What is THE optimal Prolactin level?

[dallasboy]

I never ever thought to test for prolactin, I'm not on TRT and hormone levels accross the board are pretty darn good. Lately, I've been very fatigued (like I need a morning nap after a solid nights sleep), low libido and just feeling like a drank the direst bottle of tequila the night before when I wake up (I hardly ever drink).

Had my annual, told my PCP about this, she ran a full hormone panel that had prolactin in it. I have no baseline, but it was flag high out of range at 22 ng/mL. I am on 20mg Paxil for about a year, and the notes on the lab results was "monitor with SSRI". Down the rabbit hole I go, and I NEVER knew SSRI can jack hammer up prolactin. A lot of my recent symptoms are related to high prolactin in men. SOOO....I mention either I need to taper off the SSRI (I have been thinking about that) or get a dopamine agonist to deal with this. She really pushed back against the agonist and said the endo at the practice would look over my numbers and call me....still waiting for that.

BUT, what should I target for optimal/healthy prolactin levels? Only other thing that has been a concern is my fasting blood glucose is slowly creeping up over the years (85 in 2015 to 110 now) and the "rabbit" hole revealed several RCT studies showing higher prolactin in men raises FBG. And one of the studies was a cutoff of 12 ng/mL for prolactin, and anything above has a positive correlation to rising FBG levels. I am almost double that level.

 

[Systemlord]

I'm not on TRT and hormone levels accross the board are pretty darn good. Lately

What is pretty darn good?

 

[Systemlord]

A lot of my recent symptoms are related to high prolactin in men.

Hypothyroidism can elevated the prolactin.

It would be best if you just laid out your hormone levels on the table so you can get some feedback from some very knowledgeable forum members.

 

[MIP1950]

Hypothyroidism can elevated the prolactin.

It would be best if you just laid out your hormone levels on the table so you can get some feedback from some very knowledgeable forum members.

Many psych meds will increase prolactin. It's secondary to what they're 'supposed' to do, but there it is.

Regarding thyroid medication; Yes. When I went back on thyroid medication(T3) several years ago my prolactin went from 15 to 7. Dr. Eugene Shippen, pioneer in TRT, believed prolactin should be at 4.5, IIRC. Mine is still at 7 but if try to increase dopamine, I become hypomanic. Yet, two or three times a month, I'll suddenly get a rock hard erection for a brief time. My analogy is to an intermittent electrical connection. Suddenly, it works, then the connection breaks. Something malfunctioning in the hypothalamus, maybe.

I've read so much about B6 and zinc to lower prolactin. B6 screws up my sleep and I would take it the morning. But for some men, that combo works. Or maybe just B6, alone. Cheap and worth a try.

 

[dallasboy]

What is pretty darn good?

Yes, should have throw these in:

Hormones
TT 835 ng/dl
Free T (Direct) 14.1 pg/mL
Estradiol 25.8 pg/mL
FSH 4.5 mIU/mL
LH 6.8 mIU/mL
Pregnenolone 155 ng/dl
Progestoerone 0.6 ng/mL
DHEA Sulfate 199 ug/dL - (I plan on supplementing to target the 350-400 range)
Prolactin 21.9 ng/mL

Thyroid
TSH 1.7 uIU/mL
T4 (Free) 1.4 ng/dl
T3 (Free) 4 pg/mL
TPO Antibodies 8 IU/mL
Iodine (Serum) 52.4 ug/L - (kinda pointless from what I understand, but this is almost below the lower range of 52)

Others
AST 13 IU/L
ALT 17 IU/L
Fasting Blood Glucose 110 mg/dL
Glucose, Urine Negative

This is from a panel done on Dec 1st (Labcorp). I went ahead and got a glucose finger prick monitor and my FBG is 117 average (but only 10 days worth of data so far). Haven't checked any other times yet.

LMK if you need any others.

Cheers!

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Some good info here

Prolactin Blood Test: What You Should Know

A prolactin blood test is used by doctors to evaluate sexual dysfunction or very low testosterone blood levels of unknown causes in both men and women.

www.discountedlabs.com

 

[Gman86]

Many psych meds will increase prolactin. It's secondary to what they're 'supposed' to do, but there it is.

Regarding thyroid medication; Yes. When I went back on thyroid medication(T3) several years ago my prolactin went from 15 to 7. Dr. Eugene Shippen, pioneer in TRT, believed prolactin should be at 4.5, IIRC. Mine is still at 7 but if try to increase dopamine, I become hypomanic. Yet, two or three times a month, I'll suddenly get a rock hard erection for a brief time. My analogy is to an intermittent electrical connection. Suddenly, it works, then the connection breaks. Something malfunctioning in the hypothalamus, maybe.

I've read so much about B6 and zinc to lower prolactin. B6 screws up my sleep and I would take it the morning. But for some men, that combo works. Or maybe just B6, alone. Cheap and worth a try.

What about vitamin E lowering prolactin, ever look into it?

 

[Systemlord]

Free T (Direct) 14.1 pg/mL

What I thought, that's not pretty good. I would have symptoms at this level and in fact I did 10 weeks ago.

Men on TRT feel opimal in the upper 3/4 of the normal ranges, I don’t see why it would be different for natural men.

Don't be surprised to see glucose go up and T goes down, lower T is a risk factor for diabetes and vice versa.

You must have high SHBG. If that Free T test is the Direct Immunoassay, which I'm pretty certain it is, it's known to be inaccurate.

What was the testing method for the Free T test?

 

[MIP1950]

What about vitamin E lowering prolactin, ever look into it?

I know vitamin E is anti-estrogenic. Have to look into it.