New Guy, Pre-Treatment Labs... Input Welcome

[Kirk001]

So these are my pre-treatment labs... never been on any kind of hormone therapy before or steroid cycles or anything. Age 39.

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WBC 6.3 x10E3/uL (3.4 – 10.8)

RBC 4.94 x10E6/uL (4.14 – 5.80)

Hemoglobin 15.3 g/dL (13.0 – 17.7)

Hematocrit 45.8% (37.5 – 51.0)

Glucose 95 mg/dL (65 – 99)

BUN 20 mg/dL (6 – 20)

Creatinine 1.26 mg/dL (0.76 – 1.27)

eGFR 71 mL/min/1.73 (>59)

Albumin 4.4 g/dL (3.5 – 5.5)

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Cholesterol 197 mg/dL (100 – 199)

Triglycerides 162 mg/dL (0 – 149)

HDL 41 mg/dL (>39)

LDL 124 mg/dL (0 – 99)

Cholesterol / HDL 4.8 (0 – 5)

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DHEA-S 228.0 ug/dL (102.6 – 416.3)

TSH 3.61 uIU/mL (0.450 – 4.500)

LH 2.8 mIU/mL (1.7 – 8.6)

FSH 1.2 mIU/mL (1.5 – 12.4)

PSA 1.1 ng/mL (0.0 – 4.0)

IGF-1 175 ng/mL (83 – 233)

Estradiol, Sensitive 14.5 pg/mL (8.0 – 35.0)

SHBG 35.7 nmol/L (16.5 – 55.9)

Testosterone, Total 297 ng/dL (264 – 916)

Testosterone, Free 8.3 pg/mL (8.7 – 25.1)

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Obviously my testosterone is low, which is why I'm here. Also looks like my estradiol is low too considering Nelson I think said it should be at least 20. FSH is low. Cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL are high. Glucose is high.

BUN and creatinine are high but I supplement with creatine monohydrate everyday so that is probably to be expected. TSH looks sort of high as well... am thinking it might be a good idea to get a thyroid panel done in the future.

 

[DragonBits]

I agree you need a full thyroid panel, but I think your estrodiol is OK considering your TT and FT are low. It's more about the ratio of estradiol to TT. Raise your TT and your estradiol will also rise.

 

[CoastWatcher]

Your thyroid, as you noted, is calling for more investigation. How are your sleep patterns?

 

[Kirk001]

How are your sleep patterns?

I don't get good sleep. I've always thought it was insomnia due to anxiety.

 

[CoastWatcher]

I don't get good sleep. I've always thought it was insomnia due to anxiety.

I urge a sleep apnea evaluation. There is, in the words of Dr. Saya, an undiagnosed epidemic of apnea complicating the lives of many, many men. Lack of sleep hammers hormones, and apnea, untreated, will play havoc with a TRT protocol. Be sure this is raised in discussion.

 

[Kirk001]

Will discuss with Defy yep, thanks. But from what I've read I don't think that is the issue for me... I sleep on my stomach and apparently sleep apnea affects back sleepers more, due to the tongue falling to the back of the throat and closing off the airway. Also I feel like my quality of sleep is good, it's just a problem of quantity. Once I fall asleep, I'm out like a log and it's hard to wake me up, I never wake up in the middle of the night, if I sleep for 7 or 8 hours I wake up feeling rested. Problem is it takes me forever to fall asleep. I can get in bed, turn off the lights, put away the phone, and still lie there for hours before falling asleep. My mind won't shut off, it races, I worry about things and all the stuff on my to-do list is running through my head, I worry about deadlines and whether or not I'll be able to get XYZ done in such and such timeframe... hence I thought anxiety.

But I don't know. I've heard that getting T levels up reduces anxiety in a lot of guys and they worry less about stuff they had worried about before, so I'm hoping that is the case with me and if so then that will help me fall asleep at a more appropriate hour.

 

[FeelingLost]

snip...
But I don't know. I've heard that getting T levels up reduces anxiety in a lot of guys and they worry less about stuff they had worried about before, so I'm hoping that is the case with me and if so then that will help me fall asleep at a more appropriate hour.

Hi again Kirk, That falling asleep is tough. Sometimes I have to get up and go for a run or ride the stationary bike.
If my body is tired I can get my mind into the F---it I'll deal with that tomorrow. Then falling asleep is a piece of cake.
I really noticed no sleep improvement so far(19 months) in fact if your T gets to high sleep will be a real issue. Energy thru the roof so you don't or can't get tired.

You need to prepare yourself for ups and down while your new hormone lvls stablize. Things will get crazy for the first 5-6 weeks.

 

[Kirk001]

Yeah interesting so do you find though that you have more energy during the day even if you're not sleeping more at night?

Ups and downs eh, well honestly I welcome it because I've been living in such a flat-line state. I'm sort of expecting they'll want me to start on clomiphene because of my age. And I'll do a follow-up semen analysis once that has some time to take effect. And if the second results match the crazy first one, I'll probably need to come off clomiphene and switch to test + HCG. But hey if I can get some of these low-T symptoms resolved, I'm ready to ride a roller coaster if need be.