UK

What UK TRT clinics test, and when

The baseline, the three-month check and the yearly panel most UK clinics run, so you know what to expect and what to ask for.

Updated 2026-11-08 · Part of the Magno guides

UK clinics follow broadly the same rhythm, whether it is a private men's health clinic or an NHS endocrinologist. Knowing the rhythm means you can draw on time, keep your own record, and notice when something is missing.

Before starting

Two morning testosterone results on separate days, both low, plus LH and FSH to tell primary from secondary hypogonadism, prolactin, SHBG, a full blood count with hematocrit, PSA from 40 or with a family history, and a lipid panel. Many clinics add estradiol, thyroid and HbA1c. This is your baseline; keep it. Everything later is read against it.

At six to twelve weeks

Testosterone at trough, which clinics use when reviewing the dose. Hematocrit, because it starts moving early. Estradiol, if you have symptoms either way. Blood pressure at every visit; on a protocol it is as important as any lab number.

Every three to six months in year one

Testosterone, hematocrit and hemoglobin, estradiol, lipids. PSA at three to twelve months in men over 40. This is where the dose settles and where most people learn what a trough draw is.

Yearly after that

The full panel: testosterone and free testosterone, estradiol, hematocrit and hemoglobin, ferritin if you donate, lipids, liver, kidney, PSA, thyroid, glucose or HbA1c. After any change in dose, ester or frequency, clinics usually retest six to eight weeks later.

What to ask for if it is not on the form

• The sensitive estradiol assay, not the standard one.
• Ferritin, if you have donated blood.
• Cystatin C, if creatinine keeps reading high and you lift or take creatine.
• ApoB, if lipids are borderline; it counts the particles that build plaque.
• hs-CRP, for background inflammation.

Keep your own copy

Clinic portals lose results, change hands and print one draw at a time. Keep every PDF in one place where each marker sits on a single line with the change since last time, and take a clean export to each appointment. A clinician who can see the trend makes better decisions than one reading today's snapshot.