(14-03-2013, 03:30 AM)Misty0732 Wrote: I'm fairly confident that the levels existed before I started on PM. It's unlikely that the weak herbs I was taking before (fenugreek, saw palmetto, and red clover) have anything to do with them either.
I guess what I really am striving to know is if the low free-T, which is "discordant" with my total-T, is even anything I should be concerned about. Everything still "works" (I know from actual use). I don't know if I'm still fertile but I honestly don't care (I have 4 kids and my wife has had her tubes tied anyway).
I could go to the endo anyway, just to be sure, but I'm not confident that he (or she) would be in any position to advise me one way or another. From what I can tell this is a very unique condition and I'm doubtful that I would be anything more than a curiosity. I certainly don't want to become someone's pet project and undergo endless testing!
I looked up the endo my Dr recommended and am not impressed (lots of bad patient reviews). It also seems that most endos deal primarily with diabetes and only handle the sex hormones as an aside. I'm having trouble locating a doctor in the Denver area that I would feel comfortable discussing some of these issues with as well.
If anyone has any insight on the potential danger of the virtually non-existent free-T alongside normal total-T, I would greatly appreciate the info. My searches have come up empty!
Misty
Without knowing your sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), it is hard to explain your low free T unless it is laboratory error, which it could be.
Low T can result in a myriad of health problems in males, including diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, depression, muscle wasting and weakness, and I forget the rest of the list. You might check out http://www.lef.org (The Life Extension Foundation) for information on low T and other things. I will admit, I've read articles in their monthly magazine, but can never find them on the website when I want to print them and show them to my doctor so it might be hard to find anything. By rights, with a free T reading as low as yours, you should have ED and no libido (other symptoms of low T), but you say everything works so maybe the lab screwed up and slipped a decimal place. Nine makes more sense than 0.9, but I'm not a doctor.