daveydc82 blood work

Member Stories Lab Tests
#1

I had a limited amount tested during my first few rounds of blood work with Dr. Irwig. Today I saw a GP in internal medicine and after seeing my testosterone drop to what it is, he ordered additional blood work to test testosterone and do a full thyroid check.

4/9/2011
Testosterone, Serum
Result - 422 ng/dL, Flag Reference Range - 249-836
Dihydrotestosterone
Result - 40 ng/dL, Reference Range - 30-85

7/2/2011
Testosterone, Serum
Result - 82 ng/dL, Flag Reference Range - 249-836
Dihydrotestosterone
Result - 60 ng/dL, Reference Range - 30-85

I guess this sort of points me in the right direction and partially explains why Cialis barely works for me anymore and I feel so lethargic all the time it’s ridiculous.

#2

If feeling lethargic was directly determined by T and DHT levels, young girls would not be able to move. Energy levels are directly determined by cortisol and thyroid levels, which you haven’t tested.

#3

m81 - You can’t compare male T levels to female T levels. (and as for fatigue not being a low T symptom, how can you not be aware of hypogonadism symptoms and be an active member of this forum?)

DaveyC - Hopefully boosting your T levels will bring you back into shape.

Keep us posted and take care,

Former

#4

huh? ok… well, then how can 5 year-old boys have a lot of energy despite low levels of T?

Please, read my post carefully. The word “directly” is used for a specific reason, as noted in the following example:
Low T does not cause fatigue directly. On the other hand, low T causes muscle waste directly.

Low T does not directly cause fatigue because we know that it is sufficient to increase cortisol and thyroid levels to get rid of fatigue. Nevertheless, cortisol and thyroid levels won’t improve the muscle shape because that is regulated by T.

Fatigue is a symptom of hypogonadism because low T causes T4 and cortisol to tank, which causes fatigue.

#5

Pls provide a scientific source to support this argument.

#6

Values collected 7/10/2011 -
Testosterone, Serum
Result - 347 ng/dL, Flag Reference Range - 249-836
LH
Result - 5.7, Flag Reference Range - 1.7-8.6
FSH
Result - 1.4, Flag Reference Range - 1.5-12.4
Prolactin
Result - 6.3, Flag Reference Range - 4-15.2
TSH
Result - 2.12, Flag Reference Range - 0.45-4.5
Free T4
Result - 1.4, Flag Reference Range - 0.82-1.77

Unfortunately, DHT did not make it on this panel as the blood work was ordered through a doctor working in internal medicine. He seemed mostly interested in my thyroid.

#7

Your T seems low, considering what these articles state: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1954

Have you had a fertility test done?

#8

This is too little to determine your thyroid hormones. You need FT3 and RT3 too.

#9

My T keeps declining, which is alarming to me as I’ve been off Propecia for over a year now. Dr. Irwig has told me not to worry too much about it, however, and also isn’t concerned with my FSH. Nonetheless, I do feel I should look into a fertility test.

Thanks. I really am wondering if it’s time to stop letting the doctors dictate what hormones to test and just drop a list in front of the next GP I see. Of particular concern to me is my constantly dropping T level and why no doctor seems concerned with that. I’m getting tired of the “it’s in range” line.

#10

Since you are lethargic, you probably have low cortisol, which causes:

  1. inability to hold erections when stimulated (is it true?)
  2. low metabolic rate
    A low metabolic rate is a stable hormonal state where your body wants to keep all hormones low. In your case, it is possible that your metabolic rate is decreasing, and therefore your body can only “tolerate” lower and lower levels of T. We don’t know if a low metabolic rate is the root cause of PFS for all of us, but it may be the root cause for some (e.g., correiovip, JN, Dury, robocopp), who recovered or improved by boosting their metabolic rate until their body could automatically keep the hormone levels up without taking any more supplements/hormones.

The first step to increase your metabolic rate is to increase cortisol and thyroid levels to the top of their range. But, in order to do this, you need a doctor who believes in this idea and who is willing to test the important hormones too.

#11

Interesting. I can say that it’s rather difficult for me to maintain an erection much of the time but I cannot speak for my metabolic rate since the GP I saw obviously was not keep enough on the thyroid to test all the relevant hormones. Even if he had, I’m sure I’d get the “it’s in range” line (frustrating to no end). I’m seeing a urologist next week and am really going to push for a full thyroid panel.

