Any new discoveries on Low SHBG curse ?

Pringle said:

Been on TRT since 2017. I was a low teens SHBG guy and felt best with daily injections……felt OK but not great. I started a high protein version of the Keto diet October of 22, not to try and raise SHBG, but to attempt to address my pre-diabetic emerging condition. As I became Keto adapted my SHBG raised significantly and has remained there. My last three bloodwork’s were 29, 27, and 28. For over 5 years I was between 11 and 15.

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Type 2 diabetes in the beginning wrecked my TRT experience, it definitely holds you back until you get it under control.

Charliebizz said:

But do you feel any different Trt wise ?

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I feel the best I have ever felt on TRT. I take the lowest amount daily injections I ever have of 10mg a day and 500iu HCG 2x a week. My total T is low 800s and direct free T in mid 20s. Feeling really good…..I ran T numbers much higher for years and found this is definitely my sweet spot.

In fairness, I have for the last 1.5 years lifted weights 3-4 days a week and Cardio 1-2. Through diet and exercise, I have made such a dramatic change in my lipid profile, body fat composition, blood pressure, and A1C that definitely complements the TRT in my overall results and how I am feeling. I did not set out with SHBG as a target to raise through this process, but has become a result of the process.

I'm a newbie here. I can't understand why having a low SHBG would cause issues on TRT. To me it seems(from reading) If you had a lower SHBG, you would need less mg per week of T, because there is less SHBG to bind to the T and the result would be higher free T(what counts) compared to someone with higher SHBG. What am i missing?

42HRT said:

I'm a newbie here. I can't understand why having a low SHBG would cause issues on TRT. To me it seems(from reading) If you had a lower SHBG, you would need less mg per week of T, because there is less SHBG to bind to the T and the result would be higher free T(what counts) compared to someone with higher SHBG. What am i missing?

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SHBG also may be responsible for delivering and activating androgens onto target tissue.

Many proteins in the body have more than one function, so I find it hard to believe SHBG only binds androgens.

Low levels of SHBG is strongly associated with many diseases, metabolic disorders, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, etc.

I have type 2 diabetes and as I’ve improved my metabolic health, lost weight, my SHBG has doubled (11->24).

Systemlord said:

Low levels of SHBG is strongly associated with many diseases, metabolic disorders, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, etc.

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In my opinion, this is the pretty much the only reason you need to worry about low SHBG -- it's often a warning light that blinks when you're unhealthy. Misunderstandings about the role SHBG plays make it an easy scapegoat for guys that feel like crap on TRT. More likely, you aren't tolerating TRT well because you're unhealthy.

FunkOdyssey said:

In my opinion, this is the pretty much the only reason you need to worry about low SHBG -- it's often a warning light that blinks when you're unhealthy. Misunderstandings about the role SHBG plays make it an easy scapegoat for guys that feel like crap on TRT. More likely, you aren't tolerating TRT well because you're unhealthy.

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All my other health parameters are great. You name it my levels are perfect. Except my shbg.I know other men who never struggled at all on trt with low shbg. And on the flip side I know plenty of guys who have great shbg levels and are unhealthy as hell.

Charliebizz said:

All my other health parameters are great. You name it my levels are perfect. Except my shbg.I know other men who never struggled at all on trt with low shbg. And on the flip side I know plenty of guys who have great shbg levels and are unhealthy as hell.

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Yeah I'm not saying SHBG perfectly correlates with health status, just that a lot of the conditions that would cause you to struggle on TRT also cause low SHBG. The difference with unhealthy guys that have normal SHBG is they won't blame their TRT problems on SHBG.