22yo, Low T, Varicocele, Need Advice

Pharma TRT
1

Hello all,

I am a 22 year old male, 162lbs, 5’10.

A few weeks ago after getting a scrotal ultrasound, my urologist diagnosed me with a grade 1 varicocele. I myself think it’s a grade 3 (I can see it easily through my scrotum and it’s huge) and the only reason I think my urologist said it was grade 1 was because when he was examining me, my scrotum tightened up and obviously when its tight then the varicocele is hard to find and see. He told me not to worry about getting the surgery. I was getting slight pain from it every now and then but I think that has gone.

I was also having symptoms of low T (balls feel like they are shrinking, little to no libido, erections are not as strong / don’t last as long, loss of morning/nighttime erections, tired for no reason on some days even though I slept 9-10 hours, don’t care about anything, no motivation, im pretty sure im starting to grow boobs,) so I asked my GP and urologist if I could have low T, both laughed and said no way I could have low T at my age.

Places where I collect fat: love handles, stomach/waist, butt, chest (boobs from low T?)

After a few weeks I was still having all of these symptoms so I pushed my GP to test my T. I don’t have the full results yet (getting them tomorrow) but his nurse called me today and said my Total T was 336 (range 340-1000) and told me that the doctor wanted to start me on androgel. I am kind of confused as to why my GP doesn’t even want to further test me and find out what is causing my low T. He has already told me to my face that I worry too much about physical symptoms, that I am a hypochondriac and I don’t feel like he takes me seriously.

I am going to see my GP again tomorrow morning. My question to you guys, if anyone reads this before tomorrow morning, what labs should I get done besides:

-LH and FSH [LH/FSH]
-TT
-FT or bio-T
-E2
-Prolactin
-DHT
-PSA
-DRE

-TSH
-T3 no see fT3
-T4 no see fT4

Adrenal labs
-Cortisol four sample saliva testing [the gold standard]
-Pregnenolone [the foundation of the adrenal hormones and all steroid hormones *]
-DHEA [can’t make T without it] no see DHEA-S
-DHEA-S [DHEA Sulphate]

Did I miss anything?

I am not really sure how proven it is that varicoceles cause low T but I can’t think of any other reason why my T would be so low. Since June I have been lifting heavy 5 days a week. Also, starting around June I started to eat a very low fat diet (almost vegetarian, with meat but before cooking meat/chicken my mom freezes it, after it is frozen and all of the fat is collected at the top, she scrapes all of the fat off/out and throws it away, then cooks the food) and I read that a low fat diet can cause low T but not sure how true this is (anyone?). Also have depression and anxiety, I think my depression is coming from my low T symptoms.

Questions I have for now:

  1. Does anyone have any experience with varicoceles and low T? If so did you have the surgery and did your T levels improve?
  2. Did I cover all lab work that I should have done tomorrow, above?

I will be posting the rest of my bloodwork after I get it tomorrow.

Thank you.

2

sorry, my Total T was 336, not free t.

3

You probably dont need PSA, and your GP almost certainly wont do a DRE.

Do you know how to explain WHY you need these tests? Given what you said from your GP (what kind of fucking doctor laughs in a patients face over health concerns?) you have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting those tests done…I would be surprised if he even runs E2 and the thyroid panel. No shot at all on the cortisol saliva test, IMO. Unless you are one hell of a salesman.

4

Thanks for your help VT. I saw my GP today and when I asked him about getting the full hormone panel he said I would have to ask my urologist or endo. He said he couldn’t order the test because it was ‘above his pay-grade’. I don’t know how valid this is but I am seeing a urologist this coming Monday hopefully.

Here is where I would like input from you guys…I got a physical copy of my results and it turns out my GP only tested my blood for Total Test. Serum which was in the lower 300’s as stated in my original post. He wanted me to start androgel but I told him I wanted to do further lab testing to figure out the root cause first before I start any kind of replacement therapy.

