So far, so good. Everything seems to be going well. I feel great, libido is good, erectile performance is good, I’m making gains in the gym. Given how many people don’t like Androgel and talk about poor absorption rates, I was curious to see what my numbers would look like at roughly the one year point. At 75mg/day 1% Androgel, Total T, Free T, estradiol look good I think. Hemoglobin and hematocrit are still within range but creeping up. They were already high before I started TRT, likely because I live at altitude (above 6600-ft) and they were at 16.9 and 49.9% before I started. I think my lipids look okay but doc wants to talk about statins. Apparently new guidelines want to keep LDL below 100 ng/dL depending on other factors. I need to look into that as I’d rather not take additional medications unless absolutely necessary.
Quest Diagnostics
Testosterone, Total 818 ng/dL 250 - 1,100 ng/dL
FREE TESTOSTERONE 184.7 pg/mL 35.0 - 155.0 pg/mL
ESTRADIOL 33 pg/mL < OR = 39 pg/mL
Cholesterol 181 mg/dL <200 mg/dL
High Density Lipoprotein Chol 50 mg/dL > OR = 40 mg/dL
Triglycerides 94 mg/dL <150 mg/dL
LDL 111 mg/dL (calc) mg/dL (calc)
Total HDL-C Direct 3.6 (calc) <5.0 (calc)
Non HDL 131 mg/dL (calc) <130 mg/dL (calc)
Glucose Random Serum/Plasma 89 mg/dL 65 - 99 mg/dL
Hemoglobin 17.3 g/dL 13.7 - 17.7 g/dL
Hematocrit 52.1 % 41.5 - 53.8 %
Hematocrit is supposed to creep up, its creating more oxygen and making you healthier. this is why we get healthier and feel healthier on TRT. You perform better athletically, sleep better and your brain gets more oxygen. you want this to creep up.
My dad is 75 and his free t is 15. his total T is 600. You are sitting at low numbers. at your age (you are probably much younger than him) you should be breaking 20 easily and Androgel makes it a bitch to accomplish. you have to slather a shit load on there. I suggest finding a better doctor who wants to find the most optimal approach to TRT using injections or scrotal cream . Get your numbers up above 20 and your will achieve the long term benefits of testosterone and the supporting hormones.
We can either look for the feel good now or also add a long termpreventative medicine approach to TRT. Thats only achieved by optimizing your T dose to give you the protective and supporting benefits you get from estradiol, free t, dht and etc.
I used Androgel and I remember slathering a shit load of gel on and its also ridiculously expensive. A decade later my TRT doc has me on compounded scrotal cream. its 50 mg per click. If I took one click (size of a pee) it would raise my levels into the 15-20s most likely. I take 3 clicks am and pm and thats what keeps me ticking and feeling well.
Dont treat lab ranges. treat symptoms and everything else I said.
Androgel is bottom of the list for trt treatment. its something the pharmaceutical industry created to make money off trt. you can buy a more effective product for 50$ a month (cream or injections) and stop supporting those assholes who only want to make it harder to get on T.