Hey guys, this is my first time post. Let me preface and say that I am a HORRIBLE writer (very forgetful and tend to leave things out). Also, throughout my extensive story, you will find I am a stubborn knucklehead and did some very very dumb things that made my situation worse, so learn from my mistakes, please!
Anyways, I have congenital tertiary hypothyroidism due to not enough TRH being secreted to stimulate my pituitary to release an appropriate level of TSH. I’ve been on the same dosage of levothyroxine for about 12 years now (.137mcg-more on this later). I am 24 years old, about 220 lbs, and 15% bf. Before all of this, no prior AAS or anything hormonal.
About two years ago, I was forced to switch doctors due to insurance and my doctor informed me that I had low normal testosterone after some lab tests (300ng/dl). (For future reference, I am not going to post ranges since we are all pretty familiar with them). During this time, I was running about 4x a week and eating about 2000 cals a day.
I was about 192lbs though I looked skinny/gaunt for my frame. I was convinced that it was due to this running/“starvation” diet that I was low on testosterone but my doctor told me that I was wrong and that he wasn’t sure if it was a pituitary or testicular problem. LH/FSH=1.7/5.1 respectively.
About two months later, we retested. I had continued my diet and running since I wanted to take my mind off a recent break-up with a girlfriend. I tested at 226ng/dl with LH/FSH at 1.5/3.2 respectively. My weight had dropped to about 170lbs, which was UNHEARD of for me since I played middle linebacker in high school and averaged about 210 in high school.
The endo told me I definitely had a problem with my body and started me on Testim 5g daily. I wasn’t sure how to do it; it basically told me to do it once daily so I did it at night after a shower. I wasn’t really “active” if you know what I mean so I can’t really gauge my libido back then.
I’m sure it was very low. Morning wood was probably non-existent as well. Needless to say, I hated rubbing that stuff on my shoulders since it smelled weird and I was convinced that I could bring them back by working out and gaining weight back. I quit the gel and te doctor lost me to follow up.
Okay, flash forward about 2 months. I was whisked away to another city for an internship. My weight at the beginning was about 180 and due to eating crappy/not working out, I gained about 30lbs of tubbiness. However, I started dating again and my libido was pretty normal (2-3x a day). I remember thinking “low testosterone my ass!!”…Boy was I wrong.
Anyways, I started noticing some ED, which was frustrating and embarrassing. To make things worse, I caught a pretty severe infection which required the usage of prednisone and antibiotics. Well, that made things so much worse. I remembered ED was a symptom of low T from my Testim box so I decided to read up on it. I then called my doctor for an appointment.
I asked them if it was okay if I rubbed the Testim I had left on my shoulders since I was previously diagnosed with low T and they said that was fine. Abt a week later, I went to visit my new doctor at the same clinic since my old one had left. He said he wanted a complete work-up on my hormone levels.
I asked him what I should do about the Testim and he said not to apply it (I have since learned that this is very incorrect since you should apply it 2 hours before your draw). The gel didn’t help; I have hypothyroidism and myxedema is usually present, even in those being treated with thyroid hormone. Regardless, I followed his instructions and took the bloodwork.
That next week, my symptoms worsened! I was a walking ghost. I went from bedroom activity 3x a day to 1x a day (I was spoiled and with a very attractive girl with whom I had a lot of physical chemistry). I called the clinic (endocrinologists obviously) for my results and begged for an emergency appointment since I felt so horrible and my next appointment was a month away.
They told me to come in immediately to speak with the head of the clinic. I knew something was really wrong and my life was about to change immensely. At my appointment, the head doc informed me my testosterone was 168ng/dl and I needed immediate action. He asked me if I wanted kids, which I thought I did, so he started me on HcG 4000 iu’s weekly (!) for 4 weeks then retest.
I started and noticed immediate improvement in libido etc for a couple weeks but I also had these estrogen attacks where I became very nervous. For my 3rd shot, I was given 150mg of test cyp since they ran out of HcG. Definitely good stuff for the most part. Anyways, I started educating myself and found that dosage to be way too high.
Plus, I was having problems with their staff and they wanted to cut my dosage of levothyroxine since my TSH was suppressed. Remember, I have low TSH due to tertiary hypothyroidism so TSH is an unreliable measure, which I’ve known since I was twelve. I refused to do it and they basically refused to continue treating me. I knew it was time for a new doctor so I left…
My new doctor seemed very smart and listened to my entire story. I was impressed and we had a good talk. I told him everything and he appeared to listen. He told me that it appeared my testosterone levels would probably come back since I went through puberty okay, but I was definitely on too high of a dosage of levothyroxine. I had to hide my frustration and we bargained to go to .125mcg of levothyroxine.
