I’m sure this story is super unique. I had always been active, loved playing sports, was never huge but lifted weights regularly. I had good relative strength but was never a big guy. I lurked on t-nation and used a lot of Dan John and Paul Carter advice for natural lifters.
Then 30s hit and it became a cycle of inflammation, back pain, and knee pain followed by a period where I felt good and strong. Well gradually the pain periods started to become more prominent.
But I didn’t think I was “that guy” who has low T and no sex drive. I worked out 3-4 times per week, ate a good diet(not bodybuilder but legit 80/20 plenty of protein). But like I said, things sneak up on me. I did blood work as part of a Christmas gift membership to a website that analyzes that kind of thing and makes recommendations, I thought the more info the better.
Well lo and behold, I’m that guy. I have severely low T, free T, and SHBG. I feel like I should be more miserable. One of the people I talked to asked if I had hit my head and damaged my pituitary gland.
So I will be doing TRT, just haven’t figured out where yet. I know the basics of what I want to run. I’m thinking about doing Somatropin since it will help me going in to my 40s. But it is very expensive.
Here are my test results if you are curious:
Marker name
Jan 25 2019
Glucose (mg/dL)
96
Calcium (mg/dL)
9.6
Magnesium (mg/dL)
3.2
Creatine kinase (U/L)
131
Vitamin B12 (pg/mL)
996
Folate (ng/mL)
17.8
Vitamin D (ng/mL)
27
Ferritin (ng/mL)
85
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)
204
Hemoglobin (g/dL)
15.1
HDL (mg/dL)
57
LDL (mg/dL)
127
Triglycerides (mg/dL)
98
Testosterone (ng/dL)
188
Potassium (mmol/L)
4.4
Sodium (mmol/L)
141
White blood cells (thousands/uL)
6.4
ALT (U/L)
57
Cortisol (µg/dL)
6.3
Iron (ug/dL)
100
TIBC (ug/dL)
345
Albumin (g/dL)
4.6
Free testosterone (ng/dL)
2.8
AST (U/L)
30
GGT (U/L)
31
TS (%)
29
SHBG (nmol/L)
9
hsCRP (mg/L)
0.5
DHEAS (µg/dL)
-
Red blood cells (x10E6/µL)
5.15
Neutrophils (cells/µL)
3 501.00
Basophils (cells/µL)
58
Eosinophils (cells/µL)
32
Lymphocytes (cells/µL)
2 298.00
Monocytes (cells/µL)
512
Hematocrit (%)
44.4
MCV (fL)
86.2
MCH (pg)
29.3
MCHC (g/dL)
34
RDW (%)
12.3
Platelets (thousands/uL)
246
MPV (fL)
11.1
Neutrophils (percent) (%)
54.7
Eosinophils (percent) (%)
0.5
Basophils (percent) (%)
0.9
Lymphocytes (percent) (%)
35.9
Monocytes (percent) (%)
8
RBC Magnesium (mg/dL)
5.6
I’m looking at OptimalHealth and Defy. I am hoping they will accept the previously done blood work and my recent physical to get started. But who knows.
I’m trying not to be depressed about this since there is relief in sight. But still.
People still have hangups that it only happens to those who dont take care of themselves OR that its not a real condition and people are just working the system for free gear.
Low SHBG may be explained by low thyroid hormones, sometimes it’s just genetic. You may need to get used to injecting very small doses daily with SHBG so low, otherwise your free hormones, estrogen and Free E2 can become a problem.
If low SHBG can’t be explain by thyroid problems, you shouldn’t push high normal levels, you’ll only need midrange of lower levels to achieve optimal Free T levels, any higher tends to cause problems for low SHBG men.
You guys aren’t wrong. I didn’t mean to disparage anyone who is on TRT.
I’m just a little bitter about having proactively spent all of that time, effort and money on staying healthy, and then find out I’m so drastically deficient(cholesterol, vitamin D, and blood sugar issues as well). I feel like a failure, even if I know it’s not true.
It is good to know that I’m not as abnormal as I feel.
You feel like shit right now because your Test is low. You sound like you are a squared away individual in regards to fitness and diet. T might be your missing link. I would suspect you will have a quick turn around. Its all good, ride out that first year and things get much better.
T, Free T, and SHBG are low. You will definitely feel better on hormone replacement. No question.
I am 27, have never had health problems, and have taken practically perfect care of my health (diet/exercise/sleep). Still developed terrible low T symptoms in my mid-20s and hopped on TRT. It was an amazing decision. There’s only so much that’s in your control. Genetics play a role.
Pretty sure we all became “That Guy” for whatever reason. I too was (am) young, had a healthy diet, low body fat, trained hard multiple times a week. But the max I could get my TT to was 260, FT was abysmal. Shit happens man!