A little background on me. I am a 38 years old male with a background in bodybuilding some years ago now. I used to cycle anabolics for this reason but have not for some time now.
Having started bodybuilding in my early 20’s It is hard to recall a time when I would have been at my completely ‘natural’ hormonal levels but I was always very skinny growing up with little drive. Definitely not an alpha male type and so I think it is pretty reasonable to assume I was on the lower side of the test levels even back then.
Fast forward all these years and while I generally was pretty sensible with the anabolics and cycled off with good pct’s I now find myself in this last year with a real lack of drive, very little get up and go, poor sleep, difficulty concentrating, no focus, and for the first time in my life a bit of a spare tyre around my waist so I decided to do some investigation as I suspected I was now a little low on test.
My results from my most recent test are as follows:
So as you can see my SHBG is right on the upper levels and my free test is low. My previous similar test 1 year ago had slightly higher SHBG levels, total test levels, but virtually identical free test levels so this leads me to think that I am unlikely to improve my free test levels by simply working on any of the other levels and therefore I may be a candidate for TRT.
I would appreciate discussion on this because despite my reckless youth I do take this very seriously. I have a family and want to be around for as long as possible with them, but… I also want to be me and not a shadow of my former self as I feel I have become.
I also still function sexually etc now, albeit on a reduced level and I don’t take messing with this lightly.
Thanks in advance to any replies, I look forward to some input.
The two numbers that jump out at me are these.
Do you take creatine?
Have you ever had trouble with your kidneys?
Any idea why your PSA is so high?
Ever had your prostate checked? high PSA can be from enlarged prostate, a urinary tract infection, or recent ejaculation. An of course a sign of possible cancer.
Your showing signs that your body is fighting an infection, perhaps something to do with your prostate. I also noticed your slightly elevated TSH and I would recommend to test Reverse T3, Thyroid Peroxidase TPO and Thyroglobulin Antibodies. Something has to be able to explain elevated TSH.
High SHBG is really ruining your day by binding up the majority of your bioavailable testosterone, it’s also overstating you T status making it look better than it actually is. Your total testosterone being produced is quite low, SHBG is binging up what little you have inflating the Total T numbers.
On a side note, most doctors still believe TRT causes prostate cancer based on a study done by a well respected doctor who only had two patients in the study that doctors have been going by for decades.
I can tell you that I do still strain with weights and had done so the day before my blood test which would account for the creatinine. Raised levels are very common in people who train due to the breakdown and repair of the muscle tissue.
The PSA is more of a puzzle. As far as we can remember there was no ejaculation the day before the test. I had my prostate checked the week previously and no alarm bells. I guess an infection is possible but I just don’t know at this point.
HI systemlord, I am grateful for your knowledge on the subject. I will indeed be looking into the elevated PSA, including whether I have an infection somewhere. Would this have any substantial effect on my hormones?
Your comments on my hormones are very much as I thought. I will enquire about the tests you suggest and if necessary I will go private. Is my TSH likely to have a substantial effect on my T levels? I suppose what I am getting at is should I delay trt until I have bottomed out what is going on here?
I wouldn’t delay anything, I would more testing. Your high white blood cells is indicating an infection or that your immune system is fighting something. Some guys have elevated prostate and no medical explanation even while there are no symptoms present. There are men with higher PSA levels who are on TRT for years without incident, I wouldn’t be overly concerned as long as tests show no infections or cancer. There is so much about the prostate we just don’t understand.
When my hormones are out of balance I get sick a lot, we aren’t meant to function well in these situations and diseases tend to strike us in these moments. Checking oral body temperatures per thyroid stick can tell you a lot about your thyroid, check morning and afternoon body temperatures can indicate thyroid problems, you need to be 98.8 upon waking and 98.6 in the afternoon. Free T3 are directly related to body temperatures, some have been able to elevated body temperatures to normal supplemental iodine and selenium.
Yes that makes sense. I did check my body temp yesterday upon waking and it was spot on. I will checks again as well as afternoon.
I also just swapped to a new multivitamin that has decent amounts of selenium and iodine so maybe that will help with time.
So things have moved on a little now, I have had the psa looked into and the doctors are not worried about it. I have also started speaking with a trt clinic here and am waiting to hear back from them as to whether I am suitable for them to treat.
Obviously it all seems quite real now and the possibility of this for the rest of my life is approaching and I would like to be as sure as possible it is necessary. From my results above would it appear that My testes don’t really work properly? Ie they don’t produce enough testosterone even though my pituitary appears to be working ok?
What I am getting at is there is not any other kind of treatment that I could try ie pct because that is not where the problem lies?
I am also looking into my thyroid. I did my previous temperatures with the wrong kind of thermometer and so have just bought an oral one. I have also started an iodine supplement as I couldn’t really fit any iodized salt into my diet anywhere, and I have also started a new vitamin that has a good dose of selenium in. I will get my thyroid re tested shortly to see if there are any issues here as well as with the testosterone.
It your testicles aren’t functioning properly, then TRT is your only option. Once you start consuming iodized salt TSH labs become useless for diagnostic purposes.
That is what I was thinking @systemlord. Am I right in saying from my bloods I appear to have some degree of primary hypogonadism rather than secondary or any other?
And regarding the thyroid am I better off just going by temperature to evaluate if it is all working correctly or should I still get thyroid bloods for the other measurements?
If your temperature turn out normal, thyroid testing could be skipped. However if your temperatures are abnormally low testing may be needed. I think it’s nice to get labs when feeling optimal so if later you feel less than optimal you know where you were naturally.
I wish I had known to run a hormone panel all those years ago so I wouldn’t have to hunt for that sweat spot in the ranges.
I want to post here, because I feel like TRT has some bad press due to the prostate study, but the list of health complications from low T I feel are far worse than high normal T. Low T puts you at a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity related diseases, and a whole host of other issues.
I think people sometimes weigh feeling better, and body improvements vs TRT sides, when the Low T sides are worse than the TRT sides (long term health wise).
What you say is right for a lot of people @mnben87. For me personally its not so much about the TRT sides, I used anabolics for 15 years on and off and did so as knowledgeably and as safely as possible so I am very aware that (for me) the side effects of them are not too scary. I suppose what plays on my mind slightly is the fact this is for life… I want to be sure that this is not something I can have an effect on in some other, less intrusive way.
I am keen to feel ‘good’ and have all the benefits I know a decent testosterone level will give me, while at the same time trying to be sure my knowledge of how you can feel with decent levels of testosterone is not clouding my judgement! Does that make sense? Its difficult to put into words.
I have now been approved by a private TRT clinic here in the UK. They are a private medical facilitator who work in communication with some dr’s here for those that don’t know.
I have been prescribed (to start with, bloods and review in 6 weeks):
250mg Sust every 8-10 days (obviously I’ll go with 8…
25mg proviron 2x day
.5 arimidex every 5-7 days (prob go .25 every 3rd day).
How does this look? Any views on this initial prescription appreciated @systemlord and others
I also would prefer the short injection interval, good idea to go with AI every 3rd day do to the short half life, otherwise E2 will change throughout the week.
I do wonder whether an Anastrozole and proviron will be overkill for my estrogen but we will see. I may even dilute the anastrozole and go with something like .125 eod.
I’m interested to see what the proviron does for binding up my high shbg and whether it works out better for me to have a higher dose of T to get me in range or a more moderate dose of T with the proviron