Causes of high SHBG in men and treatment options?

[Uneasy10]

High SHBG levels in a man. This is a follow up to a previous post I made a few months back regarding erectile dysfunction, low libido and delayed ejaculation. After a round about trip I finally managed to get an appointment with an NHS endocrinologist. From blood testing they determined I had quite high levels of testosterone but that much of this was inactive due to high levels of SHBG. An ultrasound was done of my liver and kidneys but these revealed no abnormalities. The consultant did not seem to know what the cause of this was and asked me if I had any ideas (couldn't think of anything at the time). In the absence of anything else he advised using viagra or another similar medication, and then follow up at a later date. The only problem with this is that the issue isn't really physical. It also has caused a loss of libido and delayed ejaculation, so viagra only really solves half the problem. Wanted to see if anyone had any ideas what might have caused this, and if it can be treated.

Nb, I did discover, that I was vitamin D deficient recently, if that is of any relevance. Also diabetic (well controlled).

[Galen70]

Your previous posts showed the private blood tests had slightly elevated SHBG and slightly elevated testosterone, but the free testosterone calculation was normal. I don't think that the testosterone was "inactive " - the SHBG delivers the testosterone - its sex hormone binding globulin. As I mentioned before, low libido and delayed ejaculation can have many factors , and with a relatively normal hormonal profile I would be looking into psychosexual factors.

[Flawless in reply to Galen70]

SHBG doesn't just transport testosterone. It binds testosterone and makes it unavailable for cells to use, so, elevated SHBG is indeed a concern and does render otherwise normal levels of testosterone unusable by the body.

[Galen70 in reply to Flawless]

There can be many reasons for raised SHBG - but in terms of the free testosterone, one calculated in combination with albumin and the random T level , this was in normal range. useful calculator here : pctag.uk/testosterone-calcu...