I recently found these forums and have been reading through them quite a bit, and I have lots of questions. I’m 45 years old and I suspect I have low T. I’ve suspected this for most of my adult life, but I feel like its getting worse. Several years ago, I went and spoke to my doctor about it and got lab work, and he just told me that I was in the “normal” range and he didn’t want to do anything about it. I don’t remember what my number was, but I remember looking it up at the time and it being on the low end of normal. I have many symptoms of low T and they seem to be getting worse. I’ve been embarrassed about it, feeling like I’m not a “normal guy” and I have neglected doing anything about it or pushing my doctor or seeking out a new one. Some things I have been noticing more and more in the last few years;
Lack of physical endurance, despite regular exercise
Difficulty building muscle and retaining strength, despite lifting 4 or 5 days a week. Strength disappears quickly if I miss a few gym days.
I’m getting more skinny-fat: man-boobs and mid-section, even though I watch what I eat and I’m in the gym most days.
Lack of drive - I don’t have the desire to do much of anything
I’ve never been able to grow much facial hair
I’ve noticed that my leg hair has thinned out
Decreased libido, has affected my marriage for years
Seems like my “tackle” is shrinking
Morning wood? Rarely
General fatigue, malaise
Experiencing more joint pain, aches, etc
More frequent “brain fog”
For reference, I am 6’1" and 200lb.
I am very concerned about starting up testosterone shots. Being on a life-long shot scares the hell out of me… I have always been in good health and don’t want to do anything to screw myself up. Plus, the cost of it. I have high deductible health insurance and only go to the doctor if absolutely needed, so I have been looking into online tests and clinics for treatment, trying to keep my costs as low as possible. I’m wondering if any of you have positive experiences that you could share or recommendations that you can make? I also want to be monitored regularly if I do start something, I am borderline for cholesterol and blood pressure. I have already spoken to Royal Medical and they want to send me in for labs. Anyone have experience with them?
This happens more frequently than you could imagine, most doctor believe in range is normal which it is, expect when looking at the testosterone reference ranges age must be considered, but the guidelines mention nothing about age. Young men at the top and old men at the bottom.
Your doctor only cares about what insurance will cover, if insurance won’t approve treatment, he will tell you that levels are normal and you’re going to be fine, this is not at all true.
You cannot trust doctors to be informed these days, especially with matter pertaining to hormones which has been ignored for too long in western medicine.
This pretty much tells me the health of your cardiovascular system, you can’t get an erection, you got problems.
I can get an erection, morning wood is just less frequent. I have never had any ED issues, just a lack of libido and desire. It has always functioned though.
This just isn’t true. The lab reports literally say “Adult male reference interval is based on a population of healthy nonobese males (BMI <30) between 19 and 39 years old.”
Whether it’s bs or not, I don’t know. But it is certainly mentioned on every LabCorp report I’ve received.
This will soon change, sooner or later you’ll lose erections completely and things will progress from bad to worse. You probably are working your way towards the cardiovascular system of an old man and you’re not even 50 years old.
I’m not sure about that - I run regularly and play sports. If you saw me you would say that I’m in pretty good shape. I get decent cardio activity and don’t seem to have any issues there.
This was me when I was 40 or so (54 now). I did the exact same thing you are doing. I suffered for about 10 years due to lack of knowledge. Get educated and take care of yourself. Stop with this stupid idea of shots forever. Its not that bad and the difference you will feel when your Test is correct will be immeasurable. More than worth some pittance of an inconvenience.
A shot takes 30 secs twice a week to not only relieve all of the symptoms you listed but also a bunch of other shit you don’t even realize. Using an insulin syringe (like many use) you can’t even feel it. So there’s zero pain and it takes one min total out of your week to go from less than an average human to having an advantage over average humans. Don’t be skeerd
Almost seven years on TRT, wish I would have started ten years sooner. I understand your reluctance to relying on an prescription medication and while injections may seem more invasive than an oral medication, dependent on what you are injecting, it isn’t always the case. With testosterone, you’re simply giving your body something that you presumably had more of when you were younger. The difference is that the molecule has been tweaked so it stays in you longer so you do not have to inject every day.
Recommendations, learn as much as you can on your own and find a doctor that walks the talk and has a hormone replacement practice.
Any HRT doctor will monitor your progress. As for your lipids and BP, many guys have seen improvement in both, even to the point where they could discontinue their meds, once going on TRT.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement, I appreciate it. I just have so many questions going through my head about this… and it seems the more I read, the more conflicting information I see. (AI, HCG, EOD, weekly, etc)
I guess the first step is to take the plunge and get the lab work done.