SHBG & Its Valuable Importance

DeviousD said:
I absolutely think you're on the right track with your thinking now, the smaller more frequent shots are shown to allow serum SHBG to rise coupled with the cessation of the AI should definitely help you feel better. When I figured out my issue I was already at the end of my run anyway so I had switched back to my TRT doses with test E and I started doing 35mg of test E EOD with zero AI and I was feeling substantially better within just a days, muscles fuller and actually feeling strong and hardened compared to how I was.

I like you, experience better libido & stronger erections as well with lower E2 but I am doing just fine without one now that I am back to TRT. I can feel that it is a bit higher than I normally like but I am going to stay the course and continue to evaluate how i'm feeling. I have been on this protocol for five & a half weeks as of today and feeling fantastic. I am going to wait a couple more weeks before blood work as my cholesterol & lipid levels were a bit off from the long blast and I want to make sure they're back in range too.

Definitely do some research and ask your doctor about possible causes of that baseline prior to TRT low SHBG!
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If this continues to go well for you@ 35mg / eod, will you increase dose to find your upper threshold or just hold it where your at if its feeling good and blast from that base point?
 
Jayz-23 said:
If this continues to go well for you@ 35mg / eod, will you increase dose to find your upper threshold or just hold it where your at if its feeling good and blast from that base point?
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I'm more than happy to stay right there as I feel fantastic and not using an AI would be a huge plus as well. I will still continue to do some blasts here and there but will keep a better eye on some important biomarkers. I'm 43 and want to stay as healthy as I possibly can, i'm not into competing or powerlifting, I want to maintain my physique and add a little more good lean muscle over time but nothing crazy.

I, like many others, have to learn the hard way....I believe that is just human nature.
 
DeviousD said:
I'm more than happy to stay right there as I feel fantastic and not using an AI would be a huge plus as well. I will still continue to do some blasts here and there but will keep a better eye on some important biomarkers. I'm 43 and want to stay as healthy as I possibly can, i'm not into competing or powerlifting, I want to maintain my physique and add a little more good lean muscle over time but nothing crazy.

I, like many others, have to learn the hard way....I believe that is just human nature.
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Yeah definitely as im 41 this year and I dont think I have realized yet or accepted im not 25 anymore as well I dont compete. I still want to look the best I can, but If i feel like shit or have shit libido and erections then whats the point. So im trying to find a balance of both and working at continuing to improve while feeling good. I even did a small blast recently and felt like junk as I just dont think I tolerate things and gear the way i used to before.

TRT @ 140mg/wk has been really good for gains over the last few years, but I just never felt good at all.
I seen one video about when your TRT is too high and I have alot of the symptoms they talk about so.
Im hoping that basically starting TRT over at a much lower T dose and no AI improves things and takes me back to where I feel good and more energy more days then worse and improves my libido and erections significantly.
 
resilient1 said:
That makes perfect sense, but this is in post-menopausal women, who aren't producing the amount of estrogen as we would be. Our estrogen conversion is further pronounced as men, b/c of the biological feedback loop.

From my pharmacist: Logical, intuitive, and has been mostly mentioned previously. If SHBG is low, lots of FT, which is rife for aromatization. Since I'm hammering my aromatase with an AI, estro is just floating around with the FT, which only leaves excretion/natural dissipation. Adding in conclusions from the article, if aromatase is gutted, no estro to help produce shbg, which prolongs the current state. This is why I cut back my AI to 6.5mg, still a far higher average dose.

I have bloods on Monday, Would have preferred to have them yesterday, but I couldn't squeeze them in.

Taking an AI and a dht based compound seems like a double-whammy to shbg. Low estro, then added suppression of shbg via dht = lose lose.
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Yes, you're right, this study was on post menopausal women. It is hard to find all the exact proper research, sure would be nice to have access to certain medical journals and studies. In my opinion, which doesn't mean much lol, I believe there still is a solid indication that exemestane has the same pronounced effect on a male's SHBG as well.

