High SHBG , low free T help

[UncleBuns]

@Alyk89 I just reread the first post of this thread and I'm seriously impressed that you're able to maintain that pace and amount of things in your life! It sounds like it's all catching up to you though. Sounds like you've looked at just about everything nutritionally, biomarker, hormone wise. Seems to me like you just have too much going on in life. I don't think bringing up your free test will solve these problems you have. They sound more like overstressed, over trained, overworked type problems. There isn't really a blood test we can do to see that our mental state is not in good shape. Your natural test levels are actually pretty good. None of us are Superman, we are just people. If I tried to do what you're doing it would fucking break me in 2 weeks. If I didn't have to work a full-time job then sure, I could train like hell.

I'm old enough that I gave in to not being able to do all the things I want at the pace I want a number of years ago. But, on the flip side, I've been able to find good balance between work and hobbies and responsibilities. I'm not as badass as I was in my 20's and don't do as much, but the quality of what I do is very high which is satisfying. That's just how it goes for most of us as we get older. We're not going to be able to do as much as often, but we can still make what we do good quality.

Obviously don't know you personally so I may be missing the mark but that's what I'm getting out of your post.

 

[Alyk89]

@UncleBuns I mean what your saying is what my wife, GP, mom and other close friends have been saying. I’m just having trouble accepting it.

I slowed down a lot, but my free test won’t budge from 8 ng/dl unless I take a SERM. My total is good at 800 but I’m only get 1% free. It does make one day in the gym of like 12 working sets or more feel impossible to recover from within a week. And the lack of libido or erections suck. Even cialis or viagra won’t make it budge.

 

[UncleBuns]

@UncleBuns I mean what your saying is what my wife, GP, mom and other close friends have been saying. I’m just having trouble accepting it.

I slowed down a lot, but my free test won’t budge from 8 ng/dl unless I take a SERM. My total is good at 800 but I’m only get 1% free. It does make one day in the gym of like 12 working sets or more feel impossible to recover from within a week. And the lack of libido or erections suck. Even cialis or viagra won’t make it budge.

I hear you. Test isn't everything though. The mental and other physical aspects besides testosterone can have a big effect on these problems. Whatever you decide is up to you. Personally, a PCP would never have given me TRT. I decided to get on as I wanted the modest boost and I like to add other things in at times and not have to PCT. That choice isn't right or wrong it's just what I chose to do. There are negatives and risks to it though. If I were wanting to impregnate my wife though I definitely would not get on TRT. Trt can make having a child much more difficult. Likely you Will have to spend lots of money on HCG and HMG to make it happen.

I would highly suggest dialing back the stress and physical exertion in your life, eating a bit more food, and trying that for about 6 weeks and see where you're at then. There's no free lunch and injecting test can be a pain in the ass. Getting your protocol dialed in can take awhile. And it may not even solve the issues you're having.

 

[Alyk89]

@UncleBuns all really good points. Luckily I got my wife pregnant but I’ll give it another few weeks to get through her first trimester before I make a decision.

I’m going to take more R&R and have a think on it. Thanks for your input!

 

[UncleBuns]

@UncleBuns all really good points. Luckily I got my wife pregnant but I’ll give it another few weeks to get through her first trimester before I make a decision.

I’m going to take more R&R and have a think on it. Thanks for your input!

Congratulations! I misunderstood and thought you were trying for a baby now.

 

[Alyk89]

@UncleBuns Thank you! You read correctly, it happened literally after like the 4th time we started trying. Luckily it happened quickly for us. Super excited.

R&R and some time in Hawaii really helped.

 

[Mrwin]

There's something else you can try. Any steroids other then testosterone greatly decrease SHBG. T as well but there are some debates about dosages

So 10mg a day of stan/anavar/dbol/oxy will help you with that, or small amount of injection.
It will slightly suppress your own T, but with much lower SHBG and higher Free T you must feel better.

Might not be the best option for everyone, but I’ve heard about guys injecting test E/C once a month to bring down SHBG, for some it seem to work great without causing much suppression of endogenous T.

 

[Alyk89]

@Mrwin any info on a single shot monthly of test? What’s the dosage?

