LH/FSH Question

General Discussion
#1

Guys,

   Just had my bloodwork done recently, and as usual, the doc thinks "nothings wrong" and rolled his eyes. However, sides persist.

I do have one question that I can’t seem to find answered on the forum no matter how I search. I realize that the range for LH/FSH is pretty wide, and it seems I came out in the lower end.

LH: 2.2 IU/L (<10)
FSH: 2.9 IU/L (<10)

Can anyone shed light on what the figures for a “normal” level would be. My readings are indicated “within range” but at the same time, that range seems wildly large.

I’m asking because I want to at least shed some light on whether it’s a pituitary (hypopituitary) issue here as my T ranges are all considered normal.

I’ll post complete blood work here later. Thanks again!

Cheers,
TB

#2

Timebot - I am pasting the below from my HMOs web page on LH & FSH. Hope they paste in ok:

LH levels depend on a person’s age and stage of sexual development, and, in a woman, on the phase of her menstrual cycle. The urine test to determine whether a woman is ovulating detects only the presence (positive result) or absence (negative result) of LH.

Normal
Normal values vary widely among labs and methods used. Ask your doctor for normal values of your luteinizing hormone test.

Luteinizing hormone in blood
Men: 1–15 IU/L

Male children at puberty: 4–12 IU/L

Many conditions can change LH levels. Your doctor will discuss any significant abnormal results with you in relation to your symptoms and past health.

High values
High luteinizing hormone values in a man may mean:

Testicles are absent or have been removed.
Testicles are not functioning because of surgery or damage from mumps, X-ray exposure, chemotherapy, cancer, or injury.
Klinefelter syndrome.

Low values
Low luteinizing hormone values in a man or woman may mean:

Anorexia nervosa.
Pituitary gland failure.
Damage to a part of the brain called the hypothalamus.
Stress.
Low body weight.
Continue to Luteinizing Hormone–What Affects the Test

A follicle-stimulating hormone test measures the amount of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in a blood sample. The test results depend on your age and stage of sexual development.

Normal
Normal values vary widely among labs and methods used.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
Men: 1–8 IU/L

Children before puberty: 0.5–4 IU/L

Many conditions can change FSH levels. Your doctor will discuss any significant abnormal results with you in relation to your symptoms and past health.

High values
High FSH values in a man may mean:

Klinefelter syndrome.
Testicles are absent or not functioning properly.
Testicles have been damaged by a disease, such as alcohol dependence, or by treatments, such as X-rays or chemotherapy.
High values in children may mean that puberty is about to start.

Low values
Low FSH values may mean:

A woman is not producing eggs (prevents ovulation) or a man is not producing sperm.
An area of the brain (the hypothalamus or pituitary gland) is not functioning properly.
A tumor is present that interferes with the brain’s ability to control FSH production.
Stress.
Starvation or being very underweight.

1 Like
#3

Badluck,

Wow. Quite the comprehensive -and well written - answer. And thank-you for writing in complete sentences. Lately, I’m having trouble following the threads in the group because of people’s net-writing styles.

In any case, it’s good to have an idea of what low and high values in each of the target readings means. For myself, it would seem to point more and more towards pituitary/hypothalamus as the root of the problem.
If this is the case, I’m not sure that the solution is all that much better. If the solution was as simple as taking hypopituitary treatments, I’m sure that we would have heard about it by now.

Keep at it. Thanks for the help!

TB

#4

I have high LH and low FSH. What does that mean?

#5

Fanjeera,

         Who knows? That's why we're all here I guess. In any case, the only thing I could find was this chart to somehow digest the differences we are all experiencing in terms of LH / FSH.

For your situation, check the far right side.
Thank god for the internet, otherwise we’d all be in the dark on any info.

TB

Hypogonadism diagnosis evaluation flowchart.gif451×707 75.3 KB

#6

Timebot,

ANy time you see both LH and FSH in the 2’s then secondary hypogonadism is suspected assuming your total serum testosterone is less than 400. I didn;t make this up, it comes from the Society on Endocrinology (see Morganthaler’s book). Maybe check the book out at the local library and copy the couple of pages discussing this and bring it to your doctor.

Fanjeera - it seems that many of us have low FSH. Like many here, mine does not increase very much (out of the 2’s) unless I raise clomiphene dose pretty high (enough to raise total serum T well above 900). A new endo I saw recently is going to test inhibin, which is involved in controlling FSH levels. Your FSH needs to be interpreted in terms of your total serum T.

Get adiol-G tested (see the thread under Blood & Hormone Tests).

1 Like
#7

I can’t test adiol-G here.

#8

Neither can I. I had to pay extra for a number of tests, but even outsourcing the stuff to labs in the US didn’t allow me to test for Adiol-G.

Kazman, I too suspect Finasteride caused secondary hypogonadism. My GP totally ignored that idea and the Urologist he sent my bloodwork to “declined” to see me. The latter is a prick (no pun intended) as he doesn’t like to answer any questions.

My total T is around 588, so it’s not 400; but I still have all the f^%$ing sides that everyone else has here.
Very frustrating. I am considering saving up to see Dr. Crisler or Dr. Shippen. Not sure which one is best though.

TB

#9

My T was over 1350 and I still had side effects. I was on clomid at the time. along with an estradial between 30-52, but still…

Our problems is not T related solely, it is 5 AR II DHT(DHT can be present in 5 AR I, and allow us to have a normal level, however that is misleading.

5 AR II comes from the brain and pituary. We must correct this in order to feel better.

3 adiol G must be checked, it’s imperative.

#10

Timebot, Fanjeera, if you can not get the adiol-G test done, then get a 24 hour urine steroid profile run. From the ratios of the 5a to 5b metabolites we can peg where your 5AR2 activity approximately is.

#11

What exactly are the metabolites? Has anyone else done this before?

#12

Fanjeera asked about how to determine metabolite ratios to measure his 5AR2 activity. Surprisingly this information was a little difficult to search out of the database:

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=761

About half way down Mew points out the 24 hour urine panel (both Rhein Labs and Quest do these, and they are done elsewhere throughout the world). Mew has two attachments in his post, you want the second one to follow for how to do the metabolite ratios.

Later on in that thread I post my own ratios from one of my own 24 hour urinary steroid profiles. Even though my T was up though medication (clomiphene) I still had very poor ratios, indicative of poor 5AR2 activity.

Just get a 24 hour urinary steroid profile done, if you have trouble calculating the ratios then send me a private message and I’ll help. Here is another thread where the ratios were calculated for user mystory:
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2859

If searching for an Adiol-G serum test it is important to use the formal name for the test, 3 alpha (or 3a) androstanediol glucuronide
kazman

#13

The first topic you linked doesn’t exist :frowning:.

#14

Fanjeera, not sure how the “8” got on the end, fixed my original post above. Please edit out your quote as the link it repeats does not work.