Hi Everyone,
I’m an almost 26 year old male who has struggled with low libido for the past few years. I can go 1-2 weeks without having a desire to masturbate. Maybe even longer, but usually by that time I decide to masturbate because I know it will feel good but not because I feel like I have to due to being horny.
I used to find that after 5 days or so of not masturbating I’d start feeling the need to masturbate but now it takes much longer, if it happens at all. The one time I usually always feel a “raw” intense horniness is the morning after a night of heavy drinking. I don’t really drink much but when I do, I seem to always get really horny the next morning. I wish I had that intense horniness more often. I assume most guys have that feeling normally when they’re horny? I don’t always get morning erections, though when I do they are surprisingly firm, but I’m not horny at all. If I do decide to masturbate, I have to find porn that really turns me on and I have to continuously provide stimulation otherwise I won’t stay hard.
In terms of other symptoms, I have broad hips and I seem to accumulate a lot of fat in that area easily as well as my lower belly. I seem to have trouble building significant muscle as well. And the muscle I do have is pretty squishy lol.
I got blood work done with the following results:
SHBG 60 nmol/L (range 10-50)
T Total 582 ng/dL (range 250-827)
T Free 76.9 pg/mL (range 35-155)
T Bioavailable Calculation 630 ng/dL (range 250-1100)
IGF 1 520 ng/mL (range 63-373)
Estrone 35 pg/ml (range <68)
Pregnenolone 145 ng/dL (range 22-237)
Estriol <0.10 ng/mL (range <= 0.18)
Estradiol 34 pg/mL (range <= 39)
DHEA Sulfate 387 mcg/dL (85-690)
Progesterone 0.7 ng/mL (range <1.4)
TSH 2.15 mIU/L (0.4-4.5)
T4, Free 1.3 ng/dL (0.8-1.8)
T3, Free 2.9 pg/mL (2.3-4.2)
T3 Reverse 14 ng/dL (8-25)
So it seems like everything is within range except IGF 1 (is that concerning?) and SHBG which is high. My doctor said my testosterone is decent but for a 26 year old it could be higher, especially the free T. My concern is that this was taken in the morning when T is supposed to be highest, and it’s not even that high. Given my low libido symptoms, and having tried alternative products like tribulus and already having a fairly healthy diet/exercise lifestyle, my doctor said I could try low dose testosterone cream (like 25 mg/week EDIT: the Rx is actually for 25mg/mL applying 1mL nightly) to give myself a little boost. I’m inclined to try it but I’m concerned about any negative consequences (such as my body stopping to produce it’s own T). Would it be worth trying or is there anything else I can do?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Your Dr is dum. Run. You don’t try 25mg a week. Once you start introducing exogenous testosterone your own production shuts down. So 25 will leave you worse off.
Did you take the lab in morning when t is usually highest after a good night sleep?
580 not bad. T3 free should be higher. Free t low probably because shbg high. You take any medication?
Hypothyroidism causes similar symptoms to low t.
I think you should redo labs add complete metabolic panel , prolactin, and cortisol. As well as LH and FSH
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Terrible, your testosterone is low and high SHBG is inflating your T status. Your FT is the problem which is 8.36 ng/dL = 1.44 % when TT and SHBG are calculated, 2-3% is considered normal. Most doctors will not know this and the fact directly measured FT is unreliable to do the very short half life of FT.
SHBG scavenges sex hormones like a sponge soaking up spilled water, SHBG high enough will greatly lower FT as your body is holding on to too much testosterone and not releasing much of any of it.
Your doctor understands known of this, you need a new doctor. Your doctor is completely missing the SHBG and low FT link and is focusing only on total testosterone. Most doctors get TRT wrong, they don’t get any training in med school.
https://naturalbiohealth.com/2015/05/06/shbg-critical-to-your-health/
Hi systemlord, well my doctor did say that my FT was low. What are my options for increasing my FT? Increasing Total T? Can I reduce SHBG somehow?
Doubtful, sometimes it’s just genetic, the liver is ruining your day by producing too much SHBG. Alcohol and diets rich in veggies will increase SHBG. There’s too many variables in the environment which could be causing high SHBG. Processed foods, pesticides and a toxic environment.
