Bloodwork results and opinions/advice

[anon9968]

My whole adult life I've taken steps to keep my testosterone levels healthy. Avoiding processed sugars, wearing only cotton boxers, shower filters, etc. Work out 4x a week and do cardio. Was even on a carnivorous diet for a while. Not because I suspected my levels to be low, but just because i wanted to optimize my overall health and hormonal health.

Recently I decided to get my levels checked due to realizing all of the symptoms I've been having these past few years line up with what others felt having low T. (symptoms: low sex drive, flat mood/depression, chronic fatigue, anxiety etc.)

My free T came back at 89.7 pg/ml with the reference range of 35-155.

Total T 421. Range 250-1100 ng/dl.

Results did not include SHBG

I'm 23 years old, 5'9 ~165lbs

Can anyone give me some opinions on my results? I can't help but feel they should be higher given the steps I've taken to prevent them from being low. Not happy with the way I'm feeling as an otherwise healthy young man.

 

[Vince]

My whole adult life I've taken steps to keep my testosterone levels healthy. Avoiding processed sugars, wearing only cotton boxers, shower filters, etc. Work out 4x a week and do cardio. Was even on a carnivorous diet for a while. Not because I suspected my levels to be low, but just because i wanted to optimize my overall health and hormonal health.

Recently I decided to get my levels checked due to realizing all of the symptoms I've been having these past few years line up with what others felt having low T. (symptoms: low sex drive, flat mood/depression, chronic fatigue, anxiety etc.)

My free T came back at 89.7 pg/ml with the reference range of 35-155.

Total T 421. Range 250-1100 ng/dl.

Results did not include SHBG

I'm 23 years old, 5'9 ~165lbs

Can anyone give me some opinions on my results? I can't help but feel they should be higher given the steps I've taken to prevent them from being low. Not happy with the way I'm feeling as an otherwise healthy young man.

For a 23-year-old man, your levels are low. You should get your LH at FSH. Checked to see if your primary or secondary. You may want to find a good clinic like defy medical. That's who I use. The issue is your age. When someone is on trt It's hard to remain fertile.

 

[anon9968]

For a 23-year-old man, your levels are low. You should get your LH at FSH. Checked to see if your primary or secondary. You may want to find a good clinic like defy medical. That's who I use. The issue is your age. When someone is on trt It's hard to remain fertile.

Thanks for the reply. Quick question, if I were to take a route like defy, would they use the bloodwork i already have? Or send me somewhere to have a more comprehensive lab work done?

 

[Vince]

Thanks for the reply. Quick question, if I were to take a route like defy, would they use the bloodwork i already have? Or send me somewhere to have a more comprehensive lab work done?

I would think they would want to do their own Labs.

 

[Cataceous]

Unfortunately you are getting some dubious advice from Vince. Without an age-stratified reference range there's no evidence that your testosterone is particularly low for your age. TRT clinics have an inherent conflict of interest, so just because they might prescribe TRT doesn't mean it's necessarily in your best interest. You do need more complete lab work to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms. It seems likely that you have lowish SHBG, but that may be genetic in nature, with your overall decent health seeming to rule out metabolic syndrome. If you don't have insurance and/or a cooperative doctor then you can do testing on your own that's somewhat affordable. Site sponsor Discounted Labs is one option. Life Extension Foundation is another.

 

[Vince]

Unfortunately you are getting some dubious advice from Vince. Without an age-stratified reference range there's no evidence that your testosterone is particularly low for your age. TRT clinics have an inherent conflict of interest, so just because they might prescribe TRT doesn't mean it's necessarily in your best interest. You do need more complete lab work to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms. It seems likely that you have lowish SHBG, but that may be genetic in nature, with your overall decent health seeming to rule out metabolic syndrome. If you don't have insurance and/or a cooperative doctor then you can do testing on your own that's somewhat affordable. Site sponsor Discounted Labs is one option. Life Extension Foundation is another.

Age? Read his thread. He's 23. Your need to read a person's thread over before your answer or reply. Come on Mr. AI

 

[SS1LE]

"My free T came back at 89.7 pg/ml with the reference range of 35-155"

Your Free T is decent on the best free test out there, Are you sure you don't have depression, Stress, or Anxiety issues? 23 is to young to try TRT as your first option. You need Full Thyroid, CBC, and also more than one hormone test to actually verify T levels (complete with SHGB and estradiol).

