Usually, it seems to take anything from a week for a fortnight for blood test results to make their way from the phlebotomist to the endocrinologist and for them to produce a letter back to the GP. Yesterday’s results, despite the missing form that would have sent them to the endocrinologist, have arrived back at the GP’s already. That is less than twenty-four hour turn around!

There are results for a full blood count and liver function, which I’ll ignore here (they are all fine).

There are the test results for my prostate, which remains happily healthy. It occurs to me that I have a health advantage here: men of younger than my age are at increased risk of prostate cancer. Mine is being monitored every three months as a result of my surgery and the external testosterone, as that’s thought to increase the risk of prostate cancer. Well, I think its an advantage – though maybe less so if there’s an actual risk of cancer!

Regarding my testosterone levels, these recorded at 12.99 nmol/L. That compares with 19.7 nmol/L on the 15th November 2024. Yesterday’s test was taken at around midday (the endocrinologist had recommended that I get tested about six hours after applying the gel; five hours was the best I could do). The test in November last year was done at about 9am, since the usual testosterone tests for people with testicles need to be done as early in the morning as possible – whilst I might already have been detesticulated in November last year, nobody had told me that the protocol for testosterone blood tests when on Testavan needed to be different.

The NHS states that normal testosterone levels range from 10 to 27 nmol/L when measured before 10 am. There are no notes regarding the normal range for those without testicles and on T-gel.

However, my doctor is happy.

I am considering increasing my dose to a double pump every other day, as well the double pump on the weekends. Perhaps it will give me a little more oomph and help with the custard that is gathering around my middle!

Talking to a friend about this, he feels that I am effectively micro-dosing. I’d already discussed this with my husband, but I am going to formalise two pumps on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and see how I feel. Hopefully less tired!

My friend (let’s call him Cicero), reckons that the NSH recommend range for testosterone is way to broad. His private clinic immediately started treating him at 13.5 nmol/L – that’s less than 0.5 nmol/L less than I am now!

Cicero and I agree that it is a privilege to be able to experiment with this part of our body’s workings to find the most comfortable setup for us.