/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46949247
>Low free testosterone
>Normal total testosterone
Testosterone, like all steroid hormones, is lipid-soluble, not water soluble, therefore it does not exist in the blood in free form but rather bound to plasma proteins such as Albumin or Sex-Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG)

Low free testosterone with normal total testosterone suggests a problem with the distribution of testosterone rather than the production of testosterone, this could be to increased amounts of plasma proteins (Albumin or SHBG or both) which bind testosterone which lowers free testosterone while keeping total testosterone normal. Also, like I said, testosterone is lipid-soluble, it distributes itself to fatty tissue thereby lowering its concentration in the blood, if you have too much fat this could also be a potential reason.

>distribution of fat
Do you mean you have female fat distribution (i.e. more fat around in the hips and thighs rather than in the abdomen)? If so this suggests hyperestrogenism, which could be due to high FSH or LH due to negative feedback compensation, i.e. hypergonadotropic hypogonadism
If you have gynecomastia then this is even a stronger evidence of hyperestrogenism and you should get checked for LH, FSH and Estradiol levels.

Assuming you have hyperestrogenism, the cause-effect relationship is not really clear here, it is possible that the primary pathology is causing high estrogen levels and this then caused an increase in SHBG levels thereby decreasing free testosterone OR the primary pathology is causing increased SHBG levels and this then caused high estrogen levels by negative feedback mechanisms.

This definitely requires more investigation as it could be a serious problem like a hormone secreting tumor, ESPECIALLY if all these symptoms started recently and/or suddenly.