24, cancer survivor, starting HRT, help!

U

Un1baller

New member
Hey all, first post here. I am 24 y/o, my test levels are 301 ng/dl, I had testicular cancer when I turned 18 and lost my right ball, went through chemo for 4 months, and now, 5 years later, everything is fine except for low testosterone levels. I have always felt the effects of low T ever since I had cancer and I am sick and tired of it. MY levels were 350ng/dl as of last year and I had them tested last week and now my level is at 301 ng/dl.

I am tired, irritable, highly sensitive, awful memory, difficulty putting on any muscle (I have been lifting consistently for almost 2 years and my strength has barely increased), and my sense of well being is plummeting by the day. I want to start HRT and do injections weekly. My Urologist put me on Testim gel a few years ago and that didn't do anything so I stopped after a few months. Well I want to do it right this time and do injections. I had an appointment with my Urologist today and he prescribed me 100 mg of Test Ethanate weekly. I got the prescription filled at my Target Pharmacy and it will cost $60.00 monthly. I told him I am worried about being sterile and asked about HCG but he blew it off saying it isn't suggested or something.

I really do not want to start my HRT until I can do HCG so that I have a better chance of staying fertile. I have another appointment with the Uro in a week where I will talk to him more about this. Should I start the HRT without HCG and monitor my blood work and semen analysis initially? I have also heard of a HCG in pill form. Is this something that will work because I am all for not having to pin myself too much. Can I use a smaller needle or do I have to use a 1.5 inch needle? Lastly, I have some semen frozen from 6 years ago before I started chemotherapy but that is not a 100% chance of working either. Thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks all.
 
Good luck with TRT. It should have you feeling better pretty soon. In a month or so.

I would start without the hCG. But work on getting your doc to prescribe it. Stress the fertility issue.

I am not aware of a pill form of hCG. Everyone I know on hCG injects it. You can mix it with your test E and inject them together at the same time. Draw one into the syringe and then draw the other into the syringe. Then just one injection. Or you can inject hCG subcutaneously.

Did you talk to your doc about checking estradiol and using an Aromatase Inhibitor if your estradiol gets too high?

You would be better off injecting 50mg twice a week rather than 100mg once a week. It reduces aromatization and helps keep your hormone levels more even.

Did you talk to your doc about donating blood to manage your hematocrit?

Most guys use one inch needles. 25 or 23 gauge work well. Good spots to pin are quads, delts, glutes, and ventroglutes. Start with quads though since everything is right in front of you and you can use two hands. Stay towards the top/outside part of your leg.
 
Megatron28 said:
Good luck with TRT. It should have you feeling better pretty soon. In a month or so.

I would start without the hCG. But work on getting your doc to prescribe it. Stress the fertility issue.

I am not aware of a pill form of hCG. Everyone I know on hCG injects it. You can mix it with your test E and inject them together at the same time. Draw one into the syringe and then draw the other into the syringe. Then just one injection. Or you can inject hCG subcutaneously.

Did you talk to your doc about checking estradiol and using an Aromatase Inhibitor if your estradiol gets too high?

You would be better off injecting 50mg twice a week rather than 100mg once a week. It reduces aromatization and helps keep your hormone levels more even.

Did you talk to your doc about donating blood to manage your hematocrit?

Most guys use one inch needles. 25 or 23 gauge work well. Good spots to pin are quads, delts, glutes, and ventroglutes. Start with quads though since everything is right in front of you and you can use two hands. Stay towards the top/outside part of your leg.
Click to expand...

First off, honored that first post in my thread is by Megatron. I am new here, but I know your presence is greatly appreciated. Thank you for the helpful post.

So I got more pre HRT blood work done today to test for more things. I will post the results here soon. I have a phone appointment with my Uro later this week and if all goes well I will pick up my first prescription of my Test E and start pinning next week. I will have a nurse do it the first few times and then hopefully can convince my girlfriend to do it for me every week!

I am extremely nervous about starting HRT but I know it is for the best. I am worried about not being able to have kids (slim chance but still) and not being able to get everything dialed in or not getting my dr.'s approval for certain things. I will keep this thread updated and hope to learn and grow as much as I can here.

I also want to mention that I have had a varicole vein in my ball sack for a few years. Not sure if that is an issue. Last question, my Uro recommended trying Clomid first before trying test e. Would that be something that might work for me? The idea of taking a pill for my low t sounds much better than needles. Thanks and please don't hesitate to post your thoughts.
 
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I did some more research and have found that my low T may also be from having a varicole in my ball sack. I am looking into microsurgery to get that fixed. I am also now leaning towards taking Clomid instead of Test E. At least initially, to see if my T levels go up and I feel better taking just Clomid. THoughts on this guys>

Edit: ugh, now reading that Clomid only works with secondary hypo and I'm sure I have primary hypo since I had testicular cancer etc. So HCG works with primary hypo so looks like I'd have to just do HCG? I don't want to be sterile and do test e unless I have exhausted all other options. This is all incredibly stressful...
 
