Blood test results advice

Member Stories Lab Tests
#1

Hi everyone,

I’ve already posted a story 6 months ago detailing my situation however over the last few months my symptoms have changed.

Originally, apart from bad testicle shrinkage and pain on and off for 3 months I had no symptoms when I stopped propecia. However after some testicular growth and shrinkage again, I suddenly started to exhibit some of the symptoms described here. I did however get diagnosed with a UTI which I’d had for a month or two before it was discovered and once this was cleared pretty much all my symptoms went except for minor testicle pain.

Over the last two months I continued to have sex and masturbate and over that time the pain has got worse and worse spreading from my left to right testicle as well and I’ve started to exhibit a number of symptoms such as, cold feet, insomnia, fatigue, mental block and potentially minor sexual problems (although these may well be mental or down to the increased testicle pain).

As such I decided to see an endo and below are my blood test results which I’m really looking to get advice on. As of today my symptoms are bad testicle pain, primarily in my left testicle, pins and needles/cold feelings in hands and feed, dark circles and a bit of nausea. So nothing compared to a number of people but this has got progressively worse and undoubtedly gets worse whenever I don’t abstain for long periods of time.

The blood test results are as follows:

FSH - 3.5 (0.95 - 11.95)
Luteinising hormone - 4.9 (1.14 - 8.75)
Prolactin - 156 (70 - 400)
Androstenedione - 4.5 (3 - 8)
Oestradiol - 139 ( 40 - 160)
Test - 34.8 ( 9 - 30)
SHBG - 50 (18 - 50)
Free androgen index - 69.6 (25 - 130)
DHEA Sulphate - 7.6 (2.8 - 12)
PSA - 0.5 (0 - 4)
Free PSA - 0.1 ( 0.15-0.5)
Free/Total PSA - 20%
MCH - 32.8 ( 27 - 32)
MCHC - 363 ( 310 - 360)
Total iron binding capacity - 43.4 (45 - 70)

I’ve no idea what these results show, and have only seen one or two posts with people having such high testosterone so I’d really appreciate any guidance you can give prior to a follow up session with my endo later this week.

Soya is helping massively but why?
#2

Anyone?

#3

Tested ferritin, iron in serum and transferritin as well? Iron binding capacity is low. Are you feeling anemic or do you have restless legs or some periodic lim movements? Sleep issues?

Test is pretty high but lh is not very high so, on myvlimited understandibg of this, would mean that something is broke after testosterone… Check hormones derived from testosterone…

What are ur symptoms?

#4

Thanks for coming back to me.

My iron came in at 11.8 (8.0 - 26) but I’ve not had ferritin or transferritin.

Also the other results I have are:

Vitamin D 103 (75 - 150)
Albumin 45 (35 - 50)
Insulin like growth factor 1 268 (117 - 329)
DHT 1.41 (1.13 - 4.13)
3 Adiol G 5.4 (2.2 - 26)

In terms of symptoms it’s varied a lot but at the moment i’m suffering from:

  • Cold hands and feet
  • Testicle and lower back (prostate) pain
  • Sleep issues (For the last 6 nights I’ve slept inconsistently and feel awake after about 1/2 hours sleep)
  • Slightly diminished sex drive (but this could be more from the testicle pain than anything else as I have no issues having sex or masturbating)
    -Occasional nausea

I don’t think I’ve really had any that relate to anemia except the sleep issues but I’ve only had this recently. My symptoms always get worse after sex or masturbation but if I go 1-2 weeks without then I do see big improvements.

Any idea what might be wrong? I had a call with Dr Crisler who told me I should look to lower my SHBG as it’s too high but he couldn’t advise what has caused that to be the case. Recommended Danazol but I think I’ll try Zinc and Magnesium first as it’s a more natural course.

#5

Hey,

From my limited ubderstandibg of this, like i said, something is broken after testosterone…it seems to be dht that is not converting enough so more testosterone is left to be converted. I suppose at some point body will readjust by lowering output of test…maybe that when peopke experience testicle shrinkage.

