T Nation

Got Bloodwork. What Are Your Thoughts?

Pharma
#1

Afternoon all,

I’ve been struggling for a few years with low energy but has recently got a lot worse. I’d posted a thread recently on Pharma as my training (road cycling is steadily back pedalling despite clean diet and working hard).

I’ve had problems concentrating
Constantly feel tired
I’m getting gyno- (I’ve never used any gear)- to the point I’m gonna pay for surgery.
Lost libido- not completely but I’m really not fussed.
I’ve been complaining to NHS doctors for 3 years about this stuff and they keep telling me everything is in range.
I get regular hot flashes too like a flipping menopausal women.

I’ve paid for a private set of bloods

Results are as follows

                        Ref Normal

Albumen 42.7 35-50

FSH 6.4 1.5-12.4

LH 8.8 1.7-8.6

Oestridial H 163 41-159
Testosterone 17.8 8.64-29
SHBG H 76 18.3-54.1
Free Test (calculated) 0.206 0.2-0.62
Prolactin H 356 86-324

Thyroid
TSH 2.76 0.27-4.2
Free T4 19.7 12.0-22.0
PSA 0.436 <2

I basically feel knackered and I’m not enjoying life. I’m 36 and eat well and exercise as regularly as I can given my poor energy levels. I can’t focus at work etc…

I’m gonna go back to my G.P with this sheet but not expecting much-

Thoughts? Causes? Next steps?

Feel like crying as I type this- probably the estradiol!

Please help!

#2

welcome to the club of high SHBG guys…dont know nothing on how to read blood, but i’m sure folks will jump in, but your SHBG is high and could be the problem.

#3

HOLY CRAP!! You’re E2 is very high while your test is very low. A terrible combination. Also, you’re prolactin is very high too. I’m sorry brother, but you are a mess!

They need to figure out why this is happening. I dont know anything about British health care but if you can go private then that is what I would do. You need help soon.

#4

Your FSH and LH is high but still testesterone is low. So your brain works but balls are not

Seems like trt for you

Of course go along with the doctors not bro science here

#5

You got a few things that are slightly off but these numbers are far from horrible.

Your E2 is a tad high, your test isn’t horribly low but it’s not being utilized because your shbg is too high this is causing a lack of free testosterone.

I think the elevated prolactin is due to long term elevated E2. I think the first step is going to be getting that down then look into lowering shbg. There is a lot of natural ways to greatly lower shbg but your probably going to need an AI to reduce the estrogen.

If you want to avoid TRT I think you could greatly improve your quality of life with just fixing the couple things I mentioned above.

#6

How do you lower SHBG? Any ideas what could make it go high?

#7

There is about 10 or more proven ways to lower shbg thru OTC supplements, and diet Just Google it you fill find tons of great info.

But as i said you need to work on that elevated E2 as well. Idk your health care system if you have mens health clinics go that route if not take it in your own hands if they won’t help.

#8

Or go balls to the wall start some self prescribed trt and throw in some masteron or proviron along side it with an AI.

My point is you have a few slight problems and an abundance of ways to go about treating it. It’s up to you which route you want to take.

#9

Any thoughts on causes… Dr Google talks about pituitary tumours… any other ideas?

#10

You really need to go see an endocrinologist and get evaluated. Don’t bro-science your health

3 Likes
#11

Well if you use Dr Google he’s going to tell you it’s cancer, because that’s always his answer.

Your SHBG is high enough that it’s messing with your free testosterone, which is probably why you feel the way you do. Lowering it is going to help improve things. But lower it too much and you start to get some long term problems related to cardiovascular health and cholesterol. So it’s kind of a sweet spot that you’re trying to hit and it isn’t always easy.

See what your GP says. If he/she is unwilling to help you then come back here and solicit some advice about how to manage this all. But like everyone else said, it’s your health and you should exhaust legitimate medical resources first.

#12

thanks guys, going to see my GP tomorrow at 5pm. The problem with the UK s he NHS is on its knees, I can at best hope he will repeat the tests I’ve hd done privately as first point of call. Trouble is they did these bloods about a month back and everything was “in range”. I guess hormones fluctuate and I’m feeling shitty as they aren’t where they need to be but GP had a snap shot when they didn’t exceed reference values.

If they are in range when they repeat them I will pay to see a private endo as they wont refer me off any tests they didn’t do.

Dreading going tomorrow- feel like I’ve got no drive to push for anything. I might take my wife with me as she wont take no for an answer.

#13

You need to make them focus on how you FEEL and not what the labs say. Use words like OPTIMAL and Test/Estrogen ratios.

#14

Snap.
Was the tests medichecks by any chance?

I’m 35 16% bf 177cm tall. My hormones came back as

Hormone results
Oesrtradiol 174pmol
Test 12.5 nmol

I’m think of getting some proviron free up some test hopefully balance out the T to E balance. Any advice anyone?

#15

No it was county pathology. Will be using medichecks in the future.

Gonna go see the Leger clinic in Doncaster if GP isn’t helpful- they seem to get good reviews and he seems thorough and well priced.

#16

You are working on transitioning without medical assistance with those numbers. They are not within range, based specifically on the ranges that you gave with them. You need to see a specialist, something bad is going on.

#17

Feeling MEGA anxious today- is this likely my hormone profile?

Seeing the GP at 5pm, any advice on what I should be saying would be appreciated. My experiences with GPs has been less than positive over the last 4 years as I’ve had various health issues- they’ve made me feel like they think I’m a hypercondriact!

#18

What did they say. When I took my results to gp gave me some more bloods to do in a month and come back… Got to wait another week or so to retest

#19

I couldn’t get out of work in time and had to cancel. Will be going Monday

#20

What are the units? I’ve never seen this range before.