which blood tests should i ask for

[Ryan624]

I am going in to get my bloodwork done for testosterone , estrogen and i wanted to have my cortisol levels checked. I was wondering which test I ask for to have cortisol read and if this is common practice for a dr. to run a test because I had concern of constant raised levels?

[OingoBoingo]

My experience is that it depends on the doctor. Some think they are God's gift to society, and can be rather difficult to talk with. But other doctors if sensing their patients' concern are quite willing to investigate.

[Simon1972]

Lipid Profile
Complete Blood Count
Estradiol, Sensitive
Insulin Growth Factor (IGF-1)
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
Testosterone (Free) , Serum (Equilibrium Ultrafiltration) With Total Testosterone
Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA)
Thyroid Profile

[Lee_1978]

Is IGF-1 an important hormone to have tested?

Does anyone test for DHT?

[OingoBoingo]

Both IGF-1 and DHT should be tested.

Check out the Finding a Physician sticky for a complete list of test you'll want to get.

[Lee_1978]

Both IGF-1 and DHT should be tested.

Check out the Finding a Physician sticky for a complete list of test you'll want to get.

Cool. I guess a pretty comprehensive set of bloods is needed.

[Ryan624]

thanks for the responses. Not sure what i would do without the forum. Simon1972 i went to my dr today and had them run blood tests for each thing you listed. It certainly wasn't without me having to demand he do those. Its hard being taken seriously being a 28 year old talking about low hormone levels. I will post the results as soon as i get them and post here to hopefully get some feedback. If my test is low like it was in the past and my dr doesnt take it seriously i may just start my own hrt. I have access to test e and a few others. Is this crazy to do? not talking about a cycle. just a low dose weekly test to get my levels up to the high end of normal.

[OingoBoingo]

If you are low, you should find out why as you may be able to fix it.

After doing that you are still low and your doctor won't treat you, find another doctor. Much better to have a prescription than source on your own.

[Simon1972]

If you are low, you should find out why as you may be able to fix it.

After doing that you are still low and your doctor won't treat you, find another doctor. Much better to have a prescription than source on your own.

agreed- never go down the self administration route- you would open yourself up to legal ramifications- and if you really have low T its a matter of time before you find a dr willing to treat you- persistance is the key

[Duo]

Lipid Profile
Complete Blood Count
Estradiol, Sensitive
Insulin Growth Factor (IGF-1)
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
Testosterone (Free) , Serum (Equilibrium Ultrafiltration) With Total Testosterone
Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA)
Thyroid Profile

Hi Simon, will the GP doing the tests above detect steroids in your system as well as AI or not?

[EquilibriumZ]

Hi Simon, will the GP doing the tests above detect steroids in your system as well as AI or not?

If you are on cycle, ya your readings will be way out of range so it ll be suspicious. It all depends when you go for bloodtest

[Duo]

If you are on cycle, ya your readings will be way out of range so it ll be suspicious. It all depends when you go for bloodtest

whens the best time lmao.. Sorry for the lame question, I am due an op and think I am going to have to delay as they want me to pee in a bottle and send away for sample. They wont tell me in any great detail what they are looking for, but im still on cycle so even if I delay for 2 months the gear will still show im guessing or is it blood test that picks it up? Also taking an AI and Nolva for nipple lumps anyone know if this shows up in pee sample?

I want to get my blood checked anyway, but privately so the results don't go back to my GP so curious on what the tests in my previous post will show? Will it definitively show AAS in my system or not?

[Low Testosterone]

Curious question - I agree most should never go down the road of self-prescribing. Sure, there can be health concerns, but many have no clue how serious the legal ramifications can be. Anyway, to the point of the question. There seems to be a common theme here, find out why you have low t and then try to fix it or at least see if you can. Nothing wrong with that but do you guys actually believe this is something that works often? If you're in your early to mid-20's, sure on average I'd say there's a 50/50 chance, but as you get a little older this becomes more and more unlikely. The endocrine system is delicate and once messed up it can be very difficult to correct by natural means. Impossible? No, but often pretty close. I can't tell you how many guys I've talked to over the years who cycled and who talk about proper PCT and who are completely bumfuzzled about their jacked up hormones.

Long and short, if you truly have low testosterone levels , in most cases you can exercise your tail off, follow some perfect diet and take all the natural testosterone support supplements you want and it will make very little difference. Does that mean it's not worth trying? No, and I'm not saying that at all, but it's also important to have realistic expectations.

