Last night you said if my SBHG was cut in half you think I’d be low test. So if I was able to lower E2 to lower SBHG, would that help? Or will I then be too low of test anyways?
I am going to consult with Defy to see what their thoughts are bug regardless I will give myself 6 mo the or so to lose some of the extra weight I’m carrying and eat more vegetables then retake bloods.
Is the below statement accurate? Just trying to nail down what my next steps are.
“estosterone is produced in the testes, SHBG is made in the liver, SHBG scavenages sex hormones. If you were able to cut SHBG in half your testosterone would easily drop into low testosterone land, you are low testosterone.
It’s going to take the best hormone specialist to realise this fact as most would only look at total testosterone and call it a day. You can cut out more than 80% of insurance doctors, most pay out of pocket in order to get proper care. It’s the only way to get a knowledgeable doctor these days.
The only thing that can drop your SHBG levels is TRT, more testosterone forces SHBG down.”
Its up to you man, do you want to give it a go going natural? Some guys have better success because they are determined, have logs, have a trainer maybe.
So if I try hard enough I can fix things. That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I will try as hard as I can. I’m off to a good start; not a drop of alcohol since Jan 1st for what that’s worth
Strike it rich? You mean like if I get lucky I’ll have a chance? Defy just needs DHEA tested before they will do a consultation with me. I’m getting it done in the morning as well as another total and free t for the heck of it. I’ll update when I get the results to see if anything has changed over the last month. I’d get other things tested again too but I’ve spent a lot of cash on bloods the last 2 months. I will do another complete panel again in a month or two.
I bought a digital thermometer yesterday and took my temp at 1 pm a few times and each time showed 97.8. I will buy a glass one to use from now on. If my temp is continuously low, that points to a thyroid problem? What supplements can I take to fix that?
Follow up/Bump. Symptoms have been worse the past couple weeks. Decided to get the last lab work needed(DHEA-s) for Defy. Also got another free/total test since I was getting my blood drawn anyways… Note (test was taken in afternoon)
Total T - 495 ng/dl range 264-916
Free T - 9.7pg/ml range 8.7-25.1
DHEA-S 235.2 ug/dl range 138.5-475.2
My situation is difficult I feel because I see results in “normal ranges” but have most the symptoms. In fact the %free ratio for T is almost 2% for this test. Prior tests were around 1.4-1.5%.
I started taking a Iodine/Kelp supplement daily.
I was also curious if theres some sort of way of calculating how much total T drops when SBHG drops. For instance, if I was able to to cut my SBHG in half, from 60 to 30, what would that do to my Total T level? Is it possible to guess?
My comprehensive test had me at 692 total with 60 SHBG. If I cut SBHG in half, what would my total T look like?
You TT would dip below normal ranges, you do not yet understand that your T production is already low. TT is being inflated by high SHBG, in other words high SHBG makes your TT look good when actually it isn’t. If SHBG was low you would see T drop below ranges. You’re damned either way.
Your T production will still be low even if you manage to cut SHBG by half.
Thanks for the reply. Can you speculate what the number would be? You seem pretty sure, and im not doubting you, but curous what my total levels would be if SBHG was in a normal range. 200? 300? Is there any data to calculate this?
We can all speculate till the cows come home. And in the end it does no good and you are still in the same boat.
No one will be able to tell you an exact number.
I am in that boat as well. My TT is around 600. But my free T is around 8-10 and my SHBG is 70+.
I tried everything to “help” my symptoms naturally. Nothing helped. So I called around to some of the better known online clinics.
I ended up with Defy as they seemed to be pretty thorough and explained things to me in a manner I felt more comfortable with.
I will be doing .40ml 2X a week and 250iu 2X a week of HCG. They want me to hold off on the AI as I have symptoms of low E so I have it if I need it, but will wait and see how I do without it.
I understand it is a tuff reality to face. Especially at your younger age. I am almost 50 and it is a hard decision for me.
I have always been very active. Am married to a girl who is 11 years younger than me and use to nut like Peter North. Always had a pretty good outlook on life, etc., etc.
But about 1-1 1/2 years ago it was like a switch was thrown and things went down hill.
I wish I would have addressed this last year. Now I will be working on loosing the 10 lbs of fat I put on and getting my life back.
Thanks for sharing. Seems like we are in the same realm except I have high E2. Could you possibly share more info with how your Defy consult went? So they advised nothing could bring down your SBHG and TRT was the best option?
Starting with Defy is pretty straight forward and easy. You call. Schedule a consultation and labs. Talk with a doctor who goes over the lab results with you and then he recommends a treatment plan.
That is about it. The only down side is that this all takes time. It was three weeks or so before I got to speak with the doctor.
I am still waiting on my meds to show. Should be here this week.
There are other places that might be faster, but out of the four I spoke with, I felt like Defy was the best fit for me.
There are many places out there. You might even be able to find a clinic near you.
I have options here in town and we have a good compounding pharmacy, but the clinics here are extremely expensive. Around $1500-2000 for a consult and then $200 a month for treatments.
So seeking a online clinic was the better choice for me.
I would recommend getting starting sooner than later.
And no, they did not offer any options on how to change any of the numbers naturally.
Thanks. I have actually started the process with Defy. I just need the physical, which I am getting today, then will schedule the consultation. Thanks for the input, I will be curious to watch how your treatment goes since we have similar labs. Do you have a log/thread open?
E2 is high and FT is low. This makes one very estrogen dominant. 1/4mg anastrozole twice a week may be very beneficial. Some are anastrozole over-responders who will crash E2 and need to take 1/4th the expected amounts. Goal is E2=22pg/ml. This might allow LH/FSH to improve and T to improve with both factors influencing SHBG lower. But while this may feel better, end result probably not great.
Prolactin might be elevated and driving down LH/FSH.
These activities can increase prolactin and should be avoided before labs for a few days: orgasm, hugging [babies, kitten, puppies].
Evaluate your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky. Thyroid hormone fT3 is what gets the job done and it regulates mitochondrial activity, the source of ATP which is the universal currency of cellular energy. This is part of the body’s temperature control loop. This can get messed up if you are iodine deficient. In many countries, you need to be using iodized salt. Other countries add iodine to dairy or bread.
KSman is simply a regular member on this site. Nothing more other than highly active.
I can be a bit abrupt in my replies and recommendations. I have a lot of ground to cover as this forum has become much more active in the last two years. I can’t follow threads that go deep over time. You need to respond to all of my points and requests as soon as possible before you fall off of my radar. The worse problems are guys who ignore issues re Thyroid, body temperatures, history of iodized salt. Please do not piss people off saying that lab results are normal, we need lab numbers and ranges.
The value that you get out of this process and forum depends on your effort and performance. The bulk of your learning is reading/studying the suggested stickies.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, SBHG is on the labs up top. It’s high. 59.4
The feedback ive gotten is that even if I was able to lower SBHG and free up some T, my total T would dip to low Testosterone levels anyways. Would you agree with that?
I am going to schedule a consult with Defy mostly to see what they say. I am still a little worried about going on TRT being 30, but my symptoms have worsened the last year and I just want to feel better.