Low testosterone at very young age..

[NoCanDo]

Hello Everybody. I decided to register here and ask some advice. I turned 18 earlier this year. I have been feeling tired, fatigued, really anxious and stressed out basically over nothing for about a year now. Well stressed over my overall feeling. It all started with brainfog and memory and concentration problems. I was really nervous and anxious over social situations becouse I felt like Iwas in a movie. Basically depersonalisation/derealization thing. It was scared becouse it really isnt who I was. I made some dumb choices when I was under 18. I dont know if its related but I drank heavily whenever I was drinking. Been sober atleast half a year. I went to gym for like 6 months, trying to get my mood better. Never managed to do that. It was already hard going there. Somehow I did. I also actually have had hard times to maintain an erection for a long time also.

So I also got some bloodwork done. Thyroid hormones were fine. My blood pressure is on the lower side. Asked about testosterone. Doc first didnt want to test T but did eventually. My total T was 330 /dl. He didnt see anything odd. Went to urologist and he took SHBG, LH and FSH. Also prolactin which was normal. LH was 4.5, FSH 2.7 and SHBG 35. He called and told everything was normal. Now I really dont know what to do. Are those really normal? I dont think I never had that high T levels. Not a deep voice etc. Im scared that I dont develop to my full potential if my testosterone stays low. Also the mental part is horrible. Would it be possible to raise test naturally to high levels? Or should I contact endrocinologist and maybe retest? I know I am young for TRT or such but Im pretty clueless on my situation. Im not motivated to do anything and the brainfog has been going on for a long time. Any help?

 

[Megatron28]

Can you post all of your blood work results along with their reference ranges? Sometimes docs say the numbers are fine but they really are not. So let's see how it looks.

How much are you sleeping a night? Do you feel rested when you wake up in the morning? Do you snore?

Height, weight and body fat %?

What is your diet like? Eating taco bell every day like a typical teenager?

Have you ever used steroids or prohormones?

Are you on any medications?

Have you used any drugs besides alcohol?

 

[Alpin]

Any past steroid use?

 

[NoCanDo]

Allright, so..

These blood results were taken little under month ago. I supplement myself with seaweed iodine capsules, D3-Vitamine, 30mg of zinc, B-Vitamine capsules and L-Tryptophan, also used Magnesium before.

Glucose level: 5.5 (4-6)
TSH: 1.87 mU/l (0.5-4.9)
free T4: 16.06 pmo/l (10-21)
Testosterone: 11.4 nmo/l (about 330 ng/dl) in referene range of 9-38 nmo/l
SHBG: 35.10 nmo/l (17-66)
FSH 2.7 IU/l (1.4-18.1)
LH: 4.5 IU/l (1.5-9.3)
Prolactin: 195 mIU/l (53-360)

I try to get atleast 8 hours of sleep every night. I also been having sleeping problems. Little easier to fall asleep with low dose of melatonin (1mg). I usually wake up atleast twice during the night. I rarely feel 'rested'. I never snore.

Height is little under 6 foot 1, weight is 145 pounds. Always been fairly skinny. Seems genetic. Bodyfat is under 15.

I don't eat junk food almost at all. I eat pretty healthy home food. Could eat more, but I am not undereating.

Never used any steroids or prohormones in my life.

No medications, altough I have recipe for SSRI's, but not feeling like taking them as I see depression is not my main concern.

I have smoked weed few times also, but then didnt continue and felt fine long after that.

I will ask to test my T again when I am having meeting with doctor next month, but I don't know how it will turn out. But I am fairly sure that those levels aren't normal for average guy in my age. And I can feel it. Thank you for the replies!

 

[NoCanDo]

I also got a pack of maca powder from local herbal store. Do you think this will help at all?

 

[Megatron28]

Ibwoukd ask to have a sleep study done if I were you. Please do this right away. It very easily could be the cause of your Low T.

Do you remember what time if the day your blood work was taken? It is important that it be taken first thing in the morning. That is when your levels are the highest.

When you go back for more labs, check Total Testosterone, Free Testosterone, Vitamin D, Estradiol and Lipids too. Your thyroid and Prolactin look good.

Have you ever tracked how many calories you eat per day? You are very skinny for someone who is 6'1". Do you play any sports or list weights?

 

[Megatron28]

I also got a pack of maca powder from local herbal store. Do you think this will help at all?

