Testosterone Tests Came Back


page 4 (final)

above are the four pages of my labs. I go in thursday morning to see what the pa has to say. She was reluctant to give me a full thyroid panel because the GP before her took my TSH and T4. but ill attempt to read about the T4 and RT3 conversion issues and see if i can persuade her or get her to send me to an endo or something.

I called compounding labs and got the number for regional doctors that perscribe trt but they wont take me because of my insurance through the ARMY. A bodybuilder i know referred me to a rejuvenation clinic in Charlotte NC but i have yet to call them. That will definitely be out of pocket. hopefully the clinic here will do something for me

edit: please help me read the tests. i know test is obviously low at 279 and estradiol is high at 48.45 by the way there are 4 pages below that show pictures of the labs that may be easier to read.

edit: if needed i can e-mail the tests to someone that can help


just wanna see if these show up clearer

page 2 again


page 3 again

page 4 again hopefully these pictures are easier to read

today she referred to me to and ENDO which appointment is still waiting to be made.

but she also gave me some VIT D2 1.25MG…50,000 IU CAP

to take once a week for 9 weeks.

skeptical.

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
today she referred to me to and ENDO which appointment is still waiting to be made.

but she also gave me some VIT D2 1.25MG…50,000 IU CAP

to take once a week for 9 weeks.

skeptical.[/quote]

Most people are Vitamin D deficient, so taking a D supplement is a good idea. Make sure to get some sun (if you can). I take the 50k IU tab once a week, and a 5k D3 tab daily. Five weeks ago I was at 17, and now I’m at 41, with optimal being around 75 if I recall corretly. (The range on the lab says 30-100, but everywhere I’ve read says that 30 is way too low, but the upper end of 100 is correct - anything higher and you risk toxicity.)

Make sure you put your foot down and get the tests you need to figure out what’s going wrong and what you can do about it. The doctors are there to help you, and if they aren’t doing what’s necessary to get you better then you need to “fire” them and get someone new. Most of us on here who are on TRT have seen more than 1 doctor, and have had to fight with ignorant MDs who think their degree from 1970 is sufficient to make them an expert in Hormone Therapy. Unfortunately there are people who abuse the system, making it hard for people who actually need Testosterone to get it easily.

Keep pushing, and don’t be intimidated by the lab-coat. Make sure to memorize what’s in the stickies so you’re better prepared to debate with your doctor. With the thyroid panel you can say something like, “I know that 2.8 is ‘in range’ but I’ve been doing a lot of research and the current understanding is that anything over 2 is cause to look into the issue further”. That way your doc knows that you aren’t just blindly asking for something, that you have a reason to why you want what you want.

Best of luck! Keep us posted on how things go!

[quote]ctastrophe wrote:

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
today she referred to me to and ENDO which appointment is still waiting to be made.

but she also gave me some VIT D2 1.25MG…50,000 IU CAP

to take once a week for 9 weeks.

skeptical.[/quote]

Most people are Vitamin D deficient, so taking a D supplement is a good idea. Make sure to get some sun (if you can). I take the 50k IU tab once a week, and a 5k D3 tab daily. Five weeks ago I was at 17, and now I’m at 41, with optimal being around 75 if I recall corretly. (The range on the lab says 30-100, but everywhere I’ve read says that 30 is way too low, but the upper end of 100 is correct - anything higher and you risk toxicity.)

Make sure you put your foot down and get the tests you need to figure out what’s going wrong and what you can do about it. The doctors are there to help you, and if they aren’t doing what’s necessary to get you better then you need to “fire” them and get someone new. Most of us on here who are on TRT have seen more than 1 doctor, and have had to fight with ignorant MDs who think their degree from 1970 is sufficient to make them an expert in Hormone Therapy. Unfortunately there are people who abuse the system, making it hard for people who actually need Testosterone to get it easily.

Keep pushing, and don’t be intimidated by the lab-coat. Make sure to memorize what’s in the stickies so you’re better prepared to debate with your doctor. With the thyroid panel you can say something like, “I know that 2.8 is ‘in range’ but I’ve been doing a lot of research and the current understanding is that anything over 2 is cause to look into the issue further”. That way your doc knows that you aren’t just blindly asking for something, that you have a reason to why you want what you want.

Best of luck! Keep us posted on how things go![/quote]

without a doubt, more sun and the vit d supp. hopefully this helps.

did you notice a possitive change in your hormone levels with the vitamin D addition and going up to 41?

I wonder if one of the first things i should bring up to the endo other than the thryoid labs is a possible AI because of my high estradiol (48.45)

I was hoping someone would be able to let me know if things like my LH, FSH, PROLACTIN and other labs were questionable or at decent optimal range levels

is that the correct dosing for vit D2 1.25mg 50,000 IU CAP 1 time a week for 9 weeks?

You should cut your E2 in half. That should raise T a bit. You will be converting less T to E and your LH might increase a bit due to less E feedback. This certainly not your only issue, but it might make a reasonable difference in how you feel while you sort the rest.

Testing thyroid and adrenals would be good if your endo goes for it. Might also want to take a peek at pregnenolone and DHEA-S.

You want to make sure there’s nothing obvious that needs to be corrected first. After that you can either just go on replacement therapy, or try and determine if/why you are primary or secondary. The former takes a bit more time and effort. Even though it seems like the correct approach, it’s the one doctors seem to have the biggest issue with.

