Lab Work... For Test Levels ?
My Bro went to the Dr. to see if he could get some Clomid.
This was Three weeks after his last injection of Sustanon. His test dosages through out was 750mg/wk..for 10 weeks
The Dr. wanted to take blood to see if his test level's were down.
The Results came back negative, so the Dr. did not give out any Clomid.
What do you make of this?
Re: Lab Work... For Test Levels ?
Quote:
Originally posted by bigtraps
What do you make of this?
That he's a cautious doctor - in more ways than one.
First, we need to understand that there is no such thing as "positive" or "negative" labwork for testosterone, specifically a total testosterone test. The T/T is measured in numbers, with 241 to 827 being the "normal" range. Thus, someone is either in or out of normal range. If a person is in normal range, whether his test level is 241 or 827 (or higher), then a prescription is not clinically warranted unless it's for, say, Viagra to treat low libido due to another condition (such as diabetes or a reaction to another prescription medication).
If a person is out of range at the lower end (or if he has low testosterone, the normal prescription is testosterone, not Clomid. In a medical situation, physicians will usually prescribe an alternative delivery situation such as testosterone gel or patches - not that they are any more effective (they are not), it's simply the current trend (and makes the pharmaceutical companies a lot more money).
What a physician will not prescribe is Clomid. Why? Because every drug has one or more indications, the technical term meaning reasons for which the drug can be prescribed. And a low testosterone level is not an indication for a Clomid prescription. (Clomid is used to induce ovulation in women, and that is its only clinical indication.)
So the obvious thing to make of this scenario is that the doctor did not want to prescribe Clomid to a guy. Whether the doctor knew its post-cycle value is unknown; he was obviously unwilling to go beyond the normal indication for the drug.
However, chances are that your brother's testosterone was also in normal range. It may have been low normal, ordepending on his metabolism and any other drugs he did on his cycle, it may have been sky high. There are trends in the effects of AS, but not everyone fits a single clinical profile, and it's possible that your brother's test levels did not dip significantly enough after the cycle to warrant a prescription.
Finally, the total testosterone level is not the only thing which is normally lab tested. If someone goes to a physician and complains about low test (or rattles off a list of symptoms indicative of a low test level), the total testosterone is only the first thing that is tested, usually along with a prolactin test. (In fact, some insurance companies require that both total test and prolactin be tested before patients are covered for Viagra prescriptions.) If the testosterone level is low but the prolactin level is normal, a doctor will then do another total test level along with related tests such as free and weakly binding testosterone, FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), LU (luteinizing hormone), and SBGH (sex binding globulin hormone). (In fact, if you go to the Drug Profiles section of A.R. and look up Clomid, you'll see references to FSH and LU hormone.) Finally, many doctors will even order up an MRI of the pituitary gland, disorders of which can affect test levels.
In short, the more a doctor knows about testosterone and related levels, as well as therapeutic testosterone use, the more he or she is likely to order additional lab work. (Doctors that specialize in this area are endocrinologists and urologists.) So it's not simply a matter of "Not horny? Try test!"
So what do I make of this? Again, that the doctor is very cautious, and probably not very hip. Or that the doctor is hip about AS use but not very tolerant. So what we may be talking about is simply a doctor who is not willing to put his or her license on the line by prescribing Clomid to a guy.
Now, if your brother had only said, "Doc, I'm having trouble getting pregnant . . ."