Before anyone goes off on how I need to read the stickies, I would like to let you know that I DID read them…as well as many other posts on here. But there is so much contradiction, it really does make your head spin.
A sticky says that the only blood tests that should be done pre-trt are:
LH/FSH
TT
FT or bio-T
E2
Prolactin
DHT
PSA
DRE
However in that same sticky, and other posts/threads by prominent members, it says that the above uploaded tests are necessary.
This leaves someone like me that is considering trt in a very confused state.
I just don’t want to make mistakes which will jeopardize my health.
Sooo…could any of you trt gurus be kind enough to simply just list the numbers of the tests that are not required pre-trt?
I’ve numbered the tests for your convenience so all you have to do is just list the numbers that correspond to tests that one does not have to do pre-trt…or to find out if that persons needs trt or not.
Now I would like to point out that I really wouldn’t mind doing all the tests on the list as obviously that would yield more good than harm. I even took the list to the lab to do the tests all excitedly…that’s until they showed me the total price of the tests. Waaaaay over my budget!
So now I would like to know which ones I can safely eliminate from the list.
You haven’t really mentioned why you want to get lab work done. I’m assuming you’re seeking a diagnosis for symptoms related to low T? The tests required for a clear diagnosis really depend on signs and symptoms. You could get all the tests available but most doctors won’t do that. Especially in Canada where the health care system pays the bills.
[quote]C27 H40 O3 wrote:
You haven’t really mentioned why you want to get lab work done. I’m assuming you’re seeking a diagnosis for symptoms related to low T? The tests required for a clear diagnosis really depend on signs and symptoms. You could get all the tests available but most doctors won’t do that. Especially in Canada where the health care system pays the bills. [/quote]
My bad. I though it was obvious. I want to do lab work as a preliminary step to starting trt.
You still didn’t answer his question, what are your signs and symptoms? In other words what’s wrong with you? Different symptoms can require different tests, you probably need to look at the stickies some more.
[quote]ironman4850 wrote:
You still didn’t answer his question, what are your signs and symptoms? In other words what’s wrong with you? Different symptoms can require different tests, you probably need to look at the stickies some more.[/quote]
Moody
Gain a lot of fat
Very hard to gain muscle, even harder to maintain
Low sex drive (very recently)
That’s about it. Except for low sex drive and maybe getting irritated real fast, everything has always been like that. I mean, throughout my entire life.
I’ve been a gym rat and a nutrition freak almost my entire life (since I was 15) and no matter how hard I tired, I’ve never been able to gain enough muscle (at least not as much as a shoulda considering my training and diet regiment). If a laid off the gym for just a month a would loose all the muscle id gained in 2 years!
I guess those are my symptoms. And yeah… I did I total testosterone test a while back, it came back 381ng/dl.
That list of labs is pretty much what you want to have before starting TRT. How much cost are we talking? Having this information to refer back to may prove invaluable later on.
Let’s say you cut the lipid profile panel and you start TRT. La la la everything is great and the doc wants to test your cholesterol and such to make sure your treatment is safe. Then the results come back over 500 and WHOA TRT sent your cholesterol through the roof! Or did it? You will never know.
The other scenario that could play out is you start TRT and how come I don’t feel any better and still can’t gain muscle? Let’s test your thyroid levels WHOA you have hypothyroidism. If you had treated the thyroid maybe you could have felt better, made gains, and avoided a lifetime of injections.
If it’s below a thousand dollars I’d just get the bloodwork.
[quote]C27 H40 O3 wrote:
That list of labs is pretty much what you want to have before starting TRT. How much cost are we talking? Having this information to refer back to may prove invaluable later on.
Let’s say you cut the lipid profile panel and you start TRT. La la la everything is great and the doc wants to test your cholesterol and such to make sure your treatment is safe. Then the results come back over 500 and WHOA TRT sent your cholesterol through the roof! Or did it? You will never know.
The other scenario that could play out is you start TRT and how come I don’t feel any better and still can’t gain muscle? Let’s test your thyroid levels WHOA you have hypothyroidism. If you had treated the thyroid maybe you could have felt better, made gains, and avoided a lifetime of injections.
If it’s below a thousand dollars I’d just get the bloodwork. [/quote]
Makes sense. So aside from thyroids, everything on that list could be affected by trt??
Moreover, if I do free testosterone, is it important to do testosterone bioavailable and SHBG??
How about tests that are part of CMP such as CO2, bicarbonate and chloride and sodium…how are they relevant??
You mentioned the thyroid panel and the lipid panel and what you said makes perfect sense. But what about the rest of the tests? There are 36 tests on the list…45 if you count every test in the CBC.
Under $1000? Try $2142.
