My current protocol is 30mg Test Cyp eod.
Before trt, my shbg was in the 80s n/mol. With every blood test over the past year it has gotten progressively lower 45 n/mol, 35, and now my most recent is 29. Im getting concerned that it might get TOO low (sub 20). Anyone have experience with this? Has trt lowered your shbg too much ?
Larger doses lowered mine, but diet can play a factor as well, along with oral AAS
Why does a lower SHGB have you scared? SHGB binds with Free T and Free E2 meaning you piss it out and it gives you no advantage. Wasted juice.
That said. When I started TRT 7 years agin my SHGB was 29 and dropped no lower than 26 until I started blasting twice a year and now my SHGB is 16. With an SHGB of ~16 I can take 100mg of T cyp/wk and have a free T of 300. Free T is the only thing your muscles can use to grow. Tell me what is the downside of that?
The downside could be you metabolize Testosterone TOO quickly… If it gets too low
I inject .55ml of T enanthate @250 mg/ml 3 times a week M/W/F ** Testosterone enanthate (TE) is an esterified version of testosterone with a half-life of 4.5 days .
I am missing something jiujitsu. Please school me. How could I possible metabolize too quickly with a low SHGB? If my SHGB was high I would just have less free T to use, right? Then I would have to inject more.
The down side to a low SHGB is my system is flooded with free E2. So moody, water wait gain, short tempered and a need to take an AI to control the E2 even at TRT levels.
My shgb is like 13… never taken an AI really. Wonder if it would change anything
Well you can see my SHBG in my bloods posted above. @15.3 pretty close to yours wanna_be.
What is your TRT T dose and are you experiencing any high E2 effects even at your TRT level?
So many folks think TRT and blasting is some kind of fountain of youth requiring no effort and that just isn’t how it works. TRT and Blasting allows you to go to failure at a higher weight. That is it. The secret is out. You have to do the work or nothing happens.
Lol at this thread. Some guys will find anything to worry about. Chill out. I inject every day with an SHBG of 16 and probably dropping. So what? You only have X amount of hours in a day to be awake. Guess what? When I wake up I give myself a shot. Its not like you’re going to piss it out like a 6pack after an hour on the lake. Seriously what is the worry? That you will be using up your T too fast? This is a non issue.
Inject daily, or switch to Test C. Enanthate is faster acting, Test C takes time to get into the bloodstream so the overlap helps with symptoms. But a lower SHBG is more desireable. Why? Because its not bound up and you actually benefit from all of the free T which is what you’re after.
Is your SHBG still this low? I’ve been on TRT a few years now and my labs usually look like this when I’m feeling good. I’m still trying to figure out if low shbg really is a factor to worry about. My shbg is between 13-18 and I did great on 200mg once a week for months before I stopped feeling well. My shbg has always been on the lower end so I’m trying to figure out why once a week stopped working and why I “needed more frequent injections” all of a sudden. Is it that I was metabolizing Test too quick? Or E2 built up over time?
@highpull would really appreciate your thoughts
A reduction in pregnenolone induced by TRT will cause you to not be able to tolerate an optimal TRT dose or feel well with optimal free testosterone. Lowering the dosage will provide temporary relief, and a return of low testosterone symptoms.
The cycle repeats.
What about taking hcg prevent cascading hormones like pregnenolone from depleting
hCG increases progesterone, and if you can’t tolerate higher progesterone levels, hCG isn’t going to make you feel very good. hCG increasing other hormones in one reason why some men can’t tolerate it.
If you have subpar pregnenolone levels, take the less complicated route and supplement pregnenolone.
200mg test e took mine from 102 to 46, which is a very good thing for my free testosterone.
It is not.
I wouldn’t worry about it. I have some guys go back and forth with varying injection schedules.
That could vary. Lab results vary without changing dosing, or any other variable.
This can change as well, without dose changes.
Yeah, maybe.
Dave is kinda weird, dont listen to too much of what he has to say.
@highpull thanks for your response. Really appreciate it. Yeah I never really worried about shbg until I started feel off and read on here that low shbg guys don’t do well on once a week injections and need more frequency. I didn’t understand this because I was doing 200mg once a week and felt great for months! So I was like ok once a week (for low shbg) CAN work.
Here are my labs at a trough from 200mg once a week when I’m feeling great:
TT: 618
FT: 19.3
E2: 33.65
SHBG: 14.48
TT: 933
FT: 28.2
E2: 33.97
SHBG: 19
But like I mentioned lately I’ve been feeling off (low mood, low energy etc) got labs at trough showing:
TT: 807
FT: 26
E2: 47.71
SHBG: 13.08
I was shocked because my Free T still looks good on paper. Dose is the same and SHBG still on the low side so I’m confused. The only difference is E2 has gone up a bit. Could that be why I’m not feeling well? Maybe I’m one of those guys where E2 has to stay around 30. If you notice both labs where I was feeling good E2 at trough was 33. Wonder how high my E2 is at a peak but maybe 47 at trough is too high for me ? I was thinking its time to whip out the notorious AI but not sure.
Thoughts? Thanks again
The problem could be the way you’re administering the Test. The large spikes in androgens, not the levels may be the cause of you feeling unwell.
Do we actually need to supplement pregnenolone if we dont use HCG?
I’ve never bothered with HCG and besides my toddler sized bollocks I dont think Im missing much.
What does pregnenolone do?
Memory only. Labs are not helpful.