He decided to do a wash-out period of about 6 weeks and would see me in 3 months. Well, my wash-out period obviously sucked. Won’t go into details. At the end, test levels were at 397ng/dl which luckily was low for that range (400-1100). However my free test was in mid-range so he refused to treat me and if he did, it would be with Androgel. I gritted my teeth and decided to wait a couple more months for my appointment.
Okay guys, this is where you DO NOT do what I did. Now, my test levels were extremely low. I could tell but I had complained and bitched so much they told me to wait for a couple more months for blood tests. Now, low t sucks. Horribly. And when you’re in a relationship, those symptoms have a horrible effect on your intimacy.
When you’re 23-24, you have a very short-term focus, so I wanted an immediate fix, which just isn’t the case for I started looking into supplements and researching etc. I tried a ton of things, Tribulis, maca, etc…but then I noticed one supplement that used ATD as it’s main ingredient.
I am sure most of us know what that supp is…now I am not slamming this supp bc it was designed to lower your estrogen and boost your testosterone by 2500%. I took it for about 3 weeks and lost all libido. Now, my doctor asked me during the 3rd week for a retest since he figured all of the HcG was gone. I figured that it was out of my system…nope. It wasn’t. Came back at 660. Doctor refused treatment and I was now SOL.
Once again, T-levels plummeted. Symptoms came back. Felt the same. Got him to boost me back up to .137 but not much else changed. I then decided again (sooo stupidly) to self-medicate with OTC supps because I had burned so many bridges. Started using Sustain Alpha by PP. This helped out my symptoms but once again, I f-ed up my blood work, which came out at 547ng/dl.
In a way, I almost liked this better than TRT; it was easier to get, almost felt the same, but it just wasn’t as powerful. Not to mention I had a horrible experience on TRT. I switched versions of Sustain from topical to oral and after about 4 months (and a week off), my levels were at 740ng/dl. This includes a week of debauchery and drinking. I considered my self-experiment of PCT successful and stayed off the Sustain for about 2 weeks on and off again.
However, my levels plummeted a few weeks later. I mean, plummeted. Nothing worked down there. I tried going back on it to no avail. Things just got worse. I swore to stay off that stuff forever since I knew I had a serious problem.
Soo, I decided to get my own lab tests from Private Labs MD and my Testosterone levels were at 475ng/dl. LH/FSH normal. This whole time, my Free T4 has been above 1.00 (0.7-1.9) except when my test came back at 397ng/dl (0.7). Also, I have had an MRI done (2x) which revealed a tiny cyst on the pituitary which the Radiology staff at a prestigious research university considered to not have an effect, so I believe them.
Bone density scan was above average. All other pituitary hormones/their antecedents were normal except prolactin (<2.0) and TSH. Estradiol, when tested, has never been greater than 36ng/dl (when test was 740). Still suffering same symptoms.
Whew…I just typed all of that on my iPhone. Okay, I will be the first to admit I have handled this situation horribly. I mean about as bad as one can. So please don’t reply telling me how stupid I am. Trust me, I know.
However, I need some seasoned advice from the board experts (btw-KSman–I hope gets better). I need to move on and I am confused as to where to go from here. So, I have a few questions-
1.) Do you think I should find a new doctor? I think I burned him out and while I was honest with him about the OTC supps, he didn’t think they were effective enough to taint my blood work. He also had never heard of HcG being used for males and he never tested my LH/FSH or my estradiol. I feel like even if I was on TRT, it would not be “optimal”.
2.) How long should I wait to “crash” to my baseline? From all my research, Sustain is fairly mild (resverastrol and benzoflazone 7,8-hardly clomid/novedex) and I myself was so surprised at 740 ng/dl.
3.) How should I interpret those results from Sustain? Since I can’t really determine if I’m truly hypogonadal, what can I get from this? I guess my pituitary works?? Maybe something at the hypothalamus level?
4.) If I do decide to find another doctor (using KSMan’s sticky, of course), and my “clean” testosterone blood work is low, should I stick with an endocrinologist since I have a complicated medical history with that tertiary hypothyroidism? I have heard countless horror stories about endos and I have my own about how unaggressive they are. Honestly, I feel my hypothyroidism is fairly well copensated.
I am probably underdosed. I found an internist who is a hormone specialist (for TRT) who I think would be a good start but may say this is out of his league and send me right back to where I started!!
Fast