Hi there. Was wondering since some people have different levels of response to testosterone, if one person for example has to take twice as much to achieve the same serum levels, is their health impacted twice as much? Or is it the actual serum levels that dictate the impact on health. Thanks

AlphaMD's Answer

The short answer is closer to the second question's implication.

The longer answer is that each man has a certain aptitude to accept Free Testosterone floating around & will react differently to to higher levels of Testosterone. A gentleman later in life suffering from relative hypogonadism with a higher base Testosterone level is going to need a higher dose of Testosterone than someone who has primary or secondary hypogonadism with a lower base level. That's because he has more suppression to overcome to reach back to the levels he had previously in life.

In general, a therapeutic raise would be expected in both patients, without more issues for the higher base level patient. The times where this changes is when someone is not using a therapeutic level but is rather using a bodybuilding level of doses.

Testosterone is *incredibly* safe, you can't OD on it & it almost always makes men healthier if they are candidates for treatment. However the side effects of high Testosterone levels increase much faster the higher you go & the benefits you gain decrease as well, especially when hitting natural limits by receptors.

TL;DR: A bit of both, more about total level, but at therapeutic levels relative or primary should expect issues.