Injecting Testosterone lowers SHBH even after stopping TRT?

[savefoxes]

So here's the results before starting TRT in 2022. SHBG was pretty high, and the doctor said that my free T was low and I needed TRT. I was on 200mg a week for about 6 months and didn't feel much difference, so I stopped. My total T was around 1400 and everything else was the same.

I just got this result about a year after I stopped injecting anything. Looks like the SHBG went down and my free T is a little over the high end of the range now. So if I start injecting again and stop after 6 months, do you think my SHBG will go down even more and become normal? I tried boron and other stuff and it didn't help much.

Or is my result normal now even with high SHBG because my total T is high too?

 

[Vince]

View attachment 40512

So here's the results before starting TRT in 2022. SHBG was pretty high, and the doctor said that my free T was low and I needed TRT. I was on 200mg a week for about 6 months and didn't feel much difference, so I stopped. My total T was around 1400 and everything else was the same.

I just got this result about a year after I stopped injecting anything. Looks like the SHBG went down and my free T is a little over the high end of the range now. So if I start injecting again and stop after 6 months, do you think my SHBG will go down even more and become normal? I tried boron and other stuff and it didn't help much.

Or is my result normal now even with high SHBG because my total T is high too?
View attachment 40513

Your estrogen also increased a lot.

 

[savefoxes]

Your estrogen also increased a lot.

yeah, I think I'm getting acne from that now. I have some arimidex left, should I take a small dose?

 

[Systemlord]

So if I start injecting again and stop after 6 months, do you think my SHBG will go down even more and become normal?

There’s no way anyone can answer that.

Why would even consider restarting TRT if you didn’t feel any different the first time around?

 

[savefoxes]

There’s no way anyone can answer that.

Why would even consider restarting TRT if you didn’t feel any different the first time around?

Looks like it lowered my SHBG and it stayed like that even a year after stopping it. So maybe it'll lower it even more

 

[madman]

View attachment 40512

So here's the results before starting TRT in 2022. SHBG was pretty high, and the doctor said that my free T was low and I needed TRT. I was on 200mg a week for about 6 months and didn't feel much difference, so I stopped. My total T was around 1400 and everything else was the same.

I just got this result about a year after I stopped injecting anything. Looks like the SHBG went down and my free T is a little over the high end of the range now. So if I start injecting again and stop after 6 months, do you think my SHBG will go down even more and become normal? I tried boron and other stuff and it didn't help much.

Or is my result normal now even with high SHBG because my total T is high too?
View attachment 40513

Pre-trt you were hitting a very high TT seeing as your SHBG was sky-high.

The shitkicker here is even with your very high SHBG 76 nmol/L with a high TT 1035 ng/dL your FT would not have been low let alone lowish.

Hard to believe your doctor never tested your FT pre-trt as it is the more critical fraction of testosterone that is responsible for the positive effects.

You never posted the labs for FT which should have been tested using what would be considered the most accurate assay Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration to know where it truly sits, especially in cases of altered SHBG.

Otherwise, you would need to use/rely upon the calculated cFTV method.

Keep in mind as of now cFTV tends to overestimate somewhat when compared against the gold-standard Equilibrium Dialysis so your FT may very well be somewhat lower.

Mind you it may even underestimate FT in some cases when compared against the more accurate testing methods (ED/UF).

This is why it is critical to have your FT testing using the most accurate assays such as the gold standard Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration, especially in cases of altered SHBG.

If we plug in your high TT 1035 ng/dL, very high SHBG 76 nmol/L, and Albumin 4.3 g/dL (default) then your cFT would be 14 ng/dL which is far from lowish/low.

Again keep in mind that cFTV tends to overestimate somewhat so if you had your FT tested using ED it may very well come back somewhat lower but it still would not be considered low.

Most healthy young males are hitting 13-15 ng/dL.

On your most recent labs 12 months since you came of exogenous T you are still hitting a high TT 978 ng/dL and although your SHBG is still high 52 nmol/L it dropped down from a very high 76 nmol/L.

As you can see with a high TT 978 ng/dL and high SHBG 52 nmol/L your FT is high at almost 21 ng/dL tested using the most accurate assay ED.

This time around if you used the cFTV method again your FT would have been 17.7 ng/dL which is on the high-end for cFTV but lower than where your FT level truly sits which is almost 21 ng/dL tested using the most accurate assay Equilibrium Dialysis.

In this case, cFTV would have underestimated your FT.

Why would you even think about hopping on TRT again as your natty FT is stellar?

 

[savefoxes]

Pre-trt you were hitting a very high TT seeing as your SHBG was sky-high.

The shitkicker here is even with your very high SHBG 76 nmol/L with a high TT 1035 ng/dL your FT would not have been low let alone lowish.

Hard to believe your doctor never tested your FT pre-trt as it is the more critical fraction of testosterone that is responsible for the positive effects.

You never posted the labs for FT which should have been tested using what would be considered the most accurate assay Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration to know where it truly sits, especially in cases of altered SHBG.

