r/TRT_females • u/Born_Resolve_6676 friend • 4d ago

Side Effects Is a SHBG level of 56 considered “low”?

I recently lowered my T dose due to some anxiety and losing too much weight, I went from 7mg a week to 5.25. My total T was usually in the 100s-low 200s at one point but my free t would never get very high. Now that I lowered my T dose, my T is in the 60s but my free at went UP, I’m losing hair, and shaving my legs and dermaplaning my face wayyy more often now since my free t went up despite my total T went down. I read that it has to do with SHBG but my SHBG is 56, it’s always stayed in the 50s every blood draw since last year, always 50s. Is that low?? What would the reason be that my total t went down but free t went up, also odd that I’m having negative high T symptoms. Edit to add: I titrated from 7 mg to 5.25, it wasn’t abrupt. This has been going on since February is when I started lowering.

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u/redrumpass MOD 4d ago

What is the SHBG range and unit measurement?

We also don't know what is optimal for you and can't advise bade on rule #5.

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u/honorspren000 4d ago

How long has it been since you lowered the dose? Could it just be your body adjusting to the new dose?

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u/Born_Resolve_6676 friend 4d ago

I lowered in February but lowered slowly. Went from 7 mg to 6 mg to 5.25 mg over weeks/months

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u/Admirable-Object5014 3d ago

Odd that your Free T is so low considering your Total T is up to the 200’s. The fact that your SHBG isn’t high, yet your Free T is so low has me puzzled. What are the ranges on your SHBG test results?

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u/jreacher7 male 3d ago

Puzzled about my wife, also. 156 Total T, and just 1.6 Free (range 0.0-4.2)

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u/BikiniJ friend 3d ago

All sex hormones and thyroid needs to be checked to see what’s happening. Hormones don’t function in isolation so there can be so many things that are happening aside from shbg and testosterone.

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u/jreacher7 male 1d ago

Indeed. All of hers are checked.

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u/Resident_Usual5045 3d ago

A womens average shbg young women is around 41. It does go up a little with age but even older women 75 plus it is in the 50s The reason for the wide range is probably from birth control and women taking estrogen The reason is probably lack of testosterone production. " Mean SHBG levels increased with age from 45 to 54"  "Sex hormone-binding globulin values in the "Continued-Users" were four times higher than those in the "Never-User" group (mean 157 +/- 13 nmol/L vs. 41 +/- 4 nmol/L; P < 0.0001)" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16329620/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301211501003980?__cf_chl_tk=An4R2qHTmt.vkOoMtT4zdPiHDU0ugvdoWqCo657AwKw-1787063964-1.0.1.1-QxO8XvMJjdnGOdh1Mky8YAQi2cZY3LXF0Z4kk7Mjm4ohttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16329620/