If it helps, I’m going to put up my lab work. Aside from low vitamin D, I am totally normal, so my case has doctors puzzled.
MY STORY: propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=12445
When (time and date) were these tests taken?
I noticed…
TSH 2.77 – you should consider investigating sublinical hypothyroidism per thyroid.about.com/cs/testsforthy … wrange.htm
DHEA-S 102 (88-305) – seems near the bottom of the range, indicating adrenal function/androgen output from adrenals not really optimum.
Vitamin D 25-Hydroxy 23 (32-100): clearly out of range low.
What’s interesting is that a couple other users have the same issue:
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … =25hydroxy
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … 0099#10099
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … 2131#12131
This may provide more info related to that: netwellness.org/question.cfm/37954.htm
Testosterone (Total) 714 (350-1030) – Your TOTAL T levels are fantastic. Unfortunately the more crucial FREE Testosterone is near the bottom end of the range.
% Free Testosterone 1 (1.5-3.2)-- this is out of range LOW… basically your body has no free testosterone available, and since Free T is the only T biologically available to your body, it’s pretty critical and may explain loss of libido etc.
Free Testosterone (serum) 71 (52-280) – again, almost near bottom of range. You have low Free T and this could be causing you a bunch of issues post-Fin.
SHBG 42 (20-60) – since SHBG binds with greater affinity to Free T, your low free T may partly be explained by your mid-range SHBG.
I’d say you have a few things to discuss with your doctors, specifically investigating potential sublinical hypothyroidism (additional testing), why your Free T is so low, further adrenal function tests (DHEA-S low) and the obvious Vitamin D deficiency.
Thanks for the analysis, Mew. The lab test were taken in January. I was busy with my taxes, so I missed your reply.
I had a local doctor try to help me with the low free testosterone by prescribing HCG injections, but it didn’t help me feel any better. For me, there is always extra complications because I also have Colitis. The HCG made my intestines bleed really badly and I had to stop.
I’m thinking about seeing Dr. Shippen and hoping maybe he can get some of these numbers in line where they should be. I’m living in Miami now, I’m going to be driving up to Connecticut and will be staying there a while to take care of a few things and that’s not too far from Shippen. I know that no doctor really knows how to help and the few that do understand what happened to us seem to only be able to treat some of the symptoms rather than the root causes but it is better than nothing, right?
Yes but at what TIME… in the morning before 10am? Afternoon? Evening?
Tests should always be done in the AM when T levels are highest.
Without deep medical investigation/research/testing, we won’t really have answers. If you see Shippen, ask him if or how we might go about getting that kind of interest from the medical research community… does he know any scientists that could help?
Yes, before 10:00 AM. We definitely need to figure out how to take it to the next level. It took a doctor getting Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction to get people talking about PSSD, maybe it will take a similar situation to bring attention to the dangers of Finasteride. If I can get an appointment, moving this thing to the next level is something I’ll definitely talk about.
I have the results for the recent lab work I had done. This is the 24 hour urine test. A few things have improved since the last test I had. I plan on getting more testing done, so stay tuned for more updates.
Hey joetz, is there a reason the 24hr urine test doesn’t have free testoterone on it? or am I just missing it? I thought it was a pretty important indicator on the way things are?
another thought that I had…if you have healthy people that have never taken fin, take these hormone tests do you think all of their hormones would be in range? or will one or two be out of whack like most of ours…
I’m not sure if that number shows the free T or total T. This is the test that Dr Crisler ordered. The other test on the earlier post was a test ordered by a different doc that tested for other things. In that test you can see I am screwed up in other areas, like no vitamin D. The thing that’s so weird about the vitamin D being so low is that I live in south Florida and get a ton of sun. I think a “normal” person wold probably be normal across the board.
joetz, this is totally off topic, but a question I have been considering lately…
Do you like the weather in S. Florida? What is it like year round?
I have been having trouble with dry eyes and am thinking about moving to a warmer climate.
Who knows… then I may have to change my name to “florida”!! Ha!
Well, I’m originally from the north east like you and have been in south beach for almost 2 years. It’s wonderful to vacation here, but living here has its share of problems. Rude people, crime, terrible public transportation, horrible traffic, terrible job market, low salaries vs. cost of living, lousy customer service, and crappy restaurants are all things you have to deal with. You’ll also really need to know spanish to get around because English is the second language in miami. All of these things I didn’t know about before I came here because I just vacationed. Living here is a different story. Night life is great if that’s your thing…it’s not really mine
If you’re willing to put up with all the problems this area has, the weather is wonderful. June-august are terrible, but the rest of the year weather is amazing. Does the amazing weather make up for all the other problems Southeast FL has? I don’t think so, but some people living here absolutely love it.
Thanks a lot for the good response.
Why are you there then? why do you stay?
Well there are two reasons I am here
#1 The average Floridian is so brain dead and slow that even with terrible brain fog, we can run circles around them at just about any job. Maybe that’s why salaries here are half what the are in the north…people are half as productive so it all works out. If you are tired of the rat race and can find a job, then this might be the place for you. Just expect to make 25%-50% less than you are used to.
#2 I own property down here and it’s hard to be a land lord out of state.
There are days where I eat the sorriest excuse for pizza or chinese food you’ve ever seen and I really start to miss the north and then I remember how demanding work is up there and how bad my memory is and attention span is, and I decide to stay put.
Oh ok, thanks.
I was tested again and you can see the change as time has gone on. Some things are better and some things are worse.
What do you think is worse?
Looks like your % and overall Free T is low and SHBG highish which might be the cause. Is Crisler open to Danazol to lower SHBG? What did he say about your results?
im just curios why danazol? wouldnt any steroid accomplish the same thing,since shbg is controlled by the amount of androgens in your blood stream.basically higher androgens equal lower shbg.
I meant worse in terms of how I felt, not necessary how the numbers looked on the lab. Today was just a disaster for me. No libido whatsoever and I’m really disappointed because earlier in the month I was doing so much better.
This test was not done by crisler, it was done by another doctor, but I forwarded the results to crisler so he can look at it. I figure the more labwork crisler has, the better. I’ve got a telephone consult scheduled later on in the week. We’ll see what he says about the results and also what to do next.
joetz, what were the results of your phone consult with Crisler? Are you still taking DHEA? It looks like it might have raised your estradiol levels somewhat too.
I have a phone call with him scheduled on Tuesday. I have no idea what next. I have eliminated all non-sexual side effects, but my libido came crashing down like a house of cards the second week for the DHEA and now I’m starting to get moobs. I have no idea if I’m going to keep taking the DHEA forever and I’m not sure what we’re going to do to raise my free testosterone levels. I’ll find out soon, but I wish things would go faster.
jgoetz, to save a couple of minutes (or more) on the phone call, the doc that ordered my urinary steriod profile told me that the testosterone represented there is free testosterone (maybe includes albumin bound, but definitely not SHGB bound).
You have the urine test, run the three ratios of 5 alpha metabolites to 5 B metabolites and compare to the normal ranges indicated in the Chinese paper.
I was surprised to find out that with T ramped up to 700 ish on clomiphene that all my urinary metabolite ratios were at the very low end of the normal ranges indicated in the paper. Could be why I felt much better at 900 (aboe 270-830 normal physiological range). Will post a more detailed analysis of same when my adiol-G comes back . . . . .