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Started By
Message
Please provide any feedback on my full testosterone panel
Posted on 8/22/24 at 8:52 am
Posted on 8/22/24 at 8:52 am
44 year old male. Lift and do cardio 6x a week and live a healthy lifestyle.
Haven’t had them checked in years so I asked my doctor to call in a lab. I got these results last night and don’t see the Dr until next week.
Just curious if you can give me any feedback on my results. Is my free too low?
Is my Globulin number something to worry about?
I feel ok but don’t sleep great and could always be less tired and even more libido.
Haven’t had them checked in years so I asked my doctor to call in a lab. I got these results last night and don’t see the Dr until next week.
Just curious if you can give me any feedback on my results. Is my free too low?
Is my Globulin number something to worry about?
I feel ok but don’t sleep great and could always be less tired and even more libido.
This post was edited on 8/22/24 at 8:55 am
2
Posted on 8/22/24 at 9:25 am to dallastiger55
cant see results
Posted on 8/22/24 at 10:01 am to lsu777
Let me know if the picture isn't showing. It looks good on my phone and laptop.
Total- 697
Albumin- 4.6
Sex hormone binding Globulin- 65(high)
Free- 53.3
Testosterone bioavailable- 112
Total- 697
Albumin- 4.6
Sex hormone binding Globulin- 65(high)
Free- 53.3
Testosterone bioavailable- 112
This post was edited on 8/22/24 at 10:02 am
Posted on 8/23/24 at 4:34 am to dallastiger55
I'll be following this as I just said to my wife last night that I need my testosterone levels checked with a panel. 37, I'm tired as shite half of the day, my sex drive sucks and just lack motivation to do much of anything. my total was 242 a couple years ago
Posted on 8/23/24 at 8:05 am to Bama and Beer
quote:Jeez. Why didn’t you start TRT back then? I was 298 and it’s made a world of difference. I feel best when I’m 1200-1500.
my total was 242 a couple years ago
Posted on 8/23/24 at 8:14 am to Uncle JackD
quote:
Jeez. Why didn’t you start TRT back then? I was 298 and it’s made a world of difference. I feel best when I’m 1200-1500.
Same on both counts: I was ~305 and now 1300 - 1500 ish and to say it's been transformative would be an understatement
OP, your numbers look better than mine did at your age, but TO ME they still look a bit low BUT it's all in how YOU feel. I know some guys feel great at those numbers and others, like me, work better at higher numbers.
As for your SHBG it's not too far out of whack but would be worthwhile to get a thyroid function lab.
quote:
lack motivation to do much of anything
Yep, been there with a terminal case of just don't give a shite about anything plus brain fog, no energy, no drive of any kind.
This post was edited on 8/23/24 at 8:44 am
Posted on 8/23/24 at 8:24 am to Bama and Beer
quote:
my total was 242 a couple years ago
Damn bro, I was absolutely miserable at that level.
quote:
I'm tired as shite half of the day, my sex drive sucks and just lack motivation to do much of anything.
TRT fixed all of these issues for me. I can't stop moving. I stay right at around 1300 total and feel best around that.
Posted on 8/23/24 at 10:21 am to dallastiger55
Get on boron ~12-15mg in the morning, need to get shgb down and free test up, everything else is fine
Posted on 8/23/24 at 10:23 am to Bama and Beer
Why you waiting? What have you tried to get it up? Do you drink? How is diet?
Posted on 8/23/24 at 1:29 pm to lsu777
Wasn't really feeling lethargic at the time. The last 6 months it has slapped me in the face and I've made an appointment for next week. My alcohol consumption has diminished to a 2-3 nights a month. Diet is probably poor compared to most on here but I'm still a skinny shite
Posted on 8/23/24 at 11:28 pm to Uncle JackD
Who are you seeing for Test? I have a tumor on my pituitary gland causing low T and my endocrinologist REFUSES to go anywhere over 500. He just repeats "It's in normal range." He wanted to leave me at 350 (Not kidding) until I bitched his arse out and said how I still had brain fog.
Posted on 8/24/24 at 5:50 am to BadatBourre
quote:I see a urologist just for a prescription and labs. But I mostly manage my own protocol with extra UGL testC. He uses an old school 200mg once every 14 day protocol which is shite and out dated. Test is super easy to come by and drawing your own labs is even easier.
Who are you seeing for Test?
