Was feeling quite lethargic in the mornings (and still am) so decided to get some blood tests done. I thought I may be iron deficient as I don’t eat that much red meat. (I know I should) Recommended Testosterone was 5-25 (I can’t remember the units and don’t have the paperwork in front of me) and on 19 August I was at 4.9. Got another one to double check (fasted am one this time) and got 6.0. Got sent to a specialist and he wanted one more done and this was 1 Octoboer so about a month after the last one and I got 11.0.
LH was normal in all tests.
Thyroid function was in normal ranges in all tests.
I am 27 years old, 163lbs, fit, not bulky but not tiny either.
Prior to the September I was on maintenance calories for a long time as I was happy with the weight I was. Start of October, I decided I wanted to bulk up a bit and have been eating about 400cals more per day. Basically the same foods just more of them I guess. I aim for 35/40/25 P/C/F ratios and was same ratios but less food before at maintenance.
Exercise regime has been the same, 2 mma sessions per week, 2 or 3 lifting sessions (squats, dl’s, bench and SOHP focus). I did move house during that time but wouldn’t really say that sleep quality has improved.
So basically, I can’t really see what has changed besides the amount of food intake over the last month that has caused my test levels to nearly double?
Those units are foreign to me. Maybe it’s NGOL. At any rate, I don’t like those units for T measurements. Hard to compare also. I’m used to NG/DL so are most on this forum.
Your T will vary somewhat depending on time of day, etc. Soon after you wake up is the best time for measurement. It doesn’t SEEM like those numbers are too disparate. Are you taking anything OTC that may have affected it?
google tells me that
1nmol/L = 28.843 ng/dL
for test so
results were:
141ng/dl (midday test)
a week later (am test)
173ng/dl
a month later (am test)
317ng/dl
Only medicine I had was voltaren pills for knee pain but was not having them every day or anything just when it would sometimes get painful after training.
One would need proper evaluation of thyroid and adrenals if testosterone is good and still feel tired. Was there a dramatic event that has occured in last 3-6 months? One needs to look at the root cause of the issue which majority of the time is lifestyle, nutritonal, emotional, biological or environmentally linked.
I have seen alot of young guys come to us with low T and they get freaked out because of the numbers because they read on line that if you are not X amount of T you are not healthy. When further probing a few young guys where dealing with a bodily infection that would not leave.
When ever a stress is placed on the body T levels can drop up to 50% in matter of a day or even quicker. As mentioned before hormones fluctuate during the day time.
jzpowahz - as an FYI - “normal range” is a dirty word around these parts. docs use that all the time - well your tests came back “normal” so it must just all be in your head.
Normal ranges for labs include something like 95% of the population. Do you think that 95% of the population is in ideal health? Do you think that some of those people are near death or extremely unhealthy?
Now if the lab ranges showed “ideal” levels then they would be more useful.
get all of your results in your own hands and do you own research to see if your levels are “ideal” vs “normal”. Or post them here and we will pick them apart for you.
Normal TSH lab range is .5 to 5. If you are above 2 you have issues. if you are above 5 you have serious serious complications and need immediate intervention. Most docs wait until you need immediate intervention or are on death’s door before they will treat.
I.E. - you probably have a problem IF:
Total T4 < 8.0 ug/dL
Total T3 < 100 ng/dL (this varies)
Free T3 < 340 pg/dL
Free T4 < 1.2 ng/dL
TSH > 2.0 uIU/mL
I only have the paperwork for the first test when I got 4.9 testosterone and the TSH was 1.7mU/L. I couldn’t see anything about T3 or T4 on the paperwork so I am assuming it wasn’t done. At this stage, I was just getting the test done because of tiredness not exactly testosterone/thyroid specific.
So on my next test (which endroconcologist said won’t be until February 2011) I should request t3 & t4 as well as the TSH.
lol people think testosterone is static - you could starve yourself for 2 days and stay up 2 days in a row
and have the testosterone of a 4 year old girl - or you can eat a vegetarian diet and have the testosterone of a 12 year old boy. All of it is diet and sleep.