Great that your pharmacist would give you that same information. I had my yearly physical and asked my doctor his thoughts or knowledge on the complete function of SHBG and he didn't really deflect the question but told me that the best thing to do would be to ask his friend and colleague who is another general physician but has a special interest and treats more trt patients and bodybuilders. I commend him on not trying to tell me something that he doesn't completely know. We have previously discussed him referring me to the other doctor but I haven't pushed the issue and I am completely happy with the treatment he gives me, I am partially afraid to change docs because the other doc is actually older and might retire at anytime....not ideal....I would love to just chat with him though and hear his views.
 
DeviousD said:
Yes, you're right, this study was on post menopausal women. It is hard to find all the exact proper research, sure would be nice to have access to certain medical journals and studies. In my opinion, which doesn't mean much lol, I believe there still is a solid indication that exemestane has the same pronounced effect on a male's SHBG as well.

Great that your pharmacist would give you that same information. I had my yearly physical and asked my doctor his thoughts or knowledge on the complete function of SHBG and he didn't really deflect the question but told me that the best thing to do would be to ask his friend and colleague who is another general physician but has a special interest and treats more trt patients and bodybuilders. I commend him on not trying to tell me something that he doesn't completely know. We have previously discussed him referring me to the other doctor but I haven't pushed the issue and I am completely happy with the treatment he gives me, I am partially afraid to change docs because the other doc is actually older and might retire at anytime....not ideal....I would love to just chat with him though and hear his views.
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Pharmacists are easy to speak with and access, most doctors are busy, but I commend your doctor for his honesty and admitting that his colleague would be better to speak with. I would take him up on that, it's not easy getting face time with physicians. My endo is great, but if I never pressed him with a question our meetings would consist of hello, all looks well, and see you next year.
 
resilient1 said:
Pharmacists are easy to speak with and access, most doctors are busy, but I commend your doctor for his honesty and admitting that his colleague would be better to speak with. I would take him up on that, it's not easy getting face time with physicians. My endo is great, but if I never pressed him with a question our meetings would consist of hello, all looks well, and see you next year.
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I agree 100%, my doctor is excellent and very well liked by anyone that is lucky enough to be treated by him. He is just a GP but that is fine with me as a good doctor is so very hard to find. He did refer me to a urologist awhile ago but I went to see the urologist and was not impressed with him at all, plus the fact that it takes 6 months just to get a fricken appointment. I told my doc, screw that guy, by the way he talks and the tests that he ordered didn't lead me to believe that he had any extensive expertise in the area either so I was much more comfortable with him treating me and he laughed a bit and said no worries I will continue to treat you.
And I did know that too about Pharmacists, they have extensive knowledge and almost know more especially towards what drugs might be better, just didn't think to ask them about something like SHBG. I definitely will ask though and totally plan on booking an appointment with my docs colleague!
 
DeviousD said:
I'm more than happy to stay right there as I feel fantastic and not using an AI would be a huge plus as well. I will still continue to do some blasts here and there but will keep a better eye on some important biomarkers. I'm 43 and want to stay as healthy as I possibly can, i'm not into competing or powerlifting, I want to maintain my physique and add a little more good lean muscle over time but nothing crazy.

I, like many others, have to learn the hard way....I believe that is just human nature.
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Basically same age and goals as me
 
DeviousD said:
It was pretty low too actually but I was taking aromasin to keep it low. It was at 21 ng/ml.
I have dropped down to my trt dose (using 125mg test E/week split at EOD shots) and I felt better within just a couple days. I am not controlling E2 so I am assuming that both my SHBG & my E2 are both higher now. Doing bloods again within the next two weeks. Checking again with Letsgetchecked and then bloodwork through my doc right after. I always check my bloods independently prior to my yearly checkup & physical from my doctor just to make sure there isn't going to be any unwanted surprises.
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How did your bloodwork go?
Did your SHBG & E2 both increase with smaller more frequent shots and cessation of using an Ai?
 
Jayz-23 said:
How did your bloodwork go?
Did your SHBG & E2 both increase with smaller more frequent shots and cessation of using an Ai?
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Yes they did. Everything actually went up & back to normal range but the androgen free index came down and into normal range. That AFI is not accurate with crushed SHBG anyways. And just to add, shot frequency didn't change as i'm still dosing EOD just much less test and it being test e.
I feel unbelievably better even with mid range test and a low but low normal SHBG....my E2 feels a bit too high though.
 
