Blood test is back

[corza000]

So as I have said I have been suffering from anxiety/mood swings/panic attacks/negative thoughts in my more recent time of using finasteride. I wanted to see if I could test to see if the drug is having an adverse effect on me before dropping it to ensure that finasteride is the cause. So I got a testosterone test done and got a level of 9.6 nmol/L on that. I have no idea what that means or what else to test for to see if the finasteride is a cause. I have since asked the dr for my progesterone to be tested but again I do not know what to look for. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[zzzzz]

ask the doctor for the reference range, but it is usually included on the sheet. If your individual levels fall anywhere within the reference range, the levels are normal

vim is also correct that it raises testosterone in 100% of cases

 

[Vim]

So as I have said I have been suffering from anxiety/mood swings/panic attacks/negative thoughts in my more recent time of using finasteride. I wanted to see if I could test to see if the drug is having an adverse effect on me before dropping it to ensure that finasteride is the cause. So I got a testosterone test done and got a level of 9.6 nmol/L on that. I have no idea what that means or what else to test for to see if the finasteride is a cause. I have since asked the dr for my progesterone to be tested but again I do not know what to look for. Any advice? Thanks!

My testosterone is 37 nmol/l, but it's too high. The ranges go depending on your lab, from around 6 to 30. I don't think finasteride could lower your T. Finasteride raises serum testosterone by about 9%. I think you're on a pretty low range for T. What are your estradiol levels? The symptoms you are feeling could be symptoms of low T and high estrogen in your body.

 

[corza000]

thanks heaps for the replies. is there a reason my testosterone would be on the low end (if it is?). I asked the doctor for t, t-free, estrogen etc. but he said that its all included in that testosterone reading and that estrogen is females so its not necessary. the only thing shown on the results sheet is that one testosterone reading might there also be a reference range which breaks it down too?. he is not sure about the effects of finasteride in general but is getting tests to which I ask for (which is better than my last 2 doctors who strongly deny that finasteride has any mental effect on anyone and decline doing blood tests). My aim is to find out if the finasteride is having an effect on my allopregnanolones or progesterone or anything that might effect anxiety etc. but to be honest I do not know what tests will show this. any advice? thanks

 

[zzzzz]

thanks heaps for the replies. is there a reason my testosterone would be on the low end (if it is?). I asked the doctor for t, t-free, estrogen etc. but he said that its all included in that testosterone reading and that estrogen is females so its not necessary. the only thing shown on the results sheet is that one testosterone reading might there also be a reference range which breaks it down too?. he is not sure about the effects of finasteride in general but is getting tests to which I ask for (which is better than my last 2 doctors who strongly deny that finasteride has any mental effect on anyone and decline doing blood tests). My aim is to find out if the finasteride is having an effect on my allopregnanolones or progesterone or anything that might effect anxiety etc. but to be honest I do not know what tests will show this. any advice? thanks

if your testosterone is low there could be a lot of reasons why but finasteride isn't one of them

 

[corza000]

what test will show the mental effect? progesterone? alleopregnanolone? GABA?

 

[Vim]

There is not one single hormone responsible for your mental well being, it's all of them and whether or not they are in balance.
First off, your Doctor saying that you don't have to check estrogen since they are female hormones is a red flag. You are taking finasteride and it can alter the estrogen in your body. Your testosterone to estrogen ratio is very important both to your body and your mental health. There are various reasons you could be on the lower scale of T, hypogondism, malfunction of the pituitary gland and others. So just to be sure check your FSH and FH levels, and tell your Doctor to check your estrogen. GL.

 

[corza000]

Thanks for the reply vim. I will definitely get the estrogen checked. Is there a list of other things which could be causing anxiety/depression from finasteride that could be tested while I'm there getting the estrogen checked? I have only read the research about progesterone and allopregnanolones and their effect but I'm not sure if you can have those things tested.

 

[Vim]

I don't know about allopregnanolone but checking progesterone should't be a problem. It's best to check everything out, like i sad, fsh fh estradiol progesterone testosterone and even prolactin.

 

[corza000]

Thanks vim. I'll ask to get t, t-free, estrogen, progesterone, fsh, fh and estrodial. Hopefully that covers the areas of concern.

 

[corza000]

Ok I have the results back. I don't know how to read these but from a look I found it strange that my testosterone had gone up from 9.6 nmol to 20.1 nmol in the space of 3 weeks. Any insight into my results would be greatly appreciated:

Testosterone (male) 20.1 nmol/L (8.0-26)
Lutropin (Centaur) 3.3 IU/L (1.5-9.3)
Follitropin (Centaur) 3.2 IU/L (1.4-18)
Progesterone (Centaur) 2.6 nmol/L (0.9-3.9)
Oestradiol (Centaur) 116 pmol/L (<146)
SHBG (Immulite) 60 nmol/L (13-71)

 

[corza000]

Anyone?

 

[Vim]

Wow, such a boost w/o using any HRT is very uncommon. What comes to mind is your thyroid gland but you should visit an endocrinologist for that one. I'll send you a link for a great website/forum where you can find many useful and practical information. Good luck.