Your bloods, marker by marker.

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• Walking into your GP with a clean recordWhat to bring to a doctor's appointment about TRT, how to lay it out, and why a two-page export beats a folder of PDFs.
• Estradiol on TRT without an aromatase inhibitorWhy the ratio matters more than the number, what high and crashed estradiol feel like, and the order people try things in.
• Hematocrit on TRT: the number that stops protocolsWhy testosterone thickens the blood, where the 52 percent line comes from, and what people actually do when they cross it.
• From lab PDF to a tracker in one minuteHow to get every marker off a Medichecks, Thriva, Randox or clinic PDF into one place where the change since last time is visible.
• Peptides, MK-677 and your blood sugarWhy growth hormone and its secretagogues push fasting glucose and HbA1c up, how to read the numbers, and what people do about it.
• Reading your first TRT blood testThe five numbers that matter, the order to read them in, and the traps a first panel sets for everyone.
• UK labs, units and what to order: Medichecks, Thriva, RandoxWhat the UK testing services include, what a TRT panel should contain, and how to read nmol/L and mmol/L next to US numbers.
• What UK TRT clinics test, and whenThe baseline, the three-month check and the yearly panel most UK clinics run, so you know what to expect and what to ask for.

Sex Hormones

The numbers the protocol is set by. Testosterone, its free fraction, estradiol, the binding protein and the pituitary signals.

• Total Testosterone on TRTTotal testosterone is everything in the blood, bound and free
• Free Testosterone on TRTFree testosterone is the small fraction, about two percent, not bound to SHBG or albumin
• Estradiol on TRTEstradiol (E2) is the estrogen men make from testosterone through aromatase
• SHBG on TRTSex hormone binding globulin is the protein that carries testosterone in the blood
• Prolactin on TRTProlactin is a pituitary hormone
• LH on TRTLuteinizing hormone is the brain telling the testes to make testosterone
• FSH on TRTFollicle stimulating hormone drives sperm production
• PSA on TRTProstate specific antigen is a protein the prostate leaks into the blood
• IGF-1 on TRTIGF-1 is the growth-hormone messenger the liver makes
• DHT on TRTDihydrotestosterone is testosterone converted by 5-alpha reductase
• Cortisol AM on TRTMorning cortisol is the stress hormone at its daily peak

Lipids

Cholesterol and its carriers. This is the panel androgens push the wrong way, and the one worth reading as ratios.

• HDL on TRTHDL is the cholesterol carried away from the arteries
• LDL on TRTLDL is the cholesterol that builds plaque
• Triglycerides on TRTTriglycerides are fat in transit, mostly from carbohydrate and alcohol
• Total Cholesterol on TRTTotal cholesterol is HDL, LDL and the rest added up
• Non-HDL Cholesterol on TRTNon-HDL cholesterol is everything except HDL: all the particles that can build plaque, in one number
• TC/HDL Ratio on TRTThe total cholesterol to HDL ratio is total divided by HDL
• ApoB on TRTApolipoprotein B counts the particles that build plaque, one ApoB per particle

Blood Count

Red cells and iron stores. Hematocrit is the number that stops more protocols than any other.

• Hematocrit on TRTHematocrit is the share of the blood that is red cells
• Hemoglobin on TRTHemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying protein in red cells
• Red Blood Cells on TRTRed blood cell count is the number of red cells per volume
• Ferritin on TRTFerritin is stored iron

Metabolic

Blood sugar, insulin and the muscle enzyme that makes liver panels look worse than they are.

• Fasting Glucose on TRTFasting glucose is blood sugar after a night without food
• HbA1c on TRTHbA1c is the share of hemoglobin with sugar stuck to it
• Insulin on TRTFasting insulin shows how hard the pancreas is working to keep glucose normal
• Creatine Kinase on TRTCreatine kinase leaks from muscle when it is worked or damaged

Kidney & Electrolytes

Filtration and salts. Creatinine lies to lifters; cystatin C does not.

• Creatinine on TRTCreatinine is a waste product of muscle metabolism cleared by the kidneys
• eGFR on TRTeGFR estimates how well the kidneys filter, calculated from creatinine, age and sex
• Cystatin C on TRTCystatin C is a protein every cell makes at a steady rate, cleared by the kidneys

Liver

The enzymes that orals push up, and the one that separates a liver problem from a hard training week.

• ALT on TRTALT is the liver enzyme most specific to the liver, and it also leaks from muscle after training
• AST on TRTAST is a liver enzyme that also lives in muscle and heart
• GGT on TRTGGT is the liver enzyme that does not live in muscle

Thyroid

Metabolic rate. The first system a long diet suppresses.

• TSH on TRTThyroid stimulating hormone is the brain asking the thyroid for more
• Free T4 on TRTFree T4 is the storage form of thyroid hormone, made by the gland and converted to T3 in tissue
• Free T3 on TRTFree T3 is the active thyroid hormone, the one that sets metabolic rate

Vitamins & Minerals

The cheap fixes that show up in energy and recovery.

• Vitamin D (25-OH) on TRTVitamin D (25-OH) is the storage form measured in blood
• Vitamin B12 on TRTVitamin B12 is needed to make red cells and to keep nerves working

Inflammation

Background inflammation and clot risk, the quiet numbers next to hematocrit.

• hs-CRP on TRTHigh-sensitivity CRP is the general inflammation marker
• Homocysteine on TRTHomocysteine is an amino acid that builds up when the B vitamins that recycle it run short