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**UPDATE**

Here are my blood work results as of today. (I am not on any HRT or testosterone related medications yet)

Albumin, Serum: 4.5g/dL (normal range is 3.5-5.5)

Prolactin: 18.8 ng/mL (normal range is 4.0-15.2)

TESTOSTERONE TOTAL: 312 ng/dl (normal range is 348-1197)

Sex Horm Binding Glob, Serum: 21.7 nmol/L (normal range is 16.5-55.9)

GONADOTROPIN-LH: 4.0 mIU/mL (normal range is 1.7-8.6)

I don't know what any of that means except for the low T levels. I had a phone appointment with my Uro just now and I mentioned to him that I want to stay fertile if I do test injections and asked about doing HCG while on test injections and he said that was a bad idea and would not do that. I said I read plenty of facts online about the benefits of taking HCG along with test but he wasn't agreeing. Anyways, he has referred me to an Endo so I will go see the Endo next week and talk to him about what I should do. MY Uro said that my low t levels could be a thyroid issue and nothing to do with the fact that I had testicular cancer and only have one teste. Pease, anyone that can help, let me know your thoughts! I am all for doing test injections if that is what I have to do but staying fertile is the main concern for me.
 
Have you thought about banking sperm? I'm on TRT and have been for 9 months. I started with hCG and my sperm count went from 234M to 50M. Once I saw it hit 50M, I decided to bank it (just did it last month). Anything over 20M is good so I'm still fertile but why take the chance, especially since I'm only 38 years old.
 
CobraMustangSVT said:
Have you thought about banking sperm? I'm on TRT and have been for 9 months. I started with hCG and my sperm count went from 234M to 50M. Once I saw it hit 50M, I decided to bank it (just did it last month). Anything over 20M is good so I'm still fertile but why take the chance, especially since I'm only 38 years old.
Click to expand...

I banked sperm over 6 years ago before I went through chemotherapy. My girlfriend who will be my wife someday is worried about trying to have a baby using my banked sperm because it doesn't always work, isn't natural, and can have a lot of complications during preganay. I understand where she is coming from.

An update for everyone (if anyone cares), I booked an appointment for a endocrinologist that my Urologist recommended but he can't see me until August 29th. I will just have to be patient. I want to find out why I have low T. It could be because of thyroid issues, a pituitary gland, or just because I had testicle cancer and lost a testicle. Regardless, I would prefer to do test injections while doing HCG weekly so that I stay fertile. MY Uro shot that idea out the window but hopefully the Endo that I am going to see will be on board with that. Anyone have any tips on convincing the Endo (if need be) to put me on HCG while on HRT because I won't go on HRT otherwise... Also, I am afraid of needles and would love to be able to just do Sub q injections even if its 4 times a week. Would that work? those type of injections seem so much easier.
 
Un1baller said:
**UPDATE**

Here are my blood work results as of today. (I am not on any HRT or testosterone related medications yet)

Albumin, Serum: 4.5g/dL (normal range is 3.5-5.5)

Prolactin: 18.8 ng/mL (normal range is 4.0-15.2)

TESTOSTERONE TOTAL: 312 ng/dl (normal range is 348-1197)

Sex Horm Binding Glob, Serum: 21.7 nmol/L (normal range is 16.5-55.9)

GONADOTROPIN-LH: 4.0 mIU/mL (normal range is 1.7-8.6)

I don't know what any of that means except for the low T levels. I had a phone appointment with my Uro just now and I mentioned to him that I want to stay fertile if I do test injections and asked about doing HCG while on test injections and he said that was a bad idea and would not do that. I said I read plenty of facts online about the benefits of taking HCG along with test but he wasn't agreeing. Anyways, he has referred me to an Endo so I will go see the Endo next week and talk to him about what I should do. MY Uro said that my low t levels could be a thyroid issue and nothing to do with the fact that I had testicular cancer and only have one teste. Pease, anyone that can help, let me know your thoughts! I am all for doing test injections if that is what I have to do but staying fertile is the main concern for me.
Click to expand...

You need to get your Prolactin down into the normal range. Preferably the lower end of the normal range. High Prolactin can lower your Testosterone levels. You need to figure out what is causing this. I would have liked to have seen your TSH too. Why didn't you get that checked?

You should get an MRI of your pituitary.
 
**Update**

My endo put me on 25mg of Clomid daily. I have been on it for over 30 days and had my levels checked and my level went from 320 ng/dl to 650 ng/dl. Now that is all good and great but I feel absolutely no different. I am still just as tired etc as always. No increase in anything positive. In my opinion, the Clomid is not for me and I want to move onto HRT with HCG to remain fertile. I plan on stopping the Clomid and getting my levels rechecked and then figure out the next step. Thoughts?
 
Un1baller said:
**Update**

My endo put me on 25mg of Clomid daily. I have been on it for over 30 days and had my levels checked and my level went from 320 ng/dl to 650 ng/dl. Now that is all good and great but I feel absolutely no different. I am still just as tired etc as always. No increase in anything positive. In my opinion, the Clomid is not for me and I want to move onto HRT with HCG to remain fertile. I plan on stopping the Clomid and getting my levels rechecked and then figure out the next step. Thoughts?
Click to expand...


What was your estradiol at?
 
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