Posted on 8/24/24 at 11:53 am to BadatBourre
My primary care doctor was the same "you're in range" but zero response about how I felt. Being "in range" has become meaningless as that range has changed significantly over the past few decades. That told me my PCP wasn't keeping up and frankly as a family medical provider I wouldn't hold that against him.
So I went to another provider who specializes in HRT and he had me start off with sublingual tablets from a compounding phamacy just to see if I reacted positively. When I did, we switched to injections because the sublingual troches weren't strong enough. I went from 300-ish to 800-ish and felt a lot better. I left him when he wanted to dial me back to 600-ish because my hematocrit was slightly elevated. I pointed out that I was slightly dehydrated during that blood draw AND the fact that I live at 9,000 feet elevation raises my hematocrit. When he drew himself up and indignatly asked me where I went to medical school, I fired him on the spot. You should ALWAYS take an active role in your healthcare and never, ever swallow whole what you're told to do without question.
Last stop, and semi-current, was after reading several of the better TRT boards online I went to Dr. Justin Saya at Defy Medical who provies telemedicine HRT care. Saya is one of the more highly regarded TRT experts and after looking at my complete labs said he'd rather see me north of 1200. That wasn't quite the same step up as 300 - 800 because I'd suffered with that for so long, but it was a significant improvement akin to putting the finishing touches on a project.
After a couple years with Defy to make sure I'm fully dialed in, I mostly self-manage my care now. Defy wants to review labs twice/year but unless there are significant changes I usually just run my labs by them once/year.
Immediately run away from any provider that suggests injecting once every couple weeks - the half-life of testC is about 8 days so you need more frequency to prevent roller coastering your levels to keep them flat. I know some guys who pin every day in microdoses to keep their estrogen in check, but you do need some estrogen so don't go chasing the automatic aromatase inhibitors they cause more problems than they solve and can be addressed with adjusting dosage/frequency regimine. I started at 2x/week, then 3x/week, then EOD. I finally settled on every day simply because it's easier to manage and not forget. Go to Amazon and find 29 gauge (or similar size) insulin syringes, they're cheap and you'll never feel them.
www.excelmale.com and www.t-nation.com are a couple of the better TRT forums I've found but YMMV
So I went to another provider who specializes in HRT and he had me start off with sublingual tablets from a compounding phamacy just to see if I reacted positively. When I did, we switched to injections because the sublingual troches weren't strong enough. I went from 300-ish to 800-ish and felt a lot better. I left him when he wanted to dial me back to 600-ish because my hematocrit was slightly elevated. I pointed out that I was slightly dehydrated during that blood draw AND the fact that I live at 9,000 feet elevation raises my hematocrit. When he drew himself up and indignatly asked me where I went to medical school, I fired him on the spot. You should ALWAYS take an active role in your healthcare and never, ever swallow whole what you're told to do without question.
Last stop, and semi-current, was after reading several of the better TRT boards online I went to Dr. Justin Saya at Defy Medical who provies telemedicine HRT care. Saya is one of the more highly regarded TRT experts and after looking at my complete labs said he'd rather see me north of 1200. That wasn't quite the same step up as 300 - 800 because I'd suffered with that for so long, but it was a significant improvement akin to putting the finishing touches on a project.
After a couple years with Defy to make sure I'm fully dialed in, I mostly self-manage my care now. Defy wants to review labs twice/year but unless there are significant changes I usually just run my labs by them once/year.
Immediately run away from any provider that suggests injecting once every couple weeks - the half-life of testC is about 8 days so you need more frequency to prevent roller coastering your levels to keep them flat. I know some guys who pin every day in microdoses to keep their estrogen in check, but you do need some estrogen so don't go chasing the automatic aromatase inhibitors they cause more problems than they solve and can be addressed with adjusting dosage/frequency regimine. I started at 2x/week, then 3x/week, then EOD. I finally settled on every day simply because it's easier to manage and not forget. Go to Amazon and find 29 gauge (or similar size) insulin syringes, they're cheap and you'll never feel them.
www.excelmale.com and www.t-nation.com are a couple of the better TRT forums I've found but YMMV
This post was edited on 8/24/24 at 11:58 am
Posted on 8/24/24 at 12:19 pm to Don Quixote
You did it the right way. I tell everyone who asks to do exactly what you did. Find a knowledgeable provider, get dialed in, do your diligent research, THEN manage your own HRT.
It’s incredible how many people blindly follow advice just because they see MD behind their name. I’ve been in the medical field for 20 years and there’s just as many bad providers as there are good. You must do your own research and have your own back. 99/100 PCP and most urologist will put you on bullshite q14 day 200mg dosages and you’ll be riding a roller coaster. I pin twice a week minimum.