But i have not experienced any of this so its just food for thought…

My suggestion to you is:

  • check any levelsof intermediate metabolites between test and dht. Until you find the first low value in the pathway. Thatbshould be where conversion is failing… Im assuming thats DHT though because i dont think theres anythin in between…

  • check other metabolites of 5ar2 and see if they are also low. Check the metabolite exactly before those and see if its over thw range as well… Do the same for 5ar1 and 3 , though i doubt it would be possible for these…

  • follow justquitdut thread on this.

Good luck, keep us posted

#6

Btw did you notice an increase in cholesterol as well?

5ar2 is prob inhibited after fin…how long ago did u quit? Maybe its still replebeshibg
5ar3 could be responsible for the sleep issues…
This drug is such a poison

#7

this is justquitdut thread i’m talking about viewtopic.php?f=27&t=9865

go back and test transferrin and ferritin as well. i think your iron is low, you are probably also having symptoms of anemia, or you have some tendency to it.

if you could test as well for folic acid and methylmalonic acid

#8

I quit 6 months ago. Interestingly I tested fine for everything up until a month ago and had very few symptoms. But any form of sexual activity increases testicle and prostate pain which has now led to hormone changes and the associated symptoms.

My cholesterol didn’t test too high thankfully but i’ll see what I can do about getting the other tests done for iron.

From what I’ve read, I need to bring down my SHBG and hopefully establish a normal level like English and some of the other guys who’ve recovered have done. Not sure whether that will improve symptoms as it doesn’t tackle the underlying cause by low free test can’t be a good thing.

#9

i think your shbg is high because your test and oestradiol are high, since dht is low.

if they have solved their problem by lowering shbg you could try it… how will you lower shbg?

don’t neglect iron problems, could be causing you a couple of symptoms too

when i quit finasteride, i was ok, a bit anxious, but i can’t say if it was finasteride induced anxiety or just becuase i developed gyno and was extremely worried about it. that’s the thing with anxiety, you can’t always pinpoint a sure cause, you just know its there.

things went ok for a year or so, gyno reduced though it didnt disappear…one day, a year later, i was doing some projects for school and i went to bed at 6am. i was awaken by loud noises upstairs and couldnt get back to sleep after 8am. next 2 days the same thing happened. next thing i know i couldn’t sleep for more than 3 hours in a row, started hearing every little noise, afraid to go to bed, couldn’t sleep no matter what, could hear my heart pounding once i hit the pillow and i was getting startled at every noise when i was sleeping. nothing helped, sleeping somewhere else didnt help, natural stuff helped for a couple times then not anymore…this went on for around 4 months. got bit better, but i have insomnia since around 10 years now.

was it finasteride induced? who knows…i have no hormonal tests of that time. maybe that was the crash everyone speaks about. i still have lumps under my nipples and my prolactin is still on the top third of the range. it doesnt feel quite right to me.

EDIT: I strongly encourage you to go through this thread, specifically this page: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=9865&p=91643#p91643

#10

That’t not good. What are you working through at the moment to improve?

I’m seeing and endo and urologist here in the UK who are carrying out some more bloodwork and one is aware of PFS and claims he has met people with it so I’m going to see what they advise when I meet them both again next Friday.

In terms of lowering SHBG, he recommends the following, ‘Just going off on a bit of a tangent - the answer to the high shgb issue long term is to introduce healthy sugars (from honey etc.) into the diet gradually so that insulin levels increase and shgb naturally lowers, but you can only do this gradually, because the gut needs androgens to function correctly, but with too much simple sugar immediately, you will never build androgens! It sounds complex, but it is not, it is a simple case of doing things in the right order, gradually, carefully. So build androgens through diet and exercise, with low glycemic foods and gluten free which allow your gut to function better, this will build shgb unless you’re very lucky, so then use nettle extract and tongkat ali to temporarily reduce shgb, this improves gut function and immunity (immediately in my case by the way) and this then allows you to start introducing healthy simple sugars and building normal insulin levels again. the nettle root and tongkat ali will lose effect after a few weeks, so you go off them for a week and cycle them again, shbg lowers a bit again and you introduce more goodies to your diet and so on, eventually you reach a normal healthy diet, normal insulin levels and normal androgen levels and thus a full recovery.’