 

[SS1LE]

Age? Read his thread. He's 23. Your need to read a person's thread over before your answer or reply. Come on Mr. AI

He said nothing about knowing his actual age, read the post again

 

[Vince]

He said nothing about knowing his actual age, read the post again

I'm 23 years old, 5'9 ~165lbs

 

[Cataceous]

Me:

Grok, rewrite this sentence so that even a child can understand it: "Without an age-stratified reference range there's no evidence that your testosterone is particularly low for your age."​

​

Grok:

We don't have a special chart for this test that shows the normal amounts of testosterone for people of different ages. Without that chart, there's no way to prove that your level is extra low just because of how old you are.​

 

[Vince]

Me:

Grok, rewrite this sentence so that even a child can understand it: "Without an age-stratified reference range there's no evidence that your testosterone is particularly low for your age."​

​

Grok:

We don't have a special chart for this test that shows the normal amounts of testosterone for people of different ages. Without that chart, there's no way to prove that your level is extra low just because of how old you are.​

I understand what you're saying, you do not consider a 23-year-old man with a total T of 421 as low. Personally, if I had a level of 421 I would not feel good at all. But that's me. I know you enjoy lower levels, which works for you.

Don't follow the cookie cutter approach. Every person is different especially in TRT.

 

[Cataceous]

I understand what you're saying, you do not consider a 23-year-old man with a total T of 421 as low. Personally, if I had a level of 421 I would not feel good at all. But that's me. I know you enjoy lower levels, which works for you.

Don't follow the cookie cutter approach. Every person is different especially in TRT.

Free testosterone is what's relevant here, not total. His is considered to be healthy and normal for an adult male, and further indicates that the chance of being overtly hypogonadal is quite small. You can argue that statistically it's likely to be somewhat below the average for his age range—though we do not have that data. But if you get away from more-is-better thinking then you can recognize that "below average" does not mean deficient or unhealthy.

I would bet that if you had the free testosterone level of the OP you would feel fine after a stabilization period. You might give up some musculature, but you might also do better in other ways, e.g. cognitively.

 

[Vince]

Free testosterone is what's relevant here, not total. His is considered to be healthy and normal for an adult male, and further indicates that the chance of being overtly hypogonadal is quite small. You can argue that statistically it's likely to be somewhat below the average for his age range—though we do not have that data. But if you get away from more-is-better thinking then you can recognize that "below average" does not mean deficient or unhealthy.

I would bet that if you had the free testosterone level of the OP you would feel fine after a stabilization period. You might give up some musculature, but you might also do better in other ways, e.g. cognitively.

I know you're smarter than that. With a T of 421, you really believe that his free T would be in a healthy range for a 23-year-old. How long have you been on this form? I know you know better.

 

[SS1LE]

I'm 23 years old, 5'9 ~165lbs

I think you are the one not reading post. I was implying about what @Cataceous replied in his thread on what you said. I didn’t ask for his age or weight or height and neither did cataceous. We all seen it. You need to read the whole thread again.

 

[SS1LE]

I know you're smarter than that. With a T of 421, you really believe that his free T would be in a healthy range for a 23-year-old. How long have you been on this form? I know you know better.

His free test if you READ the post was tested using the best method at quest….we also don’t know if this lab is at 7am , 1pm , no sleep…..more tests need to be done. So implying he need TRT according to you is ill advised.

 

[Vince]

His free test if you READ the post was tested using the best method at quest….we also don’t know if this lab is at 7am , 1pm , no sleep…..more tests need to be done. So implying he need TRT according to you is ill advised.

I'm sorry you feel that way sir. If you think a man with a total testosterone of 421 and that his free T could somehow be in a good range. More power to you.


So you're telling me you have a total testosterone of around 400 and you're free testosterone it's in a good range? Plus you feel as good as I do?

You could also ask why did defy medical stop using the equilibrium dialysis method method for free Testosterone.


Hello, TRT for 9 years and questions on free T - Excel Male Health Forum

 

[SS1LE]

I'm sorry you feel that way sir. If you think a man with a total testosterone of 421 and that his free T could somehow be in a good range. More power to you.


So you're telling me you have a total testosterone of around 400 and you're free testosterone it's in a good range? Plus you feel as good as I do?

You could also ask why did defy medical stop using the equilibrium dialysis method method for free Testosterone.


Hello, TRT for 9 years and questions on free T - Excel Male Health

If I had those T levels with the decent free T, I would be looking at other avenues than defy at the age of 23. They probably the quit Eq Dia test because of cost. Once again we have one test , no time it was done, no thyroid, no cbc , metabolic, lipid , hscrp….but hey you should start TRT…….

 

[SS1LE]

Plus you feel as good as I do?

Yeah Vince we know for the 1000th time how great you are, how well you are doing on TRT . Those are most of your posts they are always so helpful ….lol

 

[Vince]

Yeah Vince we know for the 1000th time how great you are, how well you are doing on TRT . Those are most of your posts they are always so helpful ….lol

Well thank you for saying so. I also know for the 1,000th time how great you are and how useful all your posts have been even though you're not feeling good hahaha

 

[Vince]

If I had those T levels with the decent free T, I would be looking at other avenues than defy at the age of 23. They probably the quit Eq Dia test because of cost. Once again we have one test , no time it was done, no thyroid, no cbc , metabolic, lipid , hscrp….but hey you should start TRT…….

Think again my friend