Could Someone Help Me with My Labs?

Pharma TRT
1

Hello everyone,

I am a bit of a longtime lurker here on and off over the years.
my name is James and I am 45. On again off again in the gym.
I am 172cms tall and weigh in at 73kgs. 12% to 14% body fat at the moment but still holding a bit a of quality muscle on a small frame. I am re-commencing the post xmas/new year diet and will be back down to 69-70kgs and hopefully around 8 to9% body fat in a couple of months.
As i just turned 45 I did some fairly extensive (for me ) bloodwork to see where my health was at and these are the results I got.
I am in Australia so the results are in pmol/L and nmol/L. I have converted them to ng/dl and pg/ml where I can to make them more readable.
I used three online converters to do this:
https://www.nebido.com/tools/index.php/en/default/index/conversion-tool
and

and

RESULTS

Total Test: 19.8 nmol/L or 571ng/dl

SHBG: 39 nmol/L or 11.25 ng/ml (1125 ng/dl) or 4.4 ug/ml or 0.4 mg/dl

FT (Calculated): 379 pmol/L or 0.11 ng/ml (11ng/dl)

E2(oestradiol): 63 pmol/L or 17.16 pg/ml

DHEAS 6.7umol/L (Range 1.2 - 9.0) or 247 ug/dl

FSH: 2 IU/L (Range <10)

LH: 3 IU/L (Range <9)

Cortisol: 346 nmol/L (Range 100-535) or 12.54 ug/dl

Free T4: 12.3 pmol/L (Range 9.0 - 19.0) or 0.955 ug/dl

TSH: 0.8mIU/L (Range 0.3 -3.5) or 0.8 uIU/ml

Prolactin: 138 mIU/L (Range <500) or 6.5 ng/ml

ALP: 59

AST: 31

ALT: 40

GGT: 136 H (Range 5-50) I have had only 3 glasses of alcohol in the last 7 months.
One test i had for ggt 6 years ago showed a GGT level of 115. Had ultrasound done negative for anything showing such as fatty liver etc. No Hep a b or c either.

LDL: 4.2 H (Range 0.0 - 4.0)

Chol/HDL Ratio: 5.2 (Range 0-4.5)

The rest of my bloods were good(within normal ranges) except high cholesterol and GGT.

PSA is 0.66 ug/L and DRE normal.

I know I have to lose weight. Also lower my cholesterol. I do eat a fairly good diet and no fast food etc. My mother is very slender and eats very healthily and got a cholesterol reading of 7 and the doctor suggests with my diet that it is more than likely inherited High Chol.

My free test looks low to me but I have not been able to find any ranges that are consistent or optimal.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to specifically fix this?
Also I would like to hear any comments or suggestions on causes or ways to lower my gamma GT if anyone has any knowledge on the matter.

My main symptoms are really painful joints at times and slow recovery and excessive muscle stiffness after working out. Getting old I know. but maybe it is a cortisol or DHEAs issue?
I just don’t have the knowledge.
Any help appreciated from you hormone gurus.
All the best for 2016

cheers

James

2

This seems like a typical age related case of secondary hypogonadism.
E2 is low and not a cause
prolactin is typically not an older males problem

TSH is very nice, fT4 is a bit below midrange.
It would be good to see fT3 as that is what gets the job done
Are you getting some iodine in salt, bread, vitamins?

Do you feel cold easily? - suspecting not
Thyroid at this point does not look like an obvious factor in your secondary hypogonadism.
But thyroid problems do lead to low energy and weight gain.

Do not do a starvation or low fat diet.

What is your exposure to tropical diseases, at home or on travels?

I have some heavy reading for you:
In this forum’s one sticky, in the 2nd post, follow these links:

  • advice for new guys
  • things that damage your hormones

Cortisol and DHEA are good [adrenals]
Stress can cause adrenal issues and elevated rT3

See if a magnesium supplement helps with muscles and try to not be dehydrated.

3

Firstly, thank you very much KSman for taking an interest in my case and taking the time to reply.

I did read your sticky on Thyroid and I will take my temps and think I will do an IR…even if my thyroid is not a major issue; i like the bromine de-tox effect.

Quick question I couldn’t seem to find the for was…when I take my temps is that oral or axillary (armpit)?(please dont say rectal :slightly_smiling: just kidding)

I did ask for T3 not rT3 but what you saw is what I got. The doc I went to see is a decent bloke but like all medicos it seems you have to push them just to get what you want.

I have to get my lipids and E/LFTs done again when I drop 4kgs so I will re-test all my relevant hormones and see if I can get rT3 done as well.

At a guess I would say my iodine intake would be minimal as I eat bread from a local bakery and not mass produced and like your wife with the “exotic” salt fad my household has also jumped on the bandwagon.

You are right, I don’t feel cold easily…I usually have try to cool down at times, especially after exercise or a meal…and Australia or Thailand aren’t exactly the coldest of climates either!

That being said, I will start using iodized salt from now on. I eat little seafood and shellfish but I do eat a couple of handfuls of walnuts a day along with eggs and beans which are reasonably good sources of iodine from what I can gather.

