Hello, I did some blood work in June, and my doctor agreed to start TRT based on the results. Trouble is, I can’t understand the results; the units are different than what I see on the forum here. (I am in Canada, so I guess they use a different system here.)
I suspected I had low T based on a big weight gain and strength drop in the past year. Although I worked out with weights 3x per week, I started losing strength, doing the same workouts with the same diet and sleep patters as usual. It was very frustrating. I have never taken steroids, and I am not trying to compete in the Mr.Olympia, but it is very frustrating to be benching over 200 pounds (which took me many years to get to – hard gainer here) to steadily getting weaker, week after week, for no apparent reason?
That combined with a huge weight gain in a short time (30 pounds in a year) made me think this had hormone implications. (Additionally I haven’t had morning wood for 10 years, but since I could still perform to some extent, I put it on the back burner.)
My info and symptoms are:
-age: 42
-height: 6’3" (75 iinches)
-waist: 46"(at fattest part)
-weight: 251 pounds
Symptoms are (answer to “Why Are You Here?”):
- Weight gain (fat gain, muscle loss)
- strength loss (used to bench press over 200 pounds a few months ago, now do 150 or so)
- tired and cranky much of the time
- no morning erections or spontaneous erections, and few nocturnal erections (been this way for 10 years)
- soft erections
- weak orgasms
- lower sex drive in last year (before last year, had orgasms 5x week. Now it is 1-2x)
- loss of “mojo” / manliness
-Brain fog / lack of concentration and focus
-Social withdrawal - “I would rather not go out”
-wife says I am snoring more
-describe body and facial hair
I have a fairly fully beard and moustache, but it is not dense like a bear pelt. There are some spots where it is patchy. Body hair is pretty full. Getting longer than it used to be, more nose and longer eyebrow hair.
-describe where you carry fat and how changed
I carry fat like a man – on my stomach and then evenly distributed. Big weight gain in last year. (20 lbs)
-Rx and OTC drugs, any hair loss drugs or prostate drugs ever
Take doxycycline for rosacea – that is the only precription drug
- OTC drugs / supplements
Night time:
L-Arginine (500mg)
Zinc Picolinate (22mg)
Melatonin (10mg)
Pygeum (500mg)
Velerian Root (400mg) - some nights
[DHEA 35mg / Pregnenalone 25mg]
Day Time:
Centrum Multivitamin
Vitamin C (1000 mg)
Vitamin D (2000 IU)
1500 mg Fish Oil (3 pills – each pill is 300 EPA / 200 DHA)
Yohimbe Bark (300 mg)
Doxycycline (50-100mg, depending on need)
-describe diet [some create substantial damage with starvation diets]
about to change so hard to say - I want to do low carb
-describe training
- weights 3x per week
- no cardio in past 6 months
- bike everywhere (no car)
-testes ache, ever, with a fever?
no, but I think I have a varicocele in left testicle
-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed
have not had morning wood for 10 years
few nocturnal erections
erection “response time” is much longer (a few minutes to get wood)
softer erections
