Question about recent labs and free T

tyr_2 · Sep 6, 2018

Greetings,

41 YOA male. Very good health, highly active. Recent bloodwork showed the following:

Total T 631 ng/dl
Free T 69.1 pg/ml
SHBG 47 nmol/L

No major low T symptoms I guess. Nothing sexual, no major mood issues. Simply put, I don't recover anywhere like I used to and have generally lost that sense of "drive" for lack of a better word. Starting to feel older I guess...

I'm looking for some advice on that free T number. I don't really know how to convert that pg/ml unit of measurement first off (free T usually measured differently no?) and also, it still seems quite low in relation to the total T number.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

BigBamBoo · Sep 6, 2018

With those numbers I would NOT start TRT.

I would look at your thyroid to start.

And bro....hate to break it to ya...41 is getting older.

Eat right, get good quality sleep, work out, and that’s about all you can do.

At almost 50, my total T was 600 but my free T was only 10. And my SHBG was/is 70+.

I have thought about stopping TRT, but have started a new protocol that seems to be working, so I am going to stick with it for another few weeks till I can pull labs and see how things are going.

Good luck to you.

CoastWatcher · Sep 9, 2018

Your posting an SHBG value that's on the high side. What has your doctor said about that?

Systemlord · Sep 9, 2018

I don't recognise those Free T numbers, here labcorps ranges are 6.8 - 21.5 pg/mL. I can tell you even with my Free T numbers midrange I feel like death, obviously I need Free T to be high normal or better to function normally.

It's more than likely your recovery issues and drive are testosterone related, SHBG is getting a little greedy with the testosterone. Just because Free T is in range doesn't mean anything, I've seen men who were naturally well over the ranges for Free T, yet the ranges cut them out of the equation.

Do you have ranges for Free T?