My doctor is ordering me a testosterone test. There is no specification, if it’s the free or total one. How do i know? And which one tells more about my health?
Thank you!
(I’m getting estradiol too and I showed him this site and demanded on LH and FSH also)
Only about 2 percent of the total testosterone in the plasma of men is free or nonprotein bound.
In most men, more than 50 percent of total circulating testosterone is bound to sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and most of the rest is bound to albumin.
It is only the free or nonprotein bound testosterone which is the hormonally active form, able to interact with cellular hormone receptors. SHBG-bound testosterone is not readily available for intracellular complex formation because of SHBG’s high binding affinity for testosterone.
Knowing that only 2% of Testosterone in men is Free T or unbound, your Free T is what your body’s holds as readily available for use. So this should tell how important Free T is to our bodies. Free T is what spurs sex drive, helps make us better athletes.
The problem is very few endo Drs seem to give Free T much credibility. I had one endo dr tell me He only factors in Free T if HSBG level’s are above range levels.
I had another endo dr run the blood test for Free T and tell me I was fine, that I was in the range. I was actually below the range(11.7 in a 12-40 range). Then he told me the Free T test is completely unreliable and can not be used to dictate hormone problems. Then why the “F” did you order the test?
I hope for your sake your doc is running a Free T test and plans on giving it some credibility if it comes in low. I’m real tired of the US medical system.
I would test both. Both are low for me and have been.
Thanks!
The only test I can do here is just called “Testosterone”.