I feel I probably have the androgens (the testosterone at least) so next steps are focusing on the gluten free diet and cycling the nettle extract and tongkat ali but will wait to see where I get to with the specialist first. I’ve also read the creatine can increase DHT by 22% and seeing as I can already gym and lift weights as normal I can add this sup in with my protein shake and hopefully it will help. Have you heard of any results with creatine?

#11

I had never heard that theory.
Theres so many theories…

Anyway, this is what ive been trying:
-12 hour fast everyday, sometimes 16. This has been going on for 2months. This should improven insulin sensitivity. At the same time I wanted to increase growth hormone, because it could help sleep, so I’ve started exercising fasted…but I couldnt keep up with it because I have now a (unrelated) meniscus injury which I’m handling and slowly returning to sports as it is healing (at least in that I was lucky).
For: Improving insulin sensitivity
Increase growth hormone
Duration: 2 months and ongoing.
Results: No results yet.

  • stopped coffee completely because of glutamate. Improvements only in bowel movements…
    For: Shifting gaba/glutamate balance towards gaba. Also because I’m a slow coffee metaboliser acording to 23andme.
    Duration: 2 months and ongoing.
    Results: Only really noticeable thing is improved bowel function. Maybe slightly better sleep.

  • stopped sugar almost compltely because of insulin sebsitivity, cortisol and PLMD…not sure i see improvements.
    For: Insulin sensitivity, PLMD.
    Duration: 2 months and ongoing. Had tried this before in the past and decided I want to stick to it. It is very hard cutting sugar when you cant sleep properly,…i just get addicted to it.
    Results: I think bowel function improved too. I’m not sure about anything else…

  • tried dibencozide to improve methylation. Stopped when I saw homocysteine at 4.95, when low was 5.00…
    For: Methylation/bypass some b12 related mutations
    Duration: 4 weeks
    Results: I think first 2-3 weeks I could fall back asleep when I took it, and would wake up in good mood. I haven’t seen an incidence of PLMD, around 1 week in this treatment. It has returned the week after I stopped…though it’s hard to make a positive correlation since I don’t have this problem every night!

  • 2.5g arginine+2,5g lysine after 6pm.
    For: Sleep, cortisol, reducing other stress hormones, anxiety
    Duration: 1 week at a time. Tried a few times.
    Results: I would sleep through the night the first few times on this. The next day for some reason, unrelated or not, I would fall into some kind of dark depression…and then I would stop the treatment.

  • 3g Glycine before sleep
    For: Increasing deep sleep
    Duration: As needed. Maximum maybe 3 days in a row.
    Results: This induces sleep. It also seems to make me wake up with more energy and maybe give me 30m more of sleep…but not more. Also seems like when I wake up I get sleep myoclonies in my fingers…I haven’t used it a lot for that.

  • Cardio, preferably in the morning, but could be at lunch time too.
    For: Reducing sleep wake after onset, increasing deep sleep, regulating sleep patterns.
    Duration: Ive been doing this as I can, for around 3 years now, at least 3 times a week, but I’ve done up to 6 times a week, for weeks in a row.
    Results: Helps a lot.

  • HIIT
    For: Increasing growth hormone, increasing muscle mass, increasing test
    Duration: I’ve done this, 3 times a week, for maybe at least 6 months.
    Results: Seems to be a good form of exercise. Makes me feel good. Not sure about the rest. I dont think HIIT is any good for the joints though…

  • Weightlifting
    For: increasing test and muscle mass
    Duration: 2-3 times a week, for more than 1 year, combined with HIIT
    Results: Increased muscle mass. Makes me feel good

  • getting sun in the mornibg and goibg out for a walk. At same time doing sleep restriction.
    For: Sleep
    Duration: Around 1-1,5months
    Results: Pretty darn good results but that was a long time ago. I tried also sleep restriction without the sun in the morning and it also worked.