I will take your dietary advice into account for my weight loss plan. I usually just drop the carbs in a major way and ramp up the protein and cold pressed virgin olive oil.

Funny you should mention exposure to tropical disease exposure as I have had a lot over the years.
I have travelled and spent time in Indonesia surfing in my early twenties, i have travelled through India in my early twenties also. So I have been exposed to malaria in indonesia but was taking meds to prevent it; I have had guiardia, aeomebic dysentry(nearly carried me off) etc etc in India in my twenties went from 72ks 8% bf to 59kgs in 6 months) I have lived in Japan for 4 years and 15 years in Thailand 10 of those full time so I have had bacterial gut stuff a coupe of times a year over that period as is par for the course living in SE Asia but nothing worse than 2 days on the toilet maybe vomiting only 2 or 3 times.
I have tested for HIV and Hep A,B,and C plus syphilis and chlaymidia and Gonnorhea and all negative.
I have never had Hep A or B as I got the jabs for them many years ago and they are still working.

20 years in Asia and I would be lying if I said I hadn’t got chlaymidia or Gonnorhea a couple of times; but the last case I had was 10 years ago and was cleared up in 3 days with antibiotics.

I would be interested if you have any theories or test suggestions regarding my history there.

Magnesium is great for muscle soreness and I have been supplimenting usually daily with it between 300 and 600mgs a day. I also drink a lot of water so hydration isnt an issue.

I was wondering if you have any advice on optimal dosing there for Mg?

Australian soil is apparently deficient in selenium so I will start supplimenting with that also.

I have read quite a few studies regarding loweing your GGT levels with coffee(best results were in heavy drinkers-which I am not) but overall it did have some effect so I am drinking 2 to 3 cups a day in the hope I can reign that in.

I can’t help but feel that my upper level ALT and elevated GGT may be linked to my inability to shed weight and what appears to me to be a really shitty FT level.

My apologies but I have not been able to see any info on what a healthy/optimal FT reading should be…if you could let me know …or perhaps paste a link that would be great.

I will get stuck into more of the recommended reading of which I have skimmed.

So I suppose the million dollar question is how do I free up more testosterone?

Thanks again KSman.

All the best.

cheers,

James

4

AST/ALT can be high from muscle soreness or bruising. Workouts can bugger up that lab.

From my reading, there are STD’s that are quite antibiotic resistant now. Be cautious.

Are you taking any meds now? Anti-malarials?

You probably need bigger guns than switching to iodized salt.
Sounds like your whole household is probably iodine deficient.

5

RE: Yes thats true. The first time I ever went to get a liver panel done when I was in my mid thirties and was considering doing a cycle I freaked myself out.

I did a massive legs day at the gym before going to get my test that afternoon.

Needless to say AST/ALT were off the charts…but came down to upper normal within 10 days or so.

No I am not taking any meds. I was exposed to malaria only once when I was in Indonesia back when I was 18. But was taking quinalone I think. I never “caught” malaria and that was 27 years ago.

My GI tract is fine as far as I know and very healthy. I also did Fecal Occult Bloods and all normal.

I am going to buy some Iodine and do your IR protocol KSman.

My pressing question is …

Total Test: 19.8 nmol/L or 571ng/dl

SHBG: 39 nmol/L or 11.25 ng/ml (1125 ng/dl) or 4.4 ug/ml or 0.4 mg/dl

FT (Calculated): 379 pmol/L or 0.11 ng/ml (11ng/dl) or (109.3 pg/ml)

I have seen wildly ranging charts/figures for what is NORMAL for FT

But would you be able to tell me if my FT is below bottom normal range?

Also what would you consider an optimal FT number given my Total Test result?

Thanks again KSman.

cheers,

James

6

Sadly, different labs have vastly different FT lab ranges. So there is no absolute.

Your FT is probably midrange just like TT.

7

No worries.

Thanks again for all your response here KSman.

I hope your own free test is sky-high.

I am going to start the iodine and up my supplements of zinc, C and selenium also keep on the magnesium.

I am drinking 3 cups of coffee a day and having a glass of grapefruit juice with breakfast to see if I can help out my liver. Of course low animal fats but keeping up the virgin olive oil and lean proteins.

I am dieting to lose 5kgs and get nice n lean as well.

So in about 2 to 3 months I will re-test and see what the labs say.

All the best.

cheers,

James

8

Do not drink grapefruit juice routinely. It make high demands on liver enzyme pathways and can thus reduce clearance of estrogens and lead to increased E2 levels. Also interferes with actions and metabolization of certain medications.

In non-TRT guys, E2 goes up and T goes down.

Some drugs create the same problems and that is one of the reasons that I ask that these be listed.

This is the poster child for endocrine disruptors. It is Tagamet and sitting on the shelf in the pharmacy for heart burn.

9

Thanks for the heads-up KSMan.

Scratch the Grapefruit from the equation then.

Any recommendations as far as liver health supplementation(that doesn’t increase E2) goes besides coffee?

10

Not my knowledge base.