Initial blood tests for TRT and future updates

[ronpaek100]

Hey guys I'm 35 yearr old male turning 36 this year felt like I had all the typical symptoms of low-t so I've gotten several blood tests done first one was with a GP on 7/26/18 test results came out 567 and he said my test levels were fine and that I don't need testosterone. So I sought out an endocrinologist and they took a blood sample on 8/13/18 and my test levels came out 372 and they told me my levels were pretty low and that they would want to start me on TRT for a couple months to hopefully jump start my normal test production and then after a couple months put me on clomid and hopefully that would be enough to keep my test levels around 700+ without having to take test forever and they wanted to charge me $400 a month which I couldn't afford which to me is pretty expensive. So seeing as the doctor told me my test levels were low I started my test cyp cycle of 250mg a week doing 2 injections a week at 125 mg, I started this week but before I started I wanted to get a full hormone panel to see where my levels are at before I start injecting test and my test results came out 645 which seems high so i'm confused. I have gotten my test levels checked over 6 times the past 2 years and my results came out between 250-650.

I am also taking mk-677 which is suppose to be similar to HGH I took the comprehensive hormone panel because I wanted to check if it's actually elevating my levels can anyone take a look at my levels and see if my IGH-F1 levels are high and if anyone has any suggestions on how to lower my Cholesterol and tell me if my levels seem okay for everything else

 

[ronpaek100]

I plan to post a 1 month blood test panel and another one 2 months later

 

[Vince]

I would go on a low carb healthy diet with lots of non-starchy vegetables good healthy nuts, block cheese, eggs and good meat

 

[Vince]

low-carb diet for beginners

https://www.excelmale.com/forum/threads/a-low-carb-diet-for-beginners.14206/

 

[MarkM]

This blood work was performed at 7:30 AM which is when all blood work being drawn for hormones should be pulled. If your other labs were pulled in the afternoon that would make a difference in your testosterone levels. Hormones are always highest in the morning and naturally decline as the day progresses.

Based off these labs you probably should not be on testosterone therapy in my opinion with 645 Total Testosterone and 13.7 Free Testosterone. It would be nice if your Free T was a bit higher because it is not optimal. If you did need testosterone, you don't need a whopping dose of 250 mg a week. There probably isn't anyone on this forum taking that much a week and their levels pre-TRT were much lower than yours. You are going to shut down your natural production of testosterone for no logical reason. I hope you rethink the 250 mg a week dose.

An under performing thyroid can give someone low T symptoms. You should have a full thyroid panel done to include: TSH, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, and both Thyroid antibodies (TPOab and TgAB). Your TSH looks elevated even though it is in range and your Free T3 should actually be higher even though it is in range.

By the way, your Estradiol test is the one for women. Men need the Estradiol Sensitive LC/MS/MS assay verse the Roche ECLIA methodology test.

Your Glucose and Cholesterol are high and you need to improve your diet. Based on your Glucose and A1C, some would say that you are pre-diabetic. I'm not necessarily in that camp but they both need to be reduced. Need to reduce your sugar in take.

 

[ronpaek100]

This blood work was performed at 7:30 AM which is when all blood work being drawn for hormones should be pulled. If your other labs were pulled in the afternoon that would make a difference in your testosterone levels. Hormones are always highest in the morning and naturally decline as the day progresses.

Based off these labs you probably should not be on testosterone therapy in my opinion with 645 Total Testosterone and 13.7 Free Testosterone. It would be nice if your Free T was a bit higher because it is not optimal. If you did need testosterone, you don't need a whopping dose of 250 mg a week. There probably isn't anyone on this forum taking that much a week and their levels pre-TRT were much lower than yours. You are going to shut down your natural production of testosterone for no logical reason. I hope you rethink the 250 mg a week dose.

An under performing thyroid can give someone low T symptoms. You should have a full thyroid panel done to include: TSH, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, and both Thyroid antibodies (TPOab and TgAB). Your TSH looks elevated even though it is in range and your Free T3 should actually be higher even though it is in range.

By the way, your Estradiol test is the one for women. Men need the Estradiol Sensitive LC/MS/MS assay verse the Roche ECLIA methodology test.

Your Glucose and Cholesterol are high and you need to improve your diet. Based on your Glucose and A1C, some would say that you are pre-diabetic. I'm not necessarily in that camp but they both need to be reduced. Need to reduce your sugar in take.