  • Changing mattress
    For: -
    Duration: For around 1 week now.
    Results: Increased sleep duration. Feeling better in the morning, waking up better. I feel much of my insomnia is related toa back problem like I said, I’m going to check that out next week.

  • neurologists and other docs:
    For: Sleep
    Duration: Around 3 years. 1 year of treatment with mirtazapine+clonazepam, the rest trying meds…
    Results: Mirtazapine+Clonazepam worked, Trazodone worked, alprazolam worked if I didnt use it more than 2-3 times in a row…but at what price?! I don’t think this is the way to go. The year on mirtazapine+clonazepam, my libido was low, I couldnt understand. I also think I destructed myself further since now I have developed or possibly aggravated sleep myoclonies or PLMD…whatever it is.

  • 25 g hemp seeds +25 g flax seed everyday
    For: gyno and cholesterol
    Duration: More than 4 weeks.
    Results: Dont think it has worked, maybe slightly diminished gyno… It has worked for cholesterol though: from 218 to 195ng/dL in 4weeks …

  • Time…
    For: gyno
    Duration: Since 10 years
    Results: Shrinked but not disappeared
    -ive tried more stuff but i dont remember right now…

Things im doing next:
Back xray
Asking the endo for more tests
Doing methylation cycle and angiotensin blood exams to check if i should try to bypass some mutation identified by 23andme. This is where i have spent most time lately
Cannabis on a 1:1 THC:CBD ratio…

As a backup plan:
Uridine+Choline+DHA for sleep
Tianeptine…
Testosterone Proprionate
Any ideas?

Symptoms:

  • Sleep isnt good
  • Low sensitivity in penis
  • Low libido
  • Sleep myoclonies and PLMD (yes, arms move sometimes during sleep)
  • Gyno still here
  • Medium-high risk cholesterol
  • inflammatory biomarkers are a bit off
  • red blood cell tests are a bit off…
#12

Apologies with the delay with my response, I’ve been seeing how things settle down.

I’m much newer to this and my research has been specifically around the issues I’m suffering but answers to your symptoms below where I can.

Symptoms:

  • Sleep isnt good

I have this symptom at the moment but I do find, no sex/masturbation for a few days, astragalus root (lowers cortisol) and taking herba-mate tea (2 tea bags) in the daytime helped with this to the extent I sleep fine for 8 hours and feel refreshed. Bear in mind it will take a few days to take effect. The only thing I have found that if I slip up and sleep with my gf/masturbate i’m then fucked for the next few days.

  • Low sensitivity in penis
  • Low libido

Key thing here is just making sure your creating the optimal environment for your body to produce test increasing your free test levels. You’re doing a lot of the right things by doing heavy weights a few times a week, other factors are diet (mainly sat fats and proteins), reducing gluten, cold showers can help etc). Largely depends on your latest bloods but I’m sure there are things that can be implemented. I’m trying to change one factor at a time and then measuring improvement.

  • Sleep myoclonies and PLMD (yes, arms move sometimes during sleep)
  • Gyno still here

Not sure about these…

  • Medium-high risk cholesterol

Guessing this is dietary in someway. What’s your average weekly diet?

  • inflammatory biomarkers are a bit off

I have this too annoyingly. I put mine down to prostate inflammation/tenderness and the associated lower back pain that can come on after sex.

  • red blood cell tests are a bit off…

Which ones and in what way?

It seems like weight lifting and getting plenty of sun is working well for you. How do you feel your recovery/general wellbeing have progressed over the past 3 years?

Update on where I am:

Had pretty much every test done that my endo could think of and most bits seem relatively normal. However my SHBG and subsequent total test levels are still too high but main issue is free test is v.low.

Current symptoms are:

  • Prostate pain (after sex/mastubation)
  • Sleep problems (after sex/masturbation)
  • general tiredness - not debilitatingly so but enough to impact on my day to day activities
  • Mental block - had this on and off for 2 weeks. Been a bit odd as have some days where I’m on fire. Think this is related to sleep in part.
  • Dark circles - These have been around for 6 months but have got worse over the last month.
  • Cold hands and feet - Seems to come on worse after sex/masturbation. Varies in severity but currently quite bad.
  • Heartburn - This comes and goes.

