31 yrs Old - Is It Low T or Other?

Info
31 yo
5’9"
44" waist
230 lbs
I carry fat around my waist mostly. Two years ago I was 55 lbs lighter but still had some fat around the waist.

No health symptoms but high blood pressure and heart disease run in both sides of my family.
I am not using any OTC or RX drugs. Just vitamins and supplements.

I eat healthy. Mostly chicken, tuna, and protein powder for protein. Brown rice, any potatoes, greek yogurt, fruit and veggies for carbs. Nat. PB/ almond butter, fish oils, extra virgin olive oil for fats. I do splurge once a week with either a pizza or a cheeseburger and fries.

I lift 3-4 days a week, depending on schedule. I am doing 5/3/1 with higher rep assistance exercises.
I do cardio 4-6 days a week, again depending on schedule. I usually us my exercise bike. But since the weather is getting nicer I am hiking or going on long walks more. I plan on running bleachers in a few weeks to help with cardio and fat loss.

I haven’t had morning wood is about 8 years. I’ve never had sore testes but they don’t hang very low any more.

My labs:
March, 2012
TSH 2.38 (.4-4.5 mIU/L)
T4, free .9 (.8-1.8 ng/dL)
CBC
white blood cell count 3.8 (3.8-10.8 thousand/uL)
red blood cell count 5.28 (4.20-5.8 million/ uL)
Hemoglobin 15.5 (13.2-17.1 g/dL)
Hematocrit 45.1 (38.5-50.0 &)
MCV 85.3 (80.0- 100 fl)
MCH 29.4 ( 27-33 pg)
MCHC 34.4 (32-36 g/dL)
RDW 13 (11-15 %)
Platelet count 24 (140-400 thousand/uL)
Absolute Neutrophils 2060 (1500-7800 cells/uL)
absolute Lymphocytes 1102 (850-3900 cells/ uL)
" Monocytes 471 (200-950 cells/uL)
" eosinophils 137 (15-500 cells/uL)
" basophils 30 (0-200 cells/uL)
neutrophils 54.2%
lymphocytes 29@
monocytes 12.4 %
eosiniphils 3.6%
basophils .8%
LH 5.4 (1.5-9.3 mIU/mL)
Prolactin 9.3 (2.3-18.0 ng/mL)
Testosterone,
total, males 507 (241-827 ng/dL)

October, 2011- full physical
Lipid Panel
cholesterol, total 147 (125-200 mg/dL)
HDL Cholesterol 45 (> or = 40 mg/dL)
Trigylcerides 41 (<150 mg/dL)
LDL 94 (<130 mg/dL)

Vitamin D, 25-hydroxy,
LC/MS/MS
Vitamin D, 25-OH, Total 46 (30-100 ng/mL)

TSH 2.99 (.4-4.5 mIU/L)
T4, total 8.1 (4.5-12 mcg/dL)
CBC
white blood cell count 3.5 (3.8-10.8 thousand/uL)
red blood cell count 5.39 (4.2-5.8 million/ uL)
Hemoglobin 15.9 (13.2-17.1 g/dL)
Hematocrit 47.3 (38.5-50 %)
MCV 87.7 (80-100fl)
MCH 29.6 (27-33 pg)
MCHC 33.7 (32-36 g/dL)
RDW 12.3 (11-15 %)
Platelet count 219 (140-400 thousand/ uL)
Absolute Neutrophils 1663 (1-500-7800 cells/uL)
" Lymphocytes 1257 (850-3900 cells/uL)
" Monocytes 448 (200-950 cell/uL)
" Eosinophils 105 (15-500 cells/uL)
" BAsophils 28 (0-200 cells/uL)
Neutrophils 47.5%
Lymphocytes 35.9%
Monocytes 12.8%
Eosinophils 3%
Basophils 6%

LH 6 (1.5-9.3 mIU/mL)
Testosterone, Free and total
, LC/MS/MS 726 (250-1100 ng/dL)
free testosterone 99.5 (35-155 pg/mL)

My problem started last summer. I was pissed at my self for gaining back a lot of weight that I had lost. I had taken a few months off due to stress at work and tweaking my right shoulder and wrist in a fall. I started really watching what I ate and started biking again.

My wrist and shoulder was still bugging me, but not as bad as before, so pressing heavy was not an option right away. After a few months my lifting numbers were slowly going back up but still a long ways away to where they were before. I was also not getting as energetic from lifting and cardio as I was in the past. My erections were not as frequent as they were in the past too, but I just linked that to being out of shape and depressed about gaining all the weight. I could still get hard though if I was watching porn and “taking care of business”.

In October, 2011, I got my yearly physical and had my doctor add on a testonsterone, thyroid, and vitamin D test to my blood work.

After that the weight kept yo-yoing. I thought it was from me not being able to have a set lifting and cardio schedule due to a promotion and new schedule. So I started watching what I ate more and made sure I was eating enough good stuff and was getting in my cardio.

In February, 2012 I realized that there may be something wrong with me.

In May, 2011 I had to go to Columbus, OH to finish management training as part of my promotion. There were about 20 soon-to-be managers gathering there to learn about our company’s history and to be tested on procedure and whatnot. While I was there I met a very attractive redhead and we started hanging out while we were there.

Nothing happened and we left after training. We kept in touch for a little while and then drifted apart. In August, she texts me out of the blue and we started talking again. It was awesome because we were both single and really into each other. But with our schedules it was almost impossible for us to see each other. (BTW I live in Cincinnati, OH and she lives in Ann Arbor, MI.)

