40% drop in total T with no dose chg in T Cyp

[stx358]

Currently on 80 mg of Test Cyp injected Monday and Thursday and 150 IU of HCG daily since August. My October labs through discounted labs looked perfect. I checked them again after 8 weeks and there is 36% reduction in total T without having changed anything. Labs were both taken Thursday morning before injections. Oddly after reaching what I would consider normal I am scuffling with libido and refractory time again.

Date	23-Oct-17	20-Dec-17	Range
Panel	TRT MALE Follow Up Panel	ED Panel
Total T	988	626	264 - 916
Free T	20.7	19.7	6.8 - 21.5
Estradiol	33.2	37.1	8.0 - 35.0

Anyone have a clue what could account for this? SHBG was 40 on most recent test so not too high.

 

[Vince]

Doesn't make any sense to me. Your estrogen levels went up some but lower testosterone levels. You're free T stayed about the same. Hopefully others will chime.

 

[HealthMan]

First of all make sure your injection timing and blood drawn are consistent. If they are consistent then you are experiencing the same thing i did. My testosterone dropped from ~1300 to 800 after a few months on TRT using the same dosage and protocol. So now i raised my testosterone dosage in order to see if i can go back to 1100-1200 territory (where i feel my best). I guess what happened is the body still adapting to TRT. Are you new to TRT?

 

[stx358]

Injections and blood draws were consistent. I am very strict on that. I started TRT in June so I am 6 months in. On 50 mg twice a week total T was 1143, free was 22 and estradiol was 41 but that estradiol was not the LC/MS assay so may not be legit. We were trying to dial Total T down below 1000 as I was experiencing a lot of acne at 48 years old. Now I wish we hadn't as libido and sexual function were largely corrected and now I am dealing with the same issues again, lack of libido, lack of sensitivity and extremely weak orgasms.

I was just hoping someone could describe the mechanism by which total T would drop like that or whether or not the tests just vary by that much or if I got a bad batch of test cyp or HCG.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[maxadvance]

same pharmacy?

 

[Vince Carter]

A drop that much without explanation should be retaken and verified without giving to much weight to it. Labs make mistakes. Of note though you Free T stayed within 1 point and the E, statistically speaking, a 4 point swing doesn't amount to much either so I wouldn't give much weight to that either.

 

[Vince Carter]

same pharmacy?

Very astute observation...good call

 

[Matt Leiser]

I’m wondering if your endogenous T has finally shut down and now you are seeing your stabilized levels with your current dose. Being 6 months in I would have thought that would have happened but everyone is different. Could also be an issue with your hcg potency.

 

[stx358]

Yes test cyp came from same pharmacy.

So do I have recourse with the lab or do I just need to go back and reorder through discounted labs and cough up the $200 again? I have used the same lab for all of my lab tests.

Also, my recurring symptoms would indicate that something is going on.

 

[Vince Carter]

Most certainly he was shutdown by Oct but that's a good call on the HCG though if he's primary it won't matter.

 

[Vince Carter]

From your post what I'd do is go back to what was working, acne is not that hard to deal with. You too also really need the right E2 test as you know.