Mid 40’s, my anti-aging clinic/functional medicine office is very pushy about getting folks on TRT, and I’d prefer to hold off for a few years if possible.
Results w/ reference ranges below:
Thyroid and Test reading look fine, I know the FREE testosterone and IGF/DHEA levels are on the lower end. I respect and plan on TRT one day as we all will probably need it, but for now is there anything else anyone can recommend - would a couple months of IGF boosting peptides help the system enough to clean those up?
It would boost them so long as you continued taking them, but not any longer.
T levels are on the low end of the spectrum (looking at Free T), which would warrant TRT if accompanied with symptoms (in my opinion). Since you’re looking to avoid TRT, you could give something like Tongkat Ali a go - with the intent of seeing if quality of life improves… it could provide insight as to whether or not TRT is the right move for you.
TSH could be optimized if brought closer to 1.0, which may improve libido and energy - among other things.
There are quite a few different units which are used to measure, and lab ranges vary considerably from one to the next
Depending on the lab and country it differs. But yes I was assuming standard labcorp based on values shown. Just making sure before I tell you that your FT and E2 are really low. As in an unhealthy level of low. I mostly suggest folks reconsider before speaking to a TRT clinic. However, I feel your levels are bad enough you could defienitly explore it now.
Bringing up your T levels should also correct the E2 issue.
My apologies, want to clarify something with levels:
Labcorp numbers initially, then with a clomid 1 week trial by Anti-Aging clinic Physicians Assistant (test to see if it could jumpstart levels):
Testosterone Total: 500 raised to to 626 (264 to 916 ref range)
Free T: 9.3 dived down to 6.7 (6.8 to 21.5 ref range)
IGF: 113 dived down to 67 (84-270 ref range)
Estradiol: Was under 5 now 22.5 (7.6 to 42.6 ref range)
LH: Went from 2.8 to 6.7 (1.7-8.6 ref range)
SHBG: 34.7 to 47.5 (16.5 to 55.9 ref range)
The clomid obviously helped some things, but tanked Free T more and raised SHBG.
Not sure that Gonadorelin necessarily increases Free T, at least directly - but it could be worth a shot if you want. I think a slightly less impacting way to test what the clinic wants to test would be to use Tongkat Ali (controversial opinion). Keep in mind that once you take a look under the hood - you can’t go back, so if you’re happy with how you are and feel NOW, then I’d ignore the suggestion because:
^don’t forget they are a business, and their primary objective WILL be to make money.
FWIW, I was borderline low T and decided to pursue TRT - I do not regret it. Not everyones efforts have been as fruitful as mine though.