Thanks for all the responses gentlemen. Here is the whole story, which I present so that you won’t think I have not been there, done that and not done my homework. It will likely be a familiar story, so skip to the *** if you just want the current situation.
About 2.5 years ago my libido went from extremely healthy and active to zero in the course of 1 week. I was 42 years old, otherwise healthy. 6’5" tall, 238 pounds, 18% body fat.
I went to my GP who was not even interested. As I recall, he told me that, “we can’t feel like we’re 17 forever.” He gave me a sampl pack of Cialis and sent me on my way. The Cialis barely helped with the ED, and so what… I wasn’t interested in sex anyways. I went back and pushed him harder for action and got nowhere, so I did some research and found a urologist.
We are now 1.5 months into the problem. The urologist was not especially interested either. He ran blood. Just T. It came back at 362. He then started me on gel and told me to come back in six months and not to expect much for the first two months on the gel. Now, bear in mind that up to this point in my life I had been entirely healthy. I had no reason to doubt what the doc told me. I assumed he knew what he was talking about.
Wrong.
I stayed on the gel for about 5 months. There were minor improvements and major losses. I lost muscle mass. I gained weight. I was bloated. Mood swings. Hot flashes. I went in for a follow-up, at my insistence. He ran another blood for T only. It came back at 560. He told me I was fine. I told him that was bullshit. So he told me that T wasn’t gonna work for me and put me on Clomid eod for two months. Predictably, at the end of this, I was no better off than I had been. I continued to gain weight. I was deeply depressed. This is where my every day reading finally started. I learned how the T cycle worked. I learned about different protocols. Aramitose. AIs, HCG, etc… I read about what worked and what didn’t. I went back to my doc and demanded help. He in turn sent me to another urologist. I went in well read and told him what blood work I wanted, and while he seemed a little surprised, he willingly ran T, TT, E2, Prolactin,. SHBG, LH, FSH, TSH. Results below: bear in mind I had been off Clomid for a few weeks.
TSH: .708
LH: .44
FSH: .8
E2: 64.2
Prolactin: 9.9
TT: 732.6
T Free: 14.9
SHBG: 34.4
He then started me on injectible T Cyp 200mg eow. I asked for an AI to go with it and he said to try this for a month and get more blood. One month later, E2 was still high >70 so he put me on Arimidex 1mg per week. This brought it down to about 42, which is where is stays.
What followed was a long period of experimenting with dosages while getting my own blood work done. In that time, as I mentioned, I stopped drinking completely for 4 months, while ramping up my exercise. Today I drink substantially less than I ever have at any point in my adult life. The weight I had gained slowly came off. My strength came back. Body composition was better… but my libido was a tenth of what it had been. Still had ED to an extent. Poor sensitivity. So back to the doctors again, this time to add HCG. The rest you know from prior posts.
I am frustrated because I have been doing the work and trying everything I can think to try for two years and my sex life is in the toilet. I am frustrated because it shouldn’t be this difficult and I see so many success stories, but running the identical protocol doesn’t work for me. I am frustrated because I have been to 3 different doctors, and no one can seem to get their head out of their rear. I am frustrated because their last round of stupidity (and my own) tanked my balance and I am still trying to get it back.
Today, I am 6’5inches tall, and I weigh 250. My body composition is about 22% and I am still working to lose the weight. I exercise. I eat well. I get good rest. I take a mineral supplements.
My current protocol is:
18 mg Test Cyp E3d
.5 mg Arimidex daily.
I stopped the HCG a month ago and just got new blood work back today:
TT: 581
FT: 101
E2: 37
I will be upping my Test Cyp to get that number up around 900 which is where I feel best.
When it is there, as I said way back at the start, my E2 is around 40 and will not budge from there. My erections are weak. My orgasms suck. My sensitivity is low. If you have read all he above, you will see that I am not morbidly obese, nor am I a drunk. I have done the work, I have made changes, and I think my frustration is legit and I am asking you all for help.