So I’ve been to my clinic to check lungs, heart and my therapist referred me to do some blood tests. Turns out my hemoglobin was below the normal range, which was weird to me because when I did my blood tests in a private lab everything was normal. I was also deficient in folic acid(which in itself can lower NO secretion in the penile tissues) and slightly in iron. The results were totally different then the ones i did in private labs. I guess here in Russia the private labs we have are a scam. There was also a video of a guy i discovered on yt that had completely different results between the private lab companies we can choose from. So, I decided to check my hormones in the clinic and the picture was completely different compared to my previous results(from private labs).
Testosterone total 15nmol/l
SHBG 55 nmol/l
Estradiol 33pg/mL
Prolactin 6ng/dL
The numbers that scare me the most are my 55shbg and a mere 15nmol/l test level. This makes my free test around 5ng/dL which is a level of a 50-60 year old man. If I would have 300ng/dl test and normal shbg it would be the same to mine. Therefore, I decided to hop on test propionate 25mg ED for a month to see how im doing. Also taking folic acid and iron to correct the deficiencies.
Also checked my TSH and it’s 2.65 with free t4 and t3 being normal. My temperature is also normal, 36.6C upon waking and 37C+ afternoon(measured with mercury thermometer), so i guess there’s nothing wrong with my thyroid
I started TRT with borderline iron deficiency and started having problems after only 6 months, so you probably need either more iron in your diet or quite possibly iron supplements. In my case all I needed was vitamin C which aids iron absorption and was the reason for my iron deficiency.
If I were you and I was in that position I would contact Dr Keith Nichols at Tier 1. He’s probably the most intelligent and original Dr I’ve spoken to and heard from others about hormones and off the wall issues. I really hope you take my advice. This guy WILL figure out what’s wrong with you and is very passionate about what he does. He’s a leader in the field and the guy I would trust if I ever had any issues. The initial consultation is free and he has enough patients that if he can’t help you he’ll tell you upfront. I don’t get anything from referring you to him or anything like that. I just really believe in the guy and how he works.
That guy going off on some crazy tangents here kind of put me off on him to be honest. I almost took my wife to see him before all that. I’m like 99% sure it would have worked out as a positive but I dunno, puts me off for a doctor to behave like that tbh. I like how he’s setup so you pay once a year and basically get unlimited access to him so it’s not pay per consult like most though and lots of people have great results with him.
Passionate people sometimes give in to emotion. If he didn’t give a shit he’d be like all the other docs not caring enough to be part of the forums and see what’s going on outside their practice. I respect anyone that cares enough to not take shit from the little girls here.
Yeah, I’m taking folic acid+iron+vitamin C rn to increase hemoglobin. I’m sure it will improve my fatigue and dyspnea during workouts, but not sure about EF.
I’m going to my andrologist on Friday to maybe get a script for test because clearly my free t is lower than it should be. If he won’t do it because technically my test is “still in range”, I guess I will have to do it on my own if I ever want to have a chance to live a normal life again. My prop is ready anyway, I just want a nurse to teach me the injection techniques (im paranoid about hitting a nerve or something, which is probably due to low t haha).
Don’t think there’s anything for me really apart from this.
What crazy tangents? What specifically did he do?
I don’t think I could even find the posts any more, I don’t remember what his username. I remember him or his colleague posting on YouTube that they would kick @johann77’s ass though for questioning something about his opinion on reference ranges changing. I’ll try to dig it up when I get home.
I still think he’s a good hormone doc and way beyond most people prescribing TRT, for whatever that’s worth.
@SawImpotentto
If you want a legit prescription I can hook you up with my doc (telemedicine). My Total T was almost 600 and I got prescribed so the level doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t use prop for TRT and definitely wouldn’t do it as the first TRT experience since it could cause more side effects than normal. I’m using Prop on top of Cypionate right now with no issues but I wouldn’t recommend it alone to someone new to TRT. Just an extra thing to cause issues and once you develop a negative affinity towards TRT it can be hard to change that. You see it all the time here on the forums.
Similar results to me minus the thyroid stuff. A lot of things to look into but I would start with considering trt immediately and evaluate that hypothyroidism potential. Don’t worry about PFS and just treat as low t as of right now.
I love Defy medical but you need to research and vouch for your own ideas of treatment every now and again. With that shbg I’m guessing you’ll be in the 220mg a week range.
Don’t think it would work though as I’m not located in the U.S.
The reason why I chose prop is because i wanted to inject it every day 25mg to achieve stable test levels. The only problem I see with it is that because it’s fast acting it will convert to E2 at a much higher rate. Do you think that at 25mg-50mg I will raise my E2 too much? I can choose from sustanon, nebido(test undecanoate) and propionate. I will try to get a script for sust then.
I want to jump on trt asap, yes. I’m sure that if I will increase my test and lower shbg it will resolve the issues I have.
That’s basically the way you’re supposed to run Prop (more frequent injections). That’s why I run long esters using daily injections of 28.6mg so that levels are super even at all times moreso than doing that with Prop.
Raising your E2 is not an issue but it will most definitely raise it. Anytime you raise T levels you will raise estrogen. That’s how it’s supposed to work. What you don’t want is for it to not be balanced. My E2 stays at 80 with no issues. Hell I feel better.
I’d probably stick with Prop if that’s the case but hey a legit prescription. Going UGL means you risk consistency in dosing from bottle to bottle, risking getting what you actually paid for as well as possibly going through times where you can’t get anything. A legit script is worth it.
When you say your E2 is 80 do you mean pmol/l or pg/mL? Do you take any AI? Because mine is 33pg/mL even without any stuff(which is slightly above 100pmol/l). Obviously it’s not a sensitive assay, so I suspect it to be lower. It seems like mkst people have usually lower e2 levels on their sensitive assay compared to regular immunoassay.
I appreciate your lengthy response!
Update: So I’ve been to my doctor and he said that he would prescribe me trt, but because my test is not lower or equal 12nmol/l it’s impossible because of our legislation(illegal to hand out prescriptions at any level higher than that no matter what your shbg is, I know, stupid) . Therefore, he prescribed me HCG 1500IU every other day with adex if needed) He also recommended me another clinic where they give out prescriptions left and right. Problem is that it’s mega expensive(1 visit is like 70$). I decided to hop on hcg for now. Will try to go to that clinic asap, so that maybe they will give me the script for test finally.
He means in this unit. Ie almost 3x yours.
update?
So I did the course of hcg 1500iu every other day and my testosterone was 37nmol/l. I felt much better on it endurance-wise, meaning I wasn’t getting exhausted after the first 2 sets of legs and I could workout like I used to. While my libido shot up through the roof, I couldn’t say the same thing about eq. Maybe slightly better. After one month I decided to hop on testosterone propionate 25mg ED. Didn’t notice much of a difference, but when I did a blood test 12 hours after injection my testosterone was 119 nmol/l(and it should be around 40). I think people get these values when they are on 500mg testosterone per week and not after like 1 25mg t shot. When I bumped up the dosage to 50mg I noticed no difference. Interestingly, when I was coming off the test, on the 3’rd-4’th day post injection I felt completely recovered. Problem is it lasted for like a week before I went on the PCT with clomid.
I’m on my 3’rd week of clomid and I feel at my worst right now, the same way I felt when I was coming off saw palmetto basically.