sghcnt's blood tests

Member Stories Lab Tests
#1

My Story: propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … highlight=

^ Contains a summary of my experience on the first page.

Please scroll to bottom of thread for most recent updates. This first post only refers to my first blood test.

The test results:

04/??/2009 (end of March, beginning of April)

  • Testosterone: 2.16 (2.50-9.50 ng/ml)

04/28/2009

  • Free Testosterone: 10.6 (10.0-30.00 pg/ml)
  • DHEA: 123 (80-560 ug/dl)
  • Prolactin: 5 (3-23 ng/ml)
  • TSH: 2.59 (0.30-5.50 mlU/L)
  • Testosterone: 5.00 (2.50-9.50 ng/ml)

01/10/2010

  • Vitamin D: 33 (18-72 pg/mL)
  • Testosterone (Total): 583 (240-950 ng/dL)
  • Testosterone (Bioavailable): 181 (83-257 ng/dL)
  • DHEA: 122 (80-560 ug/dL)
  • LH: 4.2 (2-12 mlU/ml)
  • TSH: 2.43 (0.30-5.50 mlU/L)
  • Prolactin: 5 (3-23 ng/ml)

Well, I finally had a blood test. Unfortunately, it’s only for testosterone, but that’s about as much as the Doctor would allow. The first doctor I saw a few weeks after I quit fin was rude and dismissive as hell, basically shoving the “it’s all in your mind” line down my throat until I relented. This second one that I saw two weeks ago was a fair bit nicer (probably because I had been dealing with sexual sides for about 3 months by then), but he was also adamant that it was probably all mental. I knew I wouldn’t get far if I tried asking for more blood tests, but he agreed to check my testosterone level “just in case,” even though he was convinced there “couldn’t be anything out of the ordinary.”

Well surprise, surprise:

2.16 ng/mL (rane: 2.50 - 9.50)

The doctor attached a note that he’d like to see me in “4-6” weeks to check again. Perhaps I’ll be able to convince him to get some other tests done then. At the moment, I feel vindicated more than anything… it was damn annoying to keep hearing about how it was “all in my head” even if I knew full well it wasn’t.

Beyond that, I’m a little surprised, since I expected it to be a little higher. My symptoms haven’t been catastrophic lately… I have nighttime, morning and spontaneous erections, even if their regularity can vary drastically week by week. I’m still able to have regular sex, although maintaining an erection is real hit or miss, and sometimes I’ll have trouble reaching orgasm. About a week ago I had a great day or two when I was actually able to maintain an erection for the whole time I wanted to… it was really encouraging. Of course, since then it’s come back down to where I often have trouble staying hard longer than 2-3 minutes.

Like I said, I’m hoping I can get more blood tests done the next time I see a doctor so that there’s a more complete picture. Beyond that, if this is how I feel below range, I’m optimistic about a future when my T levels (hopefully) improve over time. I’m about to go abroad for a few months, so I think that will be a nice chance to relax and clear my mind. Hopefully I’ll be in somewhat better shape when I come back to my girlfriend later in the year. After that… I’ll just try to live healthy (go to the gym, exercise, etc.) and hope that I’ll get back to a place I’m comfortable with over time. Dr. Cirsler is only a short drive from here, so perhaps I’ll eventually pay him a visit as well.

#2

Same old story with the doctors… disbelieve everything until proven wrong.

Yea, surprise surprise… except not really, as it fits the pattern of what everyone else around here seems to have had happen after coming off.

So now he’s been proven wrong on his assumptions that your issues are “all mental”, and wants to see you in 4-6 weeks… he will probably retest to see if things improve.

If T comes back low again and he doesn’t want to test anything else, or suggests TRT right off the bat and is not open to Clomid, Tamoxifen or hCG to try and boost endogenous T production… you may have to consider Shippen or Crisler, or others open to non-TRT treatments 1st.

That is, unless you don’t care about having to be on TRT for life and just resolve yourself to do so.

Yes, I would push him on that, especially the most common hormones Finasteride seems to affect:

DHT
Estradiol
Prolactin
SHBG
LH
FSH

That may be the most worthwhile consideration if these other docs prove useless or put up roadblocks to getting even basic bloodwork done.

#3

Hey sighc, did you get further blood tests? I hope your testosterone got better.

#4

Long story short, I went to the endo and got a new blood test today. Just as importantly, I finally got to see my complete blood test from last time. Just to remind everyone, the first one was just T and came below range, and the second one apparently had “normal” levels and T more than doubled (They were about 4 and 5 months into this whole ordeal respectively). Well, I’m looking over the results now and I can tell that when the old doctor said “normal” he just meant within range… I really doubt level of free T is “normal” for someone my age.

Please have a look and help me make sense of this. Remember that I’ve never really dealt with the mental issues or gyno or anything, but just the sexual/erection problems. At the time this blood test was taking, I was actually feeling really good… morning/spontaneous erections and pretty normal sex.

Free Testosterone: 10.6 (10.0-30.00 pg/ml)
DHEA: 123 (80-560 ug/dl)
Prolactin: 5 (3-23 ng/ml)
TSH: 2.59 (0.30-5.50 mlU/L)
Testosterone: 5.00 (2.50-9.50 ng/ml)

Note that I no longer feel as good as I did when this blood test was taken, although my condition has fluctuated. I expect that my T has probably gone down… it will be interesting to compare the test results. I took of my blakoe ring maybe 36 hours or so to get more of a baseline.

