so your doctor thinks that low Total Testosterone (which includes T bound to SHBG) is caused because you have too much SHBG? uhmmmm… yeah… well… you see, he seems like he is a ‘winner’
what did he say about your high cortisol levels?
plus your HGBA1C is above ideal levels coupled with your previous high fasting glucose levels indicate that you may have some insulin issues.
you really need to get estradiol, insulin, d25-OH, and ferritin checked.
[quote]PureChance wrote:
so your doctor thinks that low Total Testosterone (which includes T bound to SHBG) is caused because you have too much SHBG? uhmmmm… yeah… well… you see, he seems like he is a ‘winner’
what did he say about your high cortisol levels?
plus your HGBA1C is above ideal levels coupled with your previous high fasting glucose levels indicate that you may have some insulin issues.
you really need to get estradiol, insulin, d25-OH, and ferritin checked.[/quote]
Thanks for your reply, I truly appreciate your time and KS’s.
The impression I got is that they did not want to see me. That I was not sick enough to produce enough money for them as someone else. I was asked like 7 times who refereed you and why? When the insurance I had allows you to go straight to a specialist.
One of the things I noticed was that when I took the result that showed 294 the FSH was 1.5.
In the 2nd test FSH jumped to 4.5 and the Free T (which was the only T test taken)was “within normal range”.
I’ve always been on the high end of glucose (in the 90’s) I don’t drink much soda or sugar.
I insisted on more glucose testing and they gave me a meter with 10 testing strips to check the sugar 1 hour 30 minutes after meals. They told me anything over 130 was a problem. The highest I got was 128. Other than that I lingered between 98-115. My fasting glucose last time I was checked in my last appointment where I received this results was 88. I’ve read low T affects glucose as well?
He said my cortisol was good and adrenals were fine nothing about it being high. What would cause low total T and “normal” free T anyways? I don’t even know to believe if that’s normal free T after being told HGBA1C and cortisol were “normal”. I already fired this doctor time to look again for another one.
I asked 3 different doctors to review the HBAC1 and cortisol and none want to do more tests and argue its all normal. I explained to them total T includes binded while free T is unbinded they agree, but that’s about it, they aren’t going to help me. I guess I’m on my own, insurance is over this month, I can’t afford out of pocket labs.
For HBAC? I guess a pre diabetic diet and excersise?
Cortisol less stress and some good vitamin c?
Testosterone there is not much I can do that I’m not doing already.
What an awful medical system we live in.
yes, overall the medical establishment sucks. It is 99% set up for acute care to keep people from dying immediately, but no thought as to helping ensure ideal health, long life, or to find and fix the root cause of issues.
sit for 30 minutes in the waiting room, spend a whole 5 minutes with the actual doctor, quick in and out, take this prescription for X, what is the cause of your problem? well we don’t really care about that, please clear the way for the next wallet (oh wait, I mean patient).
can you afford to go to an out of the network doctor? may cost like $150, but a lot of insurance companies will still run all of the blood tests they order under the insurance program as long as you go to an in-network lab like Quest or LabCorp. Call to compounding pharamacies and ask for a referral. It really doesn’t matter how far out of the box the guy is (muscle-supplement resistance tests, aura readings, hair analysis, etc.), you really just need to get someone to write you an order for a full range of blood tests. Once you have enough data points you can self direct a lot of your care since you will be without insurance.
I have very little info on H1AC, insulin, and glucose, but Orange juice and such have extreme sugar levels and cause glucose spikes like crazy. I would recommend cutting out as many sugar sources as you can. Maybe the Paleo diet thing that’s been going around might be helpful?
as for high cortisol, I don’t really know… you are the first person I have come across in all of the forum whose cortisol numbers were above 20. Most people with hormone issues are under 15 and have to supplement cortisol.
a good multi-vitamin can be helpful.
depending on your ferritin levels, iron might be called for, but we don’t know that yet.
Niacin is great for boosting HDL and lowering LDL.
seems like 95% of people are low on Vit D. so 6,000iu D3 doesn’t hurt most people.
Fish Oil or some source of Essential Fatty Acids is well… essential.
good luck.
Please edit your post above and add ranges to fT4 and prolactin. Prolactin is elevated-normal, most guys are closer to 7-9.
Do not see TT posted.
you can do your own out-of-pocket labs at LEF.org - now on sale
FT is workable, focus on diet, supplements and lifestyle. Get proper labs.
Double check thyroid status: check body temp when you wake up and a few times during the day, record for a few days and report.
