I am new here so I will try to include all the information that I have seen in other posts. Please be patient.
I am 39. 5’ 8" and I weigh 135.
I am overall a healthy man, albeit, I do feel myself getting older. I play football with kids and work out approximately 3x week. Recovery is taking longer and longer. I find myself staying sore for days. I recently went to the doctor with complaints of lethargy and never feeling “awake”. I am constantly tired with lack of motivation. I am not depressed and my sleep study was normal.
Lab results were as follows:
CBC- Normal
BMP- Normal
LDL- 30
HDL- 72
LDL/HDL ratio- 0.4
Cholesterol- 111
Triglycerides- 28
Free Test- 47.6
Total Test- 389
Estradiol- 30
I would be ecstatic to start a regimen that would help get me feeling back to my normal self, but I am also curious to hear what other seasoned people might think of my labs.
If I left some information out, please let me know and I’ll reply with additions.
lab ranges for the free test would be good. Also if they drew your SHBG, not that you can change it.
Your total testosterone is low, and your free test, if its the ranges i am thinking of… is basically AT the bottom of the range… Way too low for your age, but not unexpected.
You would feel better on TRT. You can do what your doc says and try the clomiphene first. I have seen it raise peoples Test, but not help with the effects of low T.
your free test was literally where mine was when i started TRT. Felt awful, depressed, tired, low libido/mood, couldn’t put on muscle.
Not sure why the clomiphene has had that effect on people, its just something i have seen with a few people. May not be the case for you. Worth trying first i would say.
I wish more people understood that low test doesn’t always mean low libido. My wife doesn’t like the thought of me starting TRT because she’s afraid I’m going to become a monster obsessed with sex. When in reality, I really just want some energy and a good night sleep.
My doctor was against TRT the last time I saw him for this. I was about 36 and my levels were mid 400s. He said that once I go down this road, I would have to continue the road. This time I saw his nurse practitioner and he was much more open to the idea and supported it. At this point I don’t care if I have to continue down this room. I’m ready to feel good again.
6 weeks will be a fairly good indicator of where your test levels will be but it’s prob not long enough to decide to adjust or not. I would wait at least 10 weeks and see how you feel. Last thing you wanna do is not be settled in and start messing with dosing.
I do have one question I forgot to ask him. Is TRT a life long thing once started? Or, if after several months I don’t love it for some reason, can I stop taking it?
I don’t know why, but last night I started getting nervous. How much does it increase your libido? The wife and I really had a rough night last night when I told her I was starting because we are already so different libido wise.
It’s not gonna turn you into a sex crazed freak. Ideally getting your levels where they should be would return you to how you used to be before your test levels declined.
What’s interesting is no one talks about other medications like this; i.e., “I’m diabetic/hypothyroidal/a-fib/cirrhotic/etc. but my doc said if I use (appropriate medication), I’ll be on that road forever.”
You might “feel” something in a week or so. It’s gonna take 5 weeks or so for the test to reach full blood saturation and from there the body will adjust to the new hormone profile.
We are all different so my experience will most likely be different from yours.
You’re right. As a nurse, I can definitely understand that comparison. I also suffer from psoriasis and no one has ever said to me that I’ll be on my monthly injections forever. It was assumed. Because I have a disease. This should be viewed in the same way. Not necessarily a disease, but a hormonal problem.