hopedieslast's Blood Tests

Member Stories Lab Tests
#1

At long last, here are my various hormone tests, from both before and after Propecia. Ranges are in parentheses.

Pre-finasteride

June 05th, 2009

Androstendione 1.72 ng/ml (.6-3.1)
CRP 3.17 mg/dl (<3)
DHEA-S 172 μg/dl (80-560)
Ferritin 189 ng/ml (28-365)
Folic acid 6.94 ng/ml (3-17)
FSH .976 mIU/ml (.7-11.1)
T3 free 1.18 pg/ml (1.8-4.2)
T4 free 1.26 ng/dl (.8-1.9)
PSA .214 ng/ml (0-4)
SHBG 19.3 nmol/l (13-71)
Testosterone 568 ng/dl (262-1593)
TSH rapid 1.06 μIU/ml (.4-4)
Vitamin B12 287 pg/ml (193-982)

Finasteride:

  • six weeks between mid-June and late July 2009
  • 15 days late January to mid-February 2010

(See my story here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3782)

Post-finasteride

April 01st, 2010

LH 5.1 mIU/ml (1.7-8.6)
Prolactin 7.7 ng/ml (3.2-13.0)
Testosterone free 19.8 ng/dl (9-30)
Testosterone total 708 ng/dl (240-950)

May 04th, 2010

LH 3.1 U/l (2-10)
FSH 2.7 U/l (1-7)
Prolactin 240 mU/l (<500)
Testosterone total 24 nmol/l (>12)
SHBG 45 nmol/l (11-71)
Testosterone free 443 pmol/l (>250)
Estradiol 87 pmol/l (<250)
PSA .5 μg/l (<4)
DHT 872 pg/ml (250-990)

June 09th, 2010

Free thyroxine 1.3 ng/dl (0.8-1.8)
T3 free 277 pg/dl (230-420)
T3 total 68 ng/dl (97-219)
TSH 1.876 uIU/ml (.40-4.50)
Thyroglobulin antibodies <20.0 IU/ml (<20.0)
Thyroid peroxidase antibodies 19 IU/ml (0-34)
TBG 16.6 mcg/ml (12.7-25.1)

What is notable is that my androgen values aren’t too bad. In particular, DHT appears to be close to the upper bound of the range. I would think that this has something to do with the fact that I didn’t take Propecia for very long at all: six weeks at first and another two weeks half a year later. I therefore suspect that my symptoms stem from androgen receptor insensitivity or downstream gene expression or something of the sort… What do people think? Comments appreciated.

#2

Yes test and dht is good - consider having adiolg and reverse t3 tested.

#3

Your Total T3 is VERY low just like mine.

Get Reverse T3 done, this is VERY important.

#4

My endo actually had me do another hormone test just this week (results still outstanding, will post them when in) and included reverse T3. He seems to be a good man. What is the importance of reverse T3 though? Thanks.

#5

After fin use ur Total T doubled.

#6

his FT3 is already low pre-fin

Pre-finasteride

June 05th, 2009

Androstendione 1.72 ng/ml (.6-3.1)
CRP 3.17 mg/dl (<3)
DHEA-S 172 μg/dl (80-560)
Ferritin 189 ng/ml (28-365)
Folic acid 6.94 ng/ml (3-17)
FSH .976 mIU/ml (.7-11.1)
T3 free 1.18 pg/ml (1.8-4.2)
T4 free 1.26 ng/dl (.8-1.9)
PSA .214 ng/ml (0-4)

#7

good catch Sp,

He should still get the Reverse T3 tested though. His Free T3 is still low now. It’s at 11% of the range. He could go undiagnosed for a long time if he doesn’t get the Reverse T3 tested.

#8

Here are some more hormone tests, all from about a year ago. I apologize for the significant delay, but I just couldn’t handle being on the Forum for a while.

After reading about ScaredinMD’s (apparent) success at self-therapy through bodybuilding products, I had run a course of four weeks of an oral androsterone (AndroHard) plus a week or so of an aromatase inhibitor (Inhibit-E) last summer, without success. (See here for the relevant thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3684.) Some of the tests are from before the bodybuilding cycle, some from after.

Pre-androsterone

June 15th, 2010 (24-hour urine test)

(The unit for all values is µg/24hrs.)

Estrone (E1) 1.8 (3-12)
Estradiol (E2) .6 (0-7)
Estriol (E3) 2.0 (1-16)
Total Estrogens 4.4 (4-22)
Testosterone 74 (45-85)
DHT 16 (0-13)
Androstanediol 81 (48-578)
Androstenedione 77 (not established)
DHEA 16 (5-1476)
Androstenetriol (5-AT) 305 (42-710)
Androsterone (AN) 3372 (798-4705)
11b-OH-Androsterone (OHAN) 903 (461-1692)
Etiocholanolone (ET) 2082 (689-3252)
11b-OH-Etiocholanolone (OHET) 452 (134-1186)
Progesterone none detected (none detected)
Pregnanediol (PD) 443 (32-501)
5-Pregnenetriol (5-PT) 26 (28-1062)
Pregnenolone 3.4 (not established)
Cortisone (E) 231 (92-366)
THE 4020 (1365-5788)
THB 188 (32-238)
5a-THB 441 (135-588)
THA 182 (52-277)
Cortisol (F) 174 (35-168)
THF 2146 (942-2800)
5a-THF 1383 (796-2456)