Thank you for this detailed response I will look into the other tests, I do have 1 more prepaid extensive blood panel I prepaid with wellnessfx that I need to use before the end of the year so I will have those levels checked.

Also I will post the blood test results of my test levels just 2 weeks prior taken at a similar time both fasted, shows my levels at 372

 

[ronpaek100]

low-carb diet for beginners

https://www.excelmale.com/forum/threads/a-low-carb-diet-for-beginners.14206/

Thanks I don't particularly like low carb diets but I will try it again, what is considered low carb keto range?

 

[Vince]

Thanks I don't particularly like low carb diets but I will try it again, what is considered low carb keto range?

I don't count carbs. I just need a healthy low carb diet. I eat healthy nuts, non-starchy vegetables, healthy cheese and meat. When I went from a carb diet to a low carb, I have no trouble keeping a weight under control and my cholesterol panel has been excellent.

 

[Vince]

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[ronpaek100]

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That is amazing, I hope I can achieve those levels, I will update in 1 month

 

[ronpaek100]

I have not changed my diet yet I wanted to see how 250 mg of test cypionate without any diet change would effect my body and what my test levels and estradiol levels would come out too, so this is an update blood test panel result just checking testosterone levels and estradiol and LH and FSH after 3 and half weeks my testosterone levels came back at 1500 and my estradiol levels came back at 82.8 and my LH and FSH came back around .2, does this mean my natural production of test is almost completely shut down and what do I need to do to get my estradiol levels around 40? should I be taking an AI? does that mean I might experience gyno very soon?

I also plan to take a more comprehensive blood panel test in another month planning on cleaning up my diet to see if I can lower my cholesterol.

 

[Systemlord]

You are completely shut down. Your E2 testing is for females, men require the LC/MS/MS sensitive method.

Your TRT protocol is terrible, you need SHBG tested to determine a proper TRT protocol. SHBG will determine injection frequency.

 

[MarkM]

I don't see any result for SHBG. Did you not have that critical element tested? I also see that you have the wrong estradiol test. The Roche ECLIA methodology test is for women. You need to have the proper estradiol test run, Estradiol Sensitive LC/MS/MS assay.

Hard to offer advice when the testing is incomplete or inaccurate. 250 mg of testosterone is normally too high for most anyone on TRT. Testing prior to 6 weeks on a protocol is also a waste of money because your body will not reach a steady state until one is one the same protocol for a minimum of 6 weeks. Until 6 weeks your body is still adjusting and your lab results will still be moving.

Yes, your LH and FSH are shutting down. While on TRT you shouldn't waste your money and keep testing them.

You should not worry about your estradiol levels because you had the wrong test. Do you have symptoms? What are they? Don't manage anything by a number, that will cause you all kinds of problems and prevent you from becoming dialed in.

 

[ronpaek100]

I don't see any result for SHBG. Did you not have that critical element tested? I also see that you have the wrong estradiol test. The Roche ECLIA methodology test is for women. You need to have the proper estradiol test run, Estradiol Sensitive LC/MS/MS assay.

Hard to offer advice when the testing is incomplete or inaccurate. 250 mg of testosterone is normally too high for most anyone on TRT. Testing prior to 6 weeks on a protocol is also a waste of money because your body will not reach a steady state until one is one the same protocol for a minimum of 6 weeks. Until 6 weeks your body is still adjusting and your lab results will still be moving.

Yes, your LH and FSH are shutting down. While on TRT you shouldn't waste your money and keep testing them.

You should not worry about your estradiol levels because you had the wrong test. Do you have symptoms? What are they? Don't manage anything by a number, that will cause you all kinds of problems and prevent you from becoming dialed in.

yeah sorry I had bought this blood work a couple months ago and I needed to use it before it expired, I know that most people do a blood panel test after 2 months of test or at least that's what I read the protocol was on the forums, I plan to do a more comprehensive one after 3-4 more weeks

Also I don't notice any gyno symptoms, maybe a little more joint ache than normal, but I'm also lifting pretty heavy at the gym, my weight has gone up 10 pounds in a month, I didn't change my diet, I plan to clean up my diet this week and have my blood tested again

Also for the test I had chose Male on privatemdlabs it says it's a female testing but if you specify that you're a male that it would be okay, but none the less I was just using up a blood draw test that was going to be expiring in a month

 

[MarkM]

The Roche ECLIA methodology test for estradiol is a single methodology designed for women but when applied to men is the same exact test. Normally, not always, the Roche ECLIA test over estimates estradiol in men giving them a false high result. Example, my estradiol under the Roche ELCIA was 92 and using the Estradiol Sensitive LC/MS/MS for men it was 35.3.

