Dr.SurgeonPGH said:The variables that decide how a cross-border order goes are declaration wording, the destination country's import rules for prescription medicines,…
Filing a mild objection. Mild because I might be wrong; an objection because nobody has addressed the case that does not fit. Import rules are jurisdiction-specific and this board keeps giving US-shaped answers to non-US questions. What is a personal-import allowance in one country is a controlled-import offence in another.
Correct me if the detail matters more than I have assumed.
FitDadDave said:Total testosterone rose substantially and free testosterone barely moved, which took a while to make sense of.
HPA axis assessment on the hormone panel: rarely ordered but informative for understanding the stress-metabolism connection:
4-point salivary cortisol:
- Morning: 19 ng/mL → 14 ng/mL (improved)
- Noon: 8 ng/mL → 5 ng/mL
- Evening: 4 ng/mL → 2 ng/mL
- Night: 2 ng/mL → 1 ng/mL
The cortisol curve is normalizing — less flat, better diurnal variation. Reduced visceral fat = reduced cortisol overproduction. The metabolic benefits cascade into stress hormone regulation.
Dr.RaviCardio said:Import rules are jurisdiction-specific and this board keeps giving US-shaped answers to non-US questions.
Sex hormone labs after weight loss on the hormone panel — for the men in this thread:
Testosterone: 281 → 561 ng/dL (dramatic improvement!)
Free T: 5.6 → 13.1 ng/dL
Estradiol: 53 → 23 pg/mL
SHBG: 19 → 43 nmol/L
Visceral fat contains aromatase which converts testosterone to estrogen. As you lose visceral fat, this conversion decreases and testosterone naturally rises. I feel 10 years younger.
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View ResultsA narrower follow-up, since the general answer is now clear:
Which of the variables in a cross-border order actually determine the outcome, and which are superstition?
Closing the loop on my own question.
Closing this out. What actually changed my mind was the point about waiting for a trend instead of reading a single measurement, which is embarrassing in hindsight and worth saying anyway.