My Story with Questions/Concerns

[Low-T-Hoss]

Howdy. Thanks for reading my story and providing any additional insight or opinion. I'm sorry for the lenght, but I am fairly detail oriented. I've been lurking for a few weeks and decided to post. I am completely confused and frustrated about my situation so I decided to post my story.

-age: 32
-height: 6'
-waist: 38"
-weight: 275
-describe body and facial hair: Low body and leg hair. Very little under the arms, on legs, or chest. I can not grow a full beard, goat or mustache. There is hair, but it is sporadic and not thick at all. I shave twice per week.
-describe where you carry fat and how changed: mid section and upper torso. I recently lost 60lbs in the last 9 months, but have stalled out the last 2 months and have gained a few lbs with no major change in diet or excercise.
-health conditions, symptoms: no major health concerns. blood pressure has been a little high lately. Symptoms include fatigue, recent weight gain, foggy/cloudy brain, bad memory, low labido, ED, trouble sleeping sometimes (no apnea), low motivation, lack of motivation at work
-Rx and OTC drugs, any hair loss drugs or prostate drugs *ever*: Daily multivitamin and some generic fish oil
-lab results with ranges: see message body text
-describe diet [some create substantial damage with starvation diets]: low fat, lower calorie (1800 or so per day), low salt, high protein. NO fast food, no soda's, some caffeine
-describe training [some ruin there hormones by over training]: Mostly walking and jogging with my dog. Weight train 1-2 times per week when I am not exhausted. Work is sedentary and on a computer most of the day
-testes ache, ever, with a fever?: No
-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed: Morning wood 1-2 times per week for as long as I can rememeber.


Tuesday (10/9) I had a physical. I’ve been seeing this doctor for 8 years so he knows me and my history. What prompted the physical (other than it being over 2 years since my last one) was poor performance in the bedroom with my serious girlfriend of 6 months. The first time with her a while back I had serious problems and then a few times a month since then I would have problems. I chalked it up to first time (with her) jitters but the more it happened the more I realized something was wrong. I went to the doctor to figure out what that something was and to discuss ED drugs (before I knew anything about low T). The doctor asked me some questions and put Testosterone on the blood work.

On Thursday (10/11) they called me with the results. Everything looked ok, but my T level was “on the low end of the scale" at 341 (348 - 1197). The doctor wanted me to come in to talk and discuss treatment options. I had Friday (10/12) off so I went in.

Blood Test results from first blood test (there are more results, but I picked the ones I thought were most relevant). Fasting at 9:15am
Testosteron, Serum = 341 (348-1197)
LH = 2.5 (1.7-8.6)
FSH = 1.6 (1.5-12.4)
T-3 Uptake = 30 (22-35%)
T-4 = 8.9 (4.5-12.5)
Free T4 2.7 (1.4-3.8)
TSH 1.94 (.4 - 4.5)
Hemoglobin = 15.1 (12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit = 45.5 (37.5-51.0)
Cholestoral, Tota = 174 (100-199)
HDL Cholestoral = 52 (>39)
LDL Cholestoral Calc = 105 (0-99)
AST (SGOT) = 111 (0-40) **not sure it has anything to do with my symptoms but thought I would post it here. Doc wants to test it again in 2 months....I am not a heavy drinker. 0-4 beers per week...no hard liqour.
Glucose, Serum = 94 (65-99)

I spent 20 minutes with him and before I left they had injected me with 1mL of T. cypionate (200mg) and I had a vial with another 10mL and 10 syringes with directions to inject myself every Friday with .7mL and to get another blood test done in mid December. It was made clear that this second blood test would cover any and all things related to testosterone. At that point we would discuss continued treatment and at what dosages. I’m pretty pissed at myself that I just let this all happen without fully understanding the scope of what it all meant….but he was my doctor and I thought he would know best….maybe he still does.

The more I read about low T and the symptoms, the more I realize I have been suffering from it for a while now….at least since my early 20’s. This is something I do not want to ignore and want to treat, but I am scared of some of the side effects. I WANT to have kids some day and am worried about becoming sterile. Is this a guarantee? Anything I can do to avoid it?

10/18 One week after the shot and diagnosis, I went to a "T" clinic in Dallas for a second opinion. I knew what these guys were about but wanted to hear more information and was willing to pay for it. Before even looking at blood, they were trying to sell me on a T + HCG + Aromatase inhibitor (AI) treatment, but it is expensive. They did take more blood and below are the results. Yes this is 6 days after getting a big shot of Test Cyp, but it came with the consult and I wanted more information.

Total Test = 923 ng/dL (241-827)
Free Test (Direct) = 6.6 pg/mL (8.7-25.1)
LH = <.2 mIU/mL (1.5-9.3)
Estradiol = 63 pg/mL (0 - 39)
PSA = .6 nm/mL (0-4)
AST = 94 (10-40)
They did a full CBC, but it is similar to the above.