[kelkel]

Curious question - I agree most should never go down the road of self-prescribing. Sure, there can be health concerns, but many have no clue how serious the legal ramifications can be. Anyway, to the point of the question. There seems to be a common theme here, find out why you have low t and then try to fix it or at least see if you can. Nothing wrong with that but do you guys actually believe this is something that works often? If you're in your early to mid-20's, sure on average I'd say there's a 50/50 chance, but as you get a little older this becomes more and more unlikely. The endocrine system is delicate and once messed up it can be very difficult to correct by natural means. Impossible? No, but often pretty close. I can't tell you how many guys I've talked to over the years who cycled and who talk about proper PCT and who are completely bumfuzzled about their jacked up hormones.

Long and short, if you truly have low testosterone levels, in most cases you can exercise your tail off, follow some perfect diet and take all the natural testosterone support supplements you want and it will make very little difference. Does that mean it's not worth trying? No, and I'm not saying that at all, but it's also important to have realistic expectations.

I would think it's worth the effort for peace of mind, if nothing else. Especially when the current trend with doc's seems to be to just slap guys on some form of T extremely quickly without the slightest thought as to why they're low. I'd also hate to be the one who could have fixed the issue and did not.

Re PCT. It's a crap shoot and always will be.

[Low Testosterone]

I would think it's worth the effort for peace of mind, if nothing else. Especially when the current trend with doc's seems to be to just slap guys on some form of T extremely quickly without the slightest thought as to why they're low. I'd also hate to be the one who could have fixed the issue and did not.

Re PCT. It's a crap shoot and always will be.

Nothing wrong with digging into what happened or what may have caused things. Like I said, guys need to have realistic expectations though. You very well may never find the set item that you can point to and say "this is why." For example, you're not pumping out enough LH - there's nothing in your life that should point to a reason why you're not pumping out enough LH but you don't. As a result your levels are pathetic. Now you could spend the next 1-2yrs digging for an answer, one you probably won't find and be miserable or simply treat the problem. In my opinion it's a no brainer. There are a lot of men that we don't know why they're not producing enough testosterone - there are theories and half of them are crazy talk, but often we just don't know.

Then you have the guy that's been on TRT for a year or two, he reads online and begins to wonder what may have caused him to have low t in the first place, maybe he shouldn't have started treatment until he found the cause or point of origin. We all have thoughts like this with all kinds of things. So the guy decides he's going to come off treatment, find the root cause and then move on one way or another. His plan is horrible - there's no way this man is going to recover.

As for doctors slapping testosterone at men, sure it happens but they are still far outnumbered by doctors who won't even run a simple testosterone blood panel or who if they do prescribe do so on a one injection every 2-4wk basis and make the problem worse.

In the end, the most common reason someone has low t, by far the most common reason, they've gotten older and either their testicles or pituitary simply isn't going to produce as much of the needed items to make testosterone. Seems like a crappy lazy answer, I know, but it's still the truthful answer. Sure, there are things that a guy did, how he lived over the years that might make this occur sooner than it would have otherwise, but in most cases, once it's done it's done.

PCT guys - I often feel sorry for these men. Generally they feel like they've been sold a bill of goods. They did everything right, so they feel. Meaning, they did the whole time on equals time off thing, didn't get crazy with their stacks or cycle doses, used HCG while on cycle and did the whole nolva and/or clomid thing at the end and they are dead in the water, often have been for years. I'll talk to a guy like this maybe not every day but pretty close to it and I'm just one guy.

[kelkel]

Well said LT.

[noballs25]

PCT guys - I often feel sorry for these men. Generally they feel like they've been sold a bill of goods. They did everything right, so they feel. Meaning, they did the whole time on equals time off thing, didn't get crazy with their stacks or cycle doses, used HCG while on cycle and did the whole nolva and/or clomid thing at the end and they are dead in the water, often have been for years. I'll talk to a guy like this maybe not every day but pretty close to it and I'm just one guy.[/QUOTE]

This part went over my head. Are you saying pct/hcg don't always work?

[Low Testosterone]

PCT guys - I often feel sorry for these men. Generally they feel like they've been sold a bill of goods. They did everything right, so they feel. Meaning, they did the whole time on equals time off thing, didn't get crazy with their stacks or cycle doses, used HCG while on cycle and did the whole nolva and/or clomid thing at the end and they are dead in the water, often have been for years. I'll talk to a guy like this maybe not every day but pretty close to it and I'm just one guy.

This part went over my head. Are you saying pct/hcg don't always work?[/QUOTE]


Yes, that's what I'm saying.