#5

did you take any thing else beside blakoe ring to boost your T-level. It is interesting if blakoe ring can increae any T-level. I think it is just a toy.

#6

No, I just take Tongkat once a week on Wednesdays and obviously that shouldn’t have had any effect by today. I’m not sure if the ring raises my T levels, but I didn’t want to take any chances since I’d like to recover to the point where I don’t need any sort of supplements. Just to clarify, I took the ring off before the blood tests I just got done today and that I will get later this week… all the numbers posted in the thread are from several months ago.

#7

Well, I just got my latest blood test results back. I no longer know what to think about my confusing condition.

01/10/2010

  • Vitamin D: 33 (18-72 pg/mL)
  • Testosterone (Total): 583 (240-950 ng/dL)
  • Testosterone (Bioavailable): 181 (83-257 ng/dL)
  • DHEA: 122 (80-560 ug/dL)
  • LH: 4.2 (2-12 mlU/ml)
  • TSH: 2.43 (0.30-5.50 mlU/L)
  • Prolactin: 5 (3-23 ng/ml)

Everything is in normal range. Looking at the Life Extension Foundation’s recommendations, it seems that my DHEA is fairly low and my TSH a little bit high (although it’s gone down since last time), but that’s about it… everything else is just dandy. In fact, it’s improved from that second blood test from last summer when I felt great.

This leaves me very confused, since I certainly haven’t been feeling that great lately. My sexual problems are still all there. For a second I thought maybe this could be the lingering effect of the blakoe ring, but then why didn’t I feel any better while I was wearing it?

To me that leaves two options. 1.) My post-fin problems really were cured right before that second blood test and the issues I’ve faced since have been largely mental, or 2.) there is some other variable that the blood tests I’ve had so far haven’t detected.

To review, my main symptoms remain:

  1. Lack of libido
  2. Persistent inability to maintain an erection
  3. Difficulty achieving fully hard erections, even while masturbating
  4. Widely varying morning/nocturnal erections

The first two and perhaps even the third could stem from mental issues. Admittedly, I think I’ve had some unhealthy mental issues with my sex drive/sexuality for quite some time, and going through this ordeal hasn’t helped them. But that said, I’m not sure how it would explain the fourth. Furthermore, thinking back to how I was before I took fin or while I was on it, the mental issues were pretty much all there and I still had a higher libido, stronger morning erections, etc.

None of the blood tests I’ve had so far have touched on estrogen and DHT. Since I am not suffering from some of the trademark symptoms of high estrogen (increased fat, breast pain), I’m not sure that it’s a factor. I am, however, curious about DHT. The recovery I had in the summer was accompanied by a sudden return of my hair loss - I found hair in my palms during a shower for the first time in forever. That indicates to me that DHT is an issue.

So I think the next step is to keep living healthy, try to find some viagra, normalize my sleeping patterns and then have another round of blood tests done that would do some kind of tests for estrogen and DHT. I’m not sure how enthusiastic the local health system will be about that following these results, so I think it might be time for Dr. Crisler. With him I’ll see if there are any hormonal issues and maybe consider some kind of treatment.

I do think it’s encouraging that so many of my hormones are in range/healthy. That’s one less hurdle for me to overcome as I try to regain a healthy sexlife.

#8

your vitamin d is low, i would start on 4 drops daily of 2000 iu equaling 8000 ius of the biotics bio d mulsion forte brand, this works to bring up levels garuanteed

from this you can get more sensitivity to LH and possibly increase testosterone like it did with me

second your tsh > 2 indicates possible low levels of total t3, total t4, free t3 and free t4 and high reverse t3 which isn’t tested

improving thyroid function can also bump up your testosterone levels in some cases but will definitely increase energy

your dhea is also low, possibly indicating adrenal fatigue

increasing cortisol and dhea could give more energy and destress the system to allow for better erections

since your bioavailable testosterone is good you should have good sexual function supposing your estradiol e2 is in check and underlying adrenal fatigue is covered and thyroid issues under control

we don’t know anything about these variables

you could ask your doctor for a total t3, free t3, total t4 and ft4 test
regular docs usually can only test total t4, total t3 and ft4… ft3 can’t always be performed by regular doctors

if your total t4 and ft4 are good and your total t3 is really low on the range this indicates high rt3 which means your system is in a stressed state

i would get with a good doc to get these tests done

if you don’t want to do this you can start on a greens supplement for energy and vitamin buildup (also include vitamin d very important!) and get adrenal cortex or isocort for cortisol support, and buy biotics research gta forte II or natural sources raw thyroid (very good stuff) or progressive laboratories thyro complex which are all potent OTC thyroid support supps

you could look into dim and calcium d glucarate to lower estradiol and test your wood if it improves

add in zinc picolinate and selenium for conversion of t4 to t3

to confirm everything you could do bloodspot / saliva testing via zrt

get a saliva cortisol 4x a day and dhea test

google “dr rodger murphree thyroid” for more info on how to do the temperature test for thyroid and other good stuff

your regimen could look something like this:

morning
greens drink
250 mg adrenal cortex / isocort
1 raw thyroid capsule
4 drops of biotics research bio d mulsion forte

afternoon
250 mg adrenal cortex / isocort

dinner
1 enzymatic therapy dim capsule
selenium 200 mcg

evening
zinc picolinate 50 mg
5-htp 50 mg (for improved and deeper sleep)

this should definitely help

try it and let us know what happens