Hi guys I am new to this website and am in need of your input. I have many symptoms of low testosterone and need to know if trt is the right decision for me. I am treating trt as a last resort so if there are other options for me please let me know. To skip my sob story and see the labs go to the second dotted line below.
So Iâ??m 22 (going to be 23 next month) and have had a left-sided grade 2 varicocele since I was 14-15. I had two ultrasounds of my testes (one at 17, one at 21) and the results showed both nuts being the same normal size. Of course all doctors I saw at the time said varicocele is common and not a big dealâ?¦
I noticed over the past year or so I drop in my sex drive and decided to educate myself a bit more about varicocele surgery, fertility, testosterone, etc. I visited a different urologist and requested a sperm test (this was late Dec. 09). Labs came back terrible, so bad morphology couldnâ??t even be determined. He suggested I do another sperm test at a different facility. I did and it was the same story again (second test was Jan. 20th 2010)â?¦
He recommended surgery which I went through with. It was the conventional inguinal method which was done on Feb. 11 2010. As of now I am completely recovered and back in the gym. I have a script for a third post-op sperm analysis which I am to get done this month.
Besides the varicoceleâ??s decrease in size I have not noticed too many other changes testosterone related. I was so focused on the fertility issues associated with varicocele that I overlooked the testosterone issues and did not get blood work pre-surgery.
I just recently visited my general doc the other week any went over the symptoms below. He said most men with varicocele have â??normalâ?? t-levels. I disagree completely… So he wrote me a script for some blood work and I am to see him May 24th again to review the results.
As of now here are my primary symptoms…
1.) Low sex drive. I can get and maintain an erection but requires work. I almost never get spontaneous erections anymore and morning wood is almost non-existent or weak.
2.) Fatigue during the day
3.) Trouble focusing/concentrating at work (not sure if this is t related or not)
4.) Low facial/body hair
5.) Slight depression at times
I consider myself an active person so I am unsure what lifestyle changes I can make in my life to naturally boost my t-levels.
-Iâ??m at the gym 3-4 times a week (both cardio and lifting).
-I eat pretty good
-I take a daily menâ??s multi-vitamin everyday (GNC Mega Man)
-I donâ??t drink that much
-I donâ??t smoke
The only thing I could see is maybe getting some more sleep each night.
Here are the results from my blood work (blood given 5/7/2010 @ 8:00am) (I was on a 12 hour fast and took my multi-vitamins the day before)
Testosterone: 543 (280-800ng/dl)
Free Testosterone: 14.5 (9.3-26.5 pg/mL)
Cholesterol: 151mg/dL <200mg/dl Normal
200-239mg/dl Borderline High
239mg/dl High
Triglyceride: 89mg/dl <150mg/dl Normal
150-199 Borderline High
200-499 High
499 Very High
HDL Direct: 45mg/dl >59 High
<41 Low
LDL Calculated: 88 No reference given
Prolactin: 12.6ng/mL 1.8-14.4
TSH: 1.803 0.550-4.780 ulU/ML
WBC Count: 4.75 4.13-9.78 thousand/uL
RBC Count: 4.97 3.93-5.64 million/uL
Hemoglobin: 13.9 12.1-17.1 g/dl
Hematocrit: 42.1 35.9-49.6%
MCV: 85 81-97fL
MCH: 28 26.8-34.3pg
MCHC: 33 31.4-37.4 g/dL
RDW: 13.1 11.6-15.1%
Platelet Count: 195 127-372 thousand/uL
SEGS: 50 45-77%
Lymphocytes: 39 14-44%
Monocytes: 8 4-12%
Eosinophils: 3 0-6%
Basophils: 0 0-1%
Nucleated RBCâ??s: 0 no reference
Absol Nuetro: 2.38 1.81-6.82 thousand/uL
Absol Lymph: 1.85 0.67-3.15 thousand/uL
Absol Monocy: 0.38 0.00-1.22 thousand/uL
Absol EOS: 0.14 0.00-0.40 thousand/uL
Absol Baso: 0.00 0.00-0.08 thousand/uL
Glucose Randm: 99 65-140 mg/dL
Sodium: 140 136-145 mmol/L
Potassium: 4.2 3.5-5.3 mmol/L
Chloride: 103 100-108 mmol/L
Carbon Dioxide: 27 23-33 mmol/L
Anion Gap (Calc): 10 8-16 mmol/L
Bun: 13 5-25 mg/dL
Creatinine: 1.1 0.5-1.4 mg/dL
Calcium: 9.3 8.3-10.1 mg/dL
Bili, Total: 0.74 0.20-1.00 mg/dL
ALK Phosphatas: 95 50-136 U/L
ALT (SGPT): 31 0-65 U/L
AST (SGOT): 15 0-45 U/L
Albumin: 4.4 3.5-5.0 g/dL
Protein, Total: 7.8 6.4-8.2 g/dL
According to Mens Hormonal Healthâ??s website my T-levels are on par with a man in his 60â??s. I asked my doctor for estrogen levels in my tests but he said that wasnâ??t necessaryâ?¦ I meet with him in about a week and was wondering what I should be voicing to him at that appointment. I’m not looking to become superman but a decent sex drive and better mood would be nice.
I would greatly appreciate any input.
Thanks