I also have only done the LGC bloodwork as I wasn't happy with some lipid numbers so i'm still holding off on my docs bloodwork.
I will post up all the results when I do that.
I also just ran across this tonight but haven't had enough time to fully read it and try to wrap my head around all the medical terminology but it appears that it may be able to my prior beliefs about how SHBG may have an effect on the possible rate of absorption or metabolization of testosterone. At least I think that is what the findings were.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Sex Hormone Binding Globulin Modifies Testosterone Action and Metabolism in Prostate Cancer Cells

Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) is the major serum carrier of sex hormones. However, growing evidence suggests that SHBG is internalised and plays a role in regulating intracellular hormone action. This study was to determine whether SHBG plays a ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Because of this thread when I went for my BW for my TRT I made sure SHBG was checked and I came in at 26.3 with a range of10-70. It seems on the lower end but nowhere near the bottom either. Oh and E2 was 54 which I wish was lower.
 
DeviousD said:
Yes they did. Everything actually went up & back to normal range but the androgen free index came down and into normal range. That AFI is not accurate with crushed SHBG anyways. And just to add, shot frequency didn't change as i'm still dosing EOD just much less test and it being test e.
I feel unbelievably better even with mid range test and a low but low normal SHBG....my E2 feels a bit too high though.
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Have you checked and done a complete thyroid panel and are all your levels good?
Ive been digging and reading that thyroid plays a role in SHBG production and would make sense then maybe then if your SHBG is low and thyroid is low, may explain then why people have poor insulin sensitivity and tend to hold more bodyfat etc with low SHBG.
My T3 is great but my T4 is right at the very low point cutoff. From what I read in the article T4 had more influence on SHBG levels.
I was prescribed Armour Thyroid a year ago, I started it but didnt give it enough of a chance as the dose jumps were past what I needed I think and made me feel Hyper. I also felt my TRT was way off and wanted to try figure that out a bit more before starting thryroid again. Now that im doing 30mg EOD, I may start the Thyroid again at the 30mcg dose and go from there and check levels. I may not need much so.
 
flexappeal said:
Because of this thread when I went for my BW for my TRT I made sure SHBG was checked and I came in at 26.3 with a range of10-70. It seems on the lower end but nowhere near the bottom either. Oh and E2 was 54 which I wish was lower.
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E2 = 54.

Pg/ml or Pmol?


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Jayz-23 said:
Have you checked and done a complete thyroid panel and are all your levels good?
Ive been digging and reading that thyroid plays a role in SHBG production and would make sense then maybe then if your SHBG is low and thyroid is low, may explain then why people have poor insulin sensitivity and tend to hold more bodyfat etc with low SHBG.
My T3 is great but my T4 is right at the very low point cutoff. From what I read in the article T4 had more influence on SHBG levels.
I was prescribed Armour Thyroid a year ago, I started it but didnt give it enough of a chance as the dose jumps were past what I needed I think and made me feel Hyper. I also felt my TRT was way off and wanted to try figure that out a bit more before starting thryroid again. Now that im doing 30mg EOD, I may start the Thyroid again at the 30mcg dose and go from there and check levels. I may not need much so.
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Absolutely, it gets checked every year but I only get it checked by the Doc as its been mid range every time since I have been keeping track of my bloodwork and I have copies of all bloodwork for the last 5 years. So in saying that I haven't gotten it done yet.....going to go in another 10 days or so.
My TSH has been pretty much optimal as it has fluctuated from as low as 1.14 mU/L to 2.26 mU/L
and free T4 was only checked once and it was 10.8 on a range of 9.0 - 23 pmol/L
and T3 free was 4.8 on a range of 3.5-6.5 pmol/L so everything looks pretty good thyroid wise.
 
flexappeal said:
Because of this thread when I went for my BW for my TRT I made sure SHBG was checked and I came in at 26.3 with a range of10-70. It seems on the lower end but nowhere near the bottom either. Oh and E2 was 54 which I wish was lower.
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Being on TRT, an SHBG of 26 is pretty decent. Lots of guys are much lower. I'm around 24 and pin 3x/wk
 
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