As I read it is very debatable whether this EIA produces lower number. For me it was another excuse to lower the ranges as well.
@systemlord I see now. That calculator you linked is definitely much closer to what my results were reading via equilibrium dialysis. Thanks for that! On another note, do you know what the reference ranges are for the results that tru-t.org gives you?
I do not, only know 10 ng/dL being the point where a lot of men experience symptoms. I am having trouble converting ng/dL to pg/mL, it just doesn’t work. 13 ng/dL comes out after conversion to 130 pg/mL, nothing like Labcorp lab ranges.
I know have to change my entire thought process regarding the new calculator and figure out where men are experiencing symptoms and create a range in my head. It would be nice if everyone used the same standards, everyone has to be Mr. Right.
As long as you guys keep basing all your decisions on what ‘range’ you need to be in, you will NEVER be optimized.
@dbossa I understand ranges aren’t everything, so what do you propose the best method to get optimized is?
Increase dose gradually until symptom resolution. When you are symptom free, you’re optimized.
@dbossa - For those of us that get their treatment through a doctor/insurance - what do we say to the doctor when they see our numbers are out of range/go against what they’ve designed and prescribed to us?
You can waste time explaining to them that Total T has no effect on tissue, Free T is the stuff that doctors should be paying close attention. Total T doesn’t affect hematocrit, Free T does.
You could gather studies to prove your case, it’s more than likely a doctor would listen because the doctor could use it to protect him/herself if anyone comes looking for a witch hunt.
I’m going off on a tangent here but it’s only a matter of time before big brother comes looking to clamp down on anti-aging and sports medicine clinics when they start impacting our health in a positive way.
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In the next few days, I will be adding an update with my latest labs. I would again like to say that the topic of this thread is MY experiences and results with PELLETS. It is my journal of what I have been through since I started this journey.
For those of you who are anti-pellet – please stay off this thread. In fact, open one and I will be happy to debate with you — just not on this thread.
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A reminder again - this thread is my journal. It allows me to document what I am experiencing and what I have done in one place; and maybe help others in the future. I am not looking for debate here.
During the first week of July, I suffered a setback. I stopped sleeping. For the first two days, I was a zombie. The third day, I went back to sleeping pills and slept for a little more than one hour. After that, I began cutting Ambien into fourths and taking one-fourth to get to sleep (about 3-4 hours of sleep) and then another fourth when I awakened (which gave me another 3 hours).
Anogasmia has not changed. ED is the same - still need the blue bill for intercourse, otherwise I’m at 50-60% tumescence. I even experienced a failure one night where the little guy had no interest in rising, even with the 100mg blue pill. That was disappointing.
I still suffer with having full erections; then losing it for a few minutes; then getting it back. This repeats itself. I have decided to ask Viagra for a refund since I have never had an erection that lasted anywhere near 4 hours.
My libido is great. Mentally, I am that dog that tries to walk and hump everything in its path.
My arousal is still the problem, as erections are not rock solid, and continue to drain and refill. That alone is a strange feeling.
I decided that if I was still out of balance with all the vitamins and supplements I was taking - I wonder how much of it was “working” to my benefit. I decided to stop ALL supplements and vitamins (except prescripton danazol) and stay off for 6 weeks. That would give me a “reset” and allow me to see blood testing results without the noise of my vitamin/supplement routine.
One night just before bed, after three weeks of taking sleeping pills, I felt unusually sleepy, and decided to forgo the pills for that night. I began sleeping again.
However, I get out of the bed exhausted in the morning. That is still where I am six weeks later.
For clarity - nothing changed in my life. No stressors, no problems, no one died, no bill collectors calling – nothing. I didn’t change my diet, the times that I eat, or anything else.
I purchased a fitbit watch to monitor my sleep. I am aware that it isn’t a scientific measurement, but I wanted to get data from another source. I find that I can not tell the difference between “thoughts-while-awake” and “dreams-while-asleep” once I get into bed. In other words, my sleep is so light, I have difficulty knowing whether I was asleep or not
The fitbit has confirmed that I don’t sleep well. In fact, the accompanying material indicates I do have a “sleep disorder”. As a test, each time I knowingly was aware, I would check my watch. I wake up 5 times or more per night. I never leave the bed, but I am fully awake. During some of those times, I do not return to sleep for more than 30minutes. I obtain only 1/3 suggested REM sleep, and 1/2 suggested Deep sleep.
