can that reading be possible?

[lowtest102]

Hi everyone

I am 38 years old male.I did my blood work and when the results came,I got a call from my doctor's office.His nurse called and I was told that my total testosterone levels are 17.3 ng/dl ,which was very low (extremely low she said) and therefore the doctor is puting me on hormonal therapy and prescribed testosterone gel.I was of course worried,and because then I did not know about what normal range for free testosterone is I checked on the internet.I learned that typical normal range is 260 - 1080 ng/dl. I was shocked to learn that I can possibly have only 17.3 ng/dl !!

My sex drive is fine.In fact I masturbate on average 2 times a day ,and ejaculations are strong.When investigating on the interned I learned that there is conversion factor used to show testosterone level in nmol/l (which coresponds to normal range of 8.8 - 36.7 nmol/l)

I called my doctor and expressed my concern that might be possible that the lab test made mistake in the figures and that the 17.3 ng/l is actually typing mistake and should have seen 17.3 nmol/l ? He said that such mistake can't be. I then asked him if it is expressed in ng/l and there was no mistake about the figure,then why is the figure in decimals (17.3) He could not answer,so I am asking this question here - are the measurements in ng/l only in whole numbers (i.e 260,420,550 etc) or can they also be in decimal numbers (i.e 17.3 , 223,5, 455,7 etc)

The doctor is not returning my calls and leaves me worry .Please help
Thanks

[vedadhar]

The normal blood tests will always designate the ranges of quantities either in US-ng/mL or nmol/L.The normal levels of testosterone are 10-45 nmol/L and 290-1300ng/dL.If your blood test has been done specifically only for testosterone levels then there is littlle possibility that they have been entered wrong.But if normal Range blood test has been done then,check the expression of other quantities either in US or SI units ie similar to testosterone or vice versa.Please check this out with other quantities like Albumin,Bilirubin.
Other than this the values could not be expressed in other units universally.Ranges of these quantities are to be expressed basing on their content in blood ie Testosterone as a hormone will be present only in nanograms but not micrograms.But the range can be expressed in any unit.
If you still have a doubt ,better take another test specifically  for testosterone alone in another hospital.

[Novkortera]

I would definitely get a second opinion! Seems to me the doctors you're dealing with are careless and lazy. no ones health should be toyed with.. i hate when doctors don't bother to care for you when they are supposed to.. why be a doctor if you don't want to do the work! Good luck and please get a second opinion. Take care! sincerely, Elizabeth

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Yes, testosterone levels can be expressed in decimals. Some common low testosterone symptoms are decrease in sex drive, ejaculation problems, shrinking testicle, fatigue, loss of body hair, difficulty gaining or maintaining muscle, depression, and loss of strength. Hence even if you have strong sex drive and ejaculation, if there are other symptoms, there is a chance that you have low testosterone. On the other hand such low values should have resulted in low sex drive. You should ideally ask for a repeat test. It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!