Just had my second set of labs and I forgot to not inject prior to blood being drawn. I do daily sub-cutaneous injections (14mg daily / 100mg weekly) and have been doing so since May 1, 2019. The lab was taken at 9am and I gave myself the shot at about 6:30am.
Should this round of Testosterone values from the blood work be disregarded? And should I get fresh labs? I’m wondering if the lab picked up a super high value due to the injection. Essentially I’m confusing myself because of the time it takes for the test to cleave off. Any clarification / education would be awesome.
I should mention that my doc started me on 30mg of “Thyroid” (DIN 23949) for a borderline low TSH and borderline low T4 (strangely T3 was mid range) at the end of July. Thyroid labs aren’t back yet.
Thanks.
Values are:
Total Testosterone
March 2019 - 282 (250-1100)
April 2019 - 238 (250-1100)
July 2019 - 557 (250-1100)
September 2019 - 1112 (250-1100)
You’re injecting daily, you can test at any time because your levels are virtually static, the difference between peak and trough is almost none. The thing about thyroid levels is today you levels could be good (midrange) and tomorrow not at all good.
Consistency is important and if your thyroid levels aren’t consistent, then that’s no good.
Technically you want to take bloods right before you would usually inject so you can see the lowest point that your testosterone level gets. Since you are doing sub-q it’s harder to say what effect labs a few hours after injection will have. Obviously labs without doing a shot the same day would be ideal and I doubt anyone can say with any certainty whether it’ll effect these labs. The answer is: if you want to know for sure then get new labs. Doing daily shots should keeps levels stable so it probably doesn’t matter. If there’s a big difference between these labs and your last ones then you have your answer.
TRT increases the conversion T4 to T3. T3 is the physiologically active form. If TSH has changed upon start of TRT than thats just a compensatory mechanism due to the higher T4 to T3 conversion and doesnt warrant therapy.
For interest sake, Doc is bumping my dose to 125mg from 100mg. It’ll be interesting to see what effect that has.
Two sets of labs at 100mg produced a TT of 600 (give or take). Given the “non-linear” response to dosage that @systemlord and others have referenced, I’m keen to see what’s the next 3 months hold.