Otherwise, you would need to use/rely upon the calculated cFTV method.

Keep in mind as of now cFTV tends to overestimate somewhat when compared against the gold-standard Equilibrium Dialysis so your FT may very well be somewhat lower.

Mind you it may even underestimate FT in some cases when compared against the more accurate testing methods (ED/UF).

This is why it is critical to have your FT testing using the most accurate assays such as the gold standard Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration, especially in cases of altered SHBG.

If we plug in your high TT 1035 ng/dL, very high SHBG 76 nmol/L, and Albumin 4.3 g/dL (default) then your cFT would be 14 ng/dL which is far from lowish/low.

Again keep in mind that cFTV tends to overestimate somewhat so if you had your FT tested using ED it may very well come back somewhat lower but it still would not be considered low.

Most healthy young males are hitting 13-15 ng/dL.

On your most recent labs 12 months since you came of exogenous T you are still hitting a high TT 978 ng/dL and although your SHBG is still high 52 nmol/L it dropped down from a very high 76 nmol/L.

As you can see with a high TT 978 ng/dL and high SHBG 52 nmol/L your FT is high at almost 21 ng/dL tested using the most accurate assay ED.

This time around if you used the cFTV method again your FT would have been 17.7 ng/dL which is on the high-end for cFTV but lower than where your FT level truly sits which is almost 21 ng/dL tested using the most accurate assay Equilibrium Dialysis.

In this case, cFTV would have underestimated your FT.

Why would you even think about hopping on TRT again as your natty FT is stellar?

Thanks for replying! The doctor didn't test the free T and used the calculated method. I believe he said my free T was about 12-13 ng/dl, and it needs to be at least 25-30 ng/dl. Then I read on this forum that it needs to be tested with dialysis. I tried everything to lower my SHBG before starting trt, but it was always over 70, and TRT was the only thing that lowered it and it even stayed that way after coming off, so my free T increased a little bit. But I think you're right, 21 ng/dl is not that bad and I'll keep trying to increase it naturally

 

[madman]

Thanks for replying! The doctor didn't test the free T and used the calculated method. I believe he said my free T was about 12-13 ng/dl, and it needs to be at least 25-30 ng/dl. Then I read on this forum that it needs to be tested with dialysis. I tried everything to lower my SHBG before starting trt, but it was always over 70, and TRT was the only thing that lowered it and it even stayed that way after coming off, so my free T increased a little bit. But I think you're right, 21 ng/dl is not that bad and I'll keep trying to increase it naturally

Again healthy young male cFTV would fall between 13-15 ng/dL and this is at a short-lived peak!

No natty healthy young male is running around with a trough FT 30 ng/dL and we are talking daily trough!

Look up where the 50-97.5 TH percentile sits.

Pure nonsense that one on TRT NEEDS to have a trough FT 25-30 ng/dL.

Many men do well with a trough FT of 16-31 ng/dL.

Even then need to keep protocol in mind (dose T/injection frequency) as there is going to be a big difference between one running a high trough FT injecting once weekly or twice weekly vs EOD or daily.

Your natty FT is stellar not sure why you are dead set on feeling the need to drive it up further.

Jumping off and on TRT is not going to permanently drive down your SHBG.

 

[madman]

View attachment 40512

So here's the results before starting TRT in 2022. SHBG was pretty high, and the doctor said that my free T was low and I needed TRT. I was on 200mg a week for about 6 months and didn't feel much difference, so I stopped. My total T was around 1400 and everything else was the same.

I just got this result about a year after I stopped injecting anything. Looks like the SHBG went down and my free T is a little over the high end of the range now. So if I start injecting again and stop after 6 months, do you think my SHBG will go down even more and become normal? I tried boron and other stuff and it didn't help much.

Or is my result normal now even with high SHBG because my total T is high too?
View attachment 40513

I was on 200mg a week for about 6 months and didn't feel much difference, so I stopped. My total T was around 1400 and everything else was the same.

How many days post-injection were labs done and where did your SHBG sit on such protocol?

 

[FunkOdyssey]

But I think you're right, 21 ng/dl is not that bad and I'll keep trying to increase it naturally

To give you some perspective, I just raised my dose to 175 mg a week to try to hit that number. You're saving maybe $100 a month right now and a lot of trouble to walk around making that naturally.

 

[savefoxes]

I was on 200mg a week for about 6 months and didn't feel much difference, so I stopped. My total T was around 1400 and everything else was the same.

How many days post-injection were labs done and where did your SHBG sit on such protocol?

3 days. The SHBG was at 71, but I was only a month in and I didn't do any more labs until now

 

[Charliebizz]

3 days. The SHBG was at 71, but I was only a month in and I didn't do any more labs until now

Do you have any of the alleged “Low t “ symptoms to begin with ? And how old are you ?

 

[Systemlord]

Looks like it lowered my SHBG and it stayed like that even a year after stopping it. So maybe it'll lower it even more

OK, I think I understand what you’re trying to do. You want to artificially lower SHBG further using TRT, and come off TRT later, while maintaining the lower SHBG.