Finally pulled the trigger on a complete Male hormone panel including free test and thought I'd post the results for some feedback. Before I get to the results a little background info might help.
44 y/o
5'11"
227 lbs (down 15 lbs in last 3-4 weeks)
39" waist (down from 44" 3 weeks ago)
Never have done a Anabolic Steroid cycle but did do a 6 week Pro-hormone cycle about 10 years ago. Current Diet (very strict, low carb or carbs peri workout but mostly <50 g total minus fiber/day with a clean re-feed every 10 days)
History and Med issues: Typical low test symptoms over last 2-3 years including some metabolic syndrome symptoms (high bp, high glucose/HbA1c, slightly high cholesterol etc). No real ED issues (as of late) but low libido for sure the past few yeas. Mental fog, concentration were all worse the past two years than they are now but they aren't great now. Insulin sensitivity is my main problem, but I've been able to for the most part keep my blood sugar in check with diet and exercise. I train 6 days a week and do fasted low heart rate (<120bpm) cardio/napa 5-6 times a week. In the gym I train heavy usually keeping my rep range in the 4-6 range once I'm warmed up and engaged mentally. I'm a typical endo/mesomoph body type. I put on size pretty easy, fat when not dieting or training and muscle when properly dieting and training although at 44 y/o much slower than ever. I've been training on and off for 30 years.. but consistent since November 2010 when I first felt I was having blood sugar issues. Last year I went from 263 lbs. to 209 lbs. which was from approx 30% BF to 12%. The 12% was tested hydrostatically and using the 12 pinch caliper formula.. At the 227 lbs. now I'm probably about 18-19% BF down from low 20's a few weeks ago.
To my labs:
Test: 400 ng/dL
Free T: 10.4 pg/mL
IGF-1: 267 ng/mL (101-267)
E2: 16 pg/mL
SHBG: 24.1 nmol/L (16.5-55.9)
DHEA-s: 404.7 ug/dL (88.9-427.0)
T4 Free: 1.41 ng/dL (0.82-1.77)
TSH: 2.840 ng/dL (0.450-4.500)
LH: 3.6 mIU/mL (1.7-8.6)
FSH: 2.3 mIU/mL (1.5-12.4)
PSA: .2 ng/mL
Lipids:
Chol Ttl: 190 mg/dL
Triglycerides: 114 mg/dL
HDL: 47 mg/dL
LDL: 120 mg/dL
VLDL: 23 mg/dL
Metabolic Panel:
Glucose: 105 mg/dL (high) went to bed the night before with 87 and woke @ 6am with 93.. test was fasted at 9am.. i get the "dawn phenomenon" pretty bad.
HbA1c: 5.7% This number will go down if I stay low carb and keep the cardio in check.
AST: 70 IU/L (High) 0-40
ALT: 62 IU/L (High) 0-55 These two tests are probably fatty liver.. I'm taking a product called "liverfix" for the past few weeks.. these numbers worry me but I'll keep track of them.
Ferritin: 408 ng/mL (30-400) This is worry-sum but I looked through my past labs and never had it checked before. All other iron levels were fine.
Thoughts:
I'm actually surprised my Total T level is @ 400. Last two years it's been at 271 and 293 respectively. My clean diet (at least as of late) and consistency in the gym probably helped to elevate it a bit. 400 is still way low and I have most symptoms of low test so need to get it up for sure. My issue is I'd like to have kids still and have been trying to get my lady pregnant for about 10 months. I know going on TRT will put the kibosh on that program but having low T and mental fog is probably worse than not having kids which brought me to this forum looking for info. My main questions or topics of discussion would be
1) Try a restart at 44 y/o? My LH and FSH levels are pretty low
2) Raise test naturally (never had luck with the OTC test boosters but never checked them with labs before and after either. Now might not be a bad time to try a 6-8 week protocol and re-test).
3) HGH- I know it's not discussed here often, but I had some nagging injuries I'm sure it would help with along with the other benefits. Not sure if it's worth the risk though. Maybe GHPR (or othe peptides)?
4) Go on TRT (level doses) now to get the low test issues in check with a planned exit/restart 6-8 months from now.. the only reason I'd want to get off would be to have a child. It's the only reason I didn't start years ago when my Total T was 273.