I believe that looking at my sleep problems is important because I think it affects my energy, spunk, concentration and overall motivation to do more than what is required. In the past, these were blamed on Testosterone issues.
I now believe that my bouts with insomnia and its related problems are based on a completely unrelated health problem that I have yet to find or solve.
SO HOW DO I FEEL NOW?
Back in November 2017, in my first post, I shared:
“-Sleepiness fatique; regardless of how many hours of sleep I do get, I’m sleepy. In the afternoon, between 3-4, I can barely keep my eyes open at times.
-Difficulty sleeping: sparadic but I have suffered insomnia all my life so I discount this symptom.”
22 months later, and that hasn’t changed. Vitamins, Supplements, Testosterone, SHBG reduction were not the answer to this problem.
When I started trying to explain how I felt, I wanted to use simple terms. Before TRT, I told my doctor that I felt like I was living in Black and White; the world was dull.
After TRT, I told him I had found “color” in life; and even felt the color was vibrant.
Right now, I still feel the world is in color, but I don’t feel it is as vibrant as it was. I don’t feel the “warmth” that I initially felt on TRT.
I’m tired (from sleep issues) but not lethargic. I don’t have the motivation to do much more than what is necessary.
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But my biggest feeling is disappointment. I’m disappointed that I didn’t find the answer to my health issues.
Labs to follow …
Testosterone is where I expected.
SHBG dropped to 12 which I never expected. I was off Boron 6 weeks, which should have caused a rise in SHBG, Instead, I decreased. Quite a major change since my 104 days.
Testosterone, Free skyrocketed. That placed me at 3.52% free.
I decided to add testing of Apolipoprotein to this test run. There is history of heart disease in my family; and there was some discussion about blood flow concerns giving me some of the problems I was experiencing.
I didn’t know that APO are effected by androgen supplementation.
The APO and HDL numbers caused me to do more research. This is what I found.
LOW APO-A1 and LOW HDL:
HIGH APO-B, HIGH LDL-C, HIGH NON-HDL-C
HIGH RATIOS:
Updated with comment:
Alkaline Phosphatase has dropped low on a number of tests. No one has an answer for it being low. One source inferred that it was tied to excess Vit D - which at the time was possible as my levels had soared. It is low again now with regular Vit D levels, so that rules Vit D out as the culprit.
Labcorp and others mention anemia, malnutrition; MedicineLine goes a step further and adds “zinc” deficiency. Labcorp also says some drugs lower ALP, such as “estrogens with testostosterone”. I don’t remember testing zinc before.
Perhaps I should do the vitamins and minerals test, which for a non-insured cash payer, is a major financial hit.
@unreal24278 knows a shit-ton (scientic speak for a lot) about the heart. Maybe he can see something from these labs you may miss. Plus he’d probably be interested in seeing this regardless so I’m tagging him.
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I added an insulin test because I had a glucose test show up as out of whack. My doctor wasn’t worried because it had never happened before, but I added this anyway. Results were normal.
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You might notice that this test includes REGULAR Estradiol testing and UltraSensitive. Although I find it interesting to see the two tests side by side, the non-sensitive is included only because it was part of a package.
It was also time for a saliva test since it had been a while.
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The most amazing result is the Testosterone – showing “Normal” range!
At the time of my last Saliva test, both Testosterone and Free Testosterone were LOWER than current levels. Yet it registered higher.
I noticed that your Iron is high, but so is you TIBC. This is indicative of iron deficiency, surprisingly. I didn’t see numbers for B-12 or Folate. So, I don’t know if you may have see apnea, but I will go out on a limb here and say you need to check your minerals as well as B-12 and Folate levels. There is a good chance that you have a MTHFR gene mutation, so maybe some reading on that may be helpful. I’d look u how to do a liquid zinc assay test as well. You may be mineral deficient, and magnesium has a pretty big impact on sleep.
@hardartery
I’m going to look into the MTHFR mutation to see if I may have it. I have/had similar iron numbers until I supplemented iron. My B12 was 700 (230-1245) so not horrible but supplementing with daily 1000mcg sublingual methylcobalamin has been a major game changer for me as I get this clean energy feeling. It’s like that feeling when you’re a kid and your friend knocks on your door to go play outside and you get pumped up but without the anxiety-like feeling of caffeine. I’ve been taking it daily for 6 months and it still feels as great as day 1. Someone told me high B12 is linked to cancer but this feeling is worth the risk to me. It was the final piece to me feeling 100% optimal after a long road with TRT dosing/protocols.
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