Great Free T and Bio-Available T, Mediocre Total T

Hello everyone! I would like to ask this to all of you!

I’m a 21 years old dude who has issues with the typical low T symptoms such as low energy, brain fog, lack of confidence, anxiety, can’t maintain erection for long, etc.

I did 3 tests for testosterone.

First one:

Total T = 243 ng/dl

Second one (Only tested free T and bioavailable T):

Free T: 501 pmol/L (Reference: 200 to 650)
Bioavailable T: 9.8 nmol/L (Reference: 4.0 - 12)

Third one (Only tested total):

Total T: 430 ng/DL

These were all done around 2 hours after I woke up at 11 AM.

I’m confused if TRT is for me or not. Which is most important? Free T, Bioavailable or Total??

I went to an anti-aging clinic and they recommended me 50 mg every 2 weeks LOL. Also mentioned cordyceps.

Thanks everyone.

The problem is Free T testing from what I see is not accurate, even the Total T labs aren’t entirely accurate either. I’m seeing a lot of men have low testosterone symptoms with Free T midrange and symptoms aren’t fully resolved until at the top of the ranges or above. Take a sample of blood and split it up into multiple samples and you get a different result on each sample of blood.

This place needs a rename, this clinic needs to remove the letters “anti” from aging because this clinic is run by fake doctors with no knowledge whatsoever. The half-life is 7-8 days (cypionate) in the real world, so I expect this clinic director to be scratching his/her head wondering why none of the patients are following through or why they just don’t call anymore.

Your testing is inadequate, no SHBG or estrogen testing and no thyroid testing either which can mimic low testosterone because testosterone is metabolized in the liver and thyroid hormones are required for this process to occur.

For these numbers to be correct, you must have very low SHBG. The total T level is very low given your age, it might be that a thyroid problem is suppressing SHBG, increasing Free hormones giving you somewhat good Free T levels. You just don’t have enough testing to determine anything.

What you need is listed below:

  • Total T
  • Free T
  • SHBG
  • Estradiol Sensitive (E2)
  • LH-Luteinizing Hormone
  • FSH-Follicle stimulating hormone
  • Prolactin
  • Cortisol
  • Ferritin
  • Thyroid Panel
  • CBC-complete blood count
  • Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
  • Lipid profile/panel

Do you work odd shifts like night shift? Or are you just a bum? Haha. I used to work shifts and it will completely screw up your levels.

I’ve always gotten blood tests early in the morning and fasted after a decent night’s sleep to try and remove as many variables as I can.

Given this alone something is going on, regardless of what the test numbers say. You really need a full hormone workup:

Lipids
CMP
CBC
FSH
LH
prolactin
IGF-1
TSH
free T3
free T4
total and free test
SHBG
E2
VitD
PSA

Just to start, if those don’t give the answer, more.

There used to be a “stupid things doctors say” thread. This would make the top 10.

You need to nail down the cause of your symptoms before TRT, especially at your age. Those symptoms are tough, at any age. Good luck getting to the bottom of this.

Here is what I have so far:

Result Range Units
Ferritin 201 22 - 275 ug/L
Hematology
RBC 5.80 4.50 - 6.00 x E12/L
Hemoglobin 150 135 - 175 g/L
Hematocrit 0.440 0.400 - 0.500 L/L
MCV 82 80 - 100 fL
MCH 27.8 27.5 - 33.0 pg
MCHC 321 305 - 360 g/L
RDW 14.0 11.5 - 14.5 %
Platelet Count 205 150 - 400 x E9/L
Differential
Neutrophils 4.7 2.0 - 7.5 x E9/L
Lymphocytes 1.5 1.0 - 3.5 x E9/L
Monocytes 0.2 0.2 - 1.0 x E9/L
Eosinophils 0.1 0.0 - 0.5 x E9/L
Basophils 0.1 0.0 - 0.2 x E9/L
Immature Granulocytes 0.0 0.0 - 0.1 x E9/L
Nucleated RBC 0 /100 WBC
Thyroid Function
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone [TSH] 1.21 0.32-4.00 mIU/L
Thyroxine Free [Free T4] 16 9-19 pmol/L
Triiodothyronine Free [Free T3] 4.9 2.6-5.8 pmol/L
Pituitary Function
Follicle Stimulating Hormone [FSH] 6.8 1.0-8.0 IU/L
Luteinizing Hormone [LH] 4.4 1.0-7.0 IU/L
Prolactin 14.9 4.0-19.0 ug/L
Adrenal Function
Cortisol AM 252 135-537 nmol/L

haha pretty much just a bum. I’m lucky enough my job starts later in the afternoon so I can sleep.

Yeah honestly I was shocked when they told me to do 50 mg every 2 weeks. I actually got them to do 50 mg per week now but that is still low as hell. Although I do hear about some people on 50 mg per week and their troughs are like 500? I’m guessing some people react better to low doses.

This is not common, I can do 49mg weekly (7mg daily) and have over 400 ng/dL and FT at 15 pg./mL (6.8-21.5), but I have never seen anyone else this low in total weekly dosage.

Yeah that’s interesting then. I have found someone with a trough of 500 with 50mg once a week. Definitely not common though. Have you tried 50 mg once a week before? How did you feel if you did.

My first protocol was 75mg weekly only got me 550, so 50mg weekly would be less. The thing you have to understand is the decline in levels can be felt by some men and this fluctuation in levels feels terrible if you are sensitive enough to feel it.

How do you feel with your current protocol now? Did you find that TRT has helped you?

Injecting 50mg twice weekly only relief some symptoms, it did nothing to restore my muscle mass, erections or libido. The erections and libido came online when I started injecting my doses EOD, within 2 weeks muscles starting getting heard at half the testosterone level, erections all day long none of which happen on twice weekly dosing even though my FT was 29.6 pg/mL (6.8-21.5) well over the ranges at my lowest point.

No wonder you have a deep hated for doctors…………………

1 Like

Thanks for sharing mate. Looks like everyone has a different sweetspot even at lower doses.

I may try out the 50 mg but daily. My doctor told me that they will reevaluate in 4 weeks so if I still feel the same, at least they can adjust it.

Also anyone know wtf are cordyceps???

Fungi.

1 Like

Since we are talking about testosterone replacement, and presumably injections, did you mean quadriceps?

1 Like

So essentially you don’t have reliable lab data, no proper work up of what causes your potential (not confirmed) low T but they made you start TRT at age of 21.

That’s completely irresponsible from this ‚anti aging clinic‘.

This is gold

I wasted 250$ with this clinic. I’m going to get another blood test in a month. I ain’t injecting shit until I get a better doctor. I have the test cyp script too.

The doctor mentioned cordyceps as a way to boost T with little risks. Is she wack?

So she wants me to eat fungi? bro damn

Anyone know good clinics other than Dr Komer in Ontario, Canada?

I wouldn’t eat fungus.

He’s good and would have recommended him.

Well, what do you know? Don’t inject into cordyceps, and don’t eat quadriceps…

1 Like

Hey everyone. I got into a consultation with another clinic today!

He prescribed me 150 mg of T cyp…
.
.
.
.
.
.

Once a month

… i’m honestly speechless.