The “Test” Test: Day 10

Posted By elissa on Apr 18, 2008 | 0 comments

So far, we’re rolling right along.  John’s been taking the IsaTest as directed each day, and doing a pretty good job keeping tabs on his diet…He’s been consuming approx. 2300 calories/day and averaging 1 g of protein per pound of body weight.  His weight is still 212 lbs. (this represents a 2 lbs. loss from Day 0).  The workout cycle is repeating, so we’ll be able to assess any progress on the strength front.  We’ll also do a body comp test this weekend.  Stay tuned…

Libido-wise, he says he feels a little more “energized” – which I’d say is a fair assessment.  And no – I’m not writing that in a “wink-wink” sort of way.  He’s always been interested and we have a pretty active sex life.  So while I haven’t noticed a huge jump in frequency (he’s not waking me up in the middle of the night, for example), there’s…I dunno…more of a gleam in his eye, maybe?

His baseline lab tests came back today too.  Here’s a summary:

1. Basic Blood Chemistry (i.e., glucose, BUN, creatinine) – all within normal limits
2. Total Cholesterol: 208 mg/dl – the reference range is 100 – 199, so this is a little high
3. Triglycerides: 83 mg/dl – normal
4. HDL Cholesterol: 61 mg/dl – the reference range is 40 – 59, so this is also high, but that’s a good thing, as values over 59 mg/dl are associated with reduced cardiac risk
5. LDL Cholesterol: 130 mg/dl – the reference range is 0 – 99, so this is definitely high.  Interestingly enough, though, his Total Cholesterol to HDL ratio is 3.4, which is associated with half the average risk of developing CHD.  So this is something to be cautious of, but his overall risk profile looks good, in spite of this
6. Other Risk Factors, such as Homocysteine, PSA, and C-Reactive Protein are all within normal limits (PSA and C-Reactive Protein are rather low; Homocysteine is smack in the middle of the reference range)
7. DHEA-Sulfate: 321 ug/dl – the reference range is 70 – 310, so this is also high, but he’s been taking 25 mg DHEA/day, so no surprise, really
8. Total Testosterone: 722 ng/dl – the reference range is 241 – 827
9. Free Testosterone: 14.7 pg/dl – the reference range is 7.2 – 24.0
10. Estradiol: 37 pg/ml – the reference range is 0 – 53
11. Everything else (i.e., cell counts, hematocrit, platelets, etc.) – normal

The total T surprised me a bit, to be honest.  But high normal is nothing to complain about – I know younger guys who’d kill to have that.  The Free T could be a bit better though, so it will be nice if IsaTest offers some improvement in this area.  We’ll see…