So obviously, the big shot of Test Cyp made a huge difference in my Total T numbers. In one week it also completely tanked my LH numbers. Not knowing what Estradiol or Free Test was before the shot...I'm not sure what the difference is. That being said, my E2 number is way too high and my free T number is very low.

10/26 Being an information junky, I decided to go to an endocrinologist. As I expected, this guy was not helpful. He basically told me I worry to much, that my doctor is an idiot for prescribing Test Cyp and that I wasted my money on the "T" clinic (which is probably true). He did a thorough examination of me but refused to take more blood or even take into consideration the blood tests I brought in. He does want to rule out a tumor and wants to do a much more thorough examination of my blood in 3 months once the, "testosterone is out of my system." I like that he wants to find the source of my problem, but I'm not sure I'm willing to wait this long or work with a guy who is probably not going to do anything. He did say with a 341, he would not recommend HRT or testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). He also does not know anyting about HCG as a male hormone therapy and says Aromatase inhibitor (AI) are far to dangerous.

11/1 - I have NO idea as of today what I am going to do. I have this vial of Test Cyp on my counter but am hesitant to inject without knowing why I have low T. At the same time, I am sick and tired of feeling this way. My social life is in the tank, my gf is very suportive but I can tell this is stressing her out, and my work is suffering. Below are my questions for the group.

1) How hard do I push for an MRI to rule out a tumor?
2) Based on my LH and FSH I would self diagnos as secondary.....would Clomid or HCG work for me and would you recommend it?
- My doctor doesn't know anything about HCG or Aromatase inhibitor (AI), so I would need to go somewhere else for it.
3) How long do I have to wait after this 1 Test shot on 10/12 to get another blood test so i can get a better baseline on ALL the important things to look for?

I know its a long read and I thank anyone who has made it this far. Anything I forgot or if you have any questions, please post. Thanks!

Hoss

 

[THE-DET-OAK]

Hey man I will try to answer as many of your questions in detail as I can.

The first thing I gotta ask though, where did the questions come from? IE: the list of questions you answered for us at the beginning?

Also did you get C peptide tested? The high liver values could be indicative of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Thanks

 

[Low-T-Hoss]

Dont see C peptide anywhere in the tests. The doctor thought it might be high because of the 4 beers I had 3 days prior.......so he wanted to test it again in 2 months.

Honestly...got the questions from another site. I can edit the post if that is weird or not allowed. I've joined a few sites in the last 3 weeks trying to gather as much information as I can. I stumbled on this one last about 2 weeks ago and really like it so I wanted to get the advice of the group here as well.

 

[THE-DET-OAK]

1) How hard do I push for an MRI to rule out a tumor?
2) Based on my LH and FSH I would self diagnos as secondary.....would Clomid or HCG work for me and would you recommend it?
- My doctor doesn't know anything about HCG or Aromatase inhibitor (AI), so I would need to go somewhere else for it.
3) How long do I have to wait after this 1 Test shot on 10/12 to get another blood test so i can get a better baseline on ALL the important things to look for?

I know its a long read and I thank anyone who has made it this far. Anything I forgot or if you have any questions, please post. Thanks!

Hoss

I don't know how hard I would push to rule out a tumor, your doctor obviously did not see much in your history or labs to warrant further investigation, but at the same time its hard to tell anyone not to rule things out, as its always the smartest thing to do.

I honestly am not a believer in clomid therapy, I have seen many many people give it a go and no one is really ever happy with it, even though it seems to get most T levels back into range. This could be due to clomid's ability to act as a estrogen in the body, and the estrogenic effect that it has. Estrogens, or things that act like estrogens can actually bind to androgen receptors and block testosterone. So basically what I am saying is, even if it does work, it most likely won't alleviate your symptoms.

if your one and only shot was on 10/12 it is gone from your system now, you can get a test anytime you want.

I honestly think the clinic you went to, regardless of there motives, had the right idea for you. You obviously need an Aromatase inhibitor (AI) due to your high body fat % and because of your low free roaming testosterone percentage. HCG is important to you since you want to try and have kids one day. If you were capable of having kids before starting testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) there is a very good chance you can have them while on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) with the use of HCG or by discontinuing testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and ramping up your HCG. If that is not enough then you could always add HMG to your protocol and this would substantially increase your chances of having a baby.

Testosterone is not nearly as suppressive as you would think, you would be very surprised of the number of guys who actually become azoospermic while on testosterone, the number is lower than most believe. This is why testosterone has failed to be made into a male birth control medication, which was tried back in the 70's.

You could always reduce your dosage to help reduce aromatization, but this is not going to help you get rid of the visceral fat your carrying due to having low testosterone, that seems to have been going on for a while.

Hope this helps.

 

[Low-T-Hoss]

Yes, very helpful...thank you. I'm researching Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) monotherapy with an Aromatase inhibitor (AI) now. I keep going back and forth on this. I'd like to see what my body does on this therapy. Hopefully it will help me lose some more weight and I can scale back even more. I dont want to be on medication the rest of my life....but will gladly do so if it is the only way to get me right. I'm tired of feeling this way but dont want to take shortcuts with my health.

Thanks again!