How are my blood results? Thinking of doing HCG monotherapy.

[DanBD]

I had a cracked tooth extracted and antibiotics for a long running gum infection on 3rd October. I got the tests on 16th October. I had asthma trouble which resolved about a week before using anti-histamine. I had the tests a little dehydrated due to a misunderstanding. I take 10mg Xeralto (rivaroxaban) blood thinners daily due to a previous blood clot. I am 8-10% over weight. I'm just getting back into the gym after years off. I am 54 years old. Happy, not stressed.

Ultra sensitive estriadol, SHBG and DHT aren't available in this country. My usual SHBG goes from 60-80 nmol/L.

You can see my free testosterone is low. 20 pg / ml translates to 2 ng/dL (divide by 10.)

 

[Systemlord]

Your Free T is abysmally low!

I would rule out any clotting disorders before proceeding with hCG or possibly TRT.

TRT is likely going to be the better option, given your unique situation. You’ll need a high Total T, due to the high SHBG to bring your Free T up to a healthy range, hCG may not be able to accomplish that.

Low MCV indicates your red blood cells are abnormally small.

Causes, iron deficiency without anemia, lead poisoning and thalassemia, a genetic condition.

 

[Forty2]

I had a cracked tooth extracted and antibiotics for a long running gum infection on 3rd October. I got the tests on 16th October. I had asthma trouble which resolved about a week before using anti-histamine. I had the tests a little dehydrated due to a misunderstanding. I take 10mg Xeralto (rivaroxaban) blood thinners daily due to a previous blood clot. I am 8-10% over weight. I'm just getting back into the gym after years off. I am 54 years old. Happy, not stressed.

Ultra sensitive estriadol, SHBG and DHT aren't available in this country. My usual SHBG goes from 60-80 nmol/L.

You can see my free testosterone is low. 20 pg / ml translates to 2 ng/dL (divide by 10.)

View attachment 38245View attachment 38246View attachment 38247View attachment 38248View attachment 38249

Which antibiotic were you prescribed?

 

[DanBD]

Your Free T is abysmally low!

I would rule out any clotting disorders before proceeding with hCG or possibly TRT.

TRT is likely going to be the better option, given your unique situation. You’ll need a high Total T, due to the high SHBG to bring your Free T up to a healthy range, hCG may not be able to accomplish that.

Low MCV indicates your red blood cells are abnormally small.

Causes, iron deficiency without anemia, lead poisoning and thalassemia, a genetic condition.

I injured my leg before I got the blood clot. In genetic screening they found I had a pre-disposition to blood clots. I was very inactive for the first time in my life. But the docs said that had nothing to do with it. I was fully checked out for cancer, top to bottom, and other causes. I don't have any more investigation of the clot causes coming. That was over a year ago and they spent a lot of time on it.

It turns out I brought my UK test results with me, so I can give a comparision. I am reading these right off the sheet. They are in UK measures, but the units aren't stated. I did some conversions to the typical USA units to help comparison.

January 2022 taken in UK.

WBC 6.5
Haemoglobin 154
Platelet count 202
Haematocrit 44
MCV 89.2
Mean cell haemoglobin level 31.2
Neutrophil 2.9
Lymphocyte 2.6
Monocyte 0.4
Eosinophil 0.5
Basophil 0.1

In the UK, total testosterone is measured in nanomoles per litre (nmol/l), while in the US, nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL) [multiply x10 to get USA measure]

Prolactin 234 mIU/L [10.998 ng/ml according to an online converter]
Bilirubin 8
Albumin 46
Alk phos level 57
Free T4 19.8 pmol/L (10 to 24 is their reference range)
TSH 2.48 μIU/mL (0.4 to 4.5 is their reference range)
Testosterone 15.8 [455.7036 ng/dL]

Free androgen index, blood (L) 28.7

Free Androgen Index | Healthmatters.io

The free androgen index is a measure of the biologically active testosterone in the blood. It is a ratio of the tota…

healthmatters.io

SHBG 55 (I had stopped Tongkat ali about a week earlier)

I also just managedto download my 2020 March 3rd testosterone results (taken in Bangladesh)

Free testosterone 5.72 pg/ml (reference range 6.1 to 30.3) 5.72 ng/L 0.5720 ng/dl
online conversion is confusing. I think this is 0.0338052 nmol/L
elsewhere it says 0.0198 nmol/L

Testosterone 421 ng /DL

Which antibiotic were you prescribed?

