First Time Bloodwork- (Never Cycled- Low Test)

[Bodybuilder4Life1]

First Time Bloodwork- (Never Cycled- Low Test 279 ng/dL)

So I was contemplating doing my first hdrol cycle, and I did the cheap $50 privatemdlabs panel and it came back with this:

-A little background for you guys: I'm 20 years old, and have been seriously lifting and dieting since 16. I'm 5'9" 168 pounds at ~10% bf. I'd noticed that my sex drive/motivation had decreased dramatically over the last 6 months or so, but figured it was just a part of maturing in general.

-Anyway, I've been doing a lot of research but would like a second opinion on exactly what to do. Am I a possible candidate for trt? Should I ask about AI's/HCG? I know this is something I need to ask my doctor, but i'm in college and only want to pay for an appointment if it's really necessary. Thanks in advance guys

 

[Bodybuilder4Life1]

Edit: Guess I don't have enough posts to embed images, could someone embed them for me?

 

[Lift-on]

I'd say go to the doc. With levels that low was ur age they will only get worse. testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) would make a big differance in ur training along with life in general.

 

[Megatron28]

TT = 279
LH = 2.2
FSH = 6.6
E2 = 33.9

I'm not gonna take the time to include all the normal ranges.

Your age makes it tough to get on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Most docs don't like to put 20 year olds on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). You really should get in to see your doc right away. 279 is incredibly low for your age. You need to check into what might be causing your low T. Low T can reduce your quality of life greatly and shorten it.

Check prolactin for sure.
Vitamin D?
Thyroid Panel for sure.
Diet?
Sleep apnea?
Prolonged drug use?

There is a good chance that you can restore your natty T at your age. Get into the doc and see if you can figure out what is going on.

Can you think of anything in your medical history that might be an issue?

 

[Bodybuilder4Life1]

I'd say go to the doc. With levels that low was ur age they will only get worse. testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) would make a big differance in ur training along with life in general.

That's kind of what my train of thought was

TT = 279
LH = 2.2
FSH = 6.6
E2 = 33.9

I'm not gonna take the time to include all the normal ranges.

Your age makes it tough to get on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Most docs don't like to put 20 year olds on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). You really should get in to see your doc right away. 279 is incredibly low for your age. You need to check into what might be causing your low T. Low T can reduce your quality of life greatly and shorten it.

Check prolactin for sure.
Vitamin D?
Thyroid Panel for sure.
Diet?
Sleep apnea?
Prolonged drug use?

There is a good chance that you can restore your natty T at your age. Get into the doc and see if you can figure out what is going on.

Can you think of anything in your medical history that might be an issue?

I'm definitely going to call on monday and schedule an appointment, do any of the other values outside of the range make any difference?: (From searching it almost looks like i'm having kidney issues from the values listed below? Or maybe dehydrated with a high protein diet?)

Lymphs- 48 Reference: 14-46
BUN-23 Reference: 6-20
BUN/Creatinine Ratio- 20 Reference: 8-19

-Do you think that even though the e2 value is within range that it's still too high for my age?

-I will ask to get a thyroid panel and to check prolactin
-I supplement 10000iu of d3 and a multi every day, and my diet is spot on all the time. I haven't drank alcohol in 8 months and don't do any drugs
-never been tested for sleep apnea, but will look into it

-as far as medical history there really is not anything, I rarely get sick and no one in my family is diagnosed with hypogonadism. I did play football and wrestling in high school, so i'm starting to think that may have been the cause?

 

[Megatron28]

That's kind of what my train of thought was


I'm definitely going to call on monday and schedule an appointment, do any of the other values outside of the range make any difference?: (From searching it almost looks like i'm having kidney issues from the values listed below? Or maybe dehydrated with a high protein diet?)

Lymphs- 48 Reference: 14-46
BUN-23 Reference: 6-20
BUN/Creatinine Ratio- 20 Reference: 8-19

-Do you think that even though the e2 value is within range that it's still too high for my age?

-I will ask to get a thyroid panel and to check prolactin
-I supplement 10000iu of d3 and a multi every day, and my diet is spot on all the time. I haven't drank alcohol in 8 months and don't do any drugs
-never been tested for sleep apnea, but will look into it

-as far as medical history there really is not anything, I rarely get sick and no one in my family is diagnosed with hypogonadism. I did play football and wrestling in high school, so i'm starting to think that may have been the cause?

