Cool man, I am just trying to find a way to maximize my FT and keep my E2 at bay. E2 isn’t a problem for me, I have no symptoms of anything. But I want that little bit of extra E2 to be more FT. Also my SHBG is on the higher end, my TT is high so I would like to see a little more FT and less E2. You know what I mean?
Anyway I can maximize my FT and shed a little E2? Again, like I have been saying without increasing my dose(which I don’t wanna do) it will be a tough sell because of my SHGB
Your E2 will go up when free T goes up. It’s a ratio. You want it to go up especially if you don’t have issues. The low SHBG guys are the ones who have issues with estrogen and have to monitor it frequently. For higher SHBG folks estrogen really doesn’t make a difference. My E2 is almost 80. Feels no different than when it was 40.
You’ll need to up your dose to increase free T. That’s the only way. Right now your free T is middle of the range. Your free T is basically what someone with low SHBG that has a total T of 400 taking 70mg/week would have (made up example).
Right, it also explains why my TT is so high, its because of my SHBG. I guess I will just roll with it, my SHGB was 77 originally, the TRT brought it down to 65, so hopefully it drops a little more. I have noticed increasingly raging libido(not that it was an issue, it came on pretty strong two weeks after I started TRT) so maybe that means I have more FT circulating. I will know more when I get second round of blood work done in a couple months. I just don’t see any reason to increase my dose. My TT will probably shoot up to 1500 ng/dl. I don’t wanna be to high or too low on anything. Like I said this is a lifelong thing for me and I want to make sure it is sustainable for life, don’t wanna have to come off because I got stupid and caused an issue with my prostate enlarging or my blood counts being too high.
I understand. In time you may have a different outlook. Free T is the meaningful number. With your high SHBG total T is not as meaningful a number. There is a pretty big difference between mid range and higher end of the range for free T as far as benefits go. Being on the higher end is not going to kill you sooner (you’d still be in range). Just something to keep in mind if you ever decide where you’re currently at isn’t as good as you think it could be. Everyone here is on this for life.
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I got you brother, I would certainly like to see that FT hit 180 or so, I would be ecstatic. Also who knows what my trough FT is at, I am at trough right now as I am due for a shot Sunday and I have been pretty horny today, not as bad as I was the past couple days that’s for sure. The other problem is my doc is cool as hell, I just am not sure he would even let me go up on my dose even if I asked you know what I mean? My numbers look really good, I just want my FT to go up another 50 or so points. The insurance company isn’t an issue, they pay for my appointments but I do not let them pay for my Test. I pay for that out of pocket, it is only 40 bucks every couple months. They aren’t going to dictate my dose. I got a couple ? for you though. The acne has been pretty intense, any suggestions? My usual OTC crap isn’t doing much, do you think boron would be worth a shot? My doc suggested DIM if I needed it, but I haven’t pulled the trigger on it. Also, on shot day I either have incredibly raging libido or almost none at all. The next day I am always pretty solid but I feel like on shot day my body has to balance those hormones out and sometimes its hit or miss on that day. You ever experience that?
I was thinking you were doing twice weekly so you are likely fine if that’s trough at once weekly. You likely would have a smoother ride doing twice weekly though. The only acne I ever had in my life was when I was doing weekly injections when I first stated TRT. It eventually subsided on its own after 4ish months. I thinks it’s the body reacting to hormone fluctuations. DIM isn’t likely to help with acne. It does act as an AI so be careful using it as it can effect your hormone levels. Maybe going to twice a week would keep your levels from fluctuating and help with acne? Who knows. There are guys here that have had success with topical acne meds. You’ll have to search to see which ones as I’m not sure. I’m one the guys that feel best on more frequent injections especially on higher doses.
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Oh no I was more referring to DIM/Boron as far as helping with FT/E2 ratio. No I am doing 100mg once per week right now. If I was to switch to 50mg E3d I would do Sunday morning Wednesday night. I just fear that if I am not doing one bigger shot it wont overcome my SHGB. If I was to up my dose to say 150mg which I thought I would need when I first started then no question I would do E3D. I wouldn’t shoot anything more than 100 at once. I would think your asking for problems with your CBC and E2 at that point. I haven’t touched DIM because I don’t wanna crash E2, I have heard that is a miserable experience. Boron may be ok though, I just don’t know much about it. I am still new to a lot of this stuff, you guys know more than me so I am just trying to learn. Especially with my unique challenge being my SHGB. One of the guys on here told me having higher SHGB is a sign of being healthy though, so I am not too upset about it, just wish it was more around 40 or so and not 60. I surmise it was so high because my starting T before TRT was only 50ng/dl.
