At a crossroads right now... What should I do next?

[ceomuscle58]

I'm 27 years old and 6'1 275 pounds 25% BF. For about the past 5 months I've felt like crap and have gotten sick more than usual and just have no energy, motivation, libido, focus, and mild depression to go along with not being able to fall asleep sometimes because I am restless. Wife also said that she has been noticing that I've been having nightsweats from time to time. Been a little bit on edge and don't want to be as social and have had some anxiety too. I've probably gained 30 pounds since August 2011. Mostly in midsection. Went to my family Doctor 10 days ago because of GERD problems and broke down and told him everything I've been dealing with and he ran a CMP, CBC, Total Test, TSH, and a Bioavailable and free Testosterone test along with putting me on new GERD medication which is working. My CBC and CMP came back fine but my Testosterone labs look to be on the low end. I'll post results below. Any feedback or advice would be appreciated. One thing to add my Dad and Brother are on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Dad started when he was 45 and brother when he was 32. Dad on patch and bro on Test Cyp 150mg every 6 days.

TOTAL TESTOSTERONE
Testosterone 301NG (292-1052 NG/DL)
TSH 2.5 UIU (0.3-5.1 UIU/ML)

BIOAVAILABLE AND FREE TESTOSTERONE
Testosterone 336NG (240-950 NG/DL)
FREE TEST 14NG (9-30 NG/DL)
Bioavailable TEST 161NG DL (83-257 NG DL)

 

[Spongy]

That's really low for someone your age (test). Get in touch with Chip at maximshrt.com. He's great my friend and will get you on your way. I'm currently on a maximus protocol and it's the best thing i've ever done. I'm no doctor, or hrt specialist... but i think you could benefit greatly from trt.

 

[ceomuscle58]

That's really low for someone your age (test). Get in touch with Chip at maximshrt.com. He's great my friend and will get you on your way. I'm currently on a maximus protocol and it's the best thing i've ever done. I'm no doctor, or hrt specialist... but i think you could benefit greatly from trt.

Submitted info and got price list from Chip several days ago. I'm just on the fence because of cost and I know TRT/HRT is for life and once I start I can't stop. A buddy of mine who is a Strength Coach and a diet guru told me to get on a natural supplement stack of Testofen 600mg, ZMA 3 caps, Vitamin D3 5000IU, FISH OILS 5grams, and Maca 1000mg for a month and see if that helps before starting a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) protocol. I thought about doing that then retesting or doing a Clomid restart like I saw in another thread.

 

[Spongy]

Honestly bro, Chip's prices are great, but i completely understand the for life thing. Go about it naturally first. See what you can do. Change your diet, that will help. Eat clean, work out, get great sleep, lift weights and see where you are in 2-3 months. That's what I did and I saw a bit of improvement, but not much. I'm 26 so I understand the for life thing. Best of luck to you bro, ask any questions you have. We are here to help!

 

[ceomuscle58]

Honestly bro, Chip's prices are great, but i completely understand the for life thing. Go about it naturally first. See what you can do. Change your diet, that will help. Eat clean, work out, get great sleep, lift weights and see where you are in 2-3 months. That's what I did and I saw a bit of improvement, but not much. I'm 26 so I understand the for life thing. Best of luck to you bro, ask any questions you have. We are here to help!

Thanks for your support man. Its been rough lately cause im also dealing with a mild case of ED. What were your labs like before you got on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT)? What was your breaking point that made you realize natural wasn't enough? Very curious since we are close age wise.

 

[dfeaton]

Thanks for your support man. Its been rough lately cause im also dealing with a mild case of ED. What were your labs like before you got on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT)? What was your breaking point that made you realize natural wasn't enough? Very curious since we are close age wise.

You should have estrogen checked as well.

 

[wolfman010]

301 isn't really even natural bro, your test is low. testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is to get you BACK to NORMAL (natural)

 

[DJ77]

Bro do the math! One order from chip will last you 5 months !!

HCG 5months
AI - 5 months
Test 3 months based on 200mgs e5d.

 

[Spongy]

Thanks for your support man. Its been rough lately cause im also dealing with a mild case of ED. What were your labs like before you got on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT)? What was your breaking point that made you realize natural wasn't enough? Very curious since we are close age wise.

my breaking point was when it started effecting my work. I was incredibly low energy and just wasn't able to do my job as well. I was looking at a 30,000 dollar promotion and blew it. Talk about a kick in the nuts!! I've been making up for it ever since and there may be a promotion within the next year if i continue doing this well.

I was at 377 tt, everything else was pretty normal...

 

[ceomuscle58]

You should have estrogen checked as well.

Good point im going to look into that.