Thank you for your thorough explanation :slight_smile:

#12

You said to be lethargic, so you already know that your metabolic rate is low. The tests will help you understand if it’s because of low cortisol or low thyroid (most likely both).

If the urologist doesn’t provide you satisfying care and you want to pursue the direction of metabolic rate, I would suggest you to go visit an “integrative medicine” doctor. In my experience, they are the most open to new ideas and forms of treatment. And, in my experience, they take into account symptoms, not just ranges.

Good luck

#13

It’s been several months since I have checked in. Since I last posted lab results, Dr. Irwig placed me on Clomiphene Citrate at 25mg every other day, which I downsize to 12.5mg every other day. I also had my first consultation with Dr. Crisler and he ordered a 24 hour urine and some blood work. The results you see are with me on the Clomiphene at 12.5mg every other day.

Based on the results, Dr. Crisler does not believe that the Clomiphene is producing desirable results and is going to test my reaction to Testosterone Cypionate for 5 weeks, then we will do another urine.

2/27/2012

(urine)

TEST UNITS ABN RESULTS REFERENCE RANGE Estrone (E1) ug/24hrs 3.5 3 - 12 ug/24hrs 2-Hydroxyestrone ug/24hrs 6.1 -- 16-a-Hydroxyestrone ug/24hrs 0.7 -- 2OH/16OH Estrone ratio 8.7 -- 4-Hydroxyestrone ug/24hrs 0.4 -- Estradiol (E2) ug/24hrs 1.9 0 - 7 ug/24hrs Estriol (E3) ug/24hrs 2.7 1 - 16 ug/24hrs Total Estrogens ug/24hrs 8.0 4 - 22 ug/24hrs Testosterone ug/24hrs HIGH 121 45 - 85 ug/24hrs Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) ug/24hrs 11 0 - 13 ug/24hrs Androstanediol ug/24hrs 172 48 - 578 ug/24hrs Androstanedione ug/24hrs 9.6 Not established DHEA ug/24hrs 453 5 - 1476 ug/24hrs Androstenetriol (5-AT) ug/24hrs 271 42 - 710 ug/24hrs Androsterone (AN) ug/24hrs HIGH 4953 798 - 4705 ug/24hrs 11b-OH-Androsterone ug/24hrs 1090 461 - 1692 ug/24hrs Etiocholanolone (ET) ug/24hrs 1742 689 - 3252 ug/24hrs 11b-OH-Etiocholanolone ug/24hrs 741 134 - 1186 ug/24hrs Progesterone NONE DETECTED Pregnanediol (PD) ug/24hrs 147 32 - 501 ug/24hrs 5-Pregnenetriol (5-PT) ug/24hrs 305 28 - 1062 ug/24hrs Pregnenolone ug/24hrs 1.6 Not Established Cortisone (E) ug/24hrs 180 92 - 366 ug/24hrs THE ug/24hrs 3865 1365 - 5788 ug/24hrs THB ug/24hrs 86 32 - 238 ug/24hrs 5a-THB ug/24hrs 314 135 - 588 ug/24hrs THA ug/24hrs 91 52 - 277 ug/24hrs Cortisol (F) ug/24hrs 93 35 - 168 ug/24hrs THF ug/24hrs 1803 942 - 2800 ug/24hrs 5a-THF ug/24hrs HIGH 3185 796 - 2456 ug/24hrs

(blood)

LH mIU/mL 3.3 1.7 - 8.6 FSH mIU/mL LOW 1.3 1.5 - 12.4 Testosterone, Serum ng/dL 412 348 - 1197 Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy ng/dL 33.5 30.0 - 100.0 SHBG, Serum nmol/L 22.7 16.5 - 55.9

#14

robocopp takes aromasin every day. JN, fixed???

"(e.g., correiovip, JN, Dury, robocopp), who recovered or improved by boosting their metabolic rate until their body could automatically keep the hormone levels up without taking any more supplements/hormones.
"

#15

If you are tired, I suggest a 4x silivary cortisol test

#16

Tests completed October, 2014.

It would be interesting to hear your thoughts!

thyroid_p1.jpg1216×604 238 KB

thyroid_p2.jpg687×714 86.9 KB

cortisol_and_dhea.jpg901×646 177 KB

hormones_p1.jpg901×1119 327 KB

hormones_p2.jpg903×1122 315 KB

hormones_p3.jpg892×801 279 KB


hormones_p4.jpg889×622 174 KB

#17

They do not look great but how to fix them?

How are you feeling these days?