Like you, I didn’t feel my best until I got north of 1200. That finally got my free T in the upper limits and had me feeling right. No provider will ever convince me to back down as long as all my other markers are in range. I had labs drawn last week and they were textbook.
It’s incredible how many people blindly follow advice just because they see MD behind their name. I’ve been in the medical field for 20 years and there’s just as many bad providers as there are good. You must do your own research and have your own back. 99/100 PCP and most urologist will put you on bullshite q14 day 200mg dosages and you’ll be riding a roller coaster. I pin twice a week minimum.
Like you, I didn’t feel my best until I got north of 1200. That finally got my free T in the upper limits and had me feeling right. No provider will ever convince me to back down as long as all my other markers are in range. I had labs drawn last week and they were textbook.
This post was edited on 8/24/24 at 12:22 pm
Posted on 8/24/24 at 1:39 pm to Don Quixote
You did it the right way
Had similar journey. I draw labs twice a year but it’s more for everything else and pretty much manage my hormones my self. See Baylor medical yearly and they are amazing
Had similar journey. I draw labs twice a year but it’s more for everything else and pretty much manage my hormones my self. See Baylor medical yearly and they are amazing
This post was edited on 8/24/24 at 1:40 pm
Posted on 8/24/24 at 4:34 pm to lsu777
im just scared to start because I know i will be on it the rest of my life. Hows the evidence on long term usage?
I just want to throw away all the antidepressant/ADHD meds im on and start over and maybe TRT will be the missing piece ive been looking for.
Also concerned how much it would cost
I just want to throw away all the antidepressant/ADHD meds im on and start over and maybe TRT will be the missing piece ive been looking for.
Also concerned how much it would cost
Posted on 8/24/24 at 5:18 pm to dallastiger55
quote:You don’t have to be in it the rest of your life. But if you’re truly hypogonadal, you’ll want to. You can stop at any time and go back to your previous levels and feel like arse again.
im just scared to start because I know i will be on it the rest of my life. Hows the evidence on long term usage?
Long term usage is safer than saying with levels below normal.
Posted on 8/24/24 at 5:20 pm to Uncle JackD
So is 697 not high? Is there a such thing as low dosage to see if it helps? Giving myself a shot every day or every other is tough to swallow
Posted on 8/24/24 at 5:25 pm to dallastiger55
it will be the rest of your life but with the monumental increase in quality of that life it's a no brainer for me and looking back I kick myself for not starting sooner. Occassionally I read on the TRT boards about someone doing a re-start of their natural system but they always come back.
The other thing I was told when I got started was that your testicles will likely shrink and nearly disappear. I actually LOL'd at the Dr that told me that and he said "well some guys care about it..." I don't.
Make sure you're through with having all the kids you want too, because it will most likely make you sterile - but if you are through that has benefits too.
As for cost, I haven't checked lately but meds+labs+occassional checkin w/ provider ... seems like I'm paying ~$1500 / yr. Again for the benefits I find that crazy cheap for what I get out of it. As Uncle Jack pointed out, TestC itself is very inexpensive and readily available from multiple sources even w/o a prescription
The other thing I was told when I got started was that your testicles will likely shrink and nearly disappear. I actually LOL'd at the Dr that told me that and he said "well some guys care about it..." I don't.
Make sure you're through with having all the kids you want too, because it will most likely make you sterile - but if you are through that has benefits too.
As for cost, I haven't checked lately but meds+labs+occassional checkin w/ provider ... seems like I'm paying ~$1500 / yr. Again for the benefits I find that crazy cheap for what I get out of it. As Uncle Jack pointed out, TestC itself is very inexpensive and readily available from multiple sources even w/o a prescription
This post was edited on 8/24/24 at 5:40 pm
Posted on 8/24/24 at 5:28 pm to dallastiger55
quote:
Giving myself a shot every day or every other is tough to swallow
You can do weekly but twice a week is ideal. Definitely doesn’t need to be daily. And no go on a sample low dose to try. That will shut your natural production down but not provide enough exogenous to make you feel good. Make sense?
Starting with a total of 690 is a coin toss really. Most urologists wouldn’t start you but if you went to an anti aging clinic they would. Because your free T is pretty low. I’ve had 2 co workers in the same boat as you, Decent total but low free. Both started and feel incredible afterwards.
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