New Guy. First Lab Results

Pharma TRT
1

Hi all, I’m a new member but have been lurking for ~1yr - thanks for all the great info from the posters here.

I’m in the UK, and my situation is that I have all of the symptoms of low T; an incomplete list is: 0 libido (absolutely 0), ED and loss of morning wood, complete lack of motivation and complete apathy, mood swings, social withdrawal, tired and bad sleeping.

I’ve been lifting for 4 years with good diet and lifestyle (I don’t smoke or drink), and have been unable to put on any muscle mass whatsoever (my lifts have gone up ~20% in 4 years).

My doctor however is unwilling to do hormone panels or refer me to an endo. I finally managed to get some limited bloodwork back last week and would like some input with the results.

Details
-age 28
-height 6ft1
-waist 33
-weight 193lbs

-describe body and facial hair : typically female fat patterns, waist and hips stubborn body fat (even when cut down to 170lbs), gyno, strong facial hair though and grows fast
-describe where you carry fat and how changed : waist and hips and thighs
-health conditions, symptoms [history] : absolutely 0 prior health conditions

-Rx and OTC drugs, any hair loss drugs or prostate drugs ever : none
-lab results with ranges : see below
-describe diet [some create substantial damage with starvation diets] : high protein/medium fat/low carb - lean protein sources and clean food, generally paleo but not anal about it.

-describe training [some ruin there hormones by over training] : 4day split weight workout
-testes ache, ever, with a fever? : no
-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed : no nocturnal, very very rare morning

As I said, the GP has been unwilling to get labs done for endo-related markers. I’ve had full RBC and cholesterol panels come back with all scores right in the mid-range of lab values

Last week I got these 3 markers done, after much pestering, and was mystified to see that my total test is actually much HIGHER than lab ranges:

Serum testosterone: 35.7nmol/L (7.5-31.3)
Serum free T4: 17.4pmol/L (12-22)
Serum TSH: 2.44 mIU/L (0.27-4.2)

Obviously I’m aware that it’s incomplete profile, since he was unwilling to do E2 and free/bioavailable T levels, but I’m genuinely confused about my total T result being so high…

If you have any suggestions I think I’ll go private and try to pay for tests myself, but privately it costs a fortune for each marker so I’d like to narrow it down a bit first if there’s somethiing you think might be causing my symptoms?

Could my problems be on the “estrogen” side? Or hypothyroid even with the TSH score being only mildly elevated?

Thanks for any help.

2

Very weird…I’ve never seen anyone ever ahead of the range naturally…kinda cool…

But that said, something is causing your issues…I would look at E2 and DHT.

Your TSH is also slightly elevated, while T4 looks good. It is really hard to pin this down man.

Do you have recourse with your GP for not treating you properly? I find it pretty odd that he has refused to address your symptoms at all–that is not reflective of proper care. Can you report him to a medical board, or is there a regional supervisor or something of that sort?

3

Hi VTB, thanks for the reply and also for all the knowledge you’ve dropped in the past on here.

Yeah it’s really weird, and what’s more the blood test was done late in the evening and after not lifting for a few weeks due to injury so that should represent a fairly “low” value for me…

As far as I know in the Uk, you need your GP’s signature to get referred for an endo consultation and this guy+ my previous GP are very much “behind the times” and generally ignorant about men’s endo issues.

I have an appointment with my GP coming up, so luckily because my T value is “abnormal” I should be able to spin it in my favour and use that as a springboard to get an endo visit.

If not, I think my next step would be to save up for a private E2 test and then maybe eventually try a course of anastrazole for a few weeks to see if my symptoms improve?

4

Personally I would get the T retested to make sure it was not a lab error. I am having a very hard time wrappin my head around someone being above range on a T test done in the evening.

5

@VTBalla, dunno if you missed it but i believe he said he was in the UK, over here because it’s national healthcare doctors really don’t give a shit unless you’re actually dying. Chances of getting a full panel of lab results are low to nil. The only other route is private but that’s expensive and we’re not in the habit of having private health insurance here.

@FBGM I know nowhere near enough to give advice so i’ll just say good luck and I hope you find the cause of this soon man.

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@VTB - that’s a good point, I’m a biomedical researcher myself and know better than to trust 1 single measurement! Hopefully, if nothing else, it’ll mean I can use it to build a case to move on to a specialist

As SuperAlienFreak said also, here in the UK if you’re on national health the doctors really don’t give a shit; not to mention that mine has difficulties understanding English let alone endocrinology.

@SAF - thanks pal, I’ll share any findings and progress in this post; if I can help someone out down the line it’ll be worthwhile.

7

I understand the difficulties in the UK health care system, and that is why I asked what the recourse was for dealing with a shitty doctor who refuses to acknowledge that there is something wrong with you. He works for SOMEONE and has some sort of supervisor, so seek out that person. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

BTW, there are plenty of guys Ive seen on this board and others that have managed to get adequate treatment in the UK. It is difficult, but they do it.

One thing though that doesn’t align with my understanding is that you say 'chances of gettting a full panel are low to nil"…there are countless guys who go get their blood tested without difficulty, some of them being steroid users who want to see wehre they are at. I don’t know if it varies depending on what region of the UK you are in, but these guys seem to be able to do it whenever they wish.

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@VTBalla It’s more or so that unless the doctor thinks there is a good reason to run a panel then they won’t. It will also depend on the doctor aswell, some doctors really don’t care, some are better than others. One other thing though is we have to register with a doctors surgery. Then you only have the choice of the doctors there.

Also our doctors surgerys have catchment areas, so if all the doctors in your catchment area are shit then you’re out of luck really. I dunno how they get panels done tbh, probably as I said they have good doctors or pay privately. I know for one thing that I can’t even get a sick note off of my doctor for work when i’m ill because he doesn’t understand much of what I say. And to ask your question about the recourse for shit doctors, I don’t fully know it tbh but from what I do know, you can put in a complaint if you wish.

If there’s enough complaints then maybe he’ll get told off. Sorry for the rambling but I can personally (from trying to deal with UK doctors) see the struggles he is having. One final point, my dad has had a cough/chest infection for over a month now, when he went to the doctors they told him nothing was wrong, as if he didn’t even have a cough. I think he’s been to the doctors twice now and been told the same thing.
Sorry for wall of text.

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Hey guys, just a quick update - I managed to get a repeat test booked for the next week, and got 2-3 extra panels to be done also.

It’ll be interesting to see if my total T levels are abnormally high again, I’ll be doing the test at 8am instead of in the evening this time. From my research online the most likely cause for that would be an adrenal adenoma, but it’s too early to speculate. Personally I believe that it’s an estrogen issue, since I feel hormonally like a 50 year old woman.

I’ll keep this post updated when I know more, and hopefully will get referred to a specialist in a few weeks.

@VTBalla - As SAF said, the issue in the UK can be complicated by the “catchment area” problem, where depending on where you live you can end up with a great clinic assigned to you, or a shit one. It’s a postcode lottery. Mine’s in an overcrowded part of South West London where you can only book 10 minute (!) appointments, which isn’t a very long time to discuss something as complex as the endocrine system.