I am going to meet with my provider Friday to see if the will let me do a run of Anavar.


Ive read a few guys have good luck with either 12.5mgs 3x a week for a couple mouths. I’ve heard guys also run 20mg daily for 3 weeks and that does the trick.I didn’t seem to respond to Proviron well but I’m willing to give Anavar a try before I switch over to weekly test injections.

I’ve read some guys can modulate SHBG and it stays crushed for 6months plus. I rather do that while my total test is 800 plus.

I did also increase my calories to 2,650 I will be retesting my levels in a 3 weeks or so. I’ll keep this thread updated.

 

[Alyk89]

Hey guys just updating this thread.
Decided to give HCG and Anavar a go. I want to see if I can take Anavar to crash my SHBG and see how long it stays crashed. I’ve heard of folks crushing it for 6 months at a time, if it bounces back quickly Ill start 160mg of test a week.

Current regime:
500iu 3x a week
23.5 Pharma grade Anavar per day
———
2,650 calories a day
Olympic lifting 3x a week
HIIT 1x a week
Zone 2 jogging 2x a week.

I’m checking bloodwork at the 2 week mark just to see what’s going on in a few days.ill report back.

My plan is to get my SHBG crushed, come off the Anavar and continue HCG.

I’ll report back with labs.

 

[-Maui-]

Hey all,

Was hoping to get some advice on what could be causing my high SHBG and low free T. I have been fighting with this issue over the last year. It has been going probably longer.

Over the past 2 years after hanging up the gloves I have felt symptoms of low t. It's like I live in a permanent fight camp body.

Symtomps
- ED even with something like a viagra or cialis (previously up until 31 had crazy high sex drive no erectile issues)
Hairloss
- 0 energy, I went from 2-4 hours of exercise a day to cant get off the couch after work. Previoulsy my friends called me a robot because I could keep going and going.
- Trouble sleeping


Exercise
34 year old
205lbs - 14% BF
Previously a competitive fighter. Very active, run 3-4times a week and lift 3-4times a week. Mileage over the last year has varied from 10-35miles per week. Lifting has varied from 2x a week to 4x a week. Focused on compound movements really heavy.

Diet
Minimum 2,200 calories a day
200 grams of carbs
70 grams of fat
200 grams of protein
Mostly eat fruit from my carbs 40-80 grams a day come from rice, pasta or potatoes the rest is fruit. This really has helped my IGF-1. This super tidy up diet has been going on for 2 months now. Previously it was pretty good macro wise, just not micro nutrient wise.

Medical
I've looked into a lot of things with my doc through blood work, they claim
• Healthy thyroid
• Healthy liver
• Healthy iron levels
• No boron deficiency
• DHEA deficient - I have been supplementing with 100mg a day for the last year, getting close to being bottom of hte range
• Vit D is great - upper range
• Super stressful job

Baseline numbers
Total T: 797 ng/dl
Free T: 83.9 pg/ml
Albumin: 4.7 g/dl
SHBG: 92

I have hopped on enclompihene to raise my total test to overcome the free test issue however, even with a total T of 1300 ng/dl I have never gotten my free T over 121 pgml other than 1 time when it hit 160pml after reducing running. However after upping my mileage to about 25miles per week and lifting 2x a week it fell back to 110pg/ml.

Albumin has steadily been 4.6 - 4.7


Is there anything else I can try here? Doc seems to think it is genetic with me.
Is the running just driving me into the ground? Was I overtrained from all the fight camps and never fully recovered?

You can add exemestane, it lowers SHBG and increases total and free testosterone. If it is well tolerated, it can be used for a long time in a small dosage. You should also add zinc.

 

[Joseph_88]

You can give aromasin a try. lowers shbg and improves the androgen/estrogen ratio

 

[Alyk89]

As expected, 23.5mg Pharma Oxandralone brought SHBG down to 23 nmol in 2 weeks from 70. I have to say while it did raise my BP and RHR a bit, I certainly did feel great. I’m not on a test base so I just stopped it as my primary purpose has been to crash my SHBG and avoid going on TRT if possible due to fertility concerns.

