thanks again from one RN to another.

 

[Dansk]

Updated lab results, this is me after 24 days of not doing any weights or cardio. I'v done nothing in terms of exercise. I'm Impressed with my TT. SHBG really sucks, there gotta be a reason why the body decides to bind things up? FT sucks.

My Bili always runs high on and off, since my 20's (supposedly Gilberts Syndrome)

Got a consult in 1 week.

 

[Systemlord]

You obviously need to push high levels to increase Free T while on TRT. Your pituitary gland isn't behaving accordingly, it should increase LH to get Free T higher, that's a sluggish pituitary gland.

My bilirubin is higher than yours and it's no cause for concern.

 

[Dansk]

You obviously need to push high levels to increase Free T while on TRT. Your pituitary gland isn't behaving accordingly, it should increase LH to get Free T higher, that's a sluggish pituitary gland.

My bilirubin is higher than yours and it's no cause for concern.

Really? on the pituitary?? Does this warrant MRI??

 

[Systemlord]

Really? on the pituitary?? Does this warrant MRI??

You're LH is midrange and so to is your Total T, that's what we expect to see. I believe an MRI should always be done to rule things out, there's just no reason not to. We would normally see prolactin elevated in pituitary tumors, but every now and again we see a tumor that is benign that isn't releasing prolactin.

If a benign tumor was putting pressure on the pituitary, you would want to know.