Had I only used the Roche ECLIA test and listened to a medical practitioner, that clearly did not know what they were talking about, I could have ended up on a whopping dose of anastrozole and not even need it. Luckily, I got educated, about the two tests and I take no anastrozole to inhibit my E2 levels. Had I taken an AI, unnecessarily, I would have likely crashed my E2 and been in a very sad place.

However, with testosterone levels that you are posting it is very likely you do have high E2 and since your Free T is high you probably have high Free E2. You should probably redcue your testosterone levels substantially. Once you retest in another 3 to 4 weeks you will be at a steady state and can get a clearer direction of which way to go.

You should get your blood work done at trough, which means, just before you take your next injection. Not the day before, but just prior to your injection.

Thanks for joining the forum!

 

[ronpaek100]

The Roche ECLIA methodology test for estradiol is a single methodology designed for women but when applied to men is the same exact test. Normally, not always, the Roche ECLIA test over estimates estradiol in men giving them a false high result. Example, my estradiol under the Roche ELCIA was 92 and using the Estradiol Sensitive LC/MS/MS for men it was 35.3.

Had I only used the Roche ECLIA test and listened to a medical practitioner, that clearly did not know what they were talking about, I could have ended up on a whopping dose of anastrozole and not even need it. Luckily, I got educated, about the two tests and I take no anastrozole to inhibit my E2 levels. Had I taken an AI, unnecessarily, I would have likely crashed my E2 and been in a very sad place.

However, with testosterone levels that you are posting it is very likely you do have high E2 and since your Free T is high you probably have high Free E2. You should probably redcue your testosterone levels substantially. Once you retest in another 3 to 4 weeks you will be at a steady state and can get a clearer direction of which way to go.

You should get your blood work done at trough, which means, just before you take your next injection. Not the day before, but just prior to your injection.

Thanks for joining the forum!

Got it thanks, I will make sure I get the right test for my next blood draw and I thought I should schedule it right before my next injection, for my next draw I will get it drawn on Thursday morning the day I do my second injection for the week.

 

[DragonBits]

I am not sure why you went on TRT, but be that as it may be, one other note.

Your total testosterone only says greater than 1500, you don't know how much greater. Your E2 might be as expected if you TT was 2800+, your dose of testosterone is very high by most people's standards.

You will need a test that includes

Testosterone, Total LC/MS-MS and E2 Sensitive.

It should say something like the following.

Actual Total Testosterone levels will be provided with this test if levels exceed 1500.
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I would compare prices between discountedLab on this website and privateLabs, and whatever other source you have. Sometimes there is a big price difference.

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I think the low carb diet Vince mentioned, or some other diet to lower Cholesterol, would be best. Though you could always look to go on a statin, I would rather try diet changes first.

Your weight going up 10lbs without any diet changes sounds like water retention, which wouldn't be surprising with a very high TT and what is no doubt a high E2 even when you do the sensitive test.

 

[ronpaek100]

Hi guys, just updating with my results, hopefully I got the right test, I notice my test levels still says it's above 1500, so starting next week I will lower my weekly test dose to 200 mg per week. Do I need to wait about 2 more months for my test levels and everything to stabilize again before getting a blood test?

During the time of this blood panel I switched to a keto diet for about 10 days, just to see if it would make any difference on cholesterol and glucose levels, glucose levels seem better but cholesterol seems high which I plan to switch to low carb vs keto now, because i'm struggling to consume so much fat as well as I would like to consume more vegetables.

I notice my test levels is over 1500 and I need a different test for this, would that also effect the estradiol levels not showing up correctly or is the 80 it's showing correct? Should I be taking some form of AI to lower my estradiol levels or should just wait till my blood draw to see if things change with a lower weekly test injection?

 

[easternpromise]

$400 per month? Is that a normal cost for TRT?

 

[ronpaek100]

Would it be okay to add an AI in my routine in the mean time for about a month to lower my estrogen? looking to take some Arimidex 25 mg tablets can anyone recommend a good protocol? either thinking half tablet everyday or 1 tablet EOD or either taking 1 tablet on the twice a week on the days of my injections? I'm also reducing my test injections from 250 mg to 200 mg a week starting next week.