Hey guys,
New to the forum and looking for some advice on my bloods? My free test appears to be low and my total Test is at the bottom range of healthy.
The clinic requires a second blood test (which is a full bloods) but wondered what people’s thoughts were.
For context I’m currently taking Tongkat Ali and vitamin D, my diet is good and my sleep is mostly good. I struggle to gain muscle despite working out 5 times a week and have been struggling with ED recently.
Your levels are “acceptable” by medical standards, but they are quite seriously a rounding error away from being clinically low.
Gaining muscle takes more than just testosterone and x number days a week, but that’s a conversation for a different thread.
Were I in your shoes, id be looking for treatment too. It seems quite justifiable, both clinically and from a quality of life perspective.
Thanks for the response. That is what I was thinking to be honest. Especially since that is a case of trying to use other means to naturall boost my test levels (sleep, food etc).
Id drop the Tongat Ali before your next bloodwork. It will artificially raise your test levels (which is the point) and make you seem higher T than you really are.
Unless you’d rather run Tongat Ali permanently to treat, which is probably less advisable.
What is your age, height, and weight?
Good shout! I think I’d rather see what it is actually like. I’ve been running it for quite a long time and it had made me feel better than ever (so I guess that shows where I was at prior to Tongkat!)
Age is 43, height 5,11 and weight is 79kg
Had you had any blood tests for testosterone before now?
That is, is it dropping?
No sadly this is the first time I’ve ever done bloods (I know!) so not sure if it has been dropping for some time.
He’s on the literal cusp of clinically low Free T. Even if it weren’t dropping (which it almost certainly is at age 43), he is very much within a reasonable range to treat.
@Robc04 getting Free Test checked via Equilibrium Dialysis would be the single best metric for you, if you really wanted to know about medical necessity. That being said, i think you’re well within reason to be seeking treatment.
If your primary/endo won’t treat you, you could pay out of pocket for Defy Medical (US) or maybe Balance My Hormones (UK).
There are other less expensive, less legal, options.
Being in the UK I definitely think it is a case of paying out of my own pocket which I am perfectly
Fine doing (I see it as an invest in my own health and future). The NHS seems to be clueless when it comes to treating low testosterone. I have done my initial test and the upcoming full blood test with Optimale, I think they are a little more pricey than normal but they seem to be very highly rated.
Ratings are great, knowledge is better. Once you get dialed in, you only need a clinic that will keep up with your prescription, so having a cheaper option in the long run may save you money down the road (you can always switch after getting dialed in). Food for thought.
Let us know how it goes and if you have any issues. Stay away from AI unless you’re actually having high estrogen symptoms.
Thanks for all the advice, really appreciate it. Helped give me piece of mind knowing that
Going for TRT is the right option. I certainly will.
We have a little bit of influence on our testosterone, but for someone well below ranges, high T is most likely not possible.
Edit - for goodness sake I didn’t see the blooming date on this thread - I’ll leave it here to see if the OP responds with an update and because it took me time to type out!
I’m in the UK had very slightly less total T as you and a fair bit less free T (well under the range) I took independent blood tests, because of very noticeable symptoms, went to NHS, they firstly refused to accept the private blood test, then their own test showed exactly the same thing, so they prescribed … Antidepressants and Viagra (ED wasn’t even an issue, libido was and significantly noticeable from a very high previous baseline), the Dr refused to consider TRT, when talking with him and me suggesting that TRT might actually treat the underlying issue his exact words were “sometimes we just want to treat the symptoms”.
Needless to say I didn’t bother putting the prescription in and haven’t been back to the drs since - went private (3rd lot of testing, which showed the same thing) and then started treatment. I was 30 at the time, that was 7 years ago the NHS has only got worse since then (and I do value the NHS, but it only really works for immediate emergencies and even then it’s creaking at the seams).
Private is almost guaranteed to be the best (maybe the only) route for treatment in the UK. NICE guidelines only look at total T and unless you’re under 12.0 they won’t treat.
