Blood Results, Info to Discuss with Doctor

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

I was looking on the web about some symptoms I was having and came across this forum. You guys here seem to have a wealth of knowledge and I would love a little help please. I started having some constant tiredness issues starting about 8 months to a year ago and shortly after I started having libido issues, I’ve probably lost about 20% of the firmness I had in the past, I’ve started to pick up some body fat, etc… I went to the doc and he ran some blood tests on me thinking I may have a testosterone issue. However when the results came back he said “all is within range. It’s probably stress related.” I am probably less stressed now than I have ever been in my adult life. I’m not thinking that’s the issue.

Anyway, here are my results as well as answers to the questions in the Advice For New Guys post. I have a follow up appointment with my doctor on Thursday and I was hoping I could have some info to take to him and discuss.

Age: 31

Height: 5’8"

Waist: 34

Weight: 185

Body and facial hair: hairy chest/stomach, full beard

Where do you carry fat: definitely always had some love handles but now more than ever. In the past 6 months I gained about 25 or so pounds with about the same strength number in training

Health Conditions: Healthy as far as I know. Quit smoking 6 years ago. Occasionally drink

RX/OTC: Fish oil, alfalfa, vit c

Lab Results:

Testosterone, Total, LC/MS/MS: 450 ng/dL (Range 250-1100)

TSH: 2.094 uIU/mL (Range 0.55-4.78)

Thyroxine Free: 1.3 NG/DL (Range 0.8-1.8)

T3, Free: 3.5 pg/mL (Range 2.3-4.2)

Sodium: 140 MMOL/L (Range 135-145)

Potassium: 4.6 MMOL/L (Range 3.5-5.3)

Chloride: 100 MMOL/L (Range 95-107)

CO2: 24 MMOL/L (Range 21-31)

Urea Nitrogen: 17 MG/DL (Range 6-20)

Creatine 1.09 MG/DL (Range 0.5-1.4)

Glucose, Bld: 93 mg/dL (Range 70-99)

Calcium: 9.4 MG/DL (Range 8.5-10.7)

Anion Gap: 16 mmol/L (Range 8-18)

Osmolality Calc: 281 MOS/KG (Range 275-301)

Bun/Creatine: 15.6 (Range 7-20)

Glom Filt Rate, Estimated: 89 (Range >60 ml/min/1.73m2)

GFR, Estim African American: >90 (Range >60/ml/min1.72m2)

WBC: 4.8 K/uL (Range 4.0-10.5)

RBC: 5.14 M/uL (Range 4.5-5.3)

Hemoglobin: 15.4 g/dL (Range 13.0-16.0)

Hematocrit: 44.3% (Range 37-49)

MCV: 86.2 fL (Range 78-98)

MCH: 30.0 pg (Range 27-34.6)

MCHC: 34.8 g/dL (Range 33-37)

RDW: 12.1% (Range 11.5-14.5)

Platelet Count: 224 K/uL (Range 130-400)

MPV: 11.8 fL (Range 9.4-12.4)

NRBC: 0.0% (Range 0-0.2)

Absolute NRBC: 0.0 K/uL (Range 0-0.12

Seg: 50.2%

Lymph: 36.9%

Monos: 6.9%

Eos: 4.8%

Baso: 1.0%

Immature Granulocyte: 0.2%

Absolute Neut: 2.4 K/uL (Range 1.8-7.7)

Absolute Lymph: 1.8 K/uL (Range 1.0-5.0)

Absolute Mono: 0.3 K/uL (Range 0-0.8)

Absolute Eos: 0.2 K/uL (Range 0-0.4)

Absolute Basophils: 0.1 K/uL (Range 0-0.2)

Absolute Immature Granulocyte: 0.0 K/uL (Range 0.00-0.02)

Diet: On training days 96g pro, 125g carb, 60g fat, plus post workout whey protein isolate in water and 25g casein protein in water before bed.

Training: 1 hour crossfit class a day. 3 days on, 1 day off, 2 on, 1 off, repeat

Testes Ache: yes, not all the time and when it does happen it is just the left one. No fever to my knowledge

Morning Wood and Nocturnal erections: Morning wood is practically non existent. Nocturnal only happens when the wife and I fool around and even then it takes a lot to get up for the occasion and then, like I said, it’s about 80% of what it used to be.