Also the 124 FT was taken two days after my shot, so that is more around the peak level. I am at trough right now as I am due for a shot in two days and I feel fine.
Boron is great and I take it. It won’t do anything drastic though.
You don’t have a T to E2 ratio imbalance. You don’t need DIM. Yours is fine. You don’t even need to worry about estrogen. My SHBG is mid-level at 39.9 and I have a total T of almost 2000 and an E2 of almost 80. Your SHBG is more than 50% higher than mine so you’ll have even less effect from high estrogen. Just focus on getting your free T up (if you decide to do anything). That’s the imbalance you have. Your body doesn’t use T that well. You have a lot of T but are only actually using a very small percentage so you’ll need to use more T than most people to get to the higher end of the range (if that’s what you want). I would much rather have high SHBG than low SHBG though I’m lucky to have somewhat ideal SHBG.
For sure bro, wish I had your SHBG. I feel like my FT would be way better utilized if my SHBG would come down a little more, which hopefully it is. My levels are pretty good considering I only use 100mg per week. I feel like I responded very strongly to TRT. It is just a matter of boosting my FT a little more, we will see what my levels are in a couple months. With any luck my SHGB will have gone down a little more and my FT boosted a bit. If not, maybe in the future a boost in my dose will be in order. We will see how it plays out I suppose. It is just frustrating to have so much TT when I want just a little more FT LOL. I am getting greedy I feel like, I feel really good but I know I could feel even better if my FT was hitting around 170ish peak level.
100mg is a very low dose for someone with high SHBG. The low SHBG guys who have top level free T with a total T of 500 are using 100mg. You are the opposite. You fill the total T damn up but only a tiny stream comes through to the free T side. You would likely feel a lot better on 120-140mg. You’ve been on TRT for 6 months. I doubt your SHBG is going to lower any more on your current protocol.
Yeah I was just thinking that myself, I really don’t know how much more it will go down…if it hasn’t gone down and my FT is still hovering mid range I will ask my doc if he is ok with me moving to 125mg per week, I think that should be enough to get me to where I wanna be. It may be a hard sell, but I can try. Yeah lots of guys on here told me to overcome my SHGB I would need at least 200mg per week. So I am happy that at 100mg per week I feel this good and my levels are as good as they are. I kinda lucked out I suppose in how I responded to TRT. Im only 32 and I am in premium health with a good diet besides the hormone problem so that could be a reason? I don’t really know. Will my Hematocrit go up anymore? It was around 47 when I got my labs done. It was 43 originally. RBC normal as well. That’s the only thing with going up anymore on my dose, I respond so strongly to this stuff that I worry about my blood counts. But if my doc is ok with me going up to 125 eventually I might end up splitting it.
Also, one thing I don’t understand. With TT being the bound T and FT being the bioavailable T what exact purpose does the bound T serve? What does it do exactly? Is it just uselessly circulating in my blood? Doing nothing for my muscle mass? Energy levels? ETC. I know bio T is the power behind your sex drive ETC. But what is the purpose of the bound T?
You don’t respond strongly. HCT of 53 is where your doc will get nervous. A 25mg increase isn’t going to effect HCT much. Just tell your doc to let you trial a dosage increase for a couple months. Most docs will start you on a low dose of any medication to see how you react with room to increase. You can always just go back down.
Fair enough, sorry for all these questions. I just want to learn. Is it better to get trough levels done when you get blood work? Or should you see what peak levels are? Like next time I go in for blood work. I kinda wanna see what my trough is. I would have a better chance convincing my doc to let me move to 125 or so if my levels looked lower than they were at peak when I got them done.
Always trough. Every lab you see posted here is trough. I’m sure everyone that gave you advice was thinking it was labs at trough. I bet if you see your trough numbers you’d be singing a different tune. Your total & free T is probably much lower.
Thanks man, appreciate it.
Good luck! Keep updating