Ever get hit in the head pretty bad? Concussions?

I don't know about your kidneys. It would be good to see you trend. Do you have previous labs to compare to?

Your ratio of E2 to TT is high. But I wouldn't say E2 in itself is your problem. TT being so low is more of the problem. It would be good to get other opinions on this though. I may be missing something related to yuour E2.

 

[Bodybuilder4Life1]

During football yeah, never had a diagnosed concussion though. I did read quite a bit about head injuries affecting the pituitary, almost thinking that's the issue

 

[Megatron28]

During football yeah, never had a diagnosed concussion though. I did read quite a bit about head injuries affecting the pituitary, almost thinking that's the issue

Honestly, I am amazed by the percent of males that survive adolescence. We do some pretty stupid shit in our youth.

Get your head checked. Try your regular doc first, but you will probably get referred to an Endo.

 

[Megatron28]

By the way... Running a cycle at age 20 would have been a very bad idea for many reasons.

 

[halfwit]

That's kind of what my train of thought was


I'm definitely going to call on monday and schedule an appointment, do any of the other values outside of the range make any difference?: (From searching it almost looks like i'm having kidney issues from the values listed below? Or maybe dehydrated with a high protein diet?)

Lymphs- 48 Reference: 14-46
BUN-23 Reference: 6-20
BUN/Creatinine Ratio- 20 Reference: 8-19

-Do you think that even though the e2 value is within range that it's still too high for my age?

-I will ask to get a thyroid panel and to check prolactin
-I supplement 10000iu of d3 and a multi every day, and my diet is spot on all the time. I haven't drank alcohol in 8 months and don't do any drugs
-never been tested for sleep apnea, but will look into it

-as far as medical history there really is not anything, I rarely get sick and no one in my family is diagnosed with hypogonadism. I did play football and wrestling in high school, so i'm starting to think that may have been the cause?

BUN/Creatinine is easily thrown off if you were dehydrated prior to the blood draw. Happens all the time. Megatron has you covered on the rest.

 

[Bodybuilder4Life1]

BUN/Creatinine is easily thrown off if you were dehydrated prior to the blood draw. Happens all the time. Megatron has you covered on the rest.

Gotcha


Also do you think this could be related to overtraining? I train 5-6 times per week and haven't did a deload in ~6 months(yes I know very dumb). Also I have been restricting calories and consistently losing around 1 lb/week for the last 6 weeks, but the calories I do eat are all from whole great foods like mentioned a few posts up. Are these factors enough to drop test that low?

 

[Megatron28]

Gotcha


Also do you think this could be related to overtraining? I train 5-6 times per week and haven't did a deload in ~6 months(yes I know very dumb). Also I have been restricting calories and consistently losing around 1 lb/week for the last 6 weeks, but the calories I do eat are all from whole great foods like mentioned a few posts up. Are these factors enough to drop test that low?

It is possible to over-train and as I mentioned, your diet can affect your testosterone levels. You should start training and eating smarter. But I still think you should go see your doctor.

 

[Hoodlum]

How much fat are you eating in your diet?

 

[totalburnout]

Do you understand that cholesterol is the building block for hormones? When you restrict fat and/or calories for a prolonged period of time, you'll effect your hormones levels. Overtraining, poor nutrition, sleep deprivation will all cause testosterone to drop.

Why have you been training 5-6x per week? What are you doing on these days? Why do you think it's a benefit to train so often when you grow in the kitchen and in the bedroom (sleeping)?

As for BUN - dehydration and a high protein diet is VERY likely the cause, but now you're going to have to monitor your levels to be sure. As for creatinine, are you/were you supplementing with straight creatine or perhaps a blended product that had creatine in the mix?

 

[Bodybuilder4Life1]

By the way... Running a cycle at age 20 would have been a very bad idea for many reasons.

I was more just toying with the idea, as I felt I had hit my genetic potential (sure I had with 270 TT), but yes your right it would've.

It is possible to over-train and as I mentioned, your diet can affect your testosterone levels. You should start training and eating smarter. But I still think you should go see your doctor.