Waiting on test numbers to come back to see how much suppression happened in 2 weeks while on 500iu HCG 3x a week. I’ll post those numbers if folks are curious.

Going to retest in a month and see how SHBG does.

 

[Alyk89]

Surprisingly I had a lot more suppression than I thought I would...Studies were saying folks usually see 45% suppression on average in 6 weeks, well....

My total test went from 1100 ng/dl to 416 ng/dl in 2 weeks on 23.5mg a daily.
Again SHBG went from 70 nmol to 23 nmol.

Important to note I was using 500 IU of HCG 3x a week.

Never the less the experiment continues, I'll check back in about 3 weeks to see how SHBG is doing, and see how much my total has rebounded.

 

[perlanera123]

Surprisingly I had a lot more suppression than I thought I would...Studies were saying folks usually see 45% suppression on average in 6 weeks, well....

My total test went from 1100 ng/dl to 416 ng/dl in 2 weeks on 23.5mg a daily.
Again SHBG went from 70 nmol to 23 nmol.

Important to note I was using 500 IU of HCG 3x a week.

Never the less the experiment continues, I'll check back in about 3 weeks to see how SHBG is doing, and see how much my total has rebounded.

great post Alyk89 keep us updated!

I'm curious, I also suffer from high SHBG and I was thinking of combining anavar with enclomiphene instead of HCG!

yes your testosterone levels have dropped but your free testosterone should have almost doubled:

Pre Anavar+HCG FreeT 1,45%
Post Anavar+HCG FreeT 2,41%

after 2 weeks how are your LH and FSH levels?

Have you tested the values again?

Thanks

 

[Alyk89]

great post Alyk89 keep us updated!

I'm curious, I also suffer from high SHBG and I was thinking of combining anavar with enclomiphene instead of HCG!

after 2 weeks how are your LH and FSH levels?

Have you tested the values again?

Thanks

I did end up testing my levels after 3 weeks of discontinuing use. My SHBG shot back up to 50...My LH and FSH were 5.1 and 6.1 respectively but my total testosterone dropped to 391 ng/dl. Free was an abysmal 3ng/dl and I have been feeling like total shit for the last 3 weeks.

When I used proviron for a short period of time my SHBG dropped from 110 -> 70 and my total testosterone dropped from 1,200 -> 800 on Enclo (the only time it ever dropped). Some folks online have mentioned people with high SHBG can have inflated total test and that when they remedy their SHBG issue or use a drug intervention total will suffer. This has seemed to happen to me twice. Usually when my LH and FSH are around 5-6 my total is 800. When my SHBG is lower my total is way lower than usual.

Be aware enclo after 4 months of continued use really dropped my IGF-1 and made it impossible to get a goods nights sleep.

It's been a year and a half and about 14 blood tests. I am just tired of feeling like shit and getting my hopes up with every blood test. I have decided to start TRT since I have a baby on the way....I am in week 2 of TRT 160mgs split 3x a week to start. I'll see where my numbers are at in the 3 month mark.

I hope others with high SHBG find some value in what I have logged. I wouldn't take my experience as a waste of time trying other options aside from TRT.

 

[perlanera123]

I did end up testing my levels after 2 weeks of discontinuing use. My SHBG shot back up to 50...My LH and FSH were 5.1 and 6.1 respectively but my total testosterone dropped to 391 ng/dl. Free was an abysmal 3ng/dl and I have been feeling like total shit for the last 3 weeks.

When I used proviron for a short period of time my SHBG dropped from 110 -> 70 and my total testosterone dropped from 1,100 -> 800 on Enclo. Some folks online have mentioned people with high SHBG can have inflated total test and that when they remedy their SHBG issue or use a drug intervention total will suffer. This has seemed to happen to me twice. Usually when my LH and FSH are around 5-6 my total is 800. When my SHBG is lower my total is way lower than usual.

Be aware enclo after 4 months of continued use really dropped my IGF-1 and made it impossible to get a goods nights sleep.

