Take Testim (TRT gel) before blood work?

[HRTstudent]

I was under the impression that you should take testim on the day you get blood work done, but my physician said not to take it. The test is being done in the morning as well. Thanks for the help.

[lovbyts]

If you have used it the night/day before your numbers should be OK or your norm. He may just be worried about it showing a spike so do as he says.

[kelkel]

I'm on Agel and always do my BW first thing in a.m. prior to application, which is 24 hrs after the previous application. That way I know what my trough level is.

[sirupate]

I'm on Agel and always do my BW first thing in a.m. prior to application, which is 24 hrs after the previous application. That way I know what my trough level is.

This is what I am doing now. In the past, I used gel the morning of BW and got some pretty spikey results...I remember a reading of 1500 total one time and that scared the endo into presribing me less.

[kelkel]

It is nice to do a T test mid day occasionally to see where you are peaking though. To see both ends of the spectrum...as long as your doc works with you and it won't F u up.

[HRTstudent]

Good points and thank you for the help. I also happened to read in "Testosterone For Life" that you should take the gels the morning of.

[HRTstudent]

Another question I was wondering is this: What tests are crucial to get aside from Total test, free test, PSA and liver tests?

At first my doctor was only getting Total (and mine was well below the "normal" range) but with TRT I asked for free test as well because I know that is important.

It seems like a lot of people on this HRT forum are on anti-aromatases, and to be honest I do not want to take additional substances unless medically necessary. But it does concern me that my physician and I had not talked about, nor ordered any estrogen-related tests for my follow-up. I do want to do everything I can, however, to look out for my health and I understand that my physician is not a specialist in HRT.

Thank you all for the support.

[lovbyts]

I would say get the E2/estrogen test for sure.

[kelkel]

Crisler recommends the following labs:

Initial:

• Total Testosterone
• Bioavailable Testosterone (AKA “Free and Loosely Bound”)
• Free Testosterone (if Bioavailable T is unavailable)
• SHBG
• DHT (perhaps)
• Estradiol (specify “sensitive” assay for males)
• LH
• FSH
• Prolactin
• Cortisol
• Thyroid Panel
• CBC
• Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
• Lipid Profile
• PSA (age dependent)
• IGF-1, IGFBP-3 (if HGH therapy is being considered)

Follow up labs:

• Total Testosterone
• Bioavailable Testosterone
• Free Testosterone (if Bioavailable T is still unavailable)
• Estradiol (specify “sensitive” assay for males)
• LH
• FSH
• CBC
• Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
• Lipid Profile
• PSA (for those over 40 with Family Hx of prostate CA, >45 yo. all others)
IGF-1, IGFBP-3 (if GH Therapy has been initiated already

[HRTstudent]

That's a good list. I looked over his web page and he seemed to definitely be on the more aggressive side for treatment compared to what I've read in traditional medical texts.

As far as a CBC goes, I was under the impression that one's primary concern is hematocrit, but is there something else I need to watch there? I read that a small increase in hematocrit is normal but if it's over 54% that is a major red flag to lower the treatment.