Low Testosterone Levels At 18 Years Old?

Did a blood test last week, I got my results this morning from my GP.

My total testosterone is 376 ng/dL and my free testosterone is 16 ng/dL, My GP said I should comeback in three months for another blood test and also wants me to go for a scan because he thinks I have a fatty liver.

My GP also said if I get a lower level after three months than he will refer me to a endocrinologist.

Is this too low for someone my age?

Just fyi, the stickies on this forum are very informative. Further, they provide guidelines for people creating new threads (especially in terms of what bloodwork is helpful for people to give you an assessment of your position).

Not meaning to be a dick–just thought you might want to add info so that people on here can help you.

Get an MRI on your pituitary to see if there is damage.

[quote]USA SUB wrote:
Get an MRI on your pituitary to see if there is damage. [/quote]

Way too premature for an expensive procedure such as this.

Get the actual lab result print out from your GP

Post the appropriate results in this thread - these are outlined in the stickies, a must read.

If your Doc won’t give you the paper, then have him tell you the numbers with ranges for as many of the values as possible. You need at least:
Total Test
E2 (estradiol)
LH
FSH

You actually need more than that, but this is a start.

From there you can start to work out if you are primary or secondary hypogonadal, or if there are other reasons for your condition. You may need to get more comprehensive testing done.

My best advice is to read the stickies at the top of this forum, then read whatever sticky information you can in the steroid forum relating to PCT and SERMs & AIs (if you are secondary, you may be able to do a restart similar to a steroid PCT), go to MESO - RX and read anything you can by Michael Scally MD pertaining to PCT, HCG, Clomid and Nolvadex, HPTA etc. (everything must be taken w/ grain of salt but it’s good for gaining conceptual understanding, however probably don’t waste your time on Anthony Roberts stuff on that site). Keep in mind you may not be secondary hypogonadal - blood results help determine this. You are young and unless you’ve used AAS or PHs then you definitely want to rule out disease states - again starting w/ blood results.

Read read read to understand the basics of what is involved with this problem. Once you have a bit of an understanding you need to help yourself by asking the right questions in the appropriate places - do not rely fully on your Doctor, this is a very lacking area in the medical field. I’m still researching myself but starting to figure out where to look for the answers - it takes time. People will help if you make it easy for them. If you have a working knowledge of the HPTA and the things that cause it’s dysfunction then you will be able to use the knowledge of others.

If the blood was drawn in the afternoon, that is not a bad testosterone level. (Afternoon levels in young men tend to be roughly half of morning levels.)

If it was drawn in the morning within a couple of hours of waking up, it is somewhat low-normal but your free testosterone is not all that bad.

In any case, one test is insufficient to make any decisions. You need the average of several tests on different mornings.

Many people do fine with low-normal levels, because their body is more sensitive to the testosterone they have and respond well to it. Others do poorly despite high levels. Don’t let anyone treat you unless you have clear and unambiguous SYMPTOMS of low testosterone.

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]USA SUB wrote:
Get an MRI on your pituitary to see if there is damage. [/quote]

Way too premature for an expensive procedure such as this.[/quote]
It won’t be expensive if insurance pays for it, which mine did.

The reason I suggest this is because I damaged my pituitary at 17 years old and it went undiagnosed until I was 23. I suffered for years. If he can identity it early he’ll be better off.

Just because insurance pays for it doesn’t make it any less expensive. Somebody is footing the bill and unnecessary procedures add to the rising astronomical cost of health care. Same applies for the people who insist on pellets and andeogel over injections

You are projecting your own unique case onto OP. Pituitary damage is exceedingly rare which is why other steps are recommended to be followed before landing on that square.

I must apologize - based on recent readings I retract my statement about ignoring Anthony Roberts’ articles, they actually offer some valuable conceptual explanations of the basics (re: PCT & steroid suppression of HPTA). Just beware of some of his “cutting edge ideas” and PCT protocol which may actually be dangerous - everything w/ grain of salt… cross reference

However, I don’t mean to lead you too far down the PCT / RESTART path yet, unless you’ve used steroids or prohormones it is more important to rule out disease states based on your blood panels - this is the stuff you need to focus on right now