For the past year, I’ve had ups and downs with energy levels and after being bombarded with low T ads on TV, I decided to have blood work done. My info and blood work details are below. Here are some questions I am hoping I can get some answers to - or pointed in the right direction on.
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Any idea what causes low estradiol levels in men? Understood that E follows T and my T is on the low side, but my E seems way low relative to my T level. The only thing I have found related to low E causes was for women that may apply to men are low body fat and pituitary disease. I have low body fat and a very high IGF-1 level (over the range - see below blood work).
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How consistent are blood tests? I’ve been told conflicting information from different doctors that hormones can vary significantly from test to test and also been told it’s typically consistent. I’m questioning some of my results that seem a bit odd - see following questions.
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Given my low free T and low estradiol, should I be concerned even though I do not show symptoms (or at least the severity of symptoms) that are typical of these low levels? On the whole, I don’t feel that poorly so it is strange to me given what I have researched (not complaining or wanting more symptoms, but just curious if I’m an oddball).
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Is having low free T and very high IGF-1 out of the norm? I would expect these two to be somewhat correlated to each other, but Google has not helped me out much on finding info.
Age: 39
Height: 6’3"
Waist: 33"
Weight: 195lb
Body/facial hair: Medium hairy body (no significant back hair), full beard
Fat carry areas and changes: Carry most fat on rear end (20mm skin fold) and thighs (12mm skin fold). No real changes in fat carry areas since hitting puberty. Minimal fat on stomach/hip (4-5mm skin fold).
Health condition/symptoms: Some minor exhaustion even with adequate rest, increased irritability over last year+
Rx and OTC drugs: No drugs being taken or hair loss/prostate meds ever.
Diet: Typically 40/30/30 with high quality foods. 2k-3k calories/day depending on activity level. Supplement with Metabolic Drive shakes (~40-80g/day) and multi, b-complex, vit C, iron, selenium, ZMA, Carbolin 19. Eat a lot of greek yogurt and protein bars for convenience.
Training: Hockey 2-3x/week and 2x/week weight sessions
Testes Ache w/ fever?: No
Morning Wood Changes: Rarely have them anymore, can’t recall when they stopped.
Bloodwork (report range):
Chemistries
Glucose, Serum 99 mg/dL (65 - 99)
BUN 20 mg/dL (6-20)
Creatinine, Serum 1.19 mg/dL (0.76 - 1.27)
eGFR If NonAfricn Am 76 mL/min/1.73 (>59)
eGFR If Africn Am 88 mL/min/1.73 (>59)
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 17 (8 - 19)
Sodium, Serum 143 mmol/L (134 - 144)
Potassium, Serum 5.2 mmol/L (3.5 - 5.2)
Chloride, Serum 102 mmol/L (97 - 108)
Carbon Dioxide, Total 27 mmol/L (18 - 29)
Calcium, Serum 9.5 mg/dL (8.7 - 10.2)
Protein, Total, Serum 6.8 g/dL (6.0 - 8.5)
Albumin, Serum 4.5 g/dL (3.5 - 5.5)
Globulin, Total 2.3 g/dL (1.5 - 4.5)
A/G Ratio 2.0 (1.1 - 2.5)
Bilirubin, Total 0.5 mg/dL (0.0 - 1.2)
Alkaline Phosphatase, S 67 IU/L (39 - 117)
AST (SGOT) 36 IU/L (0 - 40)
ALT (SGPT) 38 IU/L (0 - 44)
Lipids
Cholesterol, Total 174 mg/dL (100 - 199)
Triglycerides 52 mg/dL (0 - 149)
HDL Cholesterol 70 mg/dL (>39)
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 10 mg/dL (5 - 40)
LDL Cholesterol Calc 94 mg/dL (0 - 99)
LDL/HDL Ratio 1.3 ratio units (0.0 - 3.6)
Thyroid
TSH 1.880 uIU/mL (0.450 - 4.500)
Triiodothyronine,Free,Serum 2.8 pg/mL (2.0 - 4.4)
Immunoassay
Prostate Specific Ag, Serum 1.1 ng/mL (0.0 - 4.0)
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I 258 ng/mL (83 - 233)
Testosterone, Serum 467 ng/dL (348 - 1197)
Free Testosterone(Direct) 7.4 pg/mL (8.7 - 25.1)
LH 3.7 mIU/mL (1.7 - 8.6)
FSH 2.1 mIU/mL (1.5 - 12.4)
Sex Horm Binding Glob, Serum 53.8 nmol/L (16.5 - 55.9)
Estradiol 6.9 pg/mL (7.6 - 42.6)
Roche ECLIA methodology
CBC, Platelet Ct, and Diff
WBC 3.6 x10E3/uL (3.4 - 10.8)
RBC 4.67 x10E6/uL (4.14 - 5.80)
Hemoglobin 13.1 g/dL (12.6 - 17.7)
Hematocrit 40.4 % (37.5 - 51.0)
MCV 87 fL (79 - 97)
MCH 28.1 pg (26.6 - 33.0)
MCHC 32.4 g/dL (31.5 - 35.7)
RDW 13.5 % (12.3 - 15.4)
Platelets 200 x10E3/uL (150 - 379)
Neutrophils 54 % (40 - 74)
Lymphs 37 % (14 - 46)
Monocytes 7 % (4 - 12)
Eos 2 % (0 - 5)
Basos 0 % (0 - 3)
Neutrophils (Absolute) 1.9 x10E3/uL (1.4 - 7.0)
Lymphs (Absolute) 1.3 x10E3/uL (0.7 - 3.1)
Monocytes(Absolute) 0.3 x10E3/uL (0.1 - 0.9)
Eos (Absolute) 0.1 x10E3/uL (0.0 - 0.4)
Baso (Absolute) 0.0 x10E3/uL (0.0 - 0.2)
Immature Granulocytes 0 % (0 - 2)
Immature Grans (Abs) 0.0 x10E3/uL (0.0 - 0.1)
Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy 21.3 ng/mL (30.0 - 100.0)