My latest blood tests, been on since May 2012

[Ragnorakb]

so 2 blood tests ago i was at a total test of 241 after 6 months on trt. taking 100mg test cype weekly. Dr increased me to 150mg per week, so hear are my latest blood tests as of 01/08/2013;
iron 40 ug/dl
total iron binding capacity 509 ug/dl
iron saturation 8%
unsaturated iron bind capacity 469 ug/dl
%free +weakly bound 37%
test total 864.8 ng/dl
free+weakly bound testos 320.0
urine microalbumin conc 12
Creatine U conc 144mg/dl
u microalbumin calculation 8mg/g creat
sex hormone binding globulin 19.9 nmol/l
albumin 4.0g/dl
free test 27.0
cortisol 17.2 ug/dl

Based on these numbers my Dr says he wants to cut me back to 100 mg per week of test cyp and retest again in 6 weeks. Also he wont check E2, and wont prescribe any HCG to keep the boys in the game. My questions are as follows, what the hell do all these numbers mean. and should i be finding a different Dr.??

Oh yeah Dr wants to also take me off injections and insert Testopel pellets. my insurance told me $500 is my pay on the pellets, not including cost of procedure. I only pay $10 month for a 10 ml bottle of 200 mg/ml test cyp and get a new bottle every 30 days. why in the world would I want the pellets????

Just in the last week now, I was "right" sized at my company and lose my health insurance end of January. so I switched my testosterone subscription to Costco, which is half the price of Walgreens. So now trying to find a endo able to help me is kinda mute point.

Thanks in advance for your info

[flyrs]

your doc is lousy....how do you feel with your total test at that level and taking that much test without an ai? you could order an e2 test yourself....you could lower back down to 100mg per week or better yet, 50mg every 3.5 days....you could get hcg yourself at a place like peptideman dot com....how much time between your last injection before your bw up to your bw?

[HRTstudent]

Docs probably push pellets because they no doubt make a LOT LOT LOT more money from the surgery. Prescribing testosterone injections probably gives them next to nothing. The basically get paid for a patient visit.

You have low SHBG, so your free T will be much higher. Being that it is probably above range, this stands out on paperwork and might scare the doctor. I don't necessarily disagree about lowering the T dose though. In fact, id probably lower it AND switch to splitting it up into 2 shots per week instead of one.

How are you feeling since starting TRT (compared to before)?

[Ragnorakb]

so my blood work was done 4 days after injection. I give myself my dose every 5days, not every 7. as for AI, i do got itchy nipples and told the Dr that.

I have more energy now than I did, my very first blood test was 161 test ng/dl back last may. however all the things everyone says happens i have not seen. no increase in libido or quality of erections. short term memory does not seem better. I do see more improvements in the gym and have come off of my Effexor med. dont see any changes as for my diabetes. I dont sleep any better. I dont have an over all sense of well being. I dont get REM wood when i sleep. I would say all in all, things are not overly better.

[HRTstudent]

Positives such as better energy, improved muscle tone, and coming off meds are quite good milestones. The downside comes when comparing yourself to these fanciful stories that we (selectively) remember about testosterone replacement . It really sounds like TRT has made your life better in ways that it can. There may be more benefits as well, just slower coming.

Libido and erections are far far more than just testosterone . In fact, some good doctors emphasize just how little a role testosterone plays when compared to other factors. You may not find testosterone to be your answer to libido woes because it may not be the issue.