Your numbers all line up. Your Total T is in line with that free T, but they’re all a little low. Your E2 is low. Nothing a slightly larger dose won’t fix. Tell us what Defy says.
You think these levels are still a bit low even in my trough?
Testosterone Total- 577 (264-916)
Free T- 15.3 (8.7-25.1)
DHEA S- 345.4 (138.5-475.2)
TSH- 1.190 (0.450-5.500)
IGF-1 229 (88-246)
SHBG- 30.7 (16.5-55.9)
Estradiol Sensitive- 15.2 (8.0-35)
LH- <0.2 (1.7-8.6) Shut down which is normal
Hemoglobin- 15.7 (13.0-17.7)
Hematocrit- 45.1 (37.5-51)
Then there was a cholesterol that was out of range
LDL Cholesterol Calc 112 (0-99)
These are low. I don’t remember your HDL or triglycerides but all that really matters is your ratio with cholesterol. So high HDL means that the elevated LDL isn’t a big deal.
Considering Dr. Abraham Morgentaler view that men at or below 15 pg/mL will likely show benefit on TRT, I do believe your levels are suboptimal for a guy on TRT.
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Are you pregnant? Going through menopause? Why do you have E1 ranges taken? That’s for WOMEN only dude!
Tests you should need are:
TT (Total Testosterone, which yours are low)
FT (Free Testosterone, which yours are low)
E2 (Estradiol, your are in normal range)
PRL (Prolactin, your are in range)
The rest are kind of pointless, unless you’re planning on transgendering. CORT is good to check for, but it is only a stress hormone. Your body isn’t under that much stress. It sounds like the doctor was only looking to bill your insurance for blood labs to make a lot of money with unnecessary labs for Low T.
How does a GPT (General Practitioner) even order these kind of labs without referring you to an ENDO? That’s borderline Malpractice.
I agree. His HCT agrees with you. That should be closer to 48-50. Your E2 is also in range but on the lower end, wouldn’t hurt for that to come up a bit.
Looks like he had E2 checked on subsequent labs. Estrone probably ordered by mistake.
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Yeah I actually don’t know why they ran E1 haha. He didn’t run them himself. We ran them through another company which only charged me $110 for the whole hormone panel which is pretty damn cheap. I can’t imagine he made any off the labs considering I paid so little. I could be wrong though.
From the horror stories I hear about endo’s on here, would that have really been beneficial?
I was able to set everything up with DEFY medical and everything should be showing up Friday afternoon. He upped my dosage to 70mg twice per week and put me on DHEA. I held off on the AI and HCG so far.
But the real question I have is, Dr. Caulkins who I had the phone consult with mentioned that he has people do IM shots with a 5/8 inch needle. Is that normal? I’m not trying to question the doctor, but Isn’t that super short for an IM injection? I went ahead and ordered 1 inch needles as well. Both the 5/8 and 1 inch are only 25g so they should go in relatively easy.
Is there a target they are shooting for with your DHEA? I don’t know much about DHEA but you looked to be in the upper half of the range of labs so curious what the goal was.
He mentioned it was a little bit low for my age and wanted to raise it just a bit. 25mg at bedtime. He said it’ll slow my brain down at night and help with my insomnia.
Thanks. I haven’t heard what the actual optimal range is, so wasn’t sure. I did just read someone say shoot for 450 or higher though.
Just received my thyroid results back. I have no clue how to read this shit. How does this look?
rT3- 21.8 (9.0-27.0)
T3 Free- 3.4 (2.2-4.0)
T4 Free- 1.03 (0.76-1.46)
T4, Total- 8.1 (4.5-12.5)
TSH- 1.099 (0.358-3.740)
Anti TPO Ab (ATA)- <10.0 (0.0-35.0)
TBG- 19.5 (14.0-31.0)
TG- 29.9 (<=55.0)
Anti-Thyroglobulin Ab (ATG)- <20 (0-40)
I would absolutely disagree with this. No E2 control is required. Defy oftentimes does cookie cutter ‘one size fits all’ protocols. Say no to HCG (unless you need to be fertile right now) and say no to an AI. Do not block estrogen under any circumstances.
Don’t worry brotha! Definitely no AI will be ordered or HCG. I will change protocol to more frequent injections if E2 gets to high. I’m not going down that road!
You don’t need to worry about E2 getting too high as there is no such thing. Worry about raising free T under symptoms resolve.
I’m of the mind that the less amount of meds I throw in, the better. I’m going to just stick to the T and adjust until I feel right. I’ve been looking at going into daily injections possibly. I’m on 70mgs twice weekly right now.
What about the thyroid labs @dbossa ?
My guess is you will require more than the 70mg twice weekly. Daily will improve things. Start with that and increase if neccessary.
As for thyroid, we optimize thyroid if symptoms are present. First get free T levels optimized. If that gets done and you’re still feeling off you can consider taking thyroid. Thyroid labs are the same as T labs. If your T is in the middle of the range and you have no symptoms, don’t bother. If your T is on the high end and you have symptoms, you take more T. Same thing for thyroid.
What do you think about my Thyroid labs @systemlord ?
I appreciate the responses brotha. So if I spit the 70mg twice weekly into daily shots, I’d be doing right around 20mg a day. I would need to get needles for subq injections if I switch to daily because I’m doing IM right now. I wonder if the doctor at Defy would be upset. I unfortunately don’t have the financials to switch right now even if I wanted to.