If you have your albumin values, you can calculate your bioavailable T. That gives a clearer picture of how much testosterone is actually available for your body to use.
It’s also worth noting that calculated free T is usually more reliable than directly measuring it. I’m not sure if your low free T was calculated or directly measured. Check your lab panel to see which method was used.
DHT normally competes with testosterone for SHBG binding. Lower DHT may indirectly raise SHBG and reduce free T. Do you have any testosterone panel results from before starting dutasteride? That could help show whether the changes in free T are related to the medication.
DHEA boosts testosterone considerably IN WOMEN. But for men it’s supposed to be a drop in the bucket. I don’t pay as much attention to how to do it for men but I still recall hearing of far more effective supplements such as Tongkat Ali.
Took my DEXA Bone Density scan on Monday, February 16. Cost covered by insurance for every 2-years.
My first DEXA scan ( Dec, 2022) shocked me to discover I had osteopenia - despite regular resistance exercise, TRT and supplements of Vitamin D & Calcium.
I read on this forum a news article about Taurine as having potenital to reverse bone degeneration.
September of 2022
I started putting a full teaspon of Taurine in my coffee every morning for a year and got these results.
So here is an overview of improvement for the past 4-years.
So I am curious guys… why would anyone over the age of 50 years old – not add a teaspoon of taurine to their morning coffee or other drink? It is a cheap supplement found on Amazon. My brand is Bulk Supplements - costs $24 for 1 years worth.
If your stomach has decided that it’s had enough of various sorts of irritant powders, taurine may well be among them. I am off high doses of taurine until my stomach says I can resume.
It appears that a body can change in what it will tolerate. Bodies. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them…
My mother also gets gastritis from taking Taurine. Taurine is supposed to help lower triglycerides and reduce senescent cell formation so it’s a shame that my mother can’t take it due to the gastritis.
I have been taking 3g of taurine per day for the last ~8 months (since July 2025).
No change in my T-score (based on heel ultrasound) from Feb 2025 to Feb 2026 (today). Still around -1.5 in both heels.
There’s no logical reason I should have low bone density- I’m 39, male, hormones/androgens are all good, good diet, and I do resistance/strength training. Yet I always score consistently badly on this test.
Either way, adding 3g of taurine didn’t have any dramatic effect for me.
Relaxed Meatball: you might consider getting bone markers tested --blood test that measures four substances – that tell whether your bone remodeling is balanced.For example it will tell you whether you are resorbing too much – this frequently shifts in older women as the osteoclasts burn hotter and the osteoblasts are not working as well as they used to. So, bone markers may give you some clues.
And once you have the information, are there specific ways you might address things differently other than you would if you simply know you have osteoporosis?
Yes absolutely. One of the four bone marker tests tells you if you are resorbing bone at a higher rate. This often happens as we age but not always. My test showed that I was not resorbing bone at too high a rate, therefore an anti resorptive drug such as any bisphosphenate is absolutely wrong for me. Unfortunately I had taken Fosamax for years before knowing about bone marker tests.
I just skimmed this thread so perhaps I missed it but why is nobody talking about estrogen for bone health? Estrogen can be started at any age for bone benefits and is helpful in stopping bone loss even at low doses. We have a study on 75+ year old women with frailty who improved BMD by >4% in 9 months. Testosterone is likely additive to that. And, although its benefits are less clear, progesterone is pro-bone as well.
Help! I bet my DEXA numbers get the prize for the worst scores on this forum!
Several years ago I was already deep into the red zone with a hip T score of negative 3.7. That was when I was still on estradiol/prometrium. But for the past six years I have been off it as I was diagnosed with a very tiny indolent hormone positive breast cancer in 2020.
Tomorrow I will have a DEXA and tribecular score. I know it will be worse as I have been without the exogenous hormones for six years.
So: what to do?
First I would try to find someone to prescribe estradiol and prometrium. The latest “messaging” is that there are some out there for whom it would be OK, possibly even beneficial in ways besides bone remodeling. There is research that says it’s OK after breast cancer – sometimes --needs to be decided on a case by case basis. Read the Avrum Bluming book, “Estrogen Matters”, and a lot of research and now feel that any potential risks from the hormones (in my case, I emphasize, my specific case) would be far smaller than the risk of hip fracture.
The second thing I would consider would be to take DHEA.
Am already taking D, K2 MK7 and MK4, hardly any calcium, occasionally a bit of strontium citrate. Using a vertical vibration platform and weight training. Taurine but only 1 gm per day. Tried taking more–3 gm – it made me unbearably itchy. (Itchiness ceased when I backed off the dose)
Third: Now, after reviewing the osteoporosis thread: rapamycin and low dose naltrexone. (Beth: where do you get the LDN please?)
I would not take any of the official osteoporosis drugs, for so many reasons. (I did take oral bisphosphenates for many years, which I regret).
It blows my mind that we do not have a good drug for osteoporosis – fractures and associated comorbidities are as great of greater than breast cancer with respect to women’s mortality.
Any other thoughts? Any updates from folks using LDN plus rapa?
