Advice on davey's blood tests

Member Stories Lab Tests
#1

Hi everyone,

I’d really appreciate views/insight into recent blood tests, attached. These were taken the other day, four months after being off finasteride. I saw an endocrinologist who wants me to try a low dose of testosterone gel for six weeks to see if this will help.

I am nervous about the implications of taking testosterone (e.g. around fertility or shutting down my body’s natural production), but the endocrinologist assured me there would be no problems being on a low dose for a few weeks. However, he does not recognise that finasteride has caused my current problems, so I would like to seek a second opinion. If anyone can recommend a specialist in London who recognises PFS I would be grateful for their details.

Some details on me:
• Current age 37
• Was on Finasteride for 2 and a half years. Stopped when noticing loss of libido (but looking back had had reduced energy for around 6 months beforehand)
• I have persistent low libido, ED and interrupted sleep. Recently started taking Cialis daily and it helped for a few days but seems to be wearing off.
• I eat healthily and exercise regularly – recently started weightlifting. However, the endocrinologist I saw said this would not help with testosterone.
Blood tests.xls (30.8 KB)

#2

Before jumping on Testosterone, pls review my comments here as this user faces a similar decision:

viewtopic.php?p=59506#p59506

Further, your Prolactin is above range. That could be a factor in why you have lowered Testosterone levels. Dostinex or Bromocriptine can be prescribed to reduce prolactin levels, or there are natural supplements which may help bring it down.

SHBG can also bind up Free Testosterone. The medication Danazol may be able to bring down SHBG levels to help increase Free Testosterone.

You should discuss getting your prolactin and estradiol under control. Also noticed elevated CK levels which could indicate muscle damage, potentially from Finasteride: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=589

In short there are many things to address here which may bring improvements, before resorting to TRT treatment.

#3

Thank you Mew, most appreciated. I have just received the results of my Bioavailable Testosterone and it has come back below the range, as 1.98 nmol/l ( with the range as 2 – 9). I was wondering what the significance of this may be? I have also arranged to see another private endocrinologist next week and want to be more prepared this time, so I’m not wasting my money.

The expert I saw yesterday was convinced that my issues were due to work related stress, as I’m head of communications for an NHS organisation and he kept on banging on about what a busy job it must be. I kept on telling him that I have never suffered stress at work but he wouldn’t listen. I deal with lots of consultants in my job, and think that a major problem is the hierachy of the health service: they are used to giving orders and don’t like being challenged. This means that when a complex problem like PFS falls outside traditional learning, many will refuse to acknowledge it and dismiss it. The work which people on this site are doing to raise awareness of the problem and to understand it is therefore absolutely vital, and I am extremely grateful.