Blood results at 1 month and 2 months after quitting

Member Stories Lab Tests
#1

Hi,

As mentioned in my first post in the members area here are my blood results, 1 month and then 2 months after quitting.

                     23/10/15 (1 month post)              28/11/15 (2 months post)                 Range

Test 8.2 5.6 (8-30 nmol/L)
Free test 164 115 (170-500 pmol/L)
SHBG 31 28 (17-66 nmol/L)
FSH 4 4 (1-8 IU/L)
LH 3 2 (2-8 IU/L)
Prolactin 9.6 7.2 (<20 ug/L)
Oestradiol (E2) <60 <60 (<150 pmol/L)

Having initially got the bloods done to assess whether high estrogen levels from taking fin were the cause of my gyno, I came out with more questions than answers (as is often the case).

The fall in already low total T and free T and associated sides has me pretty worried, can anyone hazard a guess at whats going on?
I don’t understand how this fall can occur, having thought my body would be returning to normal, i.e. more free T due to the shift of the androgen : estrogen ratio back in favour of androgen on ceasing taking the drug…

Any comments/suggestions/similar experiences much appreciated. I don’t have an endo appointment for another 3 months so what I can learn from this forum is invaluable to me right now.

Many thanks,
Rapsac

#2

My post in members area (some context for the bloods):

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10827

#3

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting that. Few people have performed such testing as they quit.

FSH was flat at 4 even? Think the average is 5.5 to 6.

Did you get “the bounce” where things returned to normal for a couple of weeks?

I would recommend an adiol-G serum test

#4

I think it will take a few months to reach a stable state. But even then hormones chnge over time. My free t is now below range after about 7 years of it being bottom of range.

#5

Thanks for your reply.

FSH was 4 IU/L both times. I was more concerned with the decreasing LH value if I’m honest. Along with the obvious low T.

I very much had “the bounce” for 2-3 weeks after quitting…everything picked up sexually and my hair started to fall out rapidly. 3 months on and this has completely reversed to worse sexual based problems then when on propecia, bad mind fog and zero shedding (not that my hair seems important to me now).

Would the adiol-G results be meaningful without DHT results? I have DHT results on the way from the 2 month time point but didn’t get adiol-G done.

I plan to get more comprehensive bloods at 4 months to see how things are moving. I have just started a T boosting regime in the aim of raising levels naturally so will be interested to see if that has any effect when the next bloods come around.

Thanks for your comment. Sorry to hear about your recently diminished free T. If you don’t mind me asking, do you recall how long roughly it took your levels to reach a steady state?

#6

I would say I was stable after 3 months. Are you in Australia? Where in Aus? Cheers.

#7

OK, we will see once I get the next round of tests in a couple of weeks time.

I am in Australia yes, in Melbourne. I assume you are here too?

#8

I am in Syd.

#9

Thanks for your message vicentv, although the link didn’t work and I am unable to reply to PMs as not ‘authorised’ by admin yet. Hence why these messages are taking an age to appear.

As you are in Aus, have you heard of any good endos in Melbourne? Thanks.

I will be getting the 3 month BW done next week so will post back with results. I have been supplementing zinc, vit d and magnesium every day and cycling DAA periodically as well as maca and royal jelly. On top of lots of heavy training and a healthy diet with lots of fats, it will be interesting to see if this had made any difference although I am not confident as the sides have not disappeared at all and if anything libido has got worse (I have read of some cases of DAA doing this so will discontinue after finishing this week).

#10

Sorry I meant 4 month time point in the post above, not 3.

The bloods have gone off yesterday. Requested a few more than the first 2 times as a bit more clued up now:
Total T
Free T
Bioavailable T
Estrodiol
DHT
3a-diol g
DHT
SHBG
LH
FSH
Prolactin
Vit D
DHEAS
Progesterone
TSH

and then the regular haematology and general chemistry tests.

In addition, I received the DHT result from 2 month time point:
0.7 nmol/L (0.7-5.1)

So on the bottom limit of the range. No surprise there really. I think the 3a-diol g in this round of tests will serve as a better indicator of 5aR activity though.

Will post these results up when they come in. I hope to draw some conclusions as to the change in my own hormones over time (if any) after quitting propecia and to whether following a simple natural supplementation program works for me.

Any comments welcome

#11

You have secondary hypogonadism. TRT is warranted, but not necessarily a good idea.

I recommend that you check thyroid hormones; TSH, T3 and rT3 (T3/rT3 ratio)

You should also request an insulin tolerance test to see if you have GH/IGF-1 deficiency. It shouldn’t be ignored when you have hormone deficiency (except prolactin) - and especially when it’s low testosterone.