Questions about SHGB

[ppwc1985]

I have been on trt for about three years and once dialed in have never had any problems really. The last bw my SHGB was low. What causes this? Is this why my sex drive is kinda low?

[jwh7699]

SHGB - This person explains it better than I could.

" The widely held belief is that high not low SHBG is a problem.

>From my understanding this is because SHBG is of course the binding
protein (binding 98% of testosterone in the typical male), binding
with greater affinity to testosterone than to E2, therefore high
SHBG adversely affects the testosterone to E2 ratio.

Of course high SHBG can be a problem, but I believe it is more than
a coincidence that many, many men who respond poorly to TRT have low
SHBG, I believe that this too is a problem.

>From what I can see the logic goes that low SHBG will result in a
higher level of free testosterone as less is bound and that this can
only be a good thing. However I think that the problem here is that
SHBG is only being viewed in relation to testosterone.

Low SHBG will also cause an increase in free E2.

Now if this is viewed in the context of testosterone it can be said
that the rise in free testosterone is greater than the rise in free
E2 meaning low SHBG is not a problem because of the binding
affinities.

But like I said this is if SHBG and E2 are viewed in the context of
testosterone. But high E2 in itself is surely likely to cause its
own problems.

I believe those with low SHBG are suffering from high E2, more
specifically high free E2 on TRT and that that is the reason for
poor response to TRT."

Basically Low SHBG is not bad, but it can lead to high E2 which can effect your sex drive.

You should Get your Total T, Free T and Estradiol Sensitive Assay done.

You want your Free T High and your E2 in the Mid to Low Range, but not lower than 20. Too low can create problems too.