Please, Some advice on my recent BLOOD WORK :)

[Evandrus]

Hey guys, this is one of my first posts here I've been researching through these forums for a LONG time and have learned a lot, thank you to all the knowledgeable members here, this is a great place. Moving on, here's a little about me. I'm 28. I was diagnosed with Low T in May 2013. I had a laundry list of symptoms as many do. I finally found a group of doctors where I live that were well recognized in TRT, and who I believe to be(so far) knowledgeable about this subject. Since starting my therapy my symptoms have greatly improved but I am still dialing myself in of coarse.

I'm currently on 160mg TEST CYP a week. I got my Doc to switch me to twice a week injects in order to control E2 at Peak levels with out the use of an Ai, and keep more stable levels.

I'm mainly concerned about Hematocrit, E2, and DHT.

My Most recent Blood work taken(BEFORE just switching to twice a week injections) I've been injecting twice a week for only a week now.

TROUGH LEVELS Quest Diagnostics

Total Test 710(300-1000)ng/dl
Free Test 1.14(0.95-4.30)ng/dl
Estradiol 36.3(20.0-75)pg/ml( Yes its not a sensitive test, as far as I know Quest doesn't do that other than ULTRA sensitive.
Prolactin 15(3.3-20.8)ng/ml
TSH 1.1(0.5-6.0) uIU/ml
Cortisol total 9.4(mcg/dl)
Cortisol Free 0.23(mcg/dl)
Hematocrit 50.5(38.5-50) We talked, my Doc doesn't get to concerned unless its gets to 53%..(NOT sure I agree)..ill probably be donating regardless.
Progesterone 0.4(0.0-0.6)ng/ml
PSA 0.6(0.0-4.0)ng/ml
DHEA 294 (61-1636)ng/dl
SHBG 31 (10-50_nmol/L
DHT FREE 7.02 ( 1.0-6.2)pg/ml ( He told me he would rather not touch this unless it got REALLY high, as many of the things to control it have side affects that of which im actually tring to fix, so I kind of agree with this.)
DHT Total 66( 16-79) ng/dl


Here are my questions

Question 1.
I just switched to twice a week injections in hopes to keep my E2 down and stabilize levels. I can ASSUME that my TEST levels will have higher troughs and less of peaks. Now, can I also assume that E2 will have a higher than preivious trough and lower peak. So, if it WERE 36, would it now be higher consistently?


Question 2.
Should I be worried about my Hematocrit, E2, DHT or anything else. As said ill most likely donate any ways.

Thanks Guys!

[crazy mike]

Welcome aboard. ...crazy mike

[jasondd1]

Personally Id be more concerned with your free t. it seems on the low side to me but im no expert so others will be of more help.

[Evandrus]

Personally Id be more concerned with your free t. it seems on the low side to me but im no expert so others will be of more help.

True, it is lower than I would like it to be. That being my trough level, I expect that having switched to twice a week would bump that up, hopefully.

[Evandrus]

Bumpski!!!!

[FRDave]

Injecting twice per week will give you a higher overall test level and lower E2 level, so you should be looking pretty good in a good 4-6 weeks.

As for hematocrit levels, like your Dr mentioned, most seem not to be concerned unless over 53%, even Low T Mike will agree with this. No harm in donating if you would like to drop this down a bit.

As for DHT, I would not be too concerned. DHT blockers are very bad from the research I have done so I would stay away.

Sounds like your Dr. knows what he is doing so I would be a happy man if I were you as many of us can't say the same.

[Evandrus]

Injecting twice per week will give you a higher overall test level and lower E2 level, so you should be looking pretty good in a good 4-6 weeks.

As for hematocrit levels, like your Dr mentioned, most seem not to be concerned unless over 53%, even Low T Mike will agree with this. No harm in donating if you would like to drop this down a bit.

As for DHT, I would not be too concerned. DHT blockers are very bad from the research I have done so I would stay away.

Sounds like your Dr. knows what he is doing so I would be a happy man if I were you as many of us can't say the same.

This puts my mind to ease, thanks my man! What do you think about my free t as its certainly not optimal, and also looking at TSH being a little low. Should I try to increase theses, Ofcoarse I know if i do I may deal with other things as well.

[FRDave]

This puts my mind to ease, thanks my man! What do you think about my free t as its certainly not optimal, and also looking at TSH being a little low. Should I try to increase theses, Ofcoarse I know if i do I may deal with other things as well.

Your TSH is great, but you would need a full thyroid panel to determine if you needed thyroid meds (doubt you would need).

Free test is low and most important, but I didn't say anything since this should rise as your E2 drops a bit (should happen with the new twice a week protocol). You can also raise your free T by lowering your SHBG a bit using vitamin D3.

Did you happen to get your vitamin D checked?

On another note, you may want to supplement with a micronized version of DHEA. Check out the stickied threads for in depth details. Start with 25mg daily and bump to 50mg (most the majority of us need) based on blood work. I have verified both MRM and LEF branded micronized DHEA are legit with blood work as many others have as well. MRM is super cheap on amazon.

[Evandrus]

Great info, thanks! I actually started with a free t level of 0.6 and shbg of 38 so some major improvement, but still not optimal. Unfortunately I haven't had my Vit d levels checked which I guess should have been. I actually supplemented with VD3(5,000iu) before therapy(along with several other things) for a while to see if I could my levels up. I obviously didn't see any results. I wonder if now I would see a benefit from supplementing with it again. It's great for many things why not right. What about somthing like Zinc? Would this help at all E2 etc. What benifits have you seen from Dhea supplementing?

[FRDave]

Great info, thanks! I actually started with a free t level of 0.6 and shbg of 38 so some major improvement, but still not optimal. Unfortunately I haven't had my Vit d levels checked which I guess should have been. I actually supplemented with VD3(5,000iu) before therapy(along with several other things) for a while to see if I could my levels up. I obviously didn't see any results. I wonder if now I would see a benefit from supplementing with it again. It's great for many things why not right. What about somthing like Zinc? Would this help at all E2 etc. What benifits have you seen from Dhea supplementing?

D3 is good all around for many things, even if not noticed. Try to get in the upper 1/3 range if possible. D3 is so cheap... I use Now branded and verified it works via labs. I currently take 12,000iu, where as it seems the majority need a good 10,000iu daily.

I would also supplement with vitamin B-12 in a methyl version. This will give you some energy but is all around a good supplement for many health reasons like D3.

As for DHEA, I personally do not notice much, but it's cheap and based on research, especially for those of us on TRT, it's important to backfill pathways. Most TRT Dr's will advise to supplement with DHEA without you even mentioning. Check out the stickies and do a search here on the forums for some good info with research articles to back it up.

Zinc will also help with E2 for those like yourself who don't convert a lot like I do. A good 50mg in the morning with 2mg copper is ideal and cheap to boot.

[FRDave]

Just seen this quote from Low T Mike in another thread:

Zinc is much more effective as an supplementary AI. Zinc 50mg per day/ 2-3mg of copper/ and DIM. These are all the best OTC AI's WOuld I use them soley on a patient who had significant aromatase...NO! But I can cut a patient's dosing of anastrozole in half with the above.

[Evandrus]

Wow! Thats a lot of great info, thanks for all the input FRDave nice ink in that avi btw.

[FRDave]

No problem, glad to be able to help a bit. Many knowledgeable people on this forum so give it some time and I'm sure you will get more input.

Ink is done by Carson Hill, an amazing artist specializing in bio/organic. Thanks for the compliment :-)