No idea what this is. But there are no "natural" testosterone boosters out there. Save your money.

 

[NoCanDo]

Test(s) was/were taken hour after I woke up, around 10am. Well I could ask about the sleep study. But in my opinion I find it hard to sleep becouse of the stress and anxiety. It is hard to relax really.

Yes actually when I was going gym during last fall/winter. I gained little under 9 pounds during that time actually. Now that is gone. I was eating more than I ever ate before. I need to get the appetite back somewhere. This situation affects it also. Im really unmotivated and life doesnt interest me. I hate this situation. Should I check cortisol becouse of my stress? I dont really know if its stress or continuous anxiety. I'd really like to fix this situation ASAP, but I am afraid it will take little longer. Thanks for the reply. And yeah, I don't really believe either that this would raise my testosterone levels. But it has other health benefits and ingredients, so not completely waste of money.

I have never been that active to be honest, but never before experienced this kind of overall feeling.

 

[STAUNCHED427]

Your story sounds similar to mine, although not alcohol rather excessive weekend stimulant usage, although it never improved after stopping. No past steroid use, no SSRI's etc etc

I'm on TRT now, but was going to be cycling in the future. Low test was the last thing I suspected to be the cause. I believe amphetamines (all) can have an impact on the HPTA/Adrenals to some extent (dependant on use as well) considering what they do to cortisol levels. I used to use a lot of MDMA and Amphetamine back in my party days... Abuse would be the word. I now use, responsibly (few times a year, total, hydrated+food while using, keep cool all the preventative measures that SHOULD be taken). The point is moderation is the key, things like alcohol and shit, if you choose to indulge do it sensibly.

I know this isn't entirely relevant to you, but the point is don't let age fool you. It is possible you may have to go on TRT but you want to avoid this at all costs and try find the root problem.

 

[NoCanDo]

Thank you for your answer man. Yeah, it definitely wasn't a good idea to load myself up with excessive amount of alcohol, sometimes till blacking out. Probably hanged in the wrong crowd also, if I would think it now, I woulda drink a lot less and not that often and live really healthy lifestyle, but what is done is done. Hoping for things to sort out and trying to eat more, sleep 8-10 hours per night, maybe meditate, keep taking supplements and start doing some kind of physichal activity if I got any energy. Lets see what my levels going to be next month.

 

[Therealkozmo]

It is imperative you get the sleep study. You most likely have sleep apnea

 

[NoCanDo]

Im starting to think about the whole low T thing and I can really see now what caused all the symptoms. I believe I was even lower before, I had even worse fatigue and brainfog. I am concerned about my growth. If I have been having low t for 1-2 years during my growth, has this permanently supressed my masculine features and what I was meant to ? And could higher(normal) t levels bring those changes anymore at 18? I definitely seem that I didnt enjoy all the benefits of normal T. Also this constant foggines sucks big time..

 

[3J]

he's over 6 feet tall and 145.. this isn't an issue of apnea.. its an issue of nutrition.. he needs to better his diet.. ill bet my paycheck that if he does his test levels will jump at least a couple hundred points

 

[IHI]

he's over 6 feet tall and 145.. this isn't an issue of apnea.. its an issue of nutrition.. he needs to better his diet.. ill bet my paycheck that if he does his test levels will jump at least a couple hundred points

I do agree BUT I will say that I've had severe anxiety and stress since graduating high school and starting my own business over 20 yrs ago, when the wheels don't stop turning you simply cant fall asleep. Then you never sleep "well" and all it takes is waking for a split second for your brain to shift back into worry mode/or like me "planning out the next day and rest of the week to keep my guys busy everyday, and how I wanted certain aspects of a job to go"..it's like a curse.

Definitely get a sleep study, it wont hurt. It'll probably go like mine, worthless since I couldn't sleep for more than a few hours at a time, and after being there 5hrs and laying there staring at the ceiling I asked to go so I could get on with my day. They prescribed a CPAP..well I got an APAP machine, tried it for some time, still use it from time to time, but felt no better than without it.

