25 yr old male been weight training for about six years. Healthy diet - enough protein, watch/time carbs etc. Supplements off and on: fish oil 2-10g, CLA 3g, Multi Vit, and Vit D and ALA at times. Good solid protein powder. Training mostly over the years has been body part splits of high intensity typical for hypertrophy (8-12 reps) but some strength and power work as well. Overall probably averaging 4-6 sessions per week. Some HIT stuff and metabolic circuits along with some MMA training as well.
Was a competitive swimmer until I started hitting the iron. Swam for my first couple of years in college (think eleven practices per week, putting in some serious distances and overtraining to be sure at least if you compare it to my regimen now) Probably hurt the Test levels more than helped now that I think about it.
So then at 21, I get panic disorder with comorbid depression. Been dealing with that shit or the past five years and taken a few drugs for it on and off over this period. Mostly just tried a few SSRIs - celexa, paxil, lexapro, - and welbutrin also. Never got hooked on the benzos (tranquilizers - xanax, ativan, etc. but I take a little xanax here and there) Other than this, no other health issues.
Hit the MDs office back in October for a regular physical - everything checked out fine. Recently though, as it can the anxiety was giving me a shitload of pretty nasty physical side effects - hot n cold sweats, tingling extremities, etc. etc. So I saw an endocrinologist to get a full blood panel done to see 1. if maybe the basic physical missed something and 2. just to get a baseline for all my hormone levels because why the hell not.
Question is about T level. Here are the results: (I’m 5’8 185-190# app. 10-15%bf, zero supps for a couple months)
Testosterone, TOTAL and FREE
Testosterone, TOTAL: 751 Ref Range: 250-1100 ng/dl
% FREE TESTOSTERONE: 2.04 Ref Range: 1.5-2.2%
Testosterone, FREE: 153 Ref Range 35.0-155.0 pg/ml
Other hormones that I’m thinking are relevant:
Estradiol: 23 Referance Range: 8-43 pg/ml
DHEA Sulfate: 335 Referance Range: 280-640 ug/dl
Prolactin: 11.9 Referance Range: 2.5-22.5 ng/ml
FSH: 5.5 Referance Range: 1.5-12.4 mIU/ml
LH: 6.1 Referance Range: 1.7-8.6 mIU/ml
Glucose: 97 Referance Range (reflects fasting state): 65-99mg/dl
The doctor said everything was in the normal range. Once I figured that out, I was mostly just interested in exploring my T levels further. She said my FREE test levels were at the top of the charts but that if they were low then she would have been concerned about my TOTAL Test of 751. The only question i asked her was if the meds I took could lower my TOTAL T levels and she said it’s possible but she didn’t know. So she said with the stress and potential side effects of the meds i’m good where I am. Of course I asked her what she considered high. She said basically with anyone she sees sitting at around 1000ng/dl she asks them if they’re on.
The question though is that I got the blood work done in the morning fasted. I had a hard leg work out the night before. Testosterone rises during and for a short time after workouts but then can drop below basal levels for 1-3 days. TC reiterates that here Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION
Is my real basal FREE TEST level possibly higher, say 8 or 9 hundred? How much do our T levels fluctuate during a given DAY? Everyone talks about the ages of 20-70 and how the T levels decline bla bla bla. What about acute variations here fellas?