Lowering SHBG to Increase Free T -- Treatment Options?

[bkb333]

Thanks for all the insight, Youthful! Great stuff as always.

Lowering the dose was a good decision, but I still think it is way too high, particularly given that you are attempting to bring down SHBG with Danazol. once you get the SHBG under 50 (a good target), I suspect that your optimal dose will be closer to 120mg per week in divided doses.

Would you lower the dose even more at this point? I was thinking I'd take it down to 180 for now, then eventually get it down lower (maybe 150, or even 120 as you mentioned), but that I would do that over time and as SHBG decreases further with the increased Danazol supplementation. It seems to me like drastically dropping the T dose quickly could cause problems.

I think cycling is a bad idea. In my experience, to make it sustainable, you need to get your TRT protocol to a stable point so that it is on auto pilot. having to muck with T and Danazol doses periodically is going to get old after a while. The goal is to get back to you normal life.

Oh, I totally agree -- I would much rather be on a steady protocol that doesn't change. But as I understand it, Danazol comes with risks of liver toxicity. I don't want to do any damage there, though it seems Danazol could be a lynchpin of my protocol for years to come. So I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons.

I suspect that your use of thyroid hormones is your root cause for the high SHBG. There is a known connection between supplemental T3 and/or T4 and increased SHBG.

Out of curiosity, what do you mean by this? As far as I know, I haven't taken any thyroid hormones, unless something I am taking is affecting thyroid and I am unaware of it. I'm thinking I may have just caused confusion with the way I worded that section. I just meant that we aren't going to fool around with any thyroid meds (as I haven't to date) for now.