Where to start from these numbers?
44, struggling with fatigue and weight control for several years. I went to a TRT clinic a year ago just to see, my T was within normal but low enough they wanted to start me on T injections. I was annoyed by the sales pitch, after doing some research into the side effects and costs decided to try some other things first.
After a year on Tirzepatide I'm down 45 pounds (275->230). Down from 34% body fat to 30%, according to the "smart" scale. Weight loss has been stalled out for about 6 weeks. Still seeing some gains in the gym.
I do all of the conventional wisdom things to stay healthy and keep the testosterone up. I go to bed, but don't always sleep through the night (yay insomnia). Lift heavy 3-4/wk. Eat plenty of protein. No tobacco or other drugs. Alcohol very rarely. Working to drop another 20-30 pounds.
Ran a bunch of blood tests this week. Cholesterol is a little high, but that's to be expected when losing weight. Total T at 700, but free at 54. SHBG is high at 64.
Apparently caloric deficit and low carb can contribute to high SHBG, which contributes to low free T...but caloric deficit is what I need to lose the weight. Trust me, there's plenty of flab left to lose.
Where would you go from here? Is it possible to improve my SHBG/free T situation while also losing weight?
Posted Jul 3, 2026, 6:20 PM UTC