Are there ways to increase free test? My doc is stuck on me getting down to 900 at my trough level. Overall she has lowered me down .05ml twice. I inject twice a week. Now injecting 120mg test cyp Total in a week, was at 160, then 140. At 160 I was at 1200 w/26 free. 140mg was 1000 and 22 free. This last week I started with the 120mg per week. Feeling cruddy, but I understand it takes a bit for your body to acclimate to the new levels. I have learned from some that the free is really the critical number which Drs don't seem to care about. Are there things I can do to help with this. I think my SHBG is fairly low already. Thanks in advance!
Lab range on free is 6.8-21.5 pg/ml. Before the latest reduction in dose I was at 22.9 and 1006 T. My SHBG in February was 26.4, it wasn't drawn this last time. I have heard that most men operate best at 22-30 free. Don't know if this is true, just don't want to start feeling rough again. Yes, blood draw is always the morning before my biweekly evening shot.
Sounds like your doctor is caught up on keeping your TT within the reference range yet ignoring the most important fraction free testosterone which could easily backfire especially in cases where one has high SHBG.
Even more concerning is using/relying upon the known to be inaccurate direct immunoassay.
Although TT is important to know FT is what truly matters as it is the active unbound fraction of T responsible for the positive effects.
Before even getting into this with a trough TT 1000-1200 and somewhat lowish SHBG 26.4 nmol/L it would be a given that your trough FT will be high.
Your peak TT and more importantly FT would be higher.
You never had your FT tested using an accurate assay which would be the gold standard Equilibrium Dialysis.
It was tested at Labcorp using the known to be inaccurate direct immunoassay which no one should be using/relying upon.
Labcorp test details for Testosterone, Free, Direct
www.labcorp.com
If anything you would have been far better off using the linear law-of-mass action Vermeulen (cFTV) to calculate your FT by plugging in your TT, SHBG and Albumin.
With a high-end/high trough TT 1000-1200 ng/dL and somewhat lowish SHBG 26.4 nmol/L, Albumin 4.3 g/dL (default) then your trough FT would be very high as in 27.1-33.4 ng/dL.
See no issue with this if you feel great overall, blood markers are healthy and you are not experiencing any sides.
Critical blood markers would be RBCs, hemoglobin and hematocrit.
Where did your RBCs, hemoglobin and hematocrit sit when you were hitting a high-end/high trough FT 1000-1200 ng/dL?
Even then if you dropped your trough TT down to 900 ng/dL which is still high-end your trough FT would still be high as in 25.9 ng/dL.
FT <5 ng/dL would be considered low.
FT 5-9 ng/dL would be considerd what we call the grey zone where some men may struggle with low-T symptoms.
FT 10-15 ng/dL would be healthy.
FT 20-25 ng/dL would be high-end/high.
The majority of men would easily do well with a trough FT 15-25 ng/dL.
Just to put this in perspective most healthy young natty males would be hitting a cFTV 13-15 ng/dL and this is a daily short-lived peak.
Even with a trough TT 900 ng/dL you would still be hitting a FT 25.9 ng/dL which is well beyond that and this is at true trough as in 3.5 days (84 hrs) post-injection far cry from a daily short-lived peak!
See no reason to fret over dropping your TT from 1200--900 ng/dL as your trough FT would still be high.
Downfall here is it is much harder coming down than going up and it is common to experience bumps during the transition as the body is trying to adjust.
Even then once blood levels have stabilized (4-6 weeks) and you reach your new steady-state it will still take time for your body to adapt to it's new set-point.
Every protocol whether starting. TTh or tweaking (increasing/decreasing dose of T) should be given 12 weeks to truly gauge how you feel overall.
As usual Nelson's house is where it's at!
Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
event.on24.com
Testosterone imbalances affect men, women, and children differently. In males, testosterone deficiency (hypogonadism) can lead to low libido, fatigue, and muscle loss, while excess may contribute to aggression and cardiovascular risks. In females, testosterone excess (hyperandrogenism), often associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or adrenal disorders, can cause excess hair growth, weight gain, and menstrual irregularities. In children...
Plenty of young men with Test levels on the lower end of the distribution. Probably the best time to get treated so they can build a life based on high T levels instead of going through life as cucks and then trying to salvage that disaster in the middle of an epic midlife crisis.
Need to tread lightly on this needing a high FT level!
Big difference between a natty hitting a healthy FT let alone a FT that falls in the 90-95th percentile vs one using exogenous T.
These natty men that are hitting a healthy let alone high FT (95th percentile) is a daily short-lived f**king...
