...still here.
My questions are at the bottom.
History: I went to my family doctor over a year ago at age 38 (5'10" and 180lbs and young looking) with low energy, thinning hair, weak erections, lack of motivation, cloudy thoughts, etc. She tested my testosterone and it came back as 340ng/dl. She said I was perfectly NORMAL because their lab ranges were 250-900ng/dl.
After I complained she sent me to an Endocrinologist. He was in his 70's and very old school. He sent me for blood work and I tested at 400ng/dl. He said I was WELL into the normal range and gave me Viagra, patted me on the head and sent me home. I complained and then got sent to Penn State to their Endocrinologist. I tested at 310ng/dl for them and they accused me of wanting to start body building because nobody sees 3 doctors and keeps going back after being told I was normal. They said they couldn't help me. They told me my problems must be purely psycological--hair thinning and all.
I gave up. A year later I decided I had enough of feeling crappy and being sexually unsure of myself with my wife. I did a little research and found that Thomas Jefferson University in Philly has an Endocrinology Clinic specializing in Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). JACKPOT!! I applied online to become a patient online and was given an appt. I went in and tested at 325ng/dl. My PRL, Cortisol, and PSA looked good but my LH was at the bottom of the range at 2.7. He said they can't fix a LH problem so I needed HRT.
The doctor prescribed me Androgel 1.62% at 2 pumps per day. (2.5mg) On day 3 I started feeling AWESOME. I had morning erections I could chop wood with! I got spontaneous erections all day and even the slightest erotic thought resulted in an instant solid erection as good or better than my adolescent years. I had a STRONG libido and was having erotic dreams. I felt physically stronger, my muscles felt harder, I was confident, I was sleeping really well, had no more muscle aches and pains, and over-all just felt GOOD. I lost 8lbs in those 10 days too.
This lasted until day 12. On day 13 I woke up with NO morning erection. All that day there were no erections at all and I felt tired and sluggish. I was worse than before treatment! I assumed that my testes shut down and I lost my natural testosterone and was only getting it from the Androgel. I called the doctor and he bumped me to 3 pumps per day (3.75mg) and said to call him back in 2 weeks.
2 weeks later on day 27 there was no change really after bumping up to 3.75mg. I was still having weak erections at best, no morning erections, still tired and sluggish. I also found out that gels/creams weren't my insurance's preferred Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) drug because it cost $62.50/bottle and Testim was even more expensive. They told me a 6 month supply of inject-able testosterone cypionate 200mg bimonthly was only $9.51. vs $750.00 for the Androgel at 5mg a day. I called the doctor and he put me on 200mg testosterone cypionate IM every 2 weeks. (1ml from a 10ml/2000mg bottle)
I gave myself the first shot in the ventrogluteal 5 days ago and have seen no improvement. I have an oilier scalp, forehead, and face though. My erections have not returned at all to what they were in week 1 and 2 and my libido is not really strong but I do have sexual thoughts.
So far this was all by phone with no blood tests. My 60 day follow-up appt is in 90 days because he had no openings. My lab slip for my follow up has no check boxes for anything other than diabetes profiles and total testosterone. What about Free Testosterone, Estrogen, Prolactin, Cortisol, DHT, etc?
I checked my blood pressure today and it's a little higher than before but not bad at 129/80. It was 110/70 a few weeks before Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) because I gave up caffeine and sodas. Before giving those up it was consistently 120/80.
Why would I have such a positive reaction at first and then crash? ...I know my testes shut down but raising the dose with the gel and further increasing it with the shot should have brought it even higher and caused some improvement I would think.
Could the testosterone aromatizing to estrogen cause me to have weak erections and these symptoms? I don't have sore or itchy boobs or any other E2 symptoms.
Could the increased testosterone be causing an increase in Prolactin or Cortisol?
I just want to feel like I did in week one and two!
Any thoughts?
My questions are at the bottom.
History: I went to my family doctor over a year ago at age 38 (5'10" and 180lbs and young looking) with low energy, thinning hair, weak erections, lack of motivation, cloudy thoughts, etc. She tested my testosterone and it came back as 340ng/dl. She said I was perfectly NORMAL because their lab ranges were 250-900ng/dl.
After I complained she sent me to an Endocrinologist. He was in his 70's and very old school. He sent me for blood work and I tested at 400ng/dl. He said I was WELL into the normal range and gave me Viagra, patted me on the head and sent me home. I complained and then got sent to Penn State to their Endocrinologist. I tested at 310ng/dl for them and they accused me of wanting to start body building because nobody sees 3 doctors and keeps going back after being told I was normal. They said they couldn't help me. They told me my problems must be purely psycological--hair thinning and all.
I gave up. A year later I decided I had enough of feeling crappy and being sexually unsure of myself with my wife. I did a little research and found that Thomas Jefferson University in Philly has an Endocrinology Clinic specializing in Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). JACKPOT!! I applied online to become a patient online and was given an appt. I went in and tested at 325ng/dl. My PRL, Cortisol, and PSA looked good but my LH was at the bottom of the range at 2.7. He said they can't fix a LH problem so I needed HRT.
The doctor prescribed me Androgel 1.62% at 2 pumps per day. (2.5mg) On day 3 I started feeling AWESOME. I had morning erections I could chop wood with! I got spontaneous erections all day and even the slightest erotic thought resulted in an instant solid erection as good or better than my adolescent years. I had a STRONG libido and was having erotic dreams. I felt physically stronger, my muscles felt harder, I was confident, I was sleeping really well, had no more muscle aches and pains, and over-all just felt GOOD. I lost 8lbs in those 10 days too.
This lasted until day 12. On day 13 I woke up with NO morning erection. All that day there were no erections at all and I felt tired and sluggish. I was worse than before treatment! I assumed that my testes shut down and I lost my natural testosterone and was only getting it from the Androgel. I called the doctor and he bumped me to 3 pumps per day (3.75mg) and said to call him back in 2 weeks.
2 weeks later on day 27 there was no change really after bumping up to 3.75mg. I was still having weak erections at best, no morning erections, still tired and sluggish. I also found out that gels/creams weren't my insurance's preferred Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) drug because it cost $62.50/bottle and Testim was even more expensive. They told me a 6 month supply of inject-able testosterone cypionate 200mg bimonthly was only $9.51. vs $750.00 for the Androgel at 5mg a day. I called the doctor and he put me on 200mg testosterone cypionate IM every 2 weeks. (1ml from a 10ml/2000mg bottle)
I gave myself the first shot in the ventrogluteal 5 days ago and have seen no improvement. I have an oilier scalp, forehead, and face though. My erections have not returned at all to what they were in week 1 and 2 and my libido is not really strong but I do have sexual thoughts.
So far this was all by phone with no blood tests. My 60 day follow-up appt is in 90 days because he had no openings. My lab slip for my follow up has no check boxes for anything other than diabetes profiles and total testosterone. What about Free Testosterone, Estrogen, Prolactin, Cortisol, DHT, etc?
I checked my blood pressure today and it's a little higher than before but not bad at 129/80. It was 110/70 a few weeks before Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) because I gave up caffeine and sodas. Before giving those up it was consistently 120/80.
Why would I have such a positive reaction at first and then crash? ...I know my testes shut down but raising the dose with the gel and further increasing it with the shot should have brought it even higher and caused some improvement I would think.
Could the testosterone aromatizing to estrogen cause me to have weak erections and these symptoms? I don't have sore or itchy boobs or any other E2 symptoms.
Could the increased testosterone be causing an increase in Prolactin or Cortisol?
I just want to feel like I did in week one and two!
Any thoughts?
