[quote]ac1234 wrote:
Your results are very similar to results I received in late May. Very low TT, Free T in range but near the bottom and SHBG at the bottom end of the range. In fact there is a lot of similarities. I am also 33 and have the same symptoms. I have also put on a little extra weight around the belly in the last couple of years, but I haven’t been training as much in the last 2 years, and not eating as well as I should.
6 weeks ago I saw a professor of andrology. He thinks that my T issues are caused by the extra weight I have gained. He said that that over weight men produce/have less SHBG and this affects TT but not necessarily Free T (even though I believe that in the past I have been at the upper end of the range of free T, which is where my normal should be).
I am a total beginner in low T so if any of the more experienced guys out there can explain in more detail the relationship between excess fat, low SHBG and low TT it would be appreciated.
So basically he told me to lose some weight and come back in 3-4 months. I have been training my ass off (I trained consistently for 10yrs of the last 12yrs so I know what hard training is), full body workouts 3 times a week with only compound exercises to try and maximise calories used and lots of walking with hills 6 days a week with an intensity that it is hard to talk. Eating well and trying to limit most carbs to earlier in the day and before and after weight training which I do in the evening. 6 weeks I am down 7kg and feel the same.
It is really hard to motivate myself to train as hard as I have been the way that I feel, but I am going to keep pushing harder and harder for the next 9 weeks till I see him again. Best case I hoping he is right and things improve, if not I have taken him seriously and I hope he then takes me seriously. However I am not holding my breath from what I hear it is a pain in the ass to get help with low T in Australia.
If you get a second opinion I am very interested to hear. I have my next appointment and testing mid-late October I will let you know if I have seen any improvement. I want to try and exhaust getting my T up naturally before rushing into TRT, but if that’s what I have to do, that’s what I have to do. [/quote]
I share many similarities with you. Mid 30’s, obese, tT was high 100’s initially, high c-peptide with insulin resistance. I initially started out wanting to not do TRT “and just lose weight”. I went on a high prtein/fat low carb diet and started strength training and cardio 5x per week. Well 2 months later I was down 35lbs, my c-peptide is normal, and my tT was 500. I felt good but not great and my opinion has changed.
Many would consider a tT of 500 to be good and the weight loss has helped. Furthermore there’s nothing to suggest continued weight loss wouldn’t continue to raise T levels. However, I’ve hit a plateau where I’m still calorie restricting, still eating high protein/fat and low carb and while weight loss is continuing slowly it is not happening around my midsection nearly as much as I hoped. I’m now a tall meatball with skinny legs and arms. Visceral fat reduction is really the KEY to helping all of the medical issues associated with being over-weight or obese.
My opinion has changed. Once you’re diagnosed as secondary and overweight or obese I wouldn’t automatically write off TRT. The typical advice is primary people have to do TRT but secondary have more choices and while that’s true I think too many secondary hypo people don’t look at TRT for what it it can be for them…a really good and safe adjunct to not just weight loss but changing body composition. The change in composition in my opinion is the really import part…reduced visceral fat with increased lean body mass.
That goal is REALLY hard to accomplish even for dedicated people without TRT. If you reach your goal you can always try a restart later after your body composition and adiposity are in your favor. Most obese or over weight people have a hormonal profile that makes it almost impossible to accomplish this reasonably.
Any way just my 2 cents…I have some research posted in my thread about using TRT as an adjunct to weight loss and changing body composition. Needless to say even with a tT of 500 and feeling good I’ve decided to do TRT for a period of time to help me really reduce my guy and build some lean body mass. I’m still keeping T in the physiological range but 700 or 800 may be better place for me than 500. I’m not happy just being in range…I’ve already noticed an improvement in mood and exercise tolerance. I wasn’t unhappy before but I’m feeling a little less weight of the world on my shoulders.
