If it’s any use, my SHBG dropped from about 60 nmol/L to 40 nmol/L on 175 mg / week of testosterone.
I haven’t cycled anything, so I don’t know if that would have made a more dramatic change.
Hey Graemsay, What was your TT during this time? What was your protocol? e2?
I was able to get my TT into the 1300 or so range for a little while, but because of my provider I have to keep it in the 800 range for labs.
I know higher TT and larger shots will decrease SHBG.
In Australia, testosterone comes in preloaded syringes of 250 mg Testosterone Enanthate. I can inject either the whole contents, or about half (i.e. 125 mg) at a time.
I’ve tried the following protocols:
- 250 mg per fortnight, 1 Anastrozole tablet per week.
- 125 mg per week, 1 Anastrozole tablet per week.
- 250 mg per ten days, 1 Anastrozole tablet per ten days.
- 125 mg per five days, 1 Anastrozole tablet per ten days.
My bloodwork for TT, SHBG and E2 was:
- February '17: TT = 510 ng/dL, SHBG = 59 nmol/L, E2 = 24 pg/mL.
- March '17: TT = 1366 ng/dL, SHBG = 38 nmol/L, E2 = > 12 pg/mL.
- October '17: TT = 1277 ng/dL, SHBG = 37 nmol/L, E2 = 22 pg/mL.
The February results were the before (diagnosis was down to sky-high LH and FSH levels indicating subclinical hypogonadism). The March bloodwork was done on day seven of 250 mg / fortnight, and 1 Anastrozole tablet per week. And October was on day six of 250 mg / ten days and 1 Anastrozole tablet per ten days.
I know it’s not the received wisdom in these parts, but I generally feel better on bigger, less frequent shots. On 125 mg per five to seven days, I dip in and out of depression. Unfortunately, on 250 mg, I crash after seven or eight days.
I’ve been running 125 mg per five days for the last month, and will probably shift back to 250 mg at the weekend. I’d like to reduce the injection period to seven or eight days, but my doctor isn’t keen. I think in an ideal world, something like 180 to 200 mg per week in a single shot would work best.
Hi Tontongg,
Thank you for sharing this info. It’s helped a lot with my current situation. It seems like we have very similar hormone patterns. There’s not very much info out there for people like us. I’ve been going through hormonal issues myself and plan to start TRT within the next couple of weeks. Do you mind updating this thread with how you’re currently doing? Things you’ve experienced since you last posted? It’s been very helpful finally putting everything together and making sense of things.
Thanks again
I dont have loads of knowledge on SHBG but can give you my experience so far. My pre TRT SHBG was 80-90 and after a few months on TRT it has dropped down to around 50.
BUMP
Update from 12/18/2020. Been off of injectables for 8 months now. HCG only as a pct back in June.
Current Protocol: Dhea 25mg 8am, melatonin 10mg pre-bed
Had a bad night of sleep the night before the test which undoubtedly explains Test lower than last summer (630, basic male panel)
TT - 407 ng/dl (348-1197 ng/dl)
FT - 12 pg/ml (9.3-26.5 pg/ml)
E2 - 28 pg/ml (7.6-42.6 pg/ml)
LH - 4.0 mIU/ml (1.7-8.6 miu/ml)
FSH - 4.4 mIU/ml (1.5-12.4 mIU/ml)
prolactin - 10.0
CBC
hemoglobin 15.5 g/dl (12.6-17.7 g/dl)
hematocrit 46.0% (37.5-51.0%)
TSH - 3.65 uIU/ml (.45-4.5 uIU/ml)
fT3 - 3.6 pg/ml (2.0-4.4 pg/ml)
fT4 - 1.75 ng/dl (0.82-1.77 ng/dl)
Cholesterol 289 mg/dl
Triglycerides 85 mg/dl
HDL 61 mg/dl
calculated VLDL 14 mg/dl
calculated LDL 210 mg/dl
Definitely hopping on t3 this time. Should’ve done this 4 years ago. Oh well! Happy that iron is finally better after years of not figuring out why blood was so thin. Dropping calcium rich foods and upping vitamin D helped, no doubt about it.
You free t3 and free t4 are optimal .why do you need treatment?
Tsh is way high and optimal t3 is over that super low range. Plus signs such as sky high LDL hair thinning dry skin etc.
why did you get off the trt? did not improve your quality of life? do you think your poor libido was the cause of your shbg production? how was it before trt - did you have brain fog?