6 Week Lab Results - Thinking of Switching to Shots

[galaxy]

Hi All - I've posted about my story before but as a brief recap early 30s diagnosed secondary hypo. Was prescribed 4 pumps 1.62% Androgel and 500 IU 2x/week of HCG Pregnyl. Below are my pre and post lab results. Any thoughts on labs/protocol? Also I didn't give any blood in between these labs so a bit surprising to see the ferritin drop so much. Thoughts?

The first couple weeks I felt amazing, however recently while I still feel better I notice that I'm stillrundown by the end of the day. I know there's a bit of a honeymoon with TRT, but I'm guessing the drop off is primarily do to the fact that my endogenous T hadn't shut down yet and therefore I was up at higher levels. In general I know the community is a proponent of injections over topicals, and I'm planning on making the move over after my next doctors visit.

Labs Pre-TRT (Labcorp)
Total T: 313ng/dl 264-916
Free T: 11.33 ng/dl 5-21
SHBG: 19.7 nmol/l 16.5-55.9
DHT: 27 ng/dl 30-85
Progesterone: 0.2 ng/ml 0-0.5
Pregnelone: 82 ng/dl <151
LH: 7.6 miu/ml 1.7-8.6
FSH: 3.7 miu/ml 1.5-12.4
DHEA-S: 237.2 ug/dl 138.5-475.2
Prolactin: 11.6 ng/ml 4.0-15.2
Estradiol-S: 14.6 pg/mL 8-35
Ferritin: 46 ng/ml 30-400


Labs 6 weeks - 3 hours after applying 4 pumps Androgel 1.62% and injecting 500 IU HCG (Labcorp same reference ranges and units)
Total T: 436
Free T: 12.43
SHBG: 20.2
DHT: 77
Progesterone: 0.1
Pregnelone: 32
DHEA-S 297.4
Estradiol-S: 57.6
Ferritin: 21

 

[Systemlord]

I see lots of guys ignoring thyroid testing, it's a big part of the equation and many seem to fixate on testosterone being the cure all. Your response to gels is pretty typical of androgel, it's far too weak to sustain most men for long and ends up failing down the road.

You will likely see a continued trend of your levels dropping and I believe the reason why you felt so amazing the first couple of weeks is because you had both your natural testosterone and the androgel where as now you only have the androgel and it's not enough to sustain you. Your SHBG is similar to my own, you might consider switching to injectables, preferably 15-20mg EOD protocol. If you push anymore than that you risk having to deal with excess estrogen with lower SHBG.

 

[Dave B.]

Hi All - I've posted about my story before but as a brief recap early 30s diagnosed secondary hypo. Was prescribed 4 pumps 1.62% Androgel and 500 IU 2x/week of HCG Pregnyl. Below are my pre and post lab results. Any thoughts on labs/protocol? Also I didn't give any blood in between these labs so a bit surprising to see the ferritin drop so much. Thoughts?

The first couple weeks I felt amazing, however recently while I still feel better I notice that I'm stillrundown by the end of the day. I know there's a bit of a honeymoon with TRT, but I'm guessing the drop off is primarily do to the fact that my endogenous T hadn't shut down yet and therefore I was up at higher levels. In general I know the community is a proponent of injections over topicals, and I'm planning on making the move over after my next doctors visit.

I think you're doing the right thing switching to injections. I'm new to TRT but the shots work and the dosage is consistent. It is really impossible to tell what kind of dose you're even getting with cream, so I don't know how you would hope to troubleshoot anything based on mystery dosages.

I don't know much about ferritin but I thought people looked out for higher levels more so than low levels. Lower = better. ?

Two weeks is really too brief a time to come to any conclusions also. My first month on injections I felt almost nothing, then I caught a cold and was sick for two weeks, so felt like crap regardless. 4 months later and I feel amazing, my body composition has changed, strength improved, everything is 100% better. Be patient.

 

[galaxy]

Thanks system, I had a thyroid profile done. See below for results. What are your thoughts? Re SHBG that's a bummer I was hoping to load twice a week in same syringe as my Hcg injections. May try that and see results.

Thyroid profile
Tsh 1.43 0.45-4.5
T4 1.02 0.82-1.77
T3 3.1 2-4.4
Tpo ab <6 0-34
Thyro ab<1 0-1
RT3 13 7.5-19

Would my ferritin results tie in here??

 

[Systemlord]

Thanks system, I had a thyroid profile done. See below for results. What are your thoughts? Re SHBG that's a bummer I was hoping to load twice a week in same syringe as my Hcg injections. May try that and see results.

Thyroid profile
Tsh 1.43 0.45-4.5
T4 1.02 0.82-1.77
T3 3.1 2-4.4
Tpo ab <6 0-34
Thyro ab<1 0-1
RT3 13 7.5-19

Would my ferritin results tie in here??

Ferritin is needed for thyroid hormone production, so you need good ferritin levels. Optimal ferritin levels are between 90- 110 ng/mL and is a your problem. A lower than normal ferritin level can indicate that you have an iron deficiency, which can happen when you don't consume enough iron in your daily diet.

Are you a vegetarian?

 

[galaxy]

Thanks Dave. For what it's worth I'm 6.75 weeks in and I definitely feel better than I did pre Trt. That being said I'm still pretty run down by the end of the day, and don't feel anywhere as good as I did at the start (I know that the honeymoon period is an unrealistic benchmark, but it's really the only feeling I can relate to of symptom relief so far and total T was probably high). Total t now at 436 I'm still dragging a bit. Hoping to make the move to injections ASAP.

 

[galaxy]

System - Thanks and understood re ferritin not sure why it's dropped so much. Aside from the ferritin how does the thyroid profile look in your opinion?

 

[Systemlord]

System - Thanks and understood re ferritin not sure why it's dropped so much. Aside from the ferritin how does the thyroid profile look in your opinion?

Free T4 is low, needs to be midrange and T3 isn't optimal. T3 testing is obsolete and Free T3 is what you should be testing. These could be low to do ferritin being low.

 

[galaxy]

Thanks system. I was typing on my phone and didn't mention both of those are free T3 and free T4.