My Short-term Dbol-only Experiment Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Oral Anabolics Part-1

1. Why a testosterone level of 20.8 ng/ml (0.086 µmol/L) is considered low




Parameter Typical reference range for adult males


Total testosterone (serum) 300–1000 ng/ml (10–35 nmol/L)


Free testosterone 5–20 pg/mL (≈15–60 pmol/L)


\Ranges vary by laboratory, age and time of day; most labs report a reference interval that begins around 300 ng/ml.

A level of 20.8 ng/ml is roughly one‑sixth of the lower limit and falls well below any accepted normal range.





Physiological consequence: At this concentration the androgen receptors in target tissues (muscle, bone, prostate, hair follicles) receive virtually no stimulation.


Clinical manifestations include decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, reduced muscle mass, increased fat deposition, mood changes and, over time, loss of bone density.



Diagnostic interpretation: In routine endocrine panels a result this low is usually considered "undetectable" or "below the detection limit." Laboratories may flag it as "B/L" (Below Limit) or "N/A"* if the assay’s lower limit is higher than the measured value.



Thus, a serum concentration of 1 pg/mL is effectively negligible physiologically and would be reported in a lab report as an undetectable or "below detection limit" result.