For much of my adult life I’ve struggled with relatively minor but chronic low mood and energy, difficulty gaining muscle/losing fat, and erratic/low libido. These problems seem to have worsened recently, and I came to suspect low T, though this doesn’t seem to be the case.
TSH
1.48
µmol / ml
0.27 - 4.2
Т4 free
1.29
ng/dl
0.93 - 1.7
T3 free
3.68
ng/ml
2.0 - 4.4
prolactin
11.9
ng/ml
4.04 - 15.2
LH
7.43
mmol/ml
1.7 - 8.6
FSH
2.87
mmol/ml
1.5-12.4
progesterone
0.209
ng/ml
<0.05 - 0.149
E2
60.3
pg/ml
11.3 - 43.2
T total, serum
34.7
nmol/L
8.64 - 29.0
SHBG
47
nmol/L
18.3 - 54.1
Update - added some more tests a few weeks later
DHT
777.46
pg/ml
250.0 - 990.0
DHEA-S
475
µg/dl
160.0 - 449.0
IGF-1
143
ng/ml
41.0 - 246.0
HGH
0.096
ng/ml
<3.0
Cortisol
23.4
µg/dl
6.02 - 18.40
Free T
36.529
pg/ml
15.0 - 50.0
background:
34 years old
waist ~34", 31 pant
~165lbs, 5’9"
average to thin frame body. facial hair sparse/patchy but fast growing. bodyfat mostly belly.
no significant health history other than some GI issues (LPR), no drugs.
typically heavy lifting 3-4 times/weekly and light cardio, currently taking a break. marked difficulty building lean mass and dropping bodyfat.
diet leans low carb high fat - lots of meat eggs, dairy, fish. supplementing with vit D only.
morning wood much less frequent than usual, libido is shot
i sweat easily, get hot very easily. this is not new, but the overheating while exercising seems to be getting worse as i get older.
I’ll admit that I was disappointed by the initial test results. Part of me was hoping to confirm my suspicions so I’d have an answer and a potential path forward, but I seem to be within normal range, so it’s back to the drawing board.
Unless I’ve messed up the conversion, I believe 1000ng/dl is well above average? This would also correspond with the SI unit range of 8.64 - 29.0 provided by the lab.
Let me make a few comments and give you another way to look at this. I’m not a doc but been around here long enough to pick up a few thoughts.
i don’t think you are neccisarily normal. It’s definitely possible, but you need free t and more data to clarify what’s a good inf.
First look at your shbg and total serum. For most men a 50shbg would cause them to have a low free t and thus all the issues. You really need to test free t bro. It could be high or it could be low. Hopefully high and your issue lies elsewhere.
Add this to your labs.
Pregnalone:dhea/s both of these help with mood , focus, sleep, memory, and feeling well. If low you could easily supplement.
Prolactin is high. I have read that can cause sexual dysfunction. I would see what is a healthy range folks feel good at. Not sure if yours is to high and reaching into a territory where one would see symptoms. Look into it or someone here please elaborate.
E2 is high but so is total so that should be fine. But you won’t know until you see free t. A low free t and high e2 sucks. Total means nothing.
Check DHT as well. Another by product of testosterone like estrogen. This one creates labido, energy, and that great trt feeling.
Thyroid you are high in free t3 that is great. I bet it’s not your issue. You are lucky.
When I had super low t I had issues with sweating and getting hot easily because my e2 was low. Yours is not low.
Furthermore i later found out my rbc, hematocrit and hemoglobin were low to. So I did t have much oxygen in my body and was also yawning all the time and sleep sucked. You want to check these to see where it’s at and for historical purposes.
Get a more complete picture this barely scratches the surface. If anything it brings up more questions to ask.
Free T percentage is right at 2 percent barely within the normal 2-3 percent which is normal. Pituitary gland is cranking out LH in order to increase T and therefore Free T, it isn’t enough.
If my Free T percentage was anywhere close to the 2 percent mark, I would have all the symptoms of low testosterone, I need Free T to be at least 2.5 percent to be symptom free.
If these labs represent your levels on your best day, then I shudder to think what your levels look like on your worst day.