Definitely going to start training and eating smarter, not sure why I find it so hard to stay out of the gym for a few days but I need to cut it back. I'm also doing a 2 week total deload right now

How much fat are you eating in your diet?

I eat at least 100g per day

Do you understand that cholesterol is the building block for hormones? When you restrict fat and/or calories for a prolonged period of time, you'll effect your hormones levels. Overtraining, poor nutrition, sleep deprivation will all cause testosterone to drop.

Why have you been training 5-6x per week? What are you doing on these days? Why do you think it's a benefit to train so often when you grow in the kitchen and in the bedroom (sleeping)?

As for BUN - dehydration and a high protein diet is VERY likely the cause, but now you're going to have to monitor your levels to be sure. As for creatinine, are you/were you supplementing with straight creatine or perhaps a blended product that had creatine in the mix?

I find it really hard to stay out of the gym, I was doing a very low volume split and figured the low volume with high frequency would be alright but right now this is what i'm doing:

Monday: Back/Bi
Tuesday:Chest/Delts/Tri
Wednesday:Legs
Thursday:Back/Bi
Friday:Chest/Delts/Tri
Saturday: Legs (sometimes take saturday off and have it roll over into monday)
Sunday:Always off

I've been doing this because it's worked well in the past, and I love the low volume hypertrophy type work. I do take straight creatine monohydrate every day (5g)


I went to the doc today and he no questions asked prescribed me 200mg/ml test Cypionate every two weeks. I asked him about if it could be due to overtraining and he assured me that my test wouldn't drop that low (still unsure about it to be honest). I'm kind of reluctant to take the script, what do you guys think?

 

[halfwit]

I don't think overtraining (you're not imo) is going to drag you to those levels of testosterone. It's good that you're questioning your doctor as many don't have a clue how hormone replacement works, but I do honestly think the script is in your best interest. Your LH is a hair on what I would consider the low side, but it looks to me like you may very well be primary hypogonadal given that healthy FSH. Be sure to press for estradiol measurements on top of your testosterone blood tests. They both increase with each other, and estradiol in high levels is bad for your health.

 

[Bodybuilder4Life1]

I don't think overtraining (you're not imo) is going to drag you to those levels of testosterone. It's good that you're questioning your doctor as many don't have a clue how hormone replacement works, but I do honestly think the script is in your best interest. Your LH is a hair on what I would consider the low side, but it looks to me like you may very well be primary hypogonadal given that healthy FSH. Be sure to press for estradiol measurements on top of your testosterone blood tests. They both increase with each other, and estradiol in high levels is bad for your health.

I asked him about an Aromatase inhibitor (AI), and he said "we may look into it after we see your blood panel in a month". So I dont know if he just didn't know what I was talking about, or if he genuinely doesn't think I need one. What specifically do you think I should ask for if my estradiol does shoot up? (I'm supposed to get the injection on wednesday, and i'm planning on getting a panel done at weeks 1, 2, and 3 after the injection to make sure all is going well before my doc does his panel on the 4th week)

 

[halfwit]

I asked him about an Aromatase inhibitor (AI), and he said "we may look into it after we see your blood panel in a month". So I dont know if he just didn't know what I was talking about, or if he genuinely doesn't think I need one. What specifically do you think I should ask for if my estradiol does shoot up? (I'm supposed to get the injection on wednesday, and i'm planning on getting a panel done at weeks 1, 2, and 3 after the injection to make sure all is going well before my doc does his panel on the 4th week)

No need to get your own panels done that quickly. It takes about a month for exogenous testosterone to reach appreciable serum levels, which is why he's having it done a month out. He sounds like he's doing the right thing here as that would be a good time to see how your E2 is climbing as well. Remember, you can't focus on values either - so if you see your E2 *slightly* elevated from your initial values, don't freak out and demand an Aromatase inhibitor (AI). However, if you see you're pushing the upper range and start to feel bloated or just not right, it's perfectly fine to ask about an Aromatase inhibitor (AI) such as arimidex or aromasin.

 

[Bodybuilder4Life1]

Gotcha, guess I'll press on with the treatment hopefully all goes well. Thanks again guys really appreciate the feedback

 

[halfwit]

Let us know how it goes!