Vopros Blood work & semen analysis

Member Stories Lab Tests
#1

Here are my first hormone & semen analysis lab results, from the afternoon of 9/12/08. I stopped propecia in January 2006 after 8-9 months of use. I noticed testicular atrophy by March 2006.

The nurse said testosterone is highest in the morning, and so my levels might be higher than this. Otherwise, everything was in the normal range. (Whatever that means!)

testosterone: 898 (+800 is high)
FSH: 1.6 (.6 – normal – 15)
LH: 2.3 (.7 – normal – 8)
Prolactin: 9.2 (2 – normal – 18)

Semen Analysis:
total count: 162 million (+40 million for normal)
volume: 4 ml (1.5 – normal – 5)
million sperm / ml: 70 (+20 for normal)
motility: 58% (+50% for normal)

#2

what about your free testosterone?..now, I also have Total Testosterone over the high range,but free testosterone is in low range.

#3

Estradiol?
Estrone?
Estriol?
DHT?
Adiol-G?
SHBG?
TSH?

#4

Try to get these done:

  1. estrogen (estradiol)
  2. DHT
  3. Free testosterone
  4. SHBG
#5

Blood results from about a week and a half ago:

9:31 am

–Testosterone: 728 (so down a bit from the high 800s the week before that)
–Free Testosterone: 94.8 (normal 35 - 155)
–% Free: 1.30 (normal 1.5 - 2.2)

My % Free T was a bit low, but they said they pay more attention to the total numbers, according to which I’m in the normal range.

I’d asked the nurse to see if the doctor wanted to order any of the other tests for my second blood test, but the nurse reported back that the answer was an emphatic “no,” that they wouldn’t be appropriate.

I had my appointment with the Doc today. He said that my hormone are right in the normal ranges and don’t indicate any imbalance. He also did a physical exam and said that my testicles are of normal size and firmness, noting that he probably examines thirty pairs of testicles a day. He also said that my ejaculate volume is right where it’s best to be, and my sperm count was over two standard deviations higher than the minimum for what he looks for as normal, so nothing to worry about there, and I should be careful so as not to unintentionally impregnate any partners.

Regarding the atrophy and ascension of my testicles, he noted that testicular size is determined at puberty. He also explained that the “hang” of the testicles is a function of body temperature and muscle tone, not testosterone or such hormones.

And then he said that finasteride flushes out of the body fairly quickly, and while it could take some hormone receptors some months to clear the effects, it’s highly unlikely that any effects would remain after two years.

  So, basically, he stressed that he didn't want to deny my symptoms or tell me that they're all in my head, but that the obsession with possible changes in my body has likely caused me to misidentify some of my features as new changes/symptoms, and/or to blame propecia for changes that could very well have other physiological or psychological causes.

He’s going to have me come back in for some blood tests (LH, T, Free T) and a follow-up in mid November, but expects everything to be normal.

So I suppose I can just go ahead and live my “normal” life . . . except that, normal or not, it’s not me. It’s not even me trapped in someone else’s body–it’s someone else trapped in someone else’s body, but with my (dwindling) memories.

For what it’s worth though, I’m going to try to eat better, get more consistently full nights of sleep, and get more exercise in the hopes that doing the best with what I’ve got will be some measure of relief. I’ve been biking to and from work every day after I moved down here.

#6

Just like many of us, you have a normal hormone profile. Obviously, we KNOW that our symptoms are real. We are probably looking in the wrong place. I’m thinking something has been altered at the brain level. But we’re just going to have to try to get someone to research this…

#7

Not so fast… there could be other hormone tests he hasn’t gotten yet that could be causing issues… SHBG, Estradiol, Estrone, Cortisol, Progesterone, DHT etc…

Although, judging from Total T numbers, things look good… but % of Free T is BELOW range – and since Free T is what is actually available to the body to use, not sure why your doc is not concerned about that?

Then again, actual Free T level is mid-range… perhaps ask your doc for more clarification on those.

#8

Yes, you are absolutely right. I meant to say that his hormones seem to fall “within range”, for the most part. Yes, free testosterone is actually what doctors should be looking at since this testosterone is unbound and available to act on receptors to carry out bodily functions.

Maybe doctors say it looks normal because they see other males with normal sexual function but similar hormonal profiles. Not sure.

#9

On 11/7 I had some more bloodwork done,
and then an appointment a couple days ago.

T: 797

Free T: 94.1 (1.18 %)

LH: 2.2

Doc says Free T is right in the middle of normal, and the low percentage is only because my T is so high. But my LH is like a barometer indicating that my T is at the right balance my body wants.

He won’t do any other tests and he is convinced that it is all in my head–not necessarily that I am making all of my symptoms up, but that if they do exist, they are the product of my prolonged anxiety surrounding the issue and the natural changes that a body progresses through as it begins to age.

But, he noted, even if there were some issue, there isn’t a treatment or a pill that he could give me to solve it. He reassured me that, physically speaking, my testicles are well within normal size and firmness, there does not appear to be any damage to my penis. Physiologically, I can still function sexually. From my test back in September, he knows that my sperm analysis is great. Libido is such a complicated phenomenon, and certainly anxiety and aging play a major role.

He wouldn’t look at the pictures of my scrotum from 1) right when I started propecia, 2) about 5 months after I started, 3) four months after I quit cold-turkey, and 5) last month. He said that there’s no point because a) anatomically I’m well within normal and b) personal snapshots are not helpful since the scrotum is so variable in size on a day to day basis.

All true, of course. I’m still convinced propecia is the culprit–my anxiety, mental, and emotional effects started for no apparent reason before I noticed any sexual or anatomical issues, so it would be counter intuitive to blame those symptoms on my fixation on the sexual side effects. But, on the other hand, he’s right that there’s nothing else I really can do. I’m not going to go on a rigorous regimen of all sorts of herbal concoctions, nor do I think I should keep getting second and third and a series of opinions until I find a doctor who tells me what I want to hear. I was always imperfect, but, inferior as I find myself now, I can still function. I periodically fall into deep despair thinking about how I ruined my life at in my mid-20s, but did I really “ruin” it? If I stopped worrying and fretting about it so much, I’d almost certainly be having a better time. Also, if the damage I think I did to myself makes a successful legal career untenable, it’s probably for the best. The law was always my backup plan, something I did to ensure I had health insurance to cover my heart issues, a prerequisite before I pursued any other dreams (whatever those might be). If this pushes me to pursue those dreams–whether the motivation is fear of incompetence in the law or anything else–all the better. Nothing like despair to rattle yourself our of complacency.

So, you know what? I’m going to give it my best shot. Smaller-but-normal balls, reduced ejaculate, foggy head, emotional flatness, and all. Hey, it just sounds like I’m a middle-aged guy–I’ve always wanted to be an old soul. Eat well, get good sleep, enjoy what I can, keep my hopes up.

Of course, if that class action lawsuit ever happens, count me in.

#10

Yarg. Easier said than done.