He said my testosterone level was only marginally low and it “might be low because I haven’t been ejaculating as frequently”. He said if I ejaculated more then I would slowly notice a rise in my T level. Here is where I am confused…isn’t what he is saying completely backwards? Wouldn’t my T have been really high if I hadn’t masturbated in a long time? And wouldn’t my T level go down if I masturbated a lot?

Obviously I haven’t been ejaculating frequently, I have barely any libido / urge to masturbate which is why I got tested for low T in the first place.

5

I am not aware of any link between ejaculation frequency and T levels, one way or the other. Honestly, your GP is probably just full of shit.

6

Update: went to see a better urologist today, confirmed that I also have a varicocele on the right (ugh) and Im getting the surgery next month. Got my blood drawn again, this time full hormone panel, will post results in a few days. He also prescribed me Clomid which makes a lot more sense to take than Androgel. Previous to this I didn’t know about shutdown or sperm problems so its quite shocking how uninformed my GP is. God knows how many lives he has ruined

7

Hi Foob, I have the exact same problem as you described and being laughed at by urologists, radiologists, etc. I live in NYC. Do you happen to know of any good urologist that understands the issue as well as yours do? Your help is much appreciated. Im 28 and I need to get this fixed ASAP.

Btw, how did your surgery go? Pl keep me updated.

8

Foob…

also waiting on your update! Where are you!? suffering from very similar situation at 23 years old.

9

Definitely would also like to hear an update. I too have varicocele, and hydrocele. I’m now looking for a urologist. Strangely enough, my GP is also a dick. 22 yo. nutritionist (read: diet is both clean and dialed in), but I still have small sheath of fat around mid section, and upper arms. I have dealt with dysthymia (chronic, low-grade depression) since teens. I’m really hoping my varicocele and dysthymia are somehow related and treating my varicocele will then, in some way, help with my dysthymia. I haven’t had my T-levels tested or any hormone for that matter.

10

Not to threadjack, but I’ve had my T-levels taken and I thought I’d share them:

Serum T = 715 ng/dL (Range 348 - 1197)
Free T = 13.1 pg/ml (Range 9.3 - 26.5)

So although they are within normal range, would it be surprising to know I’m not really satisfied with those numbers? Just because I don’t have low T doesn’t me my T wouldn’t be higher if I don’t have this varicocele. “More research is needed.”

I hope if foob and others are still tracking their own situation, that they share their results!

11

[quote]chasing_arete wrote:
Not to threadjack, but I’ve had my T-levels taken and I thought I’d share them:

Serum T = 715 ng/dL (Range 348 - 1197)
Free T = 13.1 pg/ml (Range 9.3 - 26.5)

So although they are within normal range, would it be surprising to know I’m not really satisfied with those numbers? Just because I don’t have low T doesn’t me my T wouldn’t be higher if I don’t have this varicocele. “More research is needed.”

I hope if foob and others are still tracking their own situation, that they share their results![/quote]

Those are good results and I doubt the surgery will improve your numbers. This is just my opinion.

I also have a varicocele a large one and Uro told me not to worry about it if it’s not hurting or causing pain. She also stated she does not believe it is the cause of low testosterone.

Considering I did a clomid challenge test and testosterone went through the roof. My thoughts are if varicocele cause low test it should have stayed low even when on clomid. She did say it will effect fertility more.

Anyway this was one doctors opinion and my experience. I suggest you read forums who had it done and if it improved testosterone. Then decide for yourself.

But with test in the 700’s be silly going under the knife in the hopes to raise testosterone.

12

[quote]foob wrote:

I am a 22 year old
Questions I have for now:

  1. Does anyone have any experience with varicoceles and low T?

Thank you.

[/quote]

I’m 53 and was diagnosed with a varicocele 30 years ago. Damn uro said it was nothing to worry about so I didn’t ’ think anymore about it. Never had kids but then I didn’t want kids so that wasn’t an issue. Never had T levels checked until symptoms of hypogonadism started hitting home about 6 years ago and went on TRT. If you eventually want kids you should probably take things into your own hands (no pun intended) and find a endo or uro who will give you the care you deserve at your age to ensure preservation of fertility. You’re looking at hypogonadism in the future if not now. Just my FWIW