They assume because its a bio identical hormone that it adds to what you already have, how dare they presume to assume without fact checking.
Hey @mm14
Iâve been monitoring and reading on this board and others for a while now. Was interested to come across your post lastnight and led me to make an account here. I have a very similar profile to yours and also live in Vancouver. I am 28 Y/O and as a result get very little interest from family physicians to address my symptoms. As stated here too many times, hormone imbalance seems to be very poorly understood by most.
Below are some of my basic test results. Iâve had a series of bloodwork done over the last 2 years since Iâve been dealing with this issue, leading me to conclude high SHBG (Have had it above 50 both times tested, 1 year apart). As a result, I likely have low free T. My calculated free T and Bioavailable T say otherwise, but hardly believe thatâs accurate from what I am learning on these boards. I also am doubtful of this as your direct free T results came back below range. Considering we have similar T and SHBG levels, I would be willing to bet Iâm low end of range or even below if I was to test using the direct method.
Total T: 24.1 (8.4 - 28.8 nmol/L)
SHBG: 53.1 (10.0 - 70.0 nmol/L)
T Bioavailable Calculated: 9.2 (2.7 - 13.5 nmol/L)
T Free Calculated: 391 (115 - 577 pmol/L)
LH: 3.1 (1.1 - 8.8 IU/L)
FSH: 1.4 (IU/L)
Estradiol: 67 (<157 pmol/L)
I have a few questions, what is your most prominent symptom? Mine is definitely the sexual dysfunction. Very low libido, essentially non existent with ED issues and low sensitivity. Moderate mood/depression/anxiety issues, but not sure at this point if the depression related sides have developed as I am constantly thinking about this and how to move forward.
Secondly, how did you manage to get the Labcorp tests? I would also like to get a few tests done that arenât offered up here. Direct Free T and Sensitive E being two of them. I see you mentioned Discount Labs. Did you run into any road blocks ordering through them, and then presenting to Labcorp during day of blood draw since you werenât a U.S. Resident?
Lastly, any luck with the trt clinic? I tried to contact one a few weeks back but was told i was too young and to see a family doc lol. Keep going around in circles. Endoâs wonât touch my case as my Total T is normal. Havenât even gotten the chance to get infront of one as they decline my family doctorâs referral. Seems like youâve had a bit more luck with your family physician at least prescribing some form of T even if it was low dose. I saw a Urologist yesterday with the same story, he told me to see an Endo haha!
Would appreciate an update on your case. I have started some preliminary discussions with Defy Clinic at this point to see if they work with Out of Country Patients. This was going to be my last resort, and looks like I am at that road now.
Sorry for the long post, thought we might be able to help each other out since our cases are very similar.
Hey man, I understand your struggle of trying to find good help in our area.
Unfortunately, I canât comment on your numbers as I lack the knowledge to do so but if you set up your own thread, members smarter than myself will comment. All I can say is that your free t % is 1.62% when it should be 2-3%. Similar to myself, as all your labs are mid range, you will have troubles finding a dr who will believe you are low t. However, once armed with LabCorp numbers that came back as low (out of range) free t, my luck changed a bit. Lifelabs reference ranges per their website are from age 13-100 so a huge range when LabCorp breaks it down by age ranges so that could be where the big difference is.
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My main symptom is brain fog. It gets so bad in the afternoon, I find it very hard to get any work done. The second is my lost competitive drive/motivation/fatigue. I played high level hockey and lacrosse growing up and loved the competitiveness. Now, I have no interest and have lost all competitiveness. Other than that, I get bad anxiety now in crowds and completely shut down when I used to thrive in those scenarios. My libido is pretty much non-existent. However, no ED issues. When we have sex, my wife always has to initiate as I just have no interest but once we get things going, I donât have ED issues.
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I just ordered the tests on discounted labs, printed the req and took it to the LabCorp in Bellingham. No issues at all. They see Canadians there all the time given their location. A lot of people on AAS do the same to manager bloodwork as it is so hard to get in BC.
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I got into one clinic which is where my post started. Given your numbers are better than mine, you likely wonât have any luck with treatment there and the Dr. lacks a lot of knowlegde. My GP was on board as we have been working on these symptoms for over 2 years (wouldnât test testosterone before as he said I was too young) and I can back armed with the LabCorp test showing low free t. However, he has no idea what he is doing as he only prescribes Andriol or once per month in-office shots. I have an appointment next week at an anti-aging clinic so we will see how that goes. So still no luck for me.
I also have spoken with Defy. You can do consult only appointments. Or if you have a mailing address in the US, they can send your scripts to it as long as it is not a PO Box as long as you get all your blood tests done in the US. However, it is up to you to cross your scripts back into Canada. It is illegal for Canadians to import prescription drugs into Canada but there is a caveat that they may use enforcement discretion to permit Canadians returning from abroad to bring on their person a 90 day supply. I have calls and emails into Health Canada to ask if this scenario would fall under this exception but no reply yet.
Really appreciate the informative reply man!
This is super odd. This hit me over a weekend of partying out of nowhere about 2 years back. Not sure if youâre experience was more of a slow onset. The sudden change is what has me more confused than anything. The fact that there was a hormonal shift hard enough to cause major changes in the body and leave me feeling this way.