Anyway, we are texting and sexting for a few months and we finally work something out to where I am going to visit her in Ann Arbor at the end of February.

I go and visit her and we have a blast. She shows me around and have an awesome dinner and drinks a local pub. So we go back to her place and cuddle on the couch. One thing leads to another and we are in her bedroom. We start to fool around and I can’t get hard. I’m playing with it and nothing is happening. She starts to play with it and nothing is happening.

Finally, I am embarrassed and say that I guess I am too tired from driving and drinking and we should try again in the morning. She understands and agrees with me. We sleep in the same bed cuddling in each other’s arms. The next morning, we are both well rested lying in bed, and we start to fool around again. Still nothing.

At this point I am pissed but trying not to show it. I am really interested in this girl and I can’t perform. We go out and have lunch before I drive back home.

A week later I make an appointment to go see my DR. and explain what happened. He gives me a test and thyroid blood test to see what could be wrong. Both tests come back “in range” and he said that he could prescribe some cialis for me to take. That was a low blow to the ego, in my mind. A 31 yo being prescribed cialis because he can’t get hard. The real kicker came when my insurance wouldn’t cover it and I had to pay $150 for a months supply of daily cialis.

That’s when I started researching TRT on here and looking for a DR around me that could help.
After looking around I started noticing I had more symptoms of low T: low energy, low drive, low hair growth, etc.

My questions are:
Do I have low T or is it mental/stress related?

How much are injections per month? I don’t know what my insurance will cover and I want to make sure I can cover it without going broke.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Your issue almost certainly isn’t due to T man. Your levels are pretty decent.

I would look into thyroid issues. Your Free T4 is crazy low, so you are probaly not getting adequate T3 which is the active hormone. Ask for a full thyroid panel to include Free T3 and Reverse T3 (if available). Iron and Ferritin as well.

Erection issues are frequently related to estrogen and prolactin. Prolactin was fine, but you may want to get E2 checked.

Also, your WBC is very low while RBC is high. This is odd. WBC that low could be indicative of some sort of disease. Did your doctor seem concerned about it?

Giving blood may help the highish RBC, but that would probably be icing on the cake and not the meat of your meal, so to speak.

He didn’t seem too concerned with ANY of my blood work. I don’t know if he is not into prescribing testosterone boosters or anti-estrogens. He is also my family doctor too, so he can see what genetics I am working with. Both sides of my family are severely to morbidly obese. My dad and little brother are around 6’2"-6’4" and have around a 54-58" waist.
i am the fittest in my family being 5’9" with only a 44" waist.

It’s going to be a little while until I can go back and get more blood work done. Should I start taking an anti-estrogen to help with the ED I am having?

And can anyone on here recommend any test boosters I could take? I’ve taken Super Test and have had little results.

[quote]puckhead08 wrote:
He didn’t seem too concerned with ANY of my blood work. I don’t know if he is not into prescribing testosterone boosters or anti-estrogens. He is also my family doctor too, so he can see what genetics I am working with. Both sides of my family are severely to morbidly obese. My dad and little brother are around 6’2"-6’4" and have around a 54-58" waist.
i am the fittest in my family being 5’9" with only a 44" waist.

It’s going to be a little while until I can go back and get more blood work done. Should I start taking an anti-estrogen to help with the ED I am having?

And can anyone on here recommend any test boosters I could take? I’ve taken Super Test and have had little results.[/quote]

I have heard a lot of people give D-Aspatcic acid the thumbs up as far as raising Test levels. You could try that but seeing as you have had 2 readings one over 500 while the other over 700 don’t know how much the D-asparcic acid will work.

As VT mentioned your Ft4 is horrendous and a complete thyroid panel is a must.

[quote]iroczinoz wrote:

As VT mentioned your Ft4 is horrendous and a complete thyroid panel is a must.
[/quote]

I’m more concerned about the WBC. Thyroid issues make living a pain in the ass, disease that affect your WBC can kill you.

If I were the OP, I would get real smart on WBC and what possible causes could be for why it is low instead of worrying about improving my normal testosterone levels.

Does time of day affect WBC? When that test was drawn it was 8 am and I hadn’t eaten anything since the night before.

Not that I’m aware of

Okay. I did some research on what can cause a low white blood cell count, and the list isn’t good. Most of then are due to cancer treatments. The common symptoms on the list are paleness, anemic-looking, and pain of the joints/in the bones. Hopefully it’s caused by a vitamin deficiency. I am going to call my doctor in the morning and see what he says.

[quote]puckhead08 wrote:
Okay. I did some research on what can cause a low white blood cell count, and the list isn’t good. Most of then are due to cancer treatments. The common symptoms on the list are paleness, anemic-looking, and pain of the joints/in the bones. Hopefully it’s caused by a vitamin deficiency. I am going to call my doctor in the morning and see what he says. [/quote]

The reason I said to look into the thyroid is because autoimmune diseases can have a big impact on blood counts. Low white blood counts are generally attributed to a supressed immune system. So I guess if his thyroid is playing up or he has not ruled out hashi’s it could be causing his wbc to be low. It could also be a different autoimmune disease, but with Hashi’s being so common maybe start there.

But yeah definitely speak with your doctor.

Also agree that you probably dont need to be looking at a test booster. But since you asked about a good one that works…