24 with Low Test

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

Intro
Hey guys this is my first post, woo hoo! Anyway here it goes. As far as symptoms go, ever since I can remember I have always had low libido, I’ve had girlfriends that wanted sex more than I did and them coming on to me so much actually put me off. My energy levels have been quite low as far as I can remember, slept most of my way through high school and I’ve had employers ask me why I always move so slow. I’ve also never been a competitive person at all, and I hate team sports. By far the biggest indicator is my lack of being able to gain muscle, I have bulked multiple times, slow (2-1 pounds of mass per month) and tracked my calories to a T but only pack on fat and do not gain much strength if any, I have had the same bench max for 2-3 years now. Also losing fat is very hard. The biggest thing I’m hoping for a change in is I have a constant mental fog, I find it very difficult to concentrate and have the absolute worst memory, my fiancée hates this and working in a chemical plant this is not a good quality to have.

How everything started
So basically how my journey began got was I got some bloodwork done close to two years ago during a physical to see what my test levels were. Being into lifting I just thought this would be a cool thing to do. Well plot twist, turns out my test levels were in the dumps coming back at a whopping 311 TT (range 348-1197) and 7.8 free test (range 9.3-26.5). Upon finding this out I tried to get my doctor to run more tests such as lh, Fsh, and e2. But he wouldn’t, he just wrote me a script for androgel and sent me on my way. Well I was in hardcore denial about having low t and fought it kicking and screaming. I didn’t take the androgel since I wasn’t ready for trt and I just assumed there was a mistake in the labs and it was perhaps my sleeping habits or diet causing the low t.

I decided a couple months later in July of 2015 to get more bloodwork done at a private lab. I had started working on my diet and sleep habits and I figured everything would come back higher than before. Well this time TT came back at 252 (range 348-1197) lh was 4.8 (range 1.7-8.6) and Fsh was 4.8 (range 1.5-12.4) e2 came back at 17.6 (range 7.6-42.6), there was no free test run this time. So after this I started to come to terms with the fact that I have low T. I ran two ph cycles of osta and halo, and then I was about to do a cycle of test when I figured, hey why not just get on trt.

Current situation
So that brings me to where I am today, I went on Tuesday to see my gp, she ran more bloods but that was about as helpful as she wanted to be, referring me to an endo, whom of which I decided to opt out of and make an appointment with a more trt friendly local gp.
Current bloodwork @1pm fasted.:
TT: 237 ng/dl 348 - 1197 ng/dL
Free T: still waiting on test, will update asap
LH: 1.7 mIU/mL 1.7 - 8.6 mIU/mL
FSH: 2.9 mIU/mL 1.5 - 12.4 mIU/mL
Estradiol: 11.2 pg/mL 7.6 - 42.6 pg/mL
Cortisol: 15.6 ug/dL no range given
Prolactin: 13.7 ng/mL 4.0 - 15.2 ng/mL
SHBG, Serum: 25.3 nmol/L 16.5 - 55.9 nmol/L
TSH: 1.020ulU/mL 0.450 - 4.500 uIU/mL
WBC: 5.4 x10E3/uL 3.4 - 10.8 x10E3/uL
RBC: 5.07 x10E6/uL. 4.14 - 5.80 x10E6/uL
Hemoglobin: 14.7 g/dL 12.6 - 17.7 g/dL
Hematocrit: 44.9 % 37.5 - 51.0 %
Glucose, serum: 79 mg/dL 65 - 99 mg/dL
Vitamin D 25: 25.1 ng/mL 30.0 - 100.0 ng/mL
Cholesterol, total: 153 mg/dL 100 - 199 mg/dL
Triglycerides: 62 mg/dL 0 - 149 mg/dL
HDL: 44 mg/dL. >39 mg/dL
VLDL: 12 mg/dL 5 - 40 mg/dL
LDL: 97 mg/dL no range given.

So yeah here’s most of the big stuff, if there’s anything else you guys would like to see I can check if it was ran or not but most of the hormonal stuff is there. I know my vitamin D is low but is there anything else you guys see that sticks out to you? I don’t really see a cause for my low T. I know my dads total t is in the 200’s so I’m thinking it may be hereditary. Thanks for reading though all this and any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

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The cause for low T is shown by your LH / FSH. Both very low for having low total T. Represents secondary hypogonadism. Also, need a fuller thyroid work up. Your TSH is low.

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I thought that you wanted a tsh closer to 1? But I will try to get a full thyroid panel next time I get bloodwork done, I’m sure they will be doing more on my next appointment.

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TSH=1.0 is ideal, but that does not mean that everything is well. Thyroid can be complex. You need to be consistently using iodized salt to support thyroid. Check you oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky to eval your overall thyroid function. If your eyebrows are full all the way to your temples, that is a good sign. If sparse … not.

