Hello guys thanks for your help.
I am just curious what are ideal SHBG levels and free T levels for someone on TRT?
When i first started TRT i tried bi weekly injections and my SHBG dropped to like 10 and my free t was like almost 5%
My TRT totally felt like it was doing nothing…
Ever since then i have been paranoid about having low SHBG reading all the low SHBG horror stories.
However after going to daily injections my SHBG now ranges from 22.5 to 23 or so… It has been at this level for almost a year about now…
However TBH i am still not feeling much better a lot of the time… Well my results are very up and down… It cycles month by month between feeling ok but sub optimal to abysmal… Low muscle growth… Low energy… Shit libido… No morning wood… Terrible Ed… You name it… Seems ok on the better months/weeks… Feels like pre TRT on the bad months/weeks
My free T right now is about 2.9%
Last lab work
Total T 909
Free T 26.8 (2.9%)
SHBG 23.2
Albumin 4.1
I was reading the best free T levels are between 2 and 2.5%
But with my current albumin level… Using the free T calculator on Nebido website… To reach 2.5% free T, my SHBG would have to be at 32! I realize this is normal level for my age and based on early tests i think i had similar to this pre TRT… But i realize TRT knocks your SHBG down a bit
However at the same time… People keep telling me 23 is not low… I read a lot of good results people have with above 20 SHBG…
They tell me my problems are probably caused by something else…
Thoughts?
There is no ideal Free T and SHBG numbers, it’s going to be different for everyone. I’ve seen some low SHBG men around 10 go on TRT and have no problems at all and respond well. I’ve seen it all. A really good morning wood is a good indicator of estrogen levels are optimal.
Not once have you mention estrogen and I see no labs indicating it. High estrogen would kill libido, erections and make you feel as you describe. While SHBG is on the lower end, it not super low and if estrogen isn’t absurdly high or low, you got other problems not related to TRT.
The paranoia suggested physiological problems, paranoid personality disorder. I’ve had high/low estrogen and don’t have paranoia. Injecting daily your levels are almost static, any ups and downs isn’t TRT.
Unless you have thyroid dysfunction where thyroid hormones are fluctuating, even then lots of people have thyroid problems and don’t suffer from paranoia, but it’s worth looking closely at the thyroid.
I would suggest talking to your doctor.
My SHBG is 22 last time I checked, it increased 16->22 going from twice weekly to an EOD protocol.
Absolutely need Estrogen testing …
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how do you feel with an SHBG of 22?
My e2 last time i checked was a bit high at 39, but im an extreme hyper responder to arimidex and crash super hard, if i do use like micro doses distilled in alcohol, even if i dont crash and bring my e2 down i honestly dont feel any better, probably worse if anything, arimidex seems to make my libido basically turn to absolute zero where looking at a hot chick is like looking at a brick wall… ive also tried calcium d glucarate and dim those dont do shit
due to my non feeling better from an AI makes me wonder if estrogen is really the problem, also AI doesnt seem to bring my morning wood back at all either…
The only time ive been able to get morning wood is when i lowered my T dose to the point where my total T was like in the mid 400s… i got morning wood but didnt matter for shit cuz i wasnt functional at all when i actually needed to be… i do wonder why bringing it down like that would give me morning wood though
Also whats weird is my results fluctuate over about a month or two periods… for about a month and a half i was really feeling like “yes im getting better”… “this is ok”… then over about a week shit deteriorates till im feeling like pre trt, i get super depressed as fuck, nothing works properly and i feel like dick, then so far the pattern has been after about a month or two, shit gets better again and it cycles, its been like this for like a year, with recently the upswings lasting a bit longer, but i still crash hard on the symptoms eventually and go back to zero… im always worried it wont come back, and also i cant keep a relationship like this even if it does and keeps cycling
I also checked thyroid, TSH and T3 and both were perfectly in the mid range
I knew there had to be a reason for leaving out estrogen labs, I also over respond to anastrozole, have you tried aromasin?
I was able to make aromasin at 1/10 of a tablet work. Surely you didn’t take a 1mg arimidex tablet.
Losing body fat should help lower estrogen.
You take 1/10th of an aromasin? How often? I was always afraid of aromasin because it lowers shbg… If mine dropped even a few points i would be in the teens… Do you find aromasin works better than anastrozole? I just tested my prolactin and it is not high at 8… Only other thing i can think of is estrigen issues… But i have no idea why it appears that anastrozole doesnt work.
I take 1/10 aromasin twice weekly only after reaching a stable state, if I take it when levels are swinging, like when estrogen swings low, the results are very different. I don’t tolerate anastrozole at any dosage and will never take it again.
If anastrozole doesn’t work, the dosage is too low or anastrozole doesn’t affect (lower) estrogen produced inside the testicles.
High dosage TRT can lower SHBG, weigh the pros and cons and go with what makes you feel better than trying to get levels on paper into specific number.