[noballs25]

They don't always work? Or they never work? This is new to me could you please explain?

[Low Testosterone]

They don't always work? Or they never work? This is new to me could you please explain?

Like kelkel said in his post above, it's a crap shoot. It may or may not work. And when you shut yourself down repeatedly, every time you do so you're decreasing the chances of it working. Let's say a guy runs a basic cycle with what many of you would call a good PCT plan. It doesn't matter how good that plan is, it will take upwards of a year for the body to fully normalize, and that's assuming you don't shut yourself down with another cycle during that time. It's also assuming your body fully recovered in the first place.

I'm not knocking you guys who cycle, that's not my job or place to. People simply need to be aware that it doesn't really work like you might want it to work. Can it? Sure, but it's by no means assured. And as said, each time you cycle and the older you get the harder this becomes.

[Lee_1978]

Like kelkel said in his post above, it's a crap shoot. It may or may not work. And when you shut yourself down repeatedly, every time you do so you're decreasing the chances of it working. Let's say a guy runs a basic cycle with what many of you would call a good PCT plan. It doesn't matter how good that plan is, it will take upwards of a year for the body to fully normalize, and that's assuming you don't shut yourself down with another cycle during that time. It's also assuming your body fully recovered in the first place.

I'm not knocking you guys who cycle, that's not my job or place to. People simply need to be aware that it doesn't really work like you might want it to work. Can it? Sure, but it's by no means assured. And as said, each time you cycle and the older you get the harder this becomes.

But surely this isn't the case with everyone? There must be a slew of guys on here with multiple cycles under their belts who still have good, solid T levels off cycle? I know I've certainly heard from a few.

[Low Testosterone]

But surely this isn't the case with everyone? There must be a slew of guys on here with multiple cycles under their belts who still have good, solid T levels off cycle? I know I've certainly heard from a few.

I'm sure there are some, like I said it can work but it doesn't always and will normally stop working at some point.
Plus, you need to consider that if a guy is running a few cycles a year with a PCT in-between the cycles, he's never letting his body normalize. He doesn't actually know that he's truly recovered. Come off cycle and all PCT meds for a year, literally do nothing drug wise and only then would you actually know if you've recovered.

If you run a cycle, take PCT meds for 4-6wks and then run blood a month later, that's not going to be a true reading, yet you'll see some men who will post this and say "look, I've recovered." It's only recovery if it can hold on its own for an extended period of time. It's easy to boost and stimulate production after a cycle - getting it to hold indefinitely can be the hard part.

[Lee_1978]

I'm sure there are some, like I said it can work but it doesn't always and will normally stop working at some point.
Plus, you need to consider that if a guy is running a few cycles a year with a PCT in-between the cycles, he's never letting his body normalize. He doesn't actually know that he's truly recovered. Come off cycle and all PCT meds for a year, literally do nothing drug wise and only then would you actually know if you've recovered.

If you run a cycle, take PCT meds for 4-6wks and then run blood a month later, that's not going to be a true reading, yet you'll see some men who will post this and say "look, I've recovered." It's only recovery if it can hold on its own for an extended period of time. It's easy to boost and stimulate production after a cycle - getting it to hold indefinitely can be the hard part.

I see...

So there's no effective way to increase your Testosterone naturally without supplementing with exogenous compounds, but then you run the risk of interfering with your natural levels and not fully recovering?

Seems like a catch 22..

[Lee_1978]

I'm sure there are some, like I said it can work but it doesn't always and will normally stop working at some point.
Plus, you need to consider that if a guy is running a few cycles a year with a PCT in-between the cycles, he's never letting his body normalize. He doesn't actually know that he's truly recovered. Come off cycle and all PCT meds for a year, literally do nothing drug wise and only then would you actually know if you've recovered.

If you run a cycle, take PCT meds for 4-6wks and then run blood a month later, that's not going to be a true reading, yet you'll see some men who will post this and say "look, I've recovered." It's only recovery if it can hold on its own for an extended period of time. It's easy to boost and stimulate production after a cycle - getting it to hold indefinitely can be the hard part.

So would you say it's better to cycle once per year?

[Low Testosterone]

So would you say it's better to cycle once per year?

I'm not saying that at all. I'm not saying it's better to cycle once or ten times a year or at all. If you're talking about the best option in order to protect your hormone production, then no cycling is the only truly good answer. Does that mean you can't cycle? Well, that's a completely different question - they aren't related questions.