Hormone panel changes — anyone have experience?

claudia_zurich said:

Quarterly for the first year is convention rather than evidence, and it is defensible for a simple reason: it is roughly the interval over which HbA1c…

Saving this. It is the first explanation that did not require me to already understand it.

From the other side of the consultation, briefly.

Sex hormone labs after weight loss on the hormone panel — for the men in this thread:

Testosterone: 323 → 603 ng/dL (dramatic improvement!)
Free T: 5.8 → 14.3 ng/dL
Estradiol: 50 → 25 pg/mL
SHBG: 21 → 49 nmol/L

Visceral fat contains aromatase which converts testosterone to estrogen. As you lose visceral fat, this conversion decreases and testosterone naturally rises. I feel 10 years younger.

TrialNerd_Beth said:

A defensible baseline is short: HbA1c and fasting glucose, a lipid panel with ApoB if you can get it, ALT and AST, creatinine with eGFR, TSH, ferritin…

HPA axis assessment on the hormone panel: rarely ordered but informative for understanding the stress-metabolism connection:

4-point salivary cortisol:

• Morning: 19 ng/mL → 15 ng/mL (improved)
• Noon: 9 ng/mL → 6 ng/mL
• Evening: 5 ng/mL → 2 ng/mL
• Night: 3 ng/mL → 1 ng/mL

The cortisol curve is normalizing — less flat, better diurnal variation. Reduced visceral fat = reduced cortisol overproduction. The metabolic benefits cascade into stress hormone regulation.

PharmHunterJen said:

Most of the hormonal change here is a consequence of adiposity falling rather than a drug effect.

Hormone panel changes on the hormone panel — relevant for anyone curious about endocrine effects:

• Testosterone: increased 28% (weight loss reduces aromatase in adipose tissue)
• Estradiol: normalized from elevated baseline
• SHBG: increased appropriately
• Free testosterone: increased 31%
• Cortisol AM: within normal limits, no significant change

My reproductive endocrinologist says the testosterone improvement alone could explain the energy and mood benefits I've experienced.

Moderator note: leaving this open. It is being argued well and the disagreement is the useful part. Tagging this one for the weekly digest.