Possibility of "test booster" ingredients affecting lab results?

[CanadaJim]

This is simply a question/observation I am throwing out to the masses. I had been self dosing testosterone e last year for about six months. Approximately 80-100mg weekly - shallow IM. Stopped the first week of November due to some unwanted sides. No PCT. I did start taking a test booster supplement (TestFreak 2.0). I know for the most part they are bogus but hear me out. I had blood work done nearly two months after I stopped taking the test e. I was feeling pretty shitty. Low energy, no libido, etc. My blood work came back with higher than normal test. Like 20 nmol/l above the highest value. We were both surprised (my doc and I) as I did not feel like I had higher than normal test. He was aware of my self dosing testosterone and felt that enough time had past that my lab values should not have been effected. I told him about the supplement and he laughed but said maybe it was effective. I had blood work repeated the following March and my testosterone had leveled back to "low normal".
Now fast forward to this June. I haven't had any testosterone since November of last year. Still wasn't feeling myself. Low test symptoms. A friend of mine who happens to rep for a supplement company offered me another "test booster"(ANS Fortitude II). I took it. With absolutely no change in the way I felt. Had blood work done again June 15th. My Testosterone levels came back way higher than normal again. And like last time I did not feel like my test was high at all. In fact quite the opposite.
So having said all this. Has anyone ever researched the ingredients in these test boosters and how they may falsely effect lab work? That is the only explanation I can think of. There is no way that they increase testosterone levels but something seems to be skewing the lab results.

 

[sammmy]

Another possibility is the "supplement" is spiked with an aromatase inhibitor. Find out the manufacturer and if they were warned by FDA, or sued, or even in jail. These make the "best" supplements with cryptic chemical names that FDA hasn't caught to.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

They could have Clomid in them. Many people get higher test readings from it but don't feel better so that would align with your experience.

 

[CanadaJim]

This is the ingredient list for PharmaFreak's Test Freak 2.0. Resveratrol could be responsible as it is marketed as a possible AI...

This is the ingredient list for ANS Fortitude....maybe the DIM? It is also marketed as a supplement that can keep estrogen in check...

Crazy though that it would effect lab results in such an extreme way...maybe there is an ingredient, like you've already mentioned, that isn't on the list.....

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Your testosterone was probably measured using immunoassay instead of liquid chromatography. Immunoassays, while cheaper, have a lot of possible interactions.