I just ordered a series of labs from discount labs this morning as well. Will try to get down to Bellingham over the next short while to give my blood draw.
You raise a good point in saying that if you are armed with Labcorp Results indicating below range Free T, you will have a higher likelihood of getting a doctorâs attention. Itâs almost comical as to how many different family doctorâs Iâve visited now. Even gave the whole Naturopath route a try but to no avail.
Next step is to get these Labcorp tests done. I think I will follow through with the Advice only consult with Defy as well to get their input. Have you only started discussions with them, or have you committed and followed through with a phone consultation with them already? Also is the anti-aging clinic you will be visiting the one with Dr. Frame?
Hoping your consult goes well!
Canât say when I symptoms started. Definitely wasnât abrupt like you. Been progressively feeling worse over the last few years.
Not planning on going the advice only route with defy at this time. I think I know what I need based on the info on this forum just need to find a doc willing to work with me.
Going to a clinic called polo health and longevity. I donât think Dr Frame sees patients under the age of 40
Yeah, youâre definitely right. You have enough lab work now to take the guessing out of it and a direction to proceed.
Keep us all posted!
Iâm in Ottawa and nearest LabCorp to me is in Watertown NY, 2 hours and 17 minutes according to Google Maps. I want a proper E2 sensitive test as well as receiving a probably better reading than our Marxist system offers.
Just curious how much the âRoutine Blood Workâ test costs? I donât see anything specific for TRT guys needs but Iâll make sure to add the good stuff like SHBG etc⊠Was there a name for our bloodwork panel requisition?
You might be OK with the other test. They arenât always significantly different. Go with how you are feeling over the lab number.
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Holy CRAP! Only one point off between Sensitive and non-sensitive, despite the reference range difference, really similar result! WOW, paradigm shift when? LOL Thanks!
This is pretty old but new here. Before you go and do this why not try to raise it by eating anabolic? This means a real Keto and not using plant source fats. Low fat runs your T down. Like most people we are buying into Cholesterol is bad. FâN lie! Eat an Atkins style diet and I promise you this will all change. Years ago at 35 I found myself impotent on a Low Fat contest diet. Went to what is now known as Keto and it changed everything. Gained more size at 35up than ever before. The main reason people using gear is that it is well known that PEDS are not good with the LDL increases. Therefore the fear of vascular issues. But for nattyâs this does not hold true. 26 years and know problems here but my Test levels at 60 were 1097. No drugs.
Were you eating Low Fat? Or are still? Try eating High Fat or a Keto diet. Do it for at least 6 mo and get a test. The biggest issue is that Doctors either are ignorant or want to have you as a life long patient to the fact that they will not cycle you on and off of TRT. They will destroy your pituitary function and the ability for you to produce it naturally ever again. Your function can come back to higher than your 350? level now. You go with the white coat pusher and you will have to pay for this the rest of your life to have normal male levels. Synthetics are parasites by the way.
A little bit of an update here. Saw a doctor at a longevity clinic. I brought my labs from the US and he agreed free was too low. He ordered some additional tests I had not gotten yet as well as re-tested T tests as he wanted tests in Canadian units for him to assess. The thing is that the Canadian results (like my original post) come back mid-range while US tests are out of range low. Seems Canadian reference ranges are low. I have converted some of the units in red below for a comparison. The results are very similar to my US test once converted with the only big difference being reference range. Also, SHBG is 50 on two Canadian labs vs 67 on US.
I donât go back to the doctor for a few weeks as the IGF1 test takes 2 weeks and I am getting a sleep study done as well.
Out of curiosity, since LifeLabs (Canada) showed in-range test numbers I got another test done at LabCorp this weekend. LabCorp results are low free T again.
In my experience and my 4 tests done (2 in Canada and 2 in US), it looks like i would qualify for treatment in the US due to low free T but not in Canada (where I live).
Another observation I had is that the hypothesis by @systemlord is correct that if i lowered SHBG, total test would also come down and free t would be the same. The only change I had between tests is that I began eating more carbs and resulted in a lower SHBG.
This is how state healthcare works, they place barriers in your way to save on healthcare costs. However when you can go to a private clinic and easily get treatment, itâs clear that this is a shell game. By lowering the standards you make it harder to get treatment, both labcorp and other countries have lower the standards.
Labcorp lowered the low normal from 348 to 240 in an attempt to sell more Viagra and Cialis, protecting the multi-million dollar drug market. Now they give you dick pills instead of TRT, when the problem is low testosterone. Whatâs even more interesting is IGF-1 is adjusted for age, testosterone levels is not adjusted for age.
The lower standards in Canada may be linked to the economy, the US has the higher standards of any country and has the biggest economy.
Do you have any issues with morning/nocturnal erections with the low free T you are experiencing?
Interesting that your Canadian labs show SHBG in and around 50 while the LabCorp result is much higher even with the similarities in Total Testosterone. My LabCorp results, which I also just recently had done came in very similar to my Canadian results.
Minimal nocturnal or morning elections. Occasionally though. However no ED when the wife and I get it on once things get going.
My symptoms are more fatigue and brain fog related.