Low SHBG and Vitamin B.....

[one way step]

Just got my blood work from last week...

Testosterone. 848 (Range 241-827 ng/dl)
Free testosterone. 27.59 (Range 4.8-25 ng/dl)
Estradiol. 33 (Range 0-56 pg/ml)
Bioavailabile test. 713.4 ng/dl
Prolactin. 3.8 (Range 2.5-17 ng/ml)
DHEA. 7.3 (Range 1.8-12.5 ng/ml)
Dihydrotestosterone. 531. (Range 106-719 pg/ml)
SHBG. 14.3 (Range 17-66 nmol/l)

As you can see, my SHBG is low. My doctor also tells me my vitamin d is low. I'm on 200mg test and .25mg adex (twice per week).

My main problems right now are a very low sex drive, lack of energy, and a low appetite. Any suggestions on what I should do for treatment? My endo hasn't been very helpful.

 

[Megatron28]

Are you injecting the test twice a week? Do you use hCG?

What is your vitamin D at? Do you take supplements?

 

[one way step]

Test shots are now once per week. No hcg at the moment.

Doc didn't say where vitamin d was at. That low vitamin d was my from regular Doctor and not my endo. I currently do not take any type of suppliments.

 

[reddevilg]

your SHBG is quite low for a weekly protocol...You will definitely see better results by slitting the injection into twice a week (or even better will be EOD). You are probably clearing the testosterone very soon due to low SHBG.

 

[Alpin]

How many days from shot is this lab done?
Is it trough level ?
(Day of shot but before shot? )
Get Progesterone tested too...
its nice to know where its at in a TRT protocol.
Very often overlooked.

 

[Alpin]

Just got my blood work from last week...

Testosterone. 848 (Range 241-827 ng/dl)
Free testosterone. 27.59 (Range 4.8-25 ng/dl)
Estradiol. 33 (Range 0-56 pg/ml)
Bioavailabile test. 713.4 ng/dl
Prolactin. 3.8 (Range 2.5-17 ng/ml)
DHEA. 7.3 (Range 1.8-12.5 ng/ml)
Dihydrotestosterone. 531. (Range 106-719 pg/ml)
SHBG. 14.3 (Range 17-66 nmol/l)

As you can see, my SHBG is low. My doctor also tells me my vitamin d is low. I'm on 200mg test and .25mg adex (twice per week).

My main problems right now are a very low sex drive, lack of energy, and a low appetite. Any suggestions on what I should do for treatment? My endo hasn't been very helpful.

Vit D won't raise SHBG. Supposedly Vit D lowers SHBG as well as other stuff like stinging nettle, boron, etc...

 

[Megatron28]

I agree. Some guys with low SHBG have had said they felt better when doing smaller, more frequent injections. As suggested your could try twice a week or even every-other-day. Keep in mind that doing this will likely lower the amount of AI you need as well.

I would call you doc and find out what your Vitamin D is at. If it is below normal or in the bottom third of the normal range, I would recommend supplementing. I was below normal so I started supplementing 10,000iu daily. That got me into the upper third of the normal range. I tried 2,000iu at first but that hardly moved the number.

Have you considered taking hCG or discussed it with your doc? A lot of guys express that it helps them feel better on TRT. And preventing testicular atrophy is a plus. It also makes sex feel better.

 

[one way step]

This shot was 2 days after my injection.

I used to take HCG but it was becoming too inconsistent. I started at 250iu twice per week which did nothing. I then bumped it to 500iu twice per week which would yield different results every time; sometimes it would give a nice boost to my sex drive, other times it would kill my sex drive to the point where Cialis doesn't even do anything.

Due to its unpredictable nature I dropped it from my routine.

 

[Chiefy]

This shot was 2 days after my injection.

I used to take HCG but it was becoming too inconsistent. I started at 250iu twice per week which did nothing. I then bumped it to 500iu twice per week which would yield different results every time; sometimes it would give a nice boost to my sex drive, other times it would kill my sex drive to the point where Cialis doesn't even do anything.

Due to its unpredictable nature I dropped it from my routine.

If these labs are 2 days post injection, I'm guessing that your E2 is being driven too low by your second dose of Adex later in the week. Although I don't know which assay was used to measure your E2, so I can't really be sure what to make of your E2 value.

Is this a sensitive test? If not, do you have access to a sensitive assay (are you in the US)?

 

[Megatron28]

This shot was 2 days after my injection.

I used to take HCG but it was becoming too inconsistent. I started at 250iu twice per week which did nothing. I then bumped it to 500iu twice per week which would yield different results every time; sometimes it would give a nice boost to my sex drive, other times it would kill my sex drive to the point where Cialis doesn't even do anything.

Due to its unpredictable nature I dropped it from my routine.

Sounds like you were having trouble managing estradiol while you were using hCG.

 

[one way step]

Any suggestions on how to manage it?

I was taking my test shot and an hcg shot on Mondays then my second hcg shot on Thursdays. Adex was also on Monday and Thursday.

 

[Megatron28]

Any suggestions on how to manage it?

I was taking my test shot and an hcg shot on Mondays then my second hcg shot on Thursdays. Adex was also on Monday and Thursday.

I would need to see blood work results at different points in time and know the respective protocol for each result. Without that I can only generalize.

Splitting your test injection into two per week may help even out your hormone levels.