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Please follow these links in 2nd post of 1st forum topic:

  • advice for new guys - done
  • things that damage your hormones
  • thyroid basics

You have midrange TT, but FT and E2 are not known.

TSH should be closer to 1.0
Have you stopped using iodized salt?
Are your oral body temps low? -see thyroid sticky
Do you get cold easier now?

fT3 should support good body temps. If low, we suspect rT3 blocking fT3. You are not feeling stressed, but cross-fit with low thyroid function is a major physical stress.

Labs:
TT
FT
E2
LH/FSH
rT3 is body temps are low
fasting cholesterol [might be too low]

There can be vascular problems with testes. Doc can eval. Sometimes something feels wrong. Compare the two.

All withing range is a very narrow view of the word. All the more when the labs are not sufficient for diagnostic work. TT is FT plus T+SHBG plus T+albumin. T_SHBG is not bioavailable. Most doctors are simply not skilled enough to deal with these issues. There is a finding a TRT doc link/thread.

Are you less stressed out now or apathetic?

Your body hair suggests that you had higher T levels and low levels will impact you more than guys who were less virilized to begin with.

3

Thank you for the reply! I pretty much only use iodized salt if I’m at a restaurant. I cook with kosher salt and use sea salt for salting to taste.

I will keep a check on oral body temps starting tomorrow.

I definitely get colder now than ever. My house usually stays 65-68 year round and I find myself in sweats and a sweatshirt now whereas a year ago it was basketball shorts and a t-shirt

My left testicle feels like it has a nodule on it and when the doctor checked he said its most likely a cyst and nothing to be concerned with at the moment. I discovered the spot about 3 months ago

I’m actually not sure about the answer to your stress question. I don’t feel like I have had any added stress as of late. Maybe I have just leaned to live with it? Honestly not sure which would be the correct description.

Up until about 8-12 months ago I had absolutely none of these issues so maybe my T levels were in fact a bit higher then. To be completely honest I’m a bit freaked out about the sex drive loss and the erection problems. I am married to an amazing woman who I find incredibly attractive and the fact I can’t be the man I was just a year ago in the bedroom bothers me. So, to go back to the stress question, that is actually really stressful. To the point I have lost erections mid sex because I start thinking about it.

I have been reading on here for a few days and it’s honestly a ton of information to take in. Please bear with me while I try to learn as much as I can, I’m just trying to have stuff to take back to my doctor in a few days

Thanks again!
Brian

4

How do you do that? Most restaurants do not have iodized salt.

When you do labs, if FSH is high, relative to LH or just high, that can be from a FSH secreting testicular cancer. When on TRT, where LH/FSH–>zero, FSH is then a much more clear indication. While testing LH/FSH while in TRT is futile as these should then be very low levels; doing this once on TRT has value as a testicular cancer screen. Testicular cancer is a young man’s disease and doctors should be vigilant and not dismissive.

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When I occasionally have a fast food meal of some sort they will have salt packets, and a lot of the restaurants around here still have regular old salt shakers on the table as well.

So, if I am reading this correct, I definitely need to request the LH/FSH lab work as well as the others mentioned before and get the doctor to be a little more thorough with the my left testicle issue? Also, is there an ideal range that the LH/FSH test should be in? E2 levels? FT?

I apologize if I seem rather dumb with all this but like I said, there is a ton of information here and I’m trying to find all I can that is pertinent to me and then do my best to understand it. @KSman I seriously do appreciate all the time you take with all of us here looking for answers. This has been so frustrating and having things just passed off as “must be stress” is infuriating.

Brian

6

My point is that the salt shakes often do not contain iodized salt. Packets: read the fine print.

7

Understood.

I assume the thought is a lack of iodine leading to possible thyroid issues?

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The best outcome is having a simple case of iodine deficiency, drug free fix. If that does not work, things are more complicated. It is also the low hanging fruit and you don’t need a doctor to deal with it.

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Thanks for all your help @KSman. One more question and I will continue more reading, Googling, and research… Is it fair to say that an iodine deficiency could be the leading cause to most of the issues? Libido, erection issue, fatigue, brain fog, etc…? If so, is there a particular iodine supplement and or regiment you recommend?

10

Many symptoms of low thyroid function and low T are the same. So they can gang up on you.
Your T is rather low and that is a separate problem.

Look for this at amazon.com : Iodoral: Optimox

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