Opinions on recent blood test please

bobi

New member
I recently visited my Dr, complaining of fatigue and lack of energy and sex drive, and asked for a Testosterone test.

I am a 58 year old male, 6'5" 205lbs

the results came back

sex hormone bnd Glob 74.2 H normal 17.3-65.8
Testosterone 381 L normal 241-827
Free Testosterone 4.3 L normal 5.0-21.0

The Dr said you may question the testosterone reults which appear a bit low, but with the high sex binding globulin result, the protein which carries androgen hormones through your body the actual result is fine.

She has no reccomendations for my symptoms

The little research I have done would suggest the opposite, and that the high SHBG is actually contributing to the low free testosterone

Coments and suggestions are welcome

Thanks
 
U need to lower your shgb big time. Mine was like almost 50 n my free was like yours an I felt like crap. U can lower shgb with stinging nettle root. Plus I would get on test to raise your total test. Get with Todd from Ulv he'll take care of u
 
You are right as the high SHBG is holding on to your free test. I agree with Kaoz. I had the same symptoms as you and after a month on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) I'm feeling amazing. My libido is up, my motivation is better, and have much more energy. All this and I am still early into my treatment.
 
Androgen therapy alone will rectify free T issues. Men with low free T may actually have worse lowT symptoms than someone with a total testosterone that is low.

From the limited information you posted, it seems you would be a great candidate for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). You should give us a call, you can get a pre approval at no charge to you.

Looking purely at the biochemical numbers, The Endocrine Society* considers low testosterone to be a total testosterone level of less than 300 ng/dl, and I think thats a reasonable guide. But no one quite agrees on a number. Its not like diabetes, where if your fasting glucose is above a certain level, theyll say, Okay, youve got it. With testosterone, that break point is not quite as clear.

Is total testosterone the right thing to be measuring? Or should we be measuring something else?

Well, this is another area of confusion and great debate, but I dont think its as confusing as it appears to be in the literature. When most doctors learned about testosterone in medical school, they learned about total testosterone, or all the testosterone in the body. But about half of the testosterone thats circulating in the bloodstream is not available to the cells. Its tightly bound to a carrier molecule called sex hormone binding globulin, which we abbreviate as SHBG.

The biologically available part of total testosterone is called free testosterone, and its readily available to the cells. Almost every lab has a blood test to measure free testosterone. Even though its only a small fraction of the total, the free testosterone level is a pretty good indicator of low testosterone. Its not perfect, but the correlation is greater than with total testosterone.

A Harvard expert shares his thoughts on testosterone-replacement therapy - Harvard Health Publications
 
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U need to lower your shgb big time. Mine was like almost 50 n my free was like yours an I felt like crap. U can lower shgb with stinging nettle root. Plus I would get on test to raise your total test. Get with Todd from Ulv he'll take care of u

yes siiiir! Reps for you........
 
U need to lower your shgb big time. Mine was like almost 50 n my free was like yours an I felt like crap. U can lower shgb with stinging nettle root. Plus I would get on test to raise your total test. Get with Todd from Ulv he'll take care of u
Have you tried Stinging Needle Root? I've read it's also good for BPH and MPB (hair loss) as it slows the conversion of T to DHT by inhibiting aromatase.
 
Haven't used it but heard it works pretty good. I used danazol which cost way to much money. For the price I thought it might give u some type of effect like winstrol.
 
Bobi: Spend many hours here reading everything.

IMHO: Your doc is an idiot. Your SHBG is high, your free test is low, and you're normal???

It depends what country you're in, but you have two choices, I think: Lower your T levels so they'll take you seriously, or get onto IMT. I did the former because I'm in Oz, and we have a really good health system so testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is near enough to free. If you're in the States, unless you've got really good insurance, it seems that you're screwed, so go to IMT.

FYI you and I are similar. I'm 6'5", 61 years young, and weigh about 270 - I love red wine. I also work out hard three times a week. With my wife, which is utterly wonderful.

If you want to pick my brains, particularly how to get a low score in your next T test, just ask. (FYI I scored 1.6 on our scale, about 45 on yours, and when I started this trip I was measuring about 250.)

BTW I spent 5 months on AndroForte cream, just moved to T enanthanate injectable, pinning every three days. It is so much less hassle than the bloody cream! And never having done anything with needles I was concerned, and it was a total anticlimax.

Oh, and your T levels are roughly those of an average - not healthy - 90 year old.
 
Yes fatigue, not so much belly fat as i work out regullary lots of core excesizes to keep a bad back in check, however the fatigue and lack of energy is making this more difficult. Yes depression and never sleep through the night
 
Yes fatigue, not so much belly fat as i work out regullary lots of core excesizes to keep a bad back in check, however the fatigue and lack of energy is making this more difficult. Yes depression and never sleep through the night

All that and bad numbers = testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) required.
 
Went back to my primary care physician, and told her I disagreed with her findings. She asked me to do another blood test, this time fasting and first thing in the morning.

We shall see
 
Is she just testing hormones? If so then specifying fasting just shows how little she knows. Does anyone here know any reason for fasting for a hormone assay?

Look, I'm just six months into this, but there is no way in the world I'd ever go back, and I strongly recommend you do everything you can and go if it. You CAN stop it if you don't like it. It's a tiny amount compared to BBers, and they get off T and get their natural production back to normal. So I recommend you do as the dumb doc asks and get another blood test - but do yourself a favour and stay up all night drinking, get no sleep and get yourself qualified For TRT.
 
Results on second test first thing in the AM fasting:

Testosterone Serum 724ng/dl normal 348-1197
Free Testosterone 14.5 pg/ml normal 7.2-24
LH 7.6 mlU/ml normal 1.7-8.6
FSH 7.5 mlU/ml normal 1.5-12.4

Amazing the difference, no SHBG this time.

why is it so different and what is my next step, my symptoms have not changed.

She also did LIPID

Cholesterol Total 219 mg/dl normal 100-199
Triglycerides 153mg/dl normal 0-149
HDL Cholesterol 49 mg/dl >39 is normal
VLDL Cholesterol 31 mg/dl normal 5-40
LDL Cholesterol 139 mg/dl normal 0-99
 
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