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What Causes Low Levels Of Testosterone In Men?
Question: Hello Doctor
I'm a 27 year old male.
Recently i went to a urgent care with feeling of sickness.
Symptoms: Body feels hot and there is no fever and i felt very tired and sleepy
Doctor ordered a urinalysis and told that there is some infection and prescribed nitrofuronton.Went back to doctor after a week still similar symptoms but better than last week.she took urinalysis and told infection is cleared and referred me to a internal medicine doctor.
This doctor asked med the symptoms and ordered urinalysis, comp. metabolic panel,tsh free t4,testoterone free and total
He told all test results are normal but testosterone is low
Total testosterone : 342 ng/dl
Free testosterone :13.7 pg/ml
So he ordered fsh and lh level test
Lh 6.8
Fsh 3.2
So he told fsh and lh are normal and reordred total and free testosterone test
The results are lower than the last time
Total test :309 ng/dl
Free test :8.9 pg/ml
So he told me to start on androgel 50mg daily and check the levels after 3 months.
I read about androgel and was skeptical to start on it due to my age as it causes fertility issues.
Can you please suggest if i could try natural ways (like excercise and food) to restore my testosterone.
Thanks
I'm a 27 year old male.
Recently i went to a urgent care with feeling of sickness.
Symptoms: Body feels hot and there is no fever and i felt very tired and sleepy
Doctor ordered a urinalysis and told that there is some infection and prescribed nitrofuronton.Went back to doctor after a week still similar symptoms but better than last week.she took urinalysis and told infection is cleared and referred me to a internal medicine doctor.
This doctor asked med the symptoms and ordered urinalysis, comp. metabolic panel,tsh free t4,testoterone free and total
He told all test results are normal but testosterone is low
Total testosterone : 342 ng/dl
Free testosterone :13.7 pg/ml
So he ordered fsh and lh level test
Lh 6.8
Fsh 3.2
So he told fsh and lh are normal and reordred total and free testosterone test
The results are lower than the last time
Total test :309 ng/dl
Free test :8.9 pg/ml
So he told me to start on androgel 50mg daily and check the levels after 3 months.
I read about androgel and was skeptical to start on it due to my age as it causes fertility issues.
Can you please suggest if i could try natural ways (like excercise and food) to restore my testosterone.
Thanks
Brief Answer:
Testosterone
Detailed Answer:
I follow your question. Your concerns regarding use of testosterone at your young age are legitimate.
Some studies have shown that losing weight (if one is overweight/obese) and increasing physical activity/fitness levels can raise testosterone levels in the blood.
However, there are some more important questions to be answered here.
One of them is : do you really have a low testosterone condition?
Making this diagnosis can be complex.
The best time to draw a blood sample for this is in the morning time before 10 am, earlier the better. Because later in the day, testosterone levels tend to fall naturally.. So if a blood sample is taken in the afternoon you will get a misleadingly low value.
Next point is that it is the Free Testosterone that is the true reflection of the body's testosterone status. But few laboratories run this test with the ideal test method called Equilibrium Dialysis.
So check with your lab which method ('assay') they use.
If they do not use ED for measuring Free Testosterone it can be reliably estimated using results of two more blood tests called
Serum Albumin
SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin)
Then if the free testosterone is below normal, one can commence tests to determine the cause of it. FSH and LH do help, but sometimes we order more tests as deemed appropriate based on findings on physical examination such as :
Prolactin
Ferritin
Endocrinologists are best qualified to handle this condition with it's nuances. I suggest you see one in person
Testosterone
Detailed Answer:
I follow your question. Your concerns regarding use of testosterone at your young age are legitimate.
Some studies have shown that losing weight (if one is overweight/obese) and increasing physical activity/fitness levels can raise testosterone levels in the blood.
However, there are some more important questions to be answered here.
One of them is : do you really have a low testosterone condition?
Making this diagnosis can be complex.
The best time to draw a blood sample for this is in the morning time before 10 am, earlier the better. Because later in the day, testosterone levels tend to fall naturally.. So if a blood sample is taken in the afternoon you will get a misleadingly low value.
Next point is that it is the Free Testosterone that is the true reflection of the body's testosterone status. But few laboratories run this test with the ideal test method called Equilibrium Dialysis.
So check with your lab which method ('assay') they use.
If they do not use ED for measuring Free Testosterone it can be reliably estimated using results of two more blood tests called
Serum Albumin
SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin)
Then if the free testosterone is below normal, one can commence tests to determine the cause of it. FSH and LH do help, but sometimes we order more tests as deemed appropriate based on findings on physical examination such as :
Prolactin
Ferritin
Endocrinologists are best qualified to handle this condition with it's nuances. I suggest you see one in person
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Hello Doctor,
Thank you for your response. All my tests are done arround 8:30 - 9 AM.
Labs are done by labcorp.
Can you please suggest me a good endocronologist in kansas city ?
Also i have few more questions .
1) Are my fsh 3.2 and lh 6.8 levels are in normal range ?
2) If i start androgel is it permanent for life time ?
3) I was having low vitamin D levels in the beginning of this year during routine physical. Could this be one of the reason for my low levels of testosterone ?
Thank
Thank you for your response. All my tests are done arround 8:30 - 9 AM.
Labs are done by labcorp.
Can you please suggest me a good endocronologist in kansas city ?
Also i have few more questions .
1) Are my fsh 3.2 and lh 6.8 levels are in normal range ?
2) If i start androgel is it permanent for life time ?
3) I was having low vitamin D levels in the beginning of this year during routine physical. Could this be one of the reason for my low levels of testosterone ?
Thank
Brief Answer:
Follow up
Detailed Answer:
I have noted your responses.
Further answers
1) Are my fsh 3.2 and lh 6.8 levels are in normal range ?
At face value they are considered normal but it also depends on the lab you went to and the reference ranges on that lab. More importantly, they are best interpreted in light of free testosterone reading.
2) If i start androgel is it permanent for life time ?
The answer to this depends on the cause of the low testosterone problem. If it is a treatable and reversible one then androgel can be stopped.
3) I was having low vitamin D levels in the beginning of this year during routine physical. Could this be one of the reason for my low levels of testosterone ?
No
I am providing you with some guidance on locating endocrinologists near you.
http://mymidwestphysician.com/physicians/profile/Mini-R-Abraham-MD
and
Kyner, XXXXXXX MD,FACE Univ. of Kansas Med. Ctr.
3901 Rainbow Blvd Kansas City KS 66103 (913) 588-6022
Follow up
Detailed Answer:
I have noted your responses.
Further answers
1) Are my fsh 3.2 and lh 6.8 levels are in normal range ?
At face value they are considered normal but it also depends on the lab you went to and the reference ranges on that lab. More importantly, they are best interpreted in light of free testosterone reading.
2) If i start androgel is it permanent for life time ?
The answer to this depends on the cause of the low testosterone problem. If it is a treatable and reversible one then androgel can be stopped.
3) I was having low vitamin D levels in the beginning of this year during routine physical. Could this be one of the reason for my low levels of testosterone ?
No
I am providing you with some guidance on locating endocrinologists near you.
http://mymidwestphysician.com/physicians/profile/Mini-R-Abraham-MD
and
Kyner, XXXXXXX MD,FACE Univ. of Kansas Med. Ctr.
3901 Rainbow Blvd Kansas City KS 66103 (913) 588-6022
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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