Hi all,
Thanks for sharing your experiences - I found this forum and a thread on the subject of Nebido through a google search, as I’ve just been told by my Endocrinologist that he’s writing to my GP to start me on it. Apologies to the mods for adding to that previous thread - I just saw the sticky that mentions that so am posting this as my own thread. My profile:
- Male (Scottish)
- 33 Years Old
- Height 6’ exactly
- Weight 18st 8lbs (260lbs)
- Waist 40 inches
I was referred to Endo for suspect Hypothyroidism and low T originally - both were confirmed by him and he chose to address the Thyroid (Hashimotos / auto-immune Thyroiditis) side of things first. I’m now on T4 and a little T3 for that but that’s really an aside here - my Androgen profile following tests by my GP before Endo referral, back in July:
Oestradiol: 103 pmol/L
Testosterone MS: 11.8 nmol/L
SHBG: 23 nmol/L
Calculated Free Testosterone: 278 pmol/L
Prostate Specific Antigen: 2.92 ng/mL
Then some confirmation tests by the Endo at the start of August:
Testosterone: 10.7 nmol/L (range 8.6 - 29)
Sex hormone binding globulin: 27 nmol/L (range 14.5 - 48.4)
LH: 3.8 U/L (Males 1.7 - 8.6)
FSH: 3.0 U/L (Males 1.5 - 12.4)
Prolactin: 299 mU/L (Males 86 - 324)
As background, my Thyroid related blood levels from before starting daily treatment on Levothyroxine 137.5 mcg (T4) and Liothyronine 10 mcg (T3):
TSH: 4.85 mU/L (range 0.27 - 4.2)
Free T4: 14.1 pmol/L (range 12 - 22)
Thyroid peroxidase antibodies: 113 IU/ml (commented as 'Consistent with autoimmune Thyroiditis)
[TPO range marked as Negative <60, Equivocal 60 - 100, Positive >100)
What are people’s thoughts on these readings, in particular the Androgen related ones? I’m starting to get a little apprehensive now it’s hammer time as far as actually improving T levels goes! Some of the experiences posted already on this forum give me hope that Nebido should help.
My background on seeking medical help after realising something wasn’t quite right:
I had previously been to my GP because I was struggling to lose weight despite lots of exercise, initially training for an endurance open water Swim event - I went through months of food diaries and weigh-ins with the practice nurse before she eventually referred me back to the GP for further investigation as in her eyes I should have been easily losing weight. I asked my GP to then do the specific bloods relative to Thyroid and also got him to check my Androgen levels based on my own research of what could be causing my difficulties. They tried to pass off the results as ‘normal’ but when I checked the print outs, found my total Testosterone level of 11.8nmol/L and 278pmol/L free Testosterone were scraping the bottom of the ranges - a range that includes many 80+ year old men. I’m 33 years old and should be in my prime in that regard.
Fitness wise, my waking resting heart rate is typically still mid 40’s and I can happily train into the 190’s. As I stated to my Endocrine specialist, I’m not sure how much of that low resting heart rate is my fitness and how much of it is Hypothyroidism - he seemed to think it was mostly down to my fitness after commenting himself on my ‘weak pulse’ when he checked it manually.
My exercise regime before starting on Thyroid meds was Swimming a mile 3x times per week and cycling an average of 12 miles 2x times per week - all during the working week, plus messing around Swimming / flumes with my 3 year old Son one of the days at the weekends. I ended up with lots of aches and pains when I started on Levothyroxine so quickly ditched the Cycling and had to lessen the Swimming regime too. I’m still typically managing 2 to 3 times a week and will do a faster 1/2 mile plus some sprinting at the end of each session. I tell myself that’s enough to keep me in good shape other than still being a good bit overweight at 18st 8lbs.
I know this forum is more about lifting, which something I hope to get back to after enjoying it previously - I ended up concentrating on Swimming following a Motorbike accident which saw me break my collarbone and smash up my left hip and right knee, the recovery saw me gain weight through lack of activity so I needed something non-impact and relatively gentle. So I went back to Swimming, after being a competitive Swimmer as a kid and into my teenage years, and my goal was to heal and get back some decent fitness such that I could do an endurance event.
When I started lifting weights a few years before my accident, I tracked my progress doing bench presses on the Smiths machine and managed to go from 30KG’s (struggling) to 107.5KG’s (3x reps max) on it. I know that’s like nothing compared to most of you guys on here but I was pleased with my progress at the time having come from no exercise at all for years with a career in IT - the only thing I was taking was Protein shakes and BCAA’s. I’d love to go back and see what I could now achieve with a decent T level!