21 Y/O looking for some insight (High LH, Test dropping)

Zipper

New member
First I would just like to say hello, this is my first post on the forum but I have been lurking for around 3 years now. Love it, has a ton of good info - now onto my issue.

I have always thought something was off with my hormones. I have always been skinny, it's been terribly hard to put on weight, and in my 3 years of lifting I have only put on around 30lbs. Also, facial hair is patchy and weak.

*Won't go into training and diet, I force feed daily and most of my friends won't work out with me because of the volume/intensity

When I was 18 I asked for a blood test to see where I was at. Everything came back within range and test was 660ng/dl

I thought my "something's wrong with my hormones" idea was misguided. I decided I must be wrong, and ignored it. Shortly after I discovered a hydrocelle on my right testicle, and it got to where it was quite large and painful and I eventually had it removed the summer of my 19th.

Fast forward to the present, I have been feeling very weak, and soft in the gym (since approx July 2012) with the occasional really good pump which I used to leave the gym with every time. I also noticed that with diet unchanged it was harder for me to even maintain, let alone make gains, even with increase in calories. Also I slipped into some pretty severe depression and anxiety, as well as excessive joint pain and lethargy. Some days all I did was go to the gym (not meaning there for 8 hours, meaning that was the only productive thing carried out that day), and had no energy to even get in the shower after the gym some days. ** I also have intermittent pain in my left testis **

I was a hockey player for 16 years and during my career was invited to play overseas, energy level has never been a problem for me.

I cannot seem to get any doctor to listen to me about my issues.

CURRENT BLOOD TESTS:

12/31/12 - Test Time : 12:45PM (late, I know)

Testosterone: 548ng/dl
Free Test: 52 (unsure of range, but the bottom was 49)

everything else was mid-range and looked fine. I'd post the whole test but the doc took my copy when I went in. I felt that a 660 to 548 drop in 3 years, especially when i'm 21, was fucking ridiculous so I went to get "checked out"

P.S. You would not believe how hard it is to get an appointment with an endo at 21

He stated i'm "within range" and was unsure what I was looking for. I told him my symptoms and asked him how could this be considered normal. He did a physical exam and stated my left testis (painful one) was "underdeveloped" and felt the remnants of my hydrocelle in my right testis. He ordered another bloodtest to be done in the morning to get a more accurate test.

Blood Test 1/18/13 10:15 AM

Testosterone: 538ng/dl
LH: High: out of range (It was like pulling teeth to get the nurse to even tell me my test level over the phone)

what makes NO sense to me is my LH was midrange, all of the sudden it is somewhere out of range and my test continues to drop. Also, still feel shitty. I thought you testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guys would be the best to ask, cause y'all know how shitty it is to have your hormones fuckin' up. Also, I should have a dick like a steel post at this age, yet it is hard for me to keep an erection. Interest in sex has also gone away (not completely, but I was described as "unable to function without sex" by my roommate when I first arrived to college and that has definitely gone away)

So... What do you think about that?
 
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sorry to hear this. Fact of the matter at this age at with those numbers most docs and even clinics will probably not touch you. I guess you could go under ground for supplies, but I think that starts a long road that you dont want to go down. You may want to get evaluated further by an endocronologist and look at some more test. If you havent you may want to get and MRI on your pituatary gland that could be issue with your LH and FSH. Also if you havent done so yet get your thyroid checked, liver function and kidney function, cortisol test, PSA, you may also check your iron levels.

But with those numbers and age it really doesnt look like a low T problem, and if it is, at your age I would look at other routes before starting this whole process. Check your life style, your diet for one you said force feeding if you are working out hardcore anything under 2000 calories is going to be severly defecient. next are you sleeping regularly 7-9hrs a night. What about alcohol consumption or recreational drug use. Also any other perscription drugs that could have an affect on how you feel. And on your working out are you giving your self at least one rest day a week? Maybe you are just doing to much.

In the end I would check into everything first including your daily habits, take it from me I am 30 and would much rather not have to be doing this.

Lastly google andrenal fatigue or andropause, it sounds like you might be suffering from this
 
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Thanks for your reply. That is the issue I am running into with doctors, most of them assume I would like test injections/hcg/some other HRT when in actuality I would just like to understand my issues and fix them(If that means Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), with my numbers I'll probably wait until I can't handle the symptoms anymore). I have two hypotheses at the moment. One: that I have damaged my testes in some way (I was a hockey player, not that farfetched) and that could explain the underdevelopment of my left testis, and could explain the body's want to elevate LH, and could be causing the pain in the testis as well. It just doesn't explain the sudden rise of LH... as well as the rather sudden (last 7-9 months) onset of some of the symptoms I mentioned above. Two: The receptors are damaged/desensitizing to LH some how, but that makes no sense as I have always been a natural athlete. (No AAS/doping/etc)

As far as general health I have checked kidney, liver, thyroid, the only two I don't believe I have checked are cortisol and iron, though I eat plenty of red meat/fish/spinach so I doubt anemia is an issue but I can't rule it out I guess.

As far as training I recently cut back to 4 days a week (from 6), and am currently on a 2 week hiatus to let my body recover. 4000 calories on a workout day is common. I try to keep carbs up to help with the lethargy, but I suffer from the bloat quite often.

I hope this isn't the way I will feel forever.
 
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Update. Pain has been getting worse. The other morning I had to lay in bed for about an hour before the pain subsided.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
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