Many here have low thyroid function and symptoms are mostly the same as low-T, so many here have a double dose of misery.

Read stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman

  • advice for new guys
  • things that damage your hormones
  • protocol for injections
  • finding a TRT doc

Cholesterol is to low. <160 is associated with increased all-cause mortality. Extreme low fat diets are dangerous. Eat health fats, fish oil, olive oil. Never corn oil or other omega-6 rich oils.

Take 5,000iu Vit-D3 every day, 25,000 for first five days. Converts to Vit-D25, an active hormone that is essential for many aspects of proper DNA expression. Test Vit-D25 sometime in future to see how your levels are. Optimal is 60-80.

Your low T can drive some social avoidance. But not caring for team sports may also be simply part of your personality.

You may have problems related to chemical exposure. Labs for AST/ALT might show some effects of chemical exposure. However, low E2 eliminates some aspects of liver problems related to low-T.

There is often more than low-T that needs to be looked into. And when you get on TRT, that can easily be necessary but not sufficient.

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Thanks ksman. I will try to get some more thyroid bloodwork, I’ve only been working at the plant for 8 months now, so it’s relatively new but we do handle bromine on a daily basis and I know that can have some effect on the thyroid, other than that I work in utilities and don’t really deal with many chemicals besides H2O. I will also try to get my vitamin d up and include some more fats in my diet. I’ve been dieting for the past 6 months and haven’t been intentionally keeping my fats low but I’m sure it’s just worked out that way.

If I do everything right as far as getting vitamin d, and cholesterol in check will this raise my T levels or just alleviate some of the symptoms?

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It is really about addressing all weak links.[quote=“KSman, post:4, topic:220666”]
Thyroid can be complex. You need to be consistently using iodized salt to support thyroid. Check you oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky to eval your overall thyroid function. If your eyebrows are full all the way to your temples, that is a good sign. If sparse … not.
[/quote]

Please do not ignore any above points. Oral body temperatures are important. If they are good, may not be a need for more thyroid labs.

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I eat a yogurt and drink 16 ounces of milk daily so I believe my iodine levels should be okay. I also dont have any thinning of my eyebrows but I will check my temps tomorrow morning and afternoon. I wake up for work at 2:30 am, this won’t have any effect on temperature will it?

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The amount of iodine in dairy products used to be significant when the teats were washed with iodine teat wash, now largely displace. There used to be iodine in bread as a dough conditioner and that is gone too, now sometimes replaced with, horrors, bromines.

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Alright I checked my temperature a couple times at 8:50 pm and it came back at 98.7 three different times. I will check it in the morning when I wake up as well. Do you have any recommendations on foods with iodine?

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Checked my temperature as soon as I woke up and it came back at 96.2. Damn! I guess I will be upping my iodine.

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Sorry, I did not know TSH at 1.0 was ideal. I always read that a TSH of 1.5 was optimal. Low TSH would indicate hyperthyroidism would lead to muscle fatigue and sleeplessness. However it would also show weight loss and higher temps, not lower.

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It is nice to see if someone else can score 98.6 on a thermo so it can be trusted.

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Well went to the doc and he prescribed me 200mg test every other week, I’m gunna split it up into 100mg per week.

Question though, I’ve had two injections over a three week period, my last injection was 7 days ago. It took some convincing but I got the doctor to let me get a sperm count and I plan on going in the next two days. Will I even have a count 3 weeks in? I have some Nolva and Torem from the one PH cycle I did, should I take that tonight or would that be pointless?

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Good call, make sure you inject a minimum of once per week. If he didn’t RX you, I wouldn’t add it on your own yet. Get the follow up labs, see where E2 is and then dose based on your body’s response. 1mg split is average, I need less at .5mg.

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If you want to see how low it goes, too soon to get lab results that are conclusive.

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I really just wanted a baseline so I at least know I was fertile to begin with. I know the two doses I’ve had have probably shut me down to an extent though.

This doctor wasn’t very bloodwork or hcg friendly so I will be going to see a new doctor soon. I do still think there may be an underlining thyroid issue based off temps so I will try to get the doctor to follow up on that as well.

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Please inject twice a week. You can use #29 0.5ml 1/2" insulin syringes. Do labs halfway between injections.

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Would I just draw with a bigger needle and pull the plunger out of the insulin syringe and inject it into the back of the insulin syringe?

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Just load the insulin syringe directly from the vial, it takes time, find a way to hang the vial with the needle stuck into the rubber stopper. Back filling seems like a source of waste and opportunity for contamination and infection. You put plunger down on what?

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Okay I didn’t know you could draw with an insulin syringe. I thought the same thing about backfilling the first time I saw it. I have actually been using a 25 gauge and it’s been fine so far. The first time I didn’t even feel it, second time I was more nervous for some reason and practically shook it into myself lol how long until this nervousness goes away?