Thanks for any feedback.
B.
44 y/o
5'11"
227 lbs (down 15 lbs in last 3-4 weeks)
39" waist (down from 44" 3 weeks ago)
Never have done a Anabolic Steroid cycle but did do a 6 week Pro-hormone cycle about 10 years ago. Current Diet (very strict, low carb or carbs peri workout but mostly <50 g total minus fiber/day with a clean re-feed every 10 days)
History and Med issues: Typical low test symptoms over last 2-3 years including some metabolic syndrome symptoms (high bp, high glucose/HbA1c, slightly high cholesterol etc). No real ED issues (as of late) but low libido for sure the past few yeas. Mental fog, concentration were all worse the past two years than they are now but they aren't great now. Insulin sensitivity is my main problem, but I've been able to for the most part keep my blood sugar in check with diet and exercise. I train 6 days a week and do fasted low heart rate (<120bpm) cardio/napa 5-6 times a week. In the gym I train heavy usually keeping my rep range in the 4-6 range once I'm warmed up and engaged mentally. I'm a typical endo/mesomoph body type. I put on size pretty easy, fat when not dieting or training and muscle when properly dieting and training although at 44 y/o much slower than ever. I've been training on and off for 30 years.. but consistent since November 2010 when I first felt I was having blood sugar issues. Last year I went from 263 lbs. to 209 lbs. which was from approx 30% BF to 12%. The 12% was tested hydrostatically and using the 12 pinch caliper formula.. At the 227 lbs. now I'm probably about 18-19% BF down from low 20's a few weeks ago.
To my labs:
Test: 400 ng/dL
Free T: 10.4 pg/mL
IGF-1: 267 ng/mL (101-267)
E2: 16 pg/mL
SHBG: 24.1 nmol/L (16.5-55.9)
DHEA-s: 404.7 ug/dL (88.9-427.0)
T4 Free: 1.41 ng/dL (0.82-1.77)
TSH: 2.840 ng/dL (0.450-4.500)
LH: 3.6 mIU/mL (1.7-8.6)
FSH: 2.3 mIU/mL (1.5-12.4)
PSA: .2 ng/mL
Lipids:
Chol Ttl: 190 mg/dL
Triglycerides: 114 mg/dL
HDL: 47 mg/dL
LDL: 120 mg/dL
VLDL: 23 mg/dL
Metabolic Panel:
Glucose: 105 mg/dL (high) went to bed the night before with 87 and woke @ 6am with 93.. test was fasted at 9am.. i get the "dawn phenomenon" pretty bad.
HbA1c: 5.7% This number will go down if I stay low carb and keep the cardio in check.
AST: 70 IU/L (High) 0-40
ALT: 62 IU/L (High) 0-55 These two tests are probably fatty liver.. I'm taking a product called "liverfix" for the past few weeks.. these numbers worry me but I'll keep track of them.
Ferritin: 408 ng/mL (30-400) This is worry-sum but I looked through my past labs and never had it checked before. All other iron levels were fine.
Thoughts:
I'm actually surprised my Total T level is @ 400. Last two years it's been at 271 and 293 respectively. My clean diet (at least as of late) and consistency in the gym probably helped to elevate it a bit. 400 is still way low and I have most symptoms of low test so need to get it up for sure. My issue is I'd like to have kids still and have been trying to get my lady pregnant for about 10 months. I know going on TRT will put the kibosh on that program but having low T and mental fog is probably worse than not having kids which brought me to this forum looking for info. My main questions or topics of discussion would be
1) Try a restart at 44 y/o? My LH and FSH levels are pretty low
2) Raise test naturally (never had luck with the OTC test boosters but never checked them with labs before and after either. Now might not be a bad time to try a 6-8 week protocol and re-test).
3) HGH- I know it's not discussed here often, but I had some nagging injuries I'm sure it would help with along with the other benefits. Not sure if it's worth the risk though. Maybe GHPR (or othe peptides)?
4) Go on TRT (level doses) now to get the low test issues in check with a planned exit/restart 6-8 months from now.. the only reason I'd want to get off would be to have a child. It's the only reason I didn't start years ago when my Total T was 273.
Thanks for any feedback.
B.
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