When did you do the cortisol labs, before seeing doc, after, doc pissed you off? Cortisol levels can be a reaction.
[quote]KSman wrote:
Please edit your post above and add ranges to fT4 and prolactin. Prolactin is elevated-normal, most guys are closer to 7-9.
Do not see TT posted.
you can do your own out-of-pocket labs at LEF.org - now on sale
FT is workable, focus on diet, supplements and lifestyle. Get proper labs.
Double check thyroid status: check body temp when you wake up and a few times during the day, record for a few days and report.
When did you do the cortisol labs, before seeing doc, after, doc pissed you off? Cortisol levels can be a reaction.
[/quote]
Thanks. Added all the ranges. Unfortunately TT was not tested that day. Do you recommend an armpit thermometer or ear?
I had the blood drawn at around 9:30 a.m right after seeing the doc. I wasn’t mad, but nervous.
Thanks again KS, how is your thyroid? hope you’ve gotten better.
[quote]PureChance wrote:
yes, overall the medical establishment sucks. It is 99% set up for acute care to keep people from dying immediately, but no thought as to helping ensure ideal health, long life, or to find and fix the root cause of issues.
sit for 30 minutes in the waiting room, spend a whole 5 minutes with the actual doctor, quick in and out, take this prescription for X, what is the cause of your problem? well we don’t really care about that, please clear the way for the next wallet (oh wait, I mean patient).
can you afford to go to an out of the network doctor? may cost like $150, but a lot of insurance companies will still run all of the blood tests they order under the insurance program as long as you go to an in-network lab like Quest or LabCorp. Call to compounding pharamacies and ask for a referral. It really doesn’t matter how far out of the box the guy is (muscle-supplement resistance tests, aura readings, hair analysis, etc.), you really just need to get someone to write you an order for a full range of blood tests. Once you have enough data points you can self direct a lot of your care since you will be without insurance.
I have very little info on H1AC, insulin, and glucose, but Orange juice and such have extreme sugar levels and cause glucose spikes like crazy. I would recommend cutting out as many sugar sources as you can. Maybe the Paleo diet thing that’s been going around might be helpful?
as for high cortisol, I don’t really know… you are the first person I have come across in all of the forum whose cortisol numbers were above 20. Most people with hormone issues are under 15 and have to supplement cortisol.
a good multi-vitamin can be helpful.
depending on your ferritin levels, iron might be called for, but we don’t know that yet.
Niacin is great for boosting HDL and lowering LDL.
seems like 95% of people are low on Vit D. so 6,000iu D3 doesn’t hurt most people.
Fish Oil or some source of Essential Fatty Acids is well… essential.
good luck.[/quote]
Exactly 30 minutes waiting 5 minutes with docs that don’t care at all to find the root cause of problems. I owe 2,900k to the hospital for my time there for pneumonia, at the moment I can’t afford out of network docs, I’m trying to negotiate to be able to pay that. Since I do have a few weeks left I guess I could try another doc, but I’m tired of jumping around playing Russian roulette trying to find a good doc. I explained to a GP my situation and why I wanted more tests, but he told him he did not know much about hormones or diabetes. He told me to talk to the endo who ran the tests again, but that guy lost all credibility with me when he told me free T is normal and TT appears low because its binding, or that hba1c is normal when levels above 5.5 are considered pre diabetes. I mentioned that to the GP and he told me since I’m not overweight and I am thin I’m ok. I mentioned to him already knowing from common sense I should be doing that, “shouldn’t I be on a diet low on sugar?”, he replys that’s a good idea. I also mentioned studies showing 1000 mgs of vitmain C a day lower cortisol. They should be giving us the ideas and suggestions not us, isn’t that why we pay doctors? as you can tell by my ramblings I’m very disappointed with these doctors, I’ve had good ones in the past so I know its a matter of finding them.
Supplements
centrum silver.
1000 mg fish oil
50 mg zinc
coq10 300 mg
5000 iu d3
I’m almost sure I’m d3 deficient since I’ve been working at night and not getting as much sunlight. I usually feel better during summer as well. That’s part of the puzzle.
any updates?
[quote]PureChance wrote:
any updates?[/quote]
No not much, haven’t been able to get an appointment within this month. I guess I’ll have to wait and do some tests via LEF when I can afford it.
Working on the temperature log.
I can’t believe it’s been this long. After a year and finally getting insurance through a semi decent job I have while attending college I can finally see a doc. I hope all is well with everyone who helped me out. I was wondering if any of you guys know a good doc in socal? let me know since I have been feeling these same for too long.