Testosterone level fluctuation

[tr_80504 (imported)]

I was just wondering if anyone can tell me if testosterone levels fluctuate. The ultrasound said my testicles are dead and my T level was 24 ng/dL. My latest T level is 29 ng/dL. I am just curious if this is normal. I would hate to think that there is some life there or that they are trying to recover.

Thanks Terry

[kristoff]

I was just wondering if anyone can tell me if testosterone levels fluctuate. The ultrasound said my testicles are dead and my T level was 24 ng/dL. My latest T level is 29 ng/dL. I am just curious if this is normal. I would hate to think that there is some life there or that they are trying to recover.

Thanks Terry

you are at complete castrate level. Your only T is coming from your adrenal glands. The levels are normal for your situation. Some variance is to be expected.

[clysmaniac (imported)]

It is also nornal for your testosterone level to vary during the day- higher in the AM and gradually lowering after that. I've always tried to schedule my T blood draws at the same time to minimize that variable. The lab is pretty much on the way home from work so I have always had it drawn in late afternoon. I can't say how much lower these readings are from the morning values but at least there is some consistency with them.

bobbie

[bobbie (imported)]

I was just wondering if anyone can tell me if testosterone levels fluctuate. The ultrasound said my testicles are dead and my T level was 24 ng/dL. My latest T level is 29 ng/dL. I am just curious if this is normal. I would hate to think that there is some life there or that they are trying to recover.

Thanks Terry

When levels are that low the accuracy of the test comes in question. Not uncommon for a test to come back with no number. You are talking about some very small numbers. Morning numbers will be a little higher. With yours less then 50ng/dl you should not notice any change in you life style. Think that can be said for people with even higher numbers.

[tr_80504 (imported)]

I didn't realize that low t level is harder to measure accurately and that time of day can effect things.

Also the labs that did my lab work changed, usually I had my blood work done by a lab my GP uses and that was usually at around 8 am and was 24ng/dL this time I had my blood work done at the hospital my urologist uses at 12:30 pm and it was 29ng/dL. So maybe the labs measure things alittle different also.

The good thing is my urologist is a young male doc and has already started talking about removal. He said the is not really any since in keeping dead tissue and that is what my testicles are.

[cordonone (imported)]

When levels are that low the accuracy of the test comes in question. Not uncommon for a test to come back with no number. You are talking about some very small numbers. Morning numbers will be a little higher. With yours less then 50ng/dl you should not notice any change in you life style. Think that can be said for people with even higher numbers.

as someone else already pointed out, the adrenal glands produce a small amount of testosterone. for me, when i don't use hrt, it clocks at around 30ng/dl.

[ramses (imported)]

Consuming sugar and sweets can affect you T levels in a downward way as well.

Testosterone Decreases after Ingestion of Sugar

June 14th, 2009 in Medicine & Health / Research

Men with low testosterone should have their hormone levels retested after they fast overnight because eating may transiently lower testosterone levels, a new study concludes.

“Both the incidence of low testosterone, or hypogonadism, in men and the annual number of testosterone prescriptions are increasing, likely as a result of the obesity epidemic and our aging population,” said study co-author Frances Hayes, MD, an endocrinologist at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, who did the research at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. “The decision to prescribe testosterone therapy is based on the result of a blood sample, so obtaining an accurate measurement of testosterone is key to making a correct diagnosis of hypogonadism.”

In current guidelines for evaluating men with hypogonadism, The Endocrine Society recommends measuring blood levels of testosterone—the major male sex hormone—on two or more occasions in the morning, when testosterone is highest. However, no guidelines exist on when to draw a testosterone sample in relation to food intake, Hayes said.

Past research shows that a high level of insulin, the hormone primarily secreted after eating, is related to low testosterone levels. Like eating, glucose intake causes blood glucose (sugar) levels to rise, which stimulates secretion of insulin. Hayes and her colleagues examined the impact of a standard dose of glucose on testosterone levels in 74 men. The researchers administered the oral glucose tolerance test, a screening test for diabetes that involves drinking a sugary solution (75 grams of pure glucose) and then measuring blood sugar levels.

Of the 74 men, 42 had normal glucose tolerance on the test, 23 had impaired glucose tolerance (also called prediabetes) and 9 had newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

The authors found that the glucose solution decreased blood levels of testosterone by as much as 25 percent, regardless of whether the men had diabetes, prediabetes or normal glucose tolerance.

Two hours after glucose administration, the testosterone level remained much lower than before the test in 73 of the 74 men, a statistically significant difference, the authors reported. Of the 66 men who had normal testosterone levels before the test, 10 (15 percent) became hypogonadal at one or more time points during the test.

The results did not differ by changes in insulin levels, according to the abstract. Other hormones that could change testosterone measurements also did not appear to affect results. Hayes said more research is needed to find the factor or factors responsible for this drop in testosterone.

Because glucose intake, and likely food, decreases testosterone, she said, “This research supports the notion that men found to have low testosterone levels should be reevaluated in the fasting state.”

Source: The Endocrine Society (news : web)

"Testosterone Decreases after Ingestion of Sugar." June 14th, 2009. www.physorg.com/news164164943.html