Help me interpret my wife's blood tests please ...

[THeMaCHinE]

Yes, test levels are key.

I'll see what we can do to get test levels tested; a guy on the main board thought the T4 looked on the low end and was interested in seeing a complete thyroid test with bound/free T3 levels and so on.

Wife is also on BC pill.

 

[FitFossil]

If she's going to test test, make sure she gets the one for "Free testosterone", not just "total testosterone". Free tells how much testosterone is actually available in her system and not bound up by SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). I believe being on the BC pill can cause a lot of your natural test to get bound up by SHBG (which sucks!).

Make sure she gets a printed copy of the results. I know of an instance where a woman had a testosterone result of 0.0, and the doctor told her it was "normal" (!!)

Has she considered a non-hormonal form of BC? For some women, hormonal BC can be a real road-block to fat loss.

 

[THeMaCHinE]

If she's going to test test, make sure she gets the one for "Free testosterone", not just "total testosterone". Free tells how much testosterone is actually available in her system and not bound up by SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). I believe being on the BC pill can cause a lot of your natural test to get bound up by SHBG (which sucks!).

Make sure she gets a printed copy of the results. I know of an instance where a woman had a testosterone result of 0.0, and the doctor told her it was "normal" (!!)

Has she considered a non-hormonal form of BC? For some women, hormonal BC can be a real road-block to fat loss.

Interesting about the BC and SHBG. Would probably look at total and free test on the test.

Yeah, we've considered non-hormonal BC -- me getting the snip!

I know I should suck it up and do it, but damn it scares the s@#t out of me! Male andropause, etc ...

 

[FitFossil]

...Yeah, we've considered non-hormonal BC -- me getting the snip! I know I should suck it up and do it, but damn it scares the s@#t out of me! Male andropause, etc ...

Male andropause?! By "the snip" I'm assuming you're talking about a vascectomy, right? All they're doing is cutting and tying off the tubes that carry sperm from the scrotum to the penis. You'll be sore for a few days (this is what those bags of frozen peas were made for ). Just a tiny scar. You'll still have your testosterone and all your parts, and they'll all work just fine - it's not castration!

I remember telling my husband I wanted a tubal ligation, and he said he'd rather get the snip since he thought it'd be "safer and easier for men" (which IS true) - it's the gift that keeps on giving!