Opinions on labs?

[BamaMarine]

I've been seeing more and more low T symptoms over the last two years. I'm 30yo, eat a pretty good diet, and lift heavy 4d/wk. I do need to lose about 30lbs but losing any weight has become a serious struggle now. Should I be considering TRT with these numbers and seeing many low T symptoms? I had a basic test two weeks prior that showed 394 TT.

 

[Systemlord]

Your thyroid labs are inadequate, T3 uptake is obsolete and none of the experienced thyroid doctors use it anymore as it provides no diagnostic value whatsoever. Free T3 is the only active thyroid hormone and is the end result of the conversion from T4, Free T4-->Free T3 which then is absorbed into your cells and fuels metabolism and fat burning ability.

So not checking Free T3 is quite a big blunder and we see it a lot here on Excelmale, so as it stands your back at square one and questions that are left unanswered. It's hard to say if your Free T is low, the question is it low for YOU. I can tell you when my Free T was at 15.1 pg/mL (TT 396), I felt terrible and it felt no different than being at 7.7 pg/mL (TT 225).

At what time of day were your labs done in relation to the 394 TT result?

If it wasn't before 10am the test is invalid.

 

[BamaMarine]

Both

Your thyroid labs are inadequate, T3 uptake is obsolete and none of the experienced thyroid doctors use it anymore as it provides no diagnostic value whatsoever. Free T3 is the only active thyroid hormone and is the end result of the conversion from T4, Free T4-->Free T3 which then is absorbed into your cells and fuels metabolism and fat burning ability.

So not checking Free T3 is quite a big blunder and we see it a lot here on Excelmale, so as it stands your back at square one and questions that are left unanswered. It's hard to say if your Free T is low, the question is it low for YOU. I can tell you when my Free T was at 15.1 pg/mL, I felt terrible and it felt no different than being at 7.7.

At what time of day were your labs done in relation to the 394 TT result?

If it wasn't before 10am the test is invalid.

Both were around 11am.

 

[Systemlord]

Both


Both were around 11am.

Both tests are invalid, levels peak in the early morning hours and begin to drop dramatically over the course of the day. This is why we test early in the morning hours, no insurance company would pay for TRT do to testing beyond 10am.

Sleep quality, diet and exercise can affect your testosterone levels, overtraining and hard dieting will lower your testosterone levels. Pay attention to substances that increase SHBG like alcohol, SHBG binds up testosterone and when elevated can lower your Free T.

 

[DragonBits]

I would't say the test were invalid, and I have seen recommendations to test between 7-11 AM. If anything, testing earlier would have yielded a higher TT result.

IMO 394 ng/dl is low enough for me to want to be on TRT, 505 is borderline. But obviously for many insurance companies, you would need to be lower than 264 ng/dl (low end of range) to qualify for treatment.

Likely someone like primebody/defy would accept you for TRT.

But I would suggest a full thyroid panel, to include

1) Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH) - Evaluates overall thyroid function
2) Total Thyroxine (T4) - Measures the total amount of T4 produced by the thyroid gland
3) Free Thyroxine (T4) - Measures the amount of T4 available to the cells and tissues
4) Free Tri-iodothyronine (T3) - Measures the amount of T3 (the active form of the hormone) available to the cells and tissues
5) Reverse T3 - Measures the non-functioning form of the active hormone T3
6) Thyroglobulin antibody (ATA) - Often measured along with TPO, these antibodies can attack proteins involved in the production of thyroid hormones rendering them dysfunctional
7) Thyroid Peroxidase antibody (TPO) - Often measured along with ATA, these antibodies can attack proteins involved in the production of thyroid hormones rendering them dysfunctional