Side note, with stress and probable wheels turning in your head, making yourself more stressed over being stressed, ask the family doc about trying a scrip of ambien. I tried them and use them as needed, but they would've been a god send if I'da known about them back when I had my business, it shuts down your brain, putting the brakes on the wheels spinning around and boom, your out. They have an ambien XR? I think it's called, extended release since normal ambien is good for conking you out, but not keeping you asleep. Be worth getting a 30 day supply to try it, but they wont prescribe it long term since you will become addicted to it.


also, despite what my endo and I thought, once I got on TRT, my stress diminished immensely, anxiety lowered immensely, sleep more like a normal person does being able to stay asleep for upto 6 hrs at a time (due to schedule that's all I can ever get). But as mentioned, try to see if there's a root cause FIRST, you do NOT want to start this regimon at your young age. Was doing once a week shots now doing splits, and the fact of the matter, it's a PITA but a necessary evil for my old ass since it has been a life saver for me.

Talk to doc about sleeping pills to see if that can band aid ya for a bit. Get referral to an endocrinologist, and hopefully they are a good one...just know the road will be long. I endured 7 months of bouncing doctors, more fricken tests/labs than I care to remember trying to pin down a specific cause for my contradicting symptoms, but endo just put me on TRT as a last ditch and it's helped...but please exhaust everything else first, cannot imagine HAVING to do this at such a young age with my whole life ahead of me. And stay away from SSRI's, been there done that too when I was young, it turns you into an even bigger piece of shit if you can even phathom that.

 

[NoCanDo]

Little update:

So GP called today and he seemed to totally understand my concerns. He agreed that those T levels are definitely too low for my age, but we will further investigate the situation with plenty of more bloodwork, if I understood correct. Going to get more bloodtests soon and then discuss with him what we going to do in the future.

 

[Alpin]

Test(s) was/were taken hour after I woke up, around 10am. Well I could ask about the sleep study. But in my opinion I find it hard to sleep becouse of the stress and anxiety. It is hard to relax really.

Yes actually when I was going gym during last fall/winter. I gained little under 9 pounds during that time actually. Now that is gone. I was eating more than I ever ate before. I need to get the appetite back somewhere. This situation affects it also. Im really unmotivated and life doesnt interest me. I hate this situation. Should I check cortisol becouse of my stress? I dont really know if its stress or continuous anxiety. I'd really like to fix this situation ASAP, but I am afraid it will take little longer. Thanks for the reply. And yeah, I don't really believe either that this would raise my testosterone levels. But it has other health benefits and ingredients, so not completely waste of money.

I have never been that active to be honest, but never before experienced this kind of overall feeling.

Too late. Go before 8:30 AM. After restful nights sleep.
How old are you? 18 ??
I haven't been able to see it in your posts?

 

[NoCanDo]

Yes, Im 18. Stated it in third sentence in my starting post sir

Managed to get bloodwork time at 9am next week.

 

[halfape211]

I hope your GP can help you, unfortunately most of them don't know about low T.
Just wanted to let you know that I too suffered badly when my TT was at your level. Now with higher TT I feel great. However, Megatron knows about a billion more times then what I know, so go with whatever he tells you.

Lastly, read all you can find in this forum and elsewhere. Don't leave it to the doctors to give you proper treatment. Good luck

 

[NoCanDo]

Today morning I went to get bloodwork done. It seemed to have pretty much all the important bloodtests, if not even more. Will waiting to see the results next week. My depressed mood has improved, don't know if all the vitamins and 5-HTP has helped which I was taking. Still having mild to moderate anxiety, low libido, fatigued feeling. Brainfog too.

 

[NoCanDo]

Allright.. I just came from the doctor. I am little bit surprised. My overall feeling is still about the same. BUT:

My total testosterone has suddenly doubled from the last test?? It is now 24 nmo/l, when last time it was 11 nmo/l. So my total testosterone is now considered as normal: in ng/dl it went from 330 to 690 by doing nothing?

LH has stayed about the same, 4.6. Cortisol was in the upper range. 564 nmo/l, the range being about 150-650.

SHBG has went down 3 points, its now 32 nmo/l. I am just wondering, is it normal that all these other levels are about the same, but testosterone has nearly suddenly doubled. My feeling ain't really better. Still hard to get/keep erections, low libido, confidence, brainfog etc.

Then I am asking about my thyroid levels. Free T4 has increased nearly 4 points. It is the upper range, but still considered normal. Now it was 20 pmol/l, upper reference range being 19-21. TSH was now 2.2 mU/l. Could this indicate to hyperthyroidism?

What do you guys say about my bloodwork? All help is appreciated.