Blood work, what's next?

[gumbercules]

I'm 25 years old and recently had some bloodwork done for the first time. There's always been a suspicion that I had low testosterone, because I have a lot of symptoms: low sex drive, difficult to gain muscle and lose fat, fat deposit areas, low body hair, etc. However, the past few months to a year I have been feeling more run down than usual and fatigue easily, even after 8-10 hours of sleep. One thing that seems to happen frequently is that I will have have extremely vivid and seemingly long dreams.

The blood work I had done initially, about 4 weeks ago, notable results came back as follows

Potassium, Serum 3.4 Range 3.5-5.2 mmol/L
-This is a little low, but I had fasted for a full 24 hours
Calcium, Serum 10.3 Range 8.7-10.2 mg/dL
-Slightly high, not sure what to make of this or if it's a concern

Lipids
Total Cholesterol 244 Range 100-189 mg/dL
Triglycerides 88 Range 0-114 mg/dL
HDL 60 Range >39 mg/dL
VLDL 18 Range 5-40 mg/dL
LDL 166 Range 0-119 mg/dl
-This area is very concerning, particularly the Triglycerides, because I have been eating a low carb diet for quite a while. I did some research and found this pattern of elevated cholesterol is very common in men with low T.

Thyroid
TSH 2.480 Range 0.450-4.500
-All levels were normal here

Hormones
Testosterone, Serum 321 Range 348-1197 ng/dL
Testosterone, Free 9.44 Range 5.00-21.00 ng/dL
Estradiol, Sensitive 11 Range 3-70 pg/mL

IGF and prostate values were fine

So I go to the doc and get another blood test 2 weeks later:
Total T 709
Free T 129 (They didn't tell me, is this in another unit of measurement?)

Important to know that the first bloods were drawn at 3pm and the second at 9am, so it is expected that they would be different. Doctor says my levels were normal and that's the end of it. If my high point is just over 700 and my levels are chilling at a lower level most of the day, is that enough to push the doctor for more tests? I still feel the same obviously. Should I get other values tested, such as LH, FSH, SHBG?

 

[TRTDetroit]

What's your diet look like? Any medications? Exercise?

 

[gumbercules]

What's your diet look like? Any medications? Exercise?

Diet is really clean, mostly meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, yogurt, eggs, nuts. Small amounts of fruit. No grains for the most part, but I try to do a carb up day once a week. No meds, lifting about 4 times a week, cardio only one or two times a week honestly.

I just don't know if my levels are low enough to do anything about. I could have another independent test done for a 3rd result, or find another doctor. The lipid values are another big concern, and I don't want to let them remain untreated.

 

[TRTDetroit]

Got it. Go snag a book called 4 hour body by Tim Ferrissa and check out the geek to freak chapter. He has several ways to boost your levels through the roof, naturally. Do some due diligence on him and I promise you his stuff works. And works well.

 

[gumbercules]

Got it. Go snag a book called 4 hour body by Tim Ferrissa and check out the geek to freak chapter. He has several ways to boost your levels through the roof, naturally. Do some due diligence on him and I promise you his stuff works. And works well.

For anyone who may be interested, here are the main suggestions to increase testosterone in this book:
- Supplement Vitamin K-2, which "activates Vitamin A and D dependent proteins by conferring upon them the
physical ability to bind calcium."
He does not suggest a dose

- Supplement Vitamin D3 - 6,000–10,000 IU per day for four weeks
I've also read that a higher dose twice per week is more effective, and the writer also notes you should have blood tests done because too much vitamin D can be toxic. "minimal target of 50 ng/ml. More than 100 ng/ml is considered excessive, and more than 150 ng/ml is considered toxic."

- Supplement Vitamin A and Zinc
Dosing not specified

I basically skimmed through some of the relevant parts of the book, and it is written in a very unscientific manner. Most of it is a mishmash of some good information, mixed with old information, a bit of anecdotal reporting, and some bro-science. However, Vitamin K2 was something I hadn't heard about, so I'll be doing some more research on that.

What I think I'll do is add a higher dose of Vit D than I'm already taking, add Vitamin A, maybe K2, increase my workout volume and cardio, and then do another hormone and lipid test in 1-2 months. If I still feel crummy and have poor lipid values I'll go try another doctor, or even try TRT level dosing on my own if no doctor will help me.

 

[TRTDetroit]

Funny, "bro science". Man do some more digging on Tim and I think you'll think differently on that. Then again maybe you won't. His stuff isn't for everyone.

 

[gumbercules]

Funny, "bro science". Man do some more digging on Tim and I think you'll think differently on that. Then again maybe you won't. His stuff isn't for everyone.

I'm not really trying to bash the guy, but this is a man who pumps out these books for money, so I'm more skeptical than usual. For example, there's an entire section dedicated to training breath holding, but it's just exhaling CO2 to trick your body. This is dangerous and doesn't really make your better at it. There's also a whole section on swinging a baseball bat, which I find sort of bizarre in a fitness book. The biggest problem I have is the lack of scientific sources regarding much of the information. However, I agree with much of the nutrition and training information and I'll probably pick the book up at the library to read in full.