Testing Your Testosterone Level – A Newbie Guide

Your average family doctor is like a good mechanic – he knows how everything in your car fits together, and he is a huge help in keeping you on the road.

Having said that, do you think that your mechanic could fix the CD player in your car if it broke? Would he be able to fix the tracking system that keeps the laser moving correctly over the CD? I doubt it.

The human body is incredibly complex. The endocrine system if one of the most complex and fascinating systems within the human body, and the bad news is that your family doctor probably doesn’t know all that much about it. He can give you an overall picture of what is going on under the hood, but don’t expect him to be an endocrinologist. You should take the time to learn a little about ordering and interpreting your own lab tests.

There are a few important numbers that you want to know:

Total Testosterone

This is the standard test, and your doctor is most likely very familiar with it. It’s a vitally important number, and the first step in figuring out if you have low T. ‘Normal’ levels for this test are generally considered to be between a low of 300 ng/dL up to a high of 1200 ng/dL. Any value within this range is considered ‘normal’ by most doctors. The lab will generally only flag a test as abnormal if it lies outside that range.

Therein lies a problem – the average total T test for men over 40 shows a concentration of 450 ng/dL. For a healthy young man in his 30s, it is generally very uncommon to see a result of less than 350 ng/dL. In my opinion (and I am not a doctor, so it’s just my opinion), if you are a 30 year old guy with a total T of 310 ng/dL you have a problem, but your doctor may not interpret your results that way. You need to understand how to interpret your own test.

Additionally, you would be well advised to make sure that total T is not the only test that you get. It is reflects both ‘free’ and ‘bound’ testosterone. Bound testosterone is not available to the cells, as it is linked to proteins such as albumin and SHBG. You really need to understand how much testosterone is actually available to the cells – so called ‘free T’.

Free (unbound) Testosterone

You should push to get this test, even if your doctor does not suggest it. Free T makes up only 1-2% of all circulating testosterone in the body, but it’s a great indicator of how much T is actually available to the cells. It is not unheard of for a man to have the symptoms of low T, but a normal total T reading. Sometimes the problem is only shown by looking at the total and free values together.

I hesitate to talk about ‘normal’ values for free T – different labs use different test methodologies and report this value in different ways. The lab will give guidance on the normal ranges for their tests.

Knowing these two values (total T and free T) are your first step in your journey towards figuring out if you have low T. Figure out these numbers, and then figure out your course of action.

I should also tell you that there is a lot of debate about what is considered ‘low’ in these types of lab results. In my case, I did not have what would be considered clinical ‘low T’ by many doctors, but I had all of the symptoms and my quality of life increased immensely when I addressed them.

This is the biggest problem with T level testing – the official guidance seems to be that a clinical condition only exists at  300 ng/dL total T or below. If you are a 30 year old guy with all of the symptoms of low T, but a total T of 301 ng/dL, your doctor might tell you that your T levels are fine. Understand your own test readings, and insist on a referral to a specialist.

Mind you, all of this knowledge is useless if you don’t get your T level tested in the first place. My suspicion is that most men with low T never get tested because…, well…, because they can’t be bothered. Try googling low T side effects, and notice all of the mentions of lethargy and depression.

If you think you have low T, take some action – you only get one chance at life – this is not a rehearsal.

P.S – If you want to get testosterone tests done fast, I personally use PrePaidLab – it’s exactly the same tests that your doctor would order, but you don’t have the hassle of a doctor visit. People don’t realize that you can manage your own tests – you don’t have to use your doctor for this.

For me, it works like this:

1. I order the free and total testosterone test online. The link goes to the exact test that I use.
2. The next morning, I go to my local test center (they are located everywhere – there are four locations within 5 miles of my house!) and give my sample. No appointment needed.
3. In 48 hours, I get my results via e-mail!.
4. If my T is low, I take action! You can give the results to your doctor – they are the same ones that he would order anyway.

Easy! If you suspect that you have low T, you just need to take that first step and get tested!

You can discuss testosterone testing with the ‘hormone hacking’ community at the meHacker forum.