June 24th, 2010

Free T3 271 pg/dl (230-420)
T3 total 77 ng/dl (97-219)
T3 reverse 36 ng/dl (11-32)

Post-androsterone

October 04th, 2010

DHT 58 ng/dl (25-75)
Testosterone total 627 ng/dl (250-1100)
Testosterone free 89.2 pg/ml (46.0-224.0)
Testosterone bioavailable 191.1 ng/dl (110.0-575.0)
SHBG 32 nmol/l (3.6-5.1)
3adiol-G 243 ng/dl (260-1500)
FSH 3.3 mlU/ml (1.6-8.0)
LH 5.6 mlU/ml (1.5-9.3)
Estradiol 31 pg/ml (13-54)

October 11th, 2011 (24-hour urine test)

(The unit for all values is µg/24hrs.)

Estrone (E1) 2.5 (3-12)
Estradiol (E2) .7 (0-7)
Estriol (E3) 3.1 (1-16)
Total Estrogens 6.3 (4-22)
Testosterone 100 (45-85)
DHT 20 (0-13)
Androstanediol 91 (48-578)
Androstenedione 145 (not established) (doubled from pre-androsterone!)
DHEA 74 (5-1476) (quintupled from pre-androsterone!)
Androstenetriol (5-AT) 314 (42-710)
Androsterone (AN) 3663 (798-4705)
11b-OH-Androsterone (OHAN) 813 (461-1692)
Etiocholanolone (ET) 2034 (689-3252)
11b-OH-Etiocholanolone (OHET) 564 (134-1186)
Progesterone none detected (none detected)
Pregnanediol (PD) 403 (32-501)
5-Pregnenetriol (5-PT) 42 (28-1062)
Pregnenolone 2.7 (not established)
Cortisone (E) 198 (92-366)
THE 3988 (1365-5788)
THB 132 (32-238)
5a-THB 368 (135-588)
THA 153 (52-277)
Cortisol (F) 143 (35-168)
THF 1868 (942-2800)
5a-THF 1205 (796-2456)

I also had a genetic test done on May 04th, 2010, which established that the number of CAG triplets in Exon 1 of the androgen receptor is 25. The reference range is 12-30, so the number is relatively high. Dr. Jacobs in his blog had hypothesized a while ago that a high number of CAG triplets might be correlated with susceptibility to PFS. Here is the post:

blog.alanjacobsmd.com/alan-jacobs-mds-blog/2010/06/a-proposed-mechanism-for-prolonged-sexual-side-effects-from-finasteride.html

So that’s interesting.

Lastly, a few people - in particular anonnn1 and bostonusa2009 - had urged me to get Reverse T3 last year. I did get Reverse T3 tested (see June 24th, 2010 test), and as with T3 the value is out of range. What do I make of that? Thank you.

#9

You have high reverse t3… take t3 to clear it out… might improve some of your mental/erection functioning…

#10

To clear out reverse T3, you will need to take T3. It usually take 75mcg-125mcg. The goal is to supress your T4 and TSH for at least 12 weeks. Start out with like 12.5mcg per day and work your way up. You need to make sure adrenals and iron are good to continue…so keep an eye on them. Keep iron serum above 90.

How did you feel pre-finasteride?? Your T3 was low then too. Did you have the same symptoms as now? What about erection quality/sex drive?

#11

Although you don’t have the range, can I ask you for the unit?

High RT3 despite high cortisol. Interesting. I haven’t seen any other case like yours.

#12

Sorry for the late reply, folks. I hadn’t received notification about your replies, so I assumed that no one had bothered.

Thank you! I was completely fine pre-fin - strong erections, strong sex drive - which is why I am a bit hesitant to do anything about my thyroid situation, to be quite honest. Maybe I naturally need less T3 than the average person?

The unit is µg/24hrs. This was a 24-hour urine test. Thanks!

#13

It is possible. Why was your CRP so high pre-fin? Where you sick at the time? I would expect your ferritin to be higher as well, but it wasnt.

#14

I’m not sure whether or not I was sick at the time. I may have been. It was more than two years ago, and at a time when I didn’t pay attention to these sorts of things. Sorry about that.

I do have two new blood test results to report:

August 15th, 2011

DHT 24 ng/dl (25-75)
Testosterone total 497 ng/dl (241-827)

So it looks as though my DHT levels are now low, where they had been high or at the upper bound of the range all along, even post-fin. This corroborates my own sense that my condition has been worsening ever so slowly over the course of the last year; for instance, my libido has slowly gone from low to virtually non-existent, and genital numbness used to be intermittent and is now consistently present. Not good.

#15

DHT gel is available in Europe luckily.

#16

high ( 5a-THF / THF > 1.3 ) shows high 5 alpha reductase activity (above 90 percentile)

mid ( 5a-THF / THF = 0.8 ) shows average 5 alpha reductase activity

low ( 5a-THF / THF < 0.6) shows low 5 alpha reductase activity (below 10 percentile)

#17

This indicates low 5a reductase you are 0.64.

Your t3 is low and rt3 is high. This is probably an issue

#18

Thanks.

#19

Probably good to get a salivary cortisol test. How is your body temp?

#20

I will look into both. Thanks again!