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:

a little tired, anti social, stressed and taking a long time to fall asleep nothing major
[/quote]

have you looked into adrenal fatigue symptoms? AF is known to wreck testosterone levels

[quote]dhickey wrote:
You should cut your E2 in half. That should raise T a bit. You will be converting less T to E and your LH might increase a bit due to less E feedback. This certainly not your only issue, but it might make a reasonable difference in how you feel while you sort the rest.

Testing thyroid and adrenals would be good if your endo goes for it. Might also want to take a peek at pregnenolone and DHEA-S.

You want to make sure there’s nothing obvious that needs to be corrected first. After that you can either just go on replacement therapy, or try and determine if/why you are primary or secondary. The former takes a bit more time and effort. Even though it seems like the correct approach, it’s the one doctors seem to have the biggest issue with.[/quote]

do you mean i should cut E2 in half using an AI?

i do need pregnenolone as well as the full thyriod panel (TT4/FT4/TT3/FT3/RT3) for sure and im pretty sure i have a cortisol on the way right now i wasn’t fasted though i do not know if it matters and the test was at about 7am after waking at about 5:30am.

and my DHEA-SO4 was on the last page. DHEA-SO4…416 range:110-510 mcg/dL
I don’t know if that is an appropriate level in the range though.

I’m trying to learn about all this but there are just so many hormones and vitamins and knowing where optimal levels in the natural ranges is hard to find on the internet and i know there are some (but not all) in the stickies.

[quote]wannabebig250 wrote:

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:

a little tired, anti social, stressed and taking a long time to fall asleep nothing major
[/quote]

have you looked into adrenal fatigue symptoms? AF is known to wreck testosterone levels[/quote]

no i haven’t just hypothyoid stuff. I’ll look into it.

these articles got me into looking into adrenal fatigue when i found out my testosterone was low.

[quote]wannabebig250 wrote:
these articles got me into looking into adrenal fatigue when i found out my testosterone was low.

[/quote]

Dude thanks for this man. When i read the symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue I feel like that describes the way I feel to a T.

definitely going to work on not being so stressed out all the time.

can you reccommend a decent adrenal support supplement?

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:

[quote]wannabebig250 wrote:
these articles got me into looking into adrenal fatigue when i found out my testosterone was low.

[/quote]

Dude thanks for this man. When i read the symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue I feel like that describes the way I feel to a T.

definitely going to work on not being so stressed out all the time.

can you reccommend a decent adrenal support supplement?[/quote]

im using a product called “AOR ortho adapt” right now and i feel 1000x better. and ive only been on it for a week. if you cant find that where you are, then you might want to buy the ingredients separately. you want adrenal extract from porcine or bovine, rhodiola, ashwagandha, siberian ginseng, and licorice root. also 500mg of vitamin c 4x a day. and a good multivitamin with plenty of iodine, selenium and a vitamin b complex.

ive seen alot of people giving really good reviews to “southland performance revamp”. it looks legit and its really cheap. it used to be called “palo alto labs reset ad” so you can find a ton of good reviews on it.

I got my ultra sound yesterday and i have a varicocele in my left testicle. Could this be why i have low testosterone?

I go to a urologist tomorrow to get that looked at.

my appointment with the endo isnt until march 21, so until then i can’t get any more blood work other than the same tests already shown

okay so I saw the endo’s assistant today and the requested an MRI (for pitituary gland) and these blood tests:

Cortisol AM
E2
free test
total test
t4 free, direct
t3 free, direct
reverse t3
tsh
thyroglobulinab (her hand writing wasn’t to great so i don’t know how this is spelt)
thyroid peroxidase
DHEA-S
Androstenedione
PSA
Total estrogen (i know you guys said this was dumb to get but yeah)

i know there may be one or two more here and there i need but i feel like this doctor isn’t an idiot compared to some of the horror stories i hear on here.

the only thing that bothered me was i asked about hcg and she said they dont usually give that to people on trt although on a few occasions they have I DONT WANT MY TESTIES TO TURN TO RAISENS. They also said they try the cream first but sometimes switch to injectables or use both cream and injectables depending on the person.

Ask them to test FSH, LH, and Prolactin as well. It’s better to have more info than needed than not enough…

Get that varicocele checked out by the urologist before starting any medicinal treatment.

HCG isn’t typically prescribed for long term TRT, from my understanding. It’s more often used to jump start the testicles after stopping TRT or for men who need a boost in fertility while trying to have children.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

[quote]lowTinTX wrote:
Ask them to test FSH, LH, and Prolactin as well. It’s better to have more info than needed than not enough…

Get that varicocele checked out by the urologist before starting any medicinal treatment.

HCG isn’t typically prescribed for long term TRT, from my understanding. It’s more often used to jump start the testicles after stopping TRT or for men who need a boost in fertility while trying to have children.

Good luck. Keep us posted. [/quote]

on the first page there should have been fsh, lh and prolactin done on the labs posted around 3-20-2012
I believe that is why she did not want to do them again because the levels looked good to her.

edit: the urologist said the varicocele was minor and he refused to operate on it for the hopes of increasing testosterone because he was unaware of any correlation also he said he would only operate on it if i was having pain. Which is a rarity i can only think of 2 or 3 instances my entire life where my testicle has hurt for “no apparent reason” for only a few minutes.