Shbg inflates Estradiol labs?

[BCD19800]

Hi all,

During my consultation with Dr Calkin from Defy, he mentioned SHBG artificially inflates Estradiol. I’ve never read this is any of the high SHGB posts I’ve seen on here. My sensitive Estradiol lab reading was 28.9 (8.0-35 pg/ml). Dr Calkin said in reality it’s probably around 15. He said a lot of high SHGB guys end up having higher than 35 on their labs since it’s artificially inflated and not truly reflective of the level. I thought that was interesting. Wondering if any other high SHBG guys have that experience. He did prescribe an AI at .125 2x per week with my injections since I have pre-existing gynecomastia from puberty. I don’t plan on taking it unless I start feeling any symptoms.

 

[Raaj]

Anastrozole is very Potent Drug please stay away forever for life. Manage your estradiol by other ways. I have used only 1mg in one month and it's horrible on me with reducing hemoglobin, dry skin, joints and severe fatigue. It's nasty on Liver and body long term.

 

[Systemlord]

Totally believable as high SHBG is known to inflate testosterone status as well.

 

[Vince Carter]

Totally believable as high SHBG is known to inflate testosterone status as well.

Say that again...?

 

[Vince Carter]

Anastrozole is very Potent Drug please stay away forever for life. Manage your estradiol by other ways. I have used only 1mg in one month and it's horrible on me with reducing hemoglobin, dry skin, joints and severe fatigue. It's nasty on Liver and body long term.

You should consider your ability to dispense advice on this forum...read more and post less would be a huge benefit to you.

 

[Vince Carter]

Hi all,

During my consultation with Dr Calkin from Defy, he mentioned SHBG artificially inflates Estradiol. I’ve never read this is any of the high SHGB posts I’ve seen on here. My sensitive Estradiol lab reading was 28.9 (8.0-35 pg/ml). Dr Calkin said in reality it’s probably around 15. He said a lot of high SHGB guys end up having higher than 35 on their labs since it’s artificially inflated and not truly reflective of the level. I thought that was interesting. Wondering if any other high SHBG guys have that experience. He did prescribe an AI at .125 2x per week with my injections since I have pre-existing gynecomastia from puberty. I don’t plan on taking it unless I start feeling any symptoms.

So wait...he tells you your E2 is about half what the gold standard test tells you it is, says it's more like a 15, and then gives you Anastrozole?

That makes no sense at all...you've clearly had a misunderstanding as there's no way that Defy told you that.

 

[BCD19800]

So wait...he tells you your E2 is about half what the gold standard test tells you it is, says it's more like a 15, and then gives you Anastrozole?

That makes no sense at all...you've clearly had a misunderstanding as there's no way that Defy told you that.

He told me to take the AI after two weeks of using testosterone, not right away since I did not want to use HCG. The rationale is that I already have gynecomastia and I’m concerned about having elevated estrogen levels after the testosterone builds up and did not want to worsen my situation.

 

[jhperez81]

Dr. Calkins basically told me the same thing. My ShBG was 48.8 and total E2 at 32 all labcorp ranges. I waited a month and a half before taking .125 anastrozole with injection which is 80mg E3.5d. After two weeks of AI I had labs done at Quest since my insurance pays. Total E2 was at 53pg/ml with a reference range of <=29pg/ml. So I probably would have been ok just taking AI to begin with but got scared from all the “crashed E2” posts on forum. Even though the studies I’ve reach basically state it’s impossible to zero out E2 with anastrozole due to it not being able to block aromatase in the testes. Didn’t really have many symptoms of high E2 besides tearing up a little watching movies. I actually feel pretty good after taking my anastrozole dose, not euphoric really but slightly more energetic.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

I want to remind everyone to place your new threads in the right forum folder. I had to move this one. Thanks

 

[Gman86]

It’s interesting, seems like more and more guys are starting off on higher doses lately. I see a lot of defy patients getting prescribed 140-160mg per week from the start. I wonder what the reasoning is for this. Back when I started, 100mg per week seemed like the standard starting dose.

To answer your original question, I’m a high SHBG guy, but not sure how to tell if my E2 is artificially inflated or not. I do tend to not get many symptoms when my E2 is very elevated, so maybe that means it is artificially inflated and the level that’s actually in my body is less.