You’ll never increase Total T enough to compete with SHBG.
Hi Charlie12, I looked at the Rx and realized that it says 25mg/mL applying 1mL nightly. So 175mg/week. Is that too much?
I took the lab in the morning at 8:45am and believe I had had a good night sleep.
I’m not currently taking any medication. My iodine came back a bit low, so I’ve been supplementing with Lugol’s solution to help with my suboptimal thyroid results.
The last time I took prolactin and LH was a few years ago. Prolactin was 13.7ng/mL (range 4.0-15.2, LH 5.0 mIU/mL (1.7-8.6 range) though not sure how helpful this is.
I did get the comp. metabolic panel done recently. Is there anything in particular you’d want to see?
Oh wow. So you’re saying there’s nothing I can do??
TRT is the big game changer and will be your best chance at lowering SHBG. Large weekly doses of testosterone will lower SHBG and free up your FT.
The doctor gave me an Rx for 25mg nightly (175mg/week) T cream from compound pharmacy. Would that be a good place to start?
Injectables are the prefered method of TRT and the most effective especially regarding lowering high SHBG, creams are inconvenient and can remain sticky on your skin. Injectable T is 100% absorbed, however injectables requires more skill for your doctor and is my belief why gels and creams are prefered by doctors.
It’s your choice though.
Ok that’s good to know. Does 175mg a week seem like a good place to start though, if I went with the cream approach? Will it completely shut off my own body’s production?
Any amount of T will shut you down until you stop TRT, but TRT is for life and you never come off or you will return to the state you were in before. If kids are important than you need HCG as part of your TRT protocol, AI’s (aromatase inhibitors) help control estrogen.
I would try 140mg injectable T weekly to start, you can always increase if you need to.
I see, so it’s not that once you start you can’t stop because you’d be worse off without it, it’s just that TRT doesn’t train your body to keep producing more and while you’re taking it your body stops producing T, so if you like the results you need to keep taking it. But it won’t negatively affect you otherwise?
HCG will keep testicles alive and producing sperm. There’s no reason I wish to go back to 225 ng/dL, felt like death. I’m going to have the testosterone levels of a 20 year old for life, no complaints here.
TRT only has positive benefits only if dealing with an experienced doctor, youthful testosterone levels are healthy. Studies show men with high normal testosterone levels have a 30% less likelihood of cardiac events than those in the middle ranges such as yourself.
Your testosterone levels are deceiving because of high SHBG. Total Testosterone is already low, it’s just being inflated to look high when it’s not.
It is also a patented product which allows the doctors to make a great deal of money on it. It is the most prescribed TRT application. Test suspensions are cheap.
Correct, the delivery systems are patented and doctors make a ton on them. My first endo refused anything but gels and creams.
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Are you saying the injections are preferred or the gels/creams? I’m inclined to try the cream since I have an Rx for it and it seems easier to me to apply that than to get an injection weekly. Just still unclear if the dosage is ok. I don’t want to over do it.
99% here inject testosterone, injecting test once weekly versus applying cream and having it stick to your cloths. You need a large dosage than most do to high SHBG.
The reading I’ve done today on high SHBG says that it can be caused by hyperthyroidism. Given my low T3 value, isn’t it weird I have a high SHBG value? I also rarely drink… I guess the only thing is I eat a pretty high fiber diet. Veggies and beans etc. Is this the one case where eating healthy is bad??
Also I’ve read boron can help lower SHBG. Can anyone comment on that?
Than it’s genetic and there’s nothing you can do to lower it expect TRT. Boron lower SHBG, if it actually worked guys wouldn’t need TRT. I think it’s a myth.
People assume that certain food are healthy for everyone, but everyone is biochemically different do to having different genes. You have naturally high SHBG, I have low SHBG.
I’ve seen guys with hypothyroidism and low SHBG begin thyroid treatment, 6 months later that have high SHBG. So if you increase FT3 your SHBG will only rise further. Low FT3 will hinger any fat loss potential.
I suggest selenium and iodine supplements to raise FT3, TSH will become useless then.