 

[ceomuscle58]

my breaking point was when it started effecting my work. I was incredibly low energy and just wasn't able to do my job as well. I was looking at a 30,000 dollar promotion and blew it. Talk about a kick in the nuts!! I've been making up for it ever since and there may be a promotion within the next year if i continue doing this well.

I was at 377 tt, everything else was pretty normal...

Damn that sucks. Yeah i feel you Im not performing at my best at work because of my symptoms and its frustrating. What are your levels like now and whats the difference physically and mentally for you?

 

[Spongy]

I'll actually be getting my levels checked again tomorrow and will let you know. My energy is great. Physically I feel stronger and my lifts are going up steadily. Mentally I'm there. I'm on point and have a better awareness of things. I'm going to be adding HGH to my protocol at some point because it seems like the mental clarity, although much improved, is not where it used to be.

I'm an incredibly smart guy (not trying to brag) and I've noticed that I have some mental fogginess that could be attributed to low GH levels. I've been published and continue to conduct research involving the evolutionary psychology of terrorism within Islamic societies, but found that work to be more difficult than it used to be. My focus just isn't there and I'm having more and more trouble connecting the dots and analyzing documents. I think that the GH boost will help that. I work in a completely different field that is incredible physical, so the testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) has helped that tremendously. Now it's my passions (research, writing, etc) that I'm trying to get back.

 

[ceomuscle58]

Anyone else have any advice?

 

[Damn Yankee]

After months of sitting on the teter totter and my PMD telling me he doesn't do testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), I sent blood work, and physical report to Chip. I have read too many success story's on this forum, as well as on others and I am moving forward. If all goes well I hope to be adding a success story myself in a few months

 

[ceomuscle58]

Update 3/07/2012:

After 2 months and cleaning up my diet and then taking two more additional Total testosterone labs. I haven't tested over Testosterone 345NG (292-1052 NG/DL). I also had todo a PSA test. Which was in normal ranges.

Got reffered to a Urologist who was suprisingly education on HRT. She put me on 100mg of Watson Test Cyp. weekly injections. 250IU of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) x 2 a week.

She will retest everything in 5 weeks to see if any adjustments need to be made or if I need togo on an AI.

I was shocked I didnt get the run around and BS being 27 years old. She was really sympathetic and said that having low testosterone is one of the worse condition I could have at my age and it's 2012 and I don't need to suffer anymore.

I don't know if the fact that she was a D.O. made a difference then being an M.D. People at Walgreens looked at me crazy though when I picked up my scripts lol. I'm sure some of you guys have got these looks before.

Is Watson good stuff and what do you guys think about the protocol she put me on? Thanks!!!

 

[03ACE]

Watson is a good brand. It is one of the big ones that all the insurance companies use as a generic in their formulary. There are several others, too. IMO, if you get it prescribed by your doc and paid for by an insurance company, it is going to be highly controlled.

 

[ceomuscle58]

Watson is a good brand. It is one of the big ones that all the insurance companies use as a generic in their formulary. There are several others, too. IMO, if you get it prescribed by your doc and paid for by an insurance company, it is going to be highly controlled.

Good to hear about watson. Wanted to make sure I was getting good quality stuff. What exactly do you mean by controlled? Yeah I lucked out with my insurance & Doc.... I only had to pay for sharps container with return packaging for disposal, alcohol swaps, bandaids, and needles!

 

[03ACE]

AH, I just meant quality controlled. Although, my ins. precription plan (CVS Caremark), controls the amounts, too. I kept trying to search for Test Cyp 200mg/ml vial on their site, and it kept coming back with an error about how that was above the reccomended dosage (I guess because it is a 10ml vial and supposed to be a 90 day supply). They are ok to deal with, just kind of a PITA .

 

[EnhancedAthlete]

You need to be on a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) protocol. I would advise you to go through Maximus for this.
Also, you bodyfat is way too high. No reason you should be sitting at 25% at all. Bring this down asap with a regimented diet and cardio program in addition to lifting 3-5 times a week.

 

[ceomuscle58]

You need to be on a trt protocol. I would advise you to go through Maximus for this.
Also, you bodyfat is way too high. No reason you should be sitting at 25% at all. Bring this down asap with a regimented diet and cardio program in addition to lifting 3-5 times a week.

My first post was back in January when I weighed 275 pounds. I got my weight down to 258 through diet & circuit training 4 days a week with a program similar to P90X and on March 2 when I took my last "Total Test" lab it was still low.

So I luckily got with a Urologist who is trained in HRT. Check my update post from a few days ago.

I would of went with Maximus but I lucked out with my Urologist and my insurance covering pretty much everything. I will continue to post updates as I go. I took pictures back in January so hopefully 5 months from now I can post some before and after pics with results!