Getting Treatment in the UK

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

Ok, so I’m a 34 year old, physically active male and following a significant weight loss (17 stone to 11 stone) I’ve found myself facing a number of symptoms including depression, irritability, loss of interest in sex, extreme susceptibility to weight gain whenever I deviate from a very low calorie diet, loss of drive, loss of concentration and more recently a sudden onset of anxiety attacks on previously comfortable working situations (business pitches for example).

I saw an endocrinologist privately and an due to see him again in the new year to go over my test results. I had a number of tests done, and I thought my issues were thyroid related. However, the only ones which came back as abnormal or borderline were:

Serum testosterone level 12.1 nmol/L
Serum total 25-hydroxy vitamin D level 25 nmol/L

SHGB etc all normal.

Essentially then, my testosterone levels are just within ‘normal’ range but appear to be very low for someone of my age, physical build and exercise regimen. Additionally, my vitamin D levels are very low generally. I don’t know whether these two things are related.

Given that my testosterone levels are very low for me personally, but technically within a normal range for the male population as a whole, am I likely to receive treatment? Do my chances increase since I’m seeing a specialist privately?

Also, whilst I’m incredibly desperate for my symptoms to disappear, I’m nervous of potential side effects - breast growth, acne and the like. Should I be? Any recommendations as to the best kind of treatment? Will I even get any say?

Thoughts appreciated!

Thanks!

2

I had low vitamin D upon being diagnosed with low testosterone, in fact I see it often. It’s probably connected somehow but isn’t why testosterone is low, but rather something affected by low testosterone.

Absolutely, typically the doctors that should be experts in TRT generally have little or no knowledge at all and fixture on lab ranges without taking into account your age. The docs that prescribe TRT more often seem to figure things out faster and are more comfortable about prescribing TRT.

I don’t know how it works in the UK, but here in the US private clinics enjoy more medical freedom. The NHS is generally terrible at TRT, avoid at all costs.

If you’ve never had gyno than your aren’t expected to get breast growth, however if you had gyno earlier in life, than it’s a possibility you will again even without TRT. A lot of panic can set in when first starting TRT, hormones will fluctuate causing a transient nipple burning sensation and water retention weeks after starting and/or making dosage adjustments and is nothing to worry about.

On another note, maybe I’m wrong, but you seem to have anxieties about TRT and if you are anxiety prone I wouldn’t recommend infrequent dosing, but multiple smaller injections per week.