Testosterone Levels (recommended ranges discrepency).

**tomadom** · 10-16-2016, 11:29 PM

I suffer all the symptoms of someone with Low Testosterone . The life has dropped out of me and I collect fat on my chest like nothing else. It's crazy. My father had this and he died relatively young. Fat on the chest (yes, man boobs) and fat around the waistline.

I eat a very healthy diet of vegetables, lean protein and good fats and no sugar.

Either way, I just keep gaining weight around the middle and chest.

I got some tests done in relation to Testosterone and here are the results.

Testosterone 15.8 recommended range.. nmol/L (8.0 - 30.0)
SHBG * 75 nmol/L recommended rang e(17 - 66)
Free Testost. 184 recommended range. pmol/L (170 - 500)

Here's the thing. I found a link to a website stating that the recommended range for males over 40 is (451 – 1213 pmol/L) ??? I'm in Australia, maybe our standards are different or plain wrong?

Sorry, I'm not allowed to post links.

Mine are only at 184 pmol/L ?

What is the right range and could this be why I have these symptoms?
If Australia's recommended range is wrong, why would they do that?

**hammerheart** · 10-17-2016, 12:25 AM

You got an unfortunate combination of modest Total T levels and high SHBG ones.

SHBG is an acronym for Sex Hormone Binding Globulin. It' a liver protein released into the bloodstream that inactivates sex hormones (including T) so that no more biological action is possible.

It's the factor impacting your free T levels, which yes your right, are very very poor. Were SHBG three times less, your Free T would be twice higher. The ranges provided by your lab are ungenerous.

This condition is often treatable but sometimes not, it depends on the underlying cause for high SHBG.

These include: High estrogen levels (both endogenous and environmental), hyperthyroidism, malnutrition. Sometimes the cause might not be found, and physiological high levels are also possible. In that case, I'd recommend you to see an endo and evaluate TRT.

You seem to suffer from high body fat %. Adipose tissue has this enzyme called aromatase that converts your precious T into E2 (estradiol, the main estrogen), and I suspect it could be an important factor. Hence, it would be useful to know your E2 levels. That means you need to pull "sensitive E2" assay, if available, hopefully.

Other reduction strategies include supplementing with Vitamin D3, Zinc and fish oil.

**tomadom** · 10-17-2016, 12:50 AM

Originally Posted by bizzarro

You got an unfortunate combination of modest Total T levels and high SHBG ones.

SHBG is an acronym for Sex Hormone Binding Globulin. It' a liver protein released into the bloodstream that inactivates sex hormones (including T) so that no more biological action is possible.

It's the factor impacting your free T levels, which yes your right, are very very poor. Were SHBG three times less, your Free T would be twice higher. The ranges provided by your lab are ungenerous.

This condition is often treatable but sometimes not, it depends on the underlying cause for high SHBG.

These include: High estrogen levels (both endogenous and environmental), hyperthyroidism, malnutrition. Sometimes the cause might not be found, and physiological high levels are also possible. In that case, I'd recommend you to see an endo and evaluate TRT.

You seem to suffer from high body fat %. Adipose tissue has this enzyme called aromatase that converts your precious T into E2 (estradiol, the main estrogen), and I suspect it could be an important factor. Hence, it would be useful to know your E2 levels. That means you need to pull "sensitive E2" assay, if available, hopefully.

Other reduction strategies include supplementing with Vitamin D3, Zinc and fish oil.

Thank you very much for your reply. It's often diffucult to get a complete answer like this so I really appreciate your time. I agree that my Est levels are high but at the moment I can't get a doctor to test me. I will try to see an endo.

I suspected my E levels were high. I went through a bout of stress 10 years ago and never really recovered properly. The man boob thing started then. Could have been from the excessively high cortisol leaching all my progesterone so that there was nothing to oppose estrogen (estrodial). I would think that in 10 years though, this would have fixed itself if I was normal. I ran five 10 km runs a week for almost a year and didn't lose a pound. Maybe that says something too.

Thanks again.

If anyone else would like to comment I'm open to as much info as I can gather on this topic as it's impacted my life horrendously.