A few weeks ago I had very comprehensive blood tests run
because I wanted to have a baseline reading before I
start messing with my hormonal profiles. Anyway, I'm
posting this for your interest, as well as to ask some
questions. Here are the results:
Total T: 640ng/dl (ref range 250-1200)
Free T: 12.5pg/ML (ref range 12.4-40.0)
DHT: 79.1ng/dl (ref range 30-85)
LH: 4.7mIU/ml (ref range 1.5-9.3)
FSH: 3.8mIU/ml (ref range 1.4-18.0)
estrodial: 20.5pg/ml (ref range 20-55 for men)
progesterone: .8ng/dl (ref range .2-.6 for men)
TSH: 1.56 uIU/ml (ref range .5-4.6)
IGF-1(GH): 286.8ng/ml (ref range 120-400)
<br)DHEA-S 288ug/dl (ref range 50-650)
cortisol AM: 15.0 ug/dl (ref range 5-25)
cortisol PM: 19.5 ug/dl (ref range 2.5-12.5)
PSA: .6 ng/ml (good result)
homocysteine: 6.65 umol/L (good result)
total cholesteral: 130 (good result) ->
HDL: 60, LDL: 60, VLDL: 10
triglycerides: 51mg/dl (good result)
fasting glucose: 80mg/dl (ok result)
Most of these readings are normal, but there are a few
things that are strange. One thing that puzzles me is why
my progesterone levels would be high. Any suggestions? What
implications would high prog levels have? Also, are there
any supps, drugs or dietary habits I can use to lower my
prog levels? My PM cortisol is quite high, due to stress from work -
I've always noticed that I benefit greatly from taking
cortisol blocking supps such as phosphatidylserine. The thing that most concerns me is my low DHEA levels.
I thought that low DHEA levels might adversly effect T
levels, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Since I got
the results back I tried taking DHEA for the first time and
I feel so much better. Based upon how I feel, I suspect I
have had low DHEA levels since my teens. I find this
strange that DHEA has such a strong effect on how I feel,
even though my T levels are decent. Any thoughts on why
this might be the case, or what could cause low DHEA
levels? My doctor suspects it is stress related - he
speculated that since cortisol and DHEA are both produced
in the adrenals that some sort of feedback could be
occuring: high cortisol causing lower DHEA levels. Is that
possible? I suspect I have just had insufficient adrenal
production of DHEA for most of my life. Should I be wary of
taking what is essentially (long term) DHEA replacement
therapy? Oh, and for those of you who are concerned that eating
large quantities of protein will adversly effect kidney
function, it appears to not be the case for me. Despite the
fact that I eat about 1/2 pound each of fish, poultry and
beef per day, plus assorted protein powders, my creatinine,
BUN and uric acid levels are all totally normal.
Feedback or insights on my questions would be greatly
appreciated.
There’s no reason to be worried about moderate dose DHEA supplementation for life, e.g. 50 mg/day is certainly no problem. And it looks like it would be a good idea in your case.
The “high” progesterone level would be of no importance even if it is a typical reading, and actually people in normal health, when a large number of readings are being taken, will usually have one that is somewhat outside the “normal” range. That range is not defined such that anyone outside it has got a medical problem… it’s defined such that 95% of people in good health in that regard will be within that range, and 5% in good health in that range will be outside the range. All it means is, “Could be something to think about here” but most of the time, it’s not… exception being if well above the limits; or if along with other things, consistent with some disease state as evidence of it. That is not the case here. In other words, don’t worry in the slightest about the progesterone value!
It would be an interesting experiment to see if Tribex improves your results. It has for others improved free T to cortisol ratio, and your free T was pretty marginal (something to be concerned about, and the fact that your total T was in the middle means nothing and doesn’t counterbalance the marginal free T reading whatsoever) and your cortisol was a little problematic. So an improvement
in that ratio could be a very good thing.
On the other hand, I recall that you’ve used Tribex…
obviously if you were using it at the time of this test
then it’s not going to help things further, unless perhaps
the dose was low?
Bill: Yes I have used Tribex before and noticed quite a
benefit from it. However I stopped using it for about 2
monthes prior to these tests because I wanted to see how
the results would turn out “normally.” WRT Tribex, I feel
better (and look better) for the first 2-5 days of taking
it, and then the effects seem to wear off unless I stop
using it for a week or so. I plan that the next time I
get my blood tests done, I will be using both DHEA and
Tribex concurrently to see how the results come back from
that protocal.
Thanks for the information, Free. Just a couple of quick questions: how old are you, and how long have you been ingesting such high quantities of protein?
Also, I wanted to ask: I have a little trouble with water
retention (makes me look “smooth” even though my BF is
very low), and I’m wondering if the elevated prog levels
may have something to do with this. BTW, I find that using
1/2-1Ts of pure glycerine (not diluted with water) helps
a lot at resolving this. Diluting it with water just makes
me look more bloated.
Also, on the topic of Tribex: it makes me feel great,
and does a great job while "cutting" as a "hardening agent"
for me, but I've never really gained a lot of mass on it
(unlike Androsol).
Aarrgh … forgot another thing I wanted to ask: I have low
bodyfat, and I can get decent abs when cutting. But my body
has a tendency to hold onto fat around my hips while
dieting more so than any other area - even when my BF is
quite low. I’m wondering if this has anything to do with
progesterone. I’m still wondering what can be used to
lower prog (besides allegedly winstrol). Regards.
Response to Chris: Well, I’d rather not say how old I am.
But I will say that I’ve been weight training for 12 years
and I’ve been eating high protein like that for about the
last 8 years straight. Hope that helps.
How much does a blood test such as this cost to have done, and how do you go about it? Just request it from a doctor or can it be done in some other way?
The total cost of all of the blood tests I had done was
about US $800. Some health insurance plans, HMOs, etc. will
cover this cost - but not all. In those cases your doctor
will have to indicate some need. Most people will have to
go to a doctor to request these tests and have the blood
drawn. I prefer to work directly with a lab and a
phlebotomist who were willing to do it w/o a script.
Some labs, if you show them the money, won’t hassle
you about not having a script.