Triocim 200mg (generic name is Cefixime) 12 hourly for 6 days. I started the course so it finished on 4th October ie started before the extraction. That gum infection was really bad. I thought I was in trouble.

Other notes:

A few years ago I took 25mg of viagra daily and pumped my testosterone to 850. It didn't really help. I separately tried tongkat ali, which halved my SHBG, but that didn't do much either.

As a teenager I took Roaccutane (Accutane /isotretinoin) for acne with horrible side effects. It made my skin peel off in flakes. Some people here mentioned it later causes ED.

My sperm volume is about half of what it should be.

I really appreciate you guys helping me out by looking at my results.

 

[Forty2]

I took Accutane too. That's what I believe caused damage to my hypothalamus resulting in low LH.
HCG is the only thing that has been able to give me some libido.
How did your joints and tendons react to Accutane? Did you have ongoing musculoskeletal side effects?
Do you look a lot younger in the face than most guys your age ( apart from dry skin)? Accutane can halt full development if taken as a teenager and years of low testosterone can keep the face looking boyish.

 

[DanBD]

I took Accutane too. That's what I believe caused damage to my hypothalamus resulting in low LH.
HCG is the only thing that has been able to give me some libido.
How did your joints and tendons react to Accutane? Did you have ongoing musculoskeletal side effects?
Do you look a lot younger in the face than most guys your age ( apart from dry skin)? Accutane can halt full development if taken as a teenager and years of low testosterone can keep the face looking boyish.

I don't remember any joint trouble. But I had performance anxiety which kept me out of relationships because I couldn't get erections reliably. My life took off when I started going to the gym intensively in my early 20s. I guess I gave myself a boost of testosterone.

People have been shocked at how young I look for my age. I had a boyish look, as you say. It seems that was very costly.

 

[DanBD]

How do people take HCG? I am going to have to suggest something to a Doctor here in Bangladesh.

500 IU 3 x per week?

Would I cause myself a problem if I tried HCG before considering testosterone?

How long should I continue a HCG regime before considering a change, if it isn't working out?

 

[DanBD]

I picked up some HCG. They don't sell bacteriostatic water. I went to a hospital and asked a doctor what they used instead. He sent me for some 5ml vials of distilled water. They also don't have mixing bottles. So I was forced to use the small bottle which came with the freeze dried HCG. I got 3ml in there. So I took a 1/3 of a ml which is roughly 500 IU. I am planning on taking this on Friday, Monday and Wednesday each week.

 

[Forty2]

People have been shocked at how young I look for my age. I had a boyish look, as you say. It seems that was very costly.

Exactly my experience. I'm now in my late 40s but most people guess my age as early 30s tops, even with the accutane induced dry skin!
I had no idea my testosterone was so low for so many years until I had it measured at the age of 31. Total testosterone came back at just 5.5 nmol/L!

 

[Forty2]

How do people take HCG? I am going to have to suggest something to a Doctor here in Bangladesh.

500 IU 3 x per week?

Would I cause myself a problem if I tried HCG before considering testosterone?

How long should I continue a HCG regime before considering a change, if it isn't working out?

That's the standard hCG monotherapy dose, but in my experience it is too high. I'd start with 250iu 3 x week.
Do you have the Pregnyl 1500iu amps?

 

[sammmy]

You can see my free testosterone is low. 20 pg / ml translates to 2 ng/dL (divide by 10.)

As far as we can believe that test, your free testosterone on it is low normal, according to the given normal interval 15-50 pg/ml.

The units pg/ml on this test do not really correspond to the pg/ml on good free testosterone tests, hence you cannot convert to ng/dL by dividing by 10. If you do so, the given normal interval is 1.5 - 5 ng/dL which is obviously not the usual normal interval for free testosterone 5 - 25 ng/dL.

Bottom line: always interpret your free testosterone result within its given normal range, don't convert to units of other tests or calculators.

Your neutrophils are still a bit elevated: 0.57 x 7200 = 4100, due to infection. It is best to wait that to resolve before doing testing or treatments.

 

[sammmy]

Also, boil the filtered water in microwave and let it cool to room temperature before you reconstitute with it. Filtered water is not sterile enough by itself to be injected.