It's been a year and a half and about 14 blood tests. I am just tired of feeling like shit and getting my hopes up with every blood test. I have decided to start TRT since I have a baby on the way....I am in week 2 of TRT 160mgs split 3x a week to start. I'll see where my numbers are at in the 3 month mark.

I hope others with high SHBG find some value in what I have logged. I wouldn't take my experience as a waste of time trying other options aside from TRT.

Everything you wrote have great importance for me.

basically this means that as long as you were on anavar/hcg you felt good as soon as you came off it you felt like shit because the SHBG went up immediately while the T didn't go up at the same speed. I think because at that point you had to do a real PCT once you came off Anavar.

My level:

T TOTAL 675 NG/DL
SHBG 51,8 NMOL/LT
ALBUMIN 4,70
E2 27,7

I tried an 8 week cycle of just proviron 25mg per day after my level:

T TOTAL 505 NG/DL
SHBG 46 NMOL/LT
ALBUMIN 4,70
E2 21,9

I've been off for a month and I honestly haven't felt any big differences. today I did the new blood tests to see the values, I will update you

 

[Alyk89]

Everything you wrote have great importance for me.

basically this means that as long as you were on anavar/hcg you felt good as soon as you came off it you felt like shit because the SHBG went up immediately while the T didn't go up at the same speed. I think because at that point you had to do a real PCT once you came off Anavar.

My level:

T TOTAL 675 NG/DL
SHBG 51,8 NMOL/LT
ALBUMIN 4,70
E2 27,7

I tried an 8 week cycle of just proviron 25mg per day after my level:

T TOTAL 505 NG/DL
SHBG 46 NMOL/LT
ALBUMIN 4,70
E2 21,9

I've been off for a month and I honestly haven't felt any big differences. today I did the new blood tests to see the values, I will update you

Second week of anavar I started to feel like shit. Also it gave me high BP and heart rate at a full 23.5 and 12.25 mg daily.

I also don’t know if a full pct would have really helped, my LH and FSH sit around 5-6 without any SERMS. I think for me anyway there is some correlation with SHBG and total test. Seems like so far my body only wants to allow 1% free test no matter what.


Also even in two weeks it increased LDL 15pts and dropped HDL 5. For me that wasn’t a real solution considering it went from less than 23 back to 50 in 3 weeks.

 

[perlanera123]

Second week of anavar I started to feel like shit. Also it gave me high BP and heart rate at a full 23.5 and 12.25 mg daily.

I also don’t know if a full pct would have really helped, my LH and FSH sit around 5-6 without any SERMS. I think for me anyway there is some correlation with SHBG and total test. Seems like so far my body only wants to allow 1% free test no matter what.


Also even in two weeks it increased LDL 15pts and dropped HDL 5. For me that wasn’t a real solution considering it went from less than 23 back to 50 in 3 weeks.

ok I understand.

Yes, SHBGs are quite a hassle... My doctor compared them to a cork, whatever you do sooner or later the body always rebalances everything... the only way at this point that remains for me to try is to start taking enclo 6.25mg EOD.... I know what you're thinking, the SHBGs under enclo, however, will tend to increase, but it is also true that everything will increase...

I don't even know what to do after this test... I have the free T stuck at 1.65%

The last way would be to reset everything with a testosterone-only cycle at 250/300mg week for 10/12 weeks, do a proper PCT and then see how the body rebalances

Thanks

 

[Alyk89]

@perlanera123 No judgement here, if it works for you great. For me I was only getting 1.1% on a good day so even at 1200 total it wasn't worth the hassle of the estrogen and high BP. I'd rather not take an AI for the foreseeable future.

All I will say about the enclo is if you start not be able to sleep, its probably the enclo tanking your IGF-1...it did it for me around month 3. Good luck!

 

[perlanera123]

All advice is welcome for me so thank you.

Basically, if I understand correctly, you have done these tests:

1)You basically tried Anavar + HCG and it went bad from the second week due to too high blood pressure

2)you used enclo and you had the total T at 1200 but the shbg raise at 110

3)You tried adding Proviron and it lowered both testosterone and shbg (800 and 70) with the same amount of enclo (And under enclo after 3 months you couldn't sleep anymore)