Current recovery plan:

As there are some days (although less frequently) where I’m OK as in 80%, and also because I haven’t experienced a crash per se I do think that I’m still hopeful that diet, exercise and time will help. I probably need to give up sex/masturbation for a few months too which is the hardest thing to do.

Endo agreed that I could be experiencing tiredness and mental block due to elevated SHBG and suggested either trialling HRT on a low dose for 6 weeks max or clomid. These wouldn’t be used as a permanent cure but if they improve my symptoms we can then say with a high probability that it’s elevated SHBG which is causing my issues and then work out next steps. From reading stories on this forum I’m a bit nervous about these routes so it would be good to get your take on them?

Another option is cycling Tongkat Ali over a month to see if there are any improvements.

#13

One piece of good news that I forgot to add. Oestradiol levels are now low/medium levels with no intervention. Hopefully this will mean other improvements could be forthcoming…

#14

hey! have you got any news?

I’m formulating a theory and I arrived to Glucose, Insulin, Glicose, Glycolysation, Glucogenesis, Insulin and glucocorticoid receptors, and krebs cycle… And I have arrived to your post, which I had already read many months ago!!

I feel like there is something going on with insulin sensitivity somehow and is causing adrenal fatigue, hypothyroidism, hypoganadal symptoms, in that specific order!

#15

I’d be very interested in hearing your theory!

Just had a 3 week holiday to Bali and seriously cut back on sex etc and came back feeling a lot better than I did before I left with pretty much no brain fog or cold hands and feet etc. Then I got stupid, had sex a few times and I can feel the symptoms coming back and only slept for about 4 hours last night, all very light sleep.

In terms of general state and medical diagnosis, I have secondary adrenal insufficiency which is caused by a breakdown in signalling from hypothalamus, prostatic pain which comes and goes based on level of sex and SHBG is still high but most other hormones are in range. Thyroid is healthy and I have a healthy sex drive.

I seem to have found a pattern to my symptoms which I can usually severely minimize if I can prevent the cold hand and feet. This seems to trigger my poor sleep and everything else. Unfortunately this means abstinence which I’m not particularly good at.

Hows everything going with you? Noticed any improvements over last few months?

#16

well…slight recovery in sleep. i manage to sleep 8 hours but i always wake up 4-6 hours after falling asleep. amnd
i have no morning erections!!! that actually showed up after mirtazapine usage+clonazepam. something happened there and now that i retested everything, my TSH is 4.4 when shuold be maximum 4.2. it used to be 2.950, i tested it twice.

i have high igf-1 @ 290, when max is 240.

I have formulated this theory, and for me is one of the riddles of PFS…though I can also tell you I have felt faints before finasteride so I’m not sure where this IGF-1 value comes from. Truth is, I’m sure finasteride changes igf-1.

You IGF-1 value doesn’t fit my theory thouhg. could be that you don’t have any hypoglycemic symptoms…do you?faints when you stand up from sofa and especially from bed in the morning, early morning awakening…borderline hypoglycemic glucose…

Have you test IGF Binding Protein?? Have you tested insulin? Have you did an insulin Tolerance test? Have you done a fasting glucose test and/or measured glucose several points before and after meals and before and after sleep?

On another note, have you tested RT3? Cold hands and feet are a sign of thyroid problems…TSH and FT3 aren’t enough to rule out thyroid issues.

please refer to solvepfs.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=404

#17

Yeah had reverse T3 done and it was all normal. My understand was cold hands and feet could also point to adrenal issues?

Your theory makes sense, it’s really hard to really know whats going on with our bodies at this stage. All I can say with certainty is that the reduction in 5A2/3 has caused my neurological pathways to breakdown so my brain isn’t telling my organs to work properly hence the adrenal insufficiency. Because of that I didn’t want to do the insulin test as it’s looking at a symptom of the breakdown rather than the cause and I would much rather focus upstream on the hormones and brain chemicals which are being interrupted. Thing is I have no idea where to start and despite having private medical cover, have no ideas what test to have next as most endo’s aren’t interested in moving this forward.