Opinions in Blood Work

Hello everyone. Last month I went to the Dr for a physical simply because I hadn't been to one in almost two years. I started out with a new Dr so they ran a big list of tests.

From what I can think is relevant here are some results from my May 30 test:

Total Testosterone: 242 (241-827 ng/dL)
Estradiol: 30 (<=39 pg/mL)
LH: 18.7 (1.5-9.3 mIU/mL)
FSH: 11.7 (1.6-8.0 mIU/mL)
PSA: 0.5 (< or = 4.0 ng/mL)
Vitamin D: 27 L (30-100 ng/mL)

I also had high blood sugar (diagnosed with diabetes) and high cholesterol and low pregnelonone.

The Dr wanted to immediately place me on testosterone injections. I refused as I wanted to do some research.

I then found and Endo and booked an appointment with him. I told him his secretary that my main concern was having a second look at my testosterone. I figured he would do a full hormonal blood test but was disappointed when I got my test results. All that is relevant that I got from this test results was:

Testosterone: 448 (348-1197 ng/dL) (did it increase this much in just a couple weeks?)
Free Testosterone (Direct): 13.0 (9.3-26.5 pg/mL)

That's it. I also got the high blood sugar and high cholesterol results, albeit a bit better. He made me feel a questionnaire and although I told him I had a couple of the symptoms, he dismissed it and didn't even want to discuss it.


I've been reading a lot lately, both on this forum and bought the book "Testosterone For Life". I was kind of scared of it but after getting a bit more info I feel it's not too bad.

As far as the symptoms, I have a bit of a loss of libido. The biggest thing for me is just a general lack of energy. I've been working on the oilfield for quite some time. I've always worked hard and getting up in the morning even after a long day of work to do it all over again was of second nature to me. As of lately I just don't feel the same. I snooze a bunch of times in the morning and feel like just staying in bed. I feel that I'm not as mentally focused as I used to be. I make more money than I ever have in my life but find no joy in it.

Also the news of having diabetes and high cholesterol has pretty much left me in a state of depression. It sucks. I'm 29 years old and feel worn out.

I was thinking of going back to the first Dr and asking him to rerun the tests along with other labs as recommended here, and if results still show I'm low, I'm going to go ahead and start treatment.

What do you all think? I apologize for what feels like a lack of information but this is all I have for now.

Before Trt which I started at 40; I did everything possible to improve my mental and physical health; I was already training 1.5 hrs a day; I had the first bloods done at 28 which was a free t of 8; I changed diet I had two years of counseling; went on anti depressants, I attach no stigma to getting support; it was when it got to the point when it impacted my sexual functioning then I decided; trt is for life its not a super fix either. But it was most likely the cause of my mental anguish. All of the above are required for a balanced life consistently over time. The veterans on here can give you better advice on bloods but consider all options.

Headed back to the original Dr in a bit. Not going back to the Endo as I don't trust his professional judgement. Hopefully the Dr is more receptive. Going to request full new bloodwork. Dr is A4M certified.

Could be wrong but is your first test from Qwest and the second from LabCorp?? if so, not only are the ranges different as you indicated but I beleive the measurement is also which means the numbers are not interchangeable and cannot be looked at as a big increase.

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Originally Posted by bullshark99

Could be wrong but is your first test from Qwest and the second from LabCorp?? if so, not only are the ranges different as you indicated but I beleive the measurement is also which means the numbers are not interchangeable and cannot be looked at as a big increase.

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500 ng/dl (just a random number) is 500 ng/dl regardless if done at Quest or LabCorp. You are correct, they do use different ranges in terms of what the particular lab considers normal, but ranges listed do not affect the actual measurement. As said before, ranges are nothing more than averages gathered from a sample of the population. The lab you use will have gotten their numbers from a different sample, therefore they will have different ranges. In my opinion, ranges should have little to do in the decision or diagnosing process.


08StangGT_CS, yes your testosterone numbers can fluctuate from day to day and week to week, especially total testosterone. How you've been eating and sleeping can have a big impact. Regardless, even on the day your total test was in the 400's your free number was still on the low side, so it's no surprise that you feel the way you do. Vitamin D is also low, which will affect energy but this is pretty common when test levels are low. Rarely will you see a man with low testosterone have good vitamin D levels, extremely rarely.

One thing people often fail to accept - you can improve your testosterone levels naturally but only so much. And depending on the person, getting into better shape and improving your health with low levels can be extremely difficult and in some cases near impossible.

Yes it is different labs. I posted the ranges next to the results.

Well they changed everything around. The Dr no longer wants his patients to self-inject even though his nurse had told me I could three weeks ago. I work in the oilfield and am gone for two weeks straight. From what I've read injections every 3 weeks would be a horrible idea. He also acted like i was talking Chinese when I mentioned hcg. Once again his nurse is the one that had told me about it.

I guess it's not going to work out for me. I'm probably going to stop looking into it. Thanks for you all's help! I might stick around to hopefully learn some more.