Hey guys great content on this forum glad I found it! A little bit about myself I’m 30 year old working in corrections. I’m 5’9 260#. 2 years ago I was 185 lean and had 10% BF ate clean and worked out 6 days a week.
Lately, I have been dealing with custody issues which had caused me some depression issues. I don’t have any drive anymore and my work is slacking. I can’t get through the day without naps after work. I don’t have any energy to do much anymore. Working out has become a chore and I half ass it. I carry most of my weight in my belly and thighs. I’ve gone to the doctor about my depression issues and I told him I didn’t want prescribed any anti depressants. My sex life has totally tanked my current fiancé hates it. I used to be able to have sex multiple times a day almost every day. I have since gone to about once a week and usually not with a rock hard erection like I always have before. Morning wood and random errections have diassapeared. I’m not the man I used to be.
I have googled several of my symptoms and it points me to low T. I have an appointment on Monday with the doctor for some blood work. Hopefully when I get my results in you guys could help me out. Thanks for your time.
You do not know anything without lab work:
TT
FT
E2
LH/FSH
prolactin
TSH
AST/ALT
above is minimum
CBC
hematocrit
fasting glucose
fasting cholesterol
AM cortisol - at 8AM please
Did you take an oral hair loss drug?
Have you stopped using iodized salt ? [and created a thyroid problem]
Thank you so much for your reply! I will have those checked, I have been reading your stickies for information.
I have never used a hair loss product. I have pretty thick hair and just hardly any hair on my body. I think that has to do with my islander genes. I usually don’t use any salt but on rare occasion.
By not consuming iodized salt, you will have some degree of iodine deficiency and thyroid hormones may be suboptimal. Hormone fT3 regulates mitochondrial metabolic rate and mitochondria make ATP, the universal currency of cellular energy. This can lower your energy levels and lead to weight gain and lethargy. Symptoms include weight gain, low energy, maybe feeling cold easier than before, mood/depression issues.
You can check your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as suggested in the thyroid basics sticky.
TSH in your lab work suggested above addresses thyroid.
Meanwhile, explain to your doc that you have not been getting any iodine. Should be interesting, most docs do not have this on their radar screens.
Restaurants typically do not use iodized salt. Prepared foods typically do not use iodized salt. You are not using salt at home. Salt has been iodized for nearly 100 years to address iodine deficiencies. Perhaps in ?Hawaii? there is more iodine in the environment and local produce. Sea food is another source. Iodine is part of the structure of T3, T4 hormones.
Most of the symptoms of low thyroid function and low-T are the same. Many guys here have both.
Low T can cause a prediabetic condition. My labs came back putting me at the low end of pre-diabetic. I enquired about metaformin, but the doc said that getting my T under control should put me back in the normal range.
I just got a phone call saying my t level is 167. Doctor wants another lab draw incase it was an error. Will have labs in my hands in 10 days due to being sent to main mercy hospital back to the clinic and then to my door. Next appt is Monday the 20th, I’m feeling pretty frustrated and angry about this.
Start reading up on the stickies. You are going to want to be informed so you can go in armed with knowledge so you can hopefully influence your treatment. The next step is figuring out why your are hypogonadal and which type you are.
I guess if there’s a good thing here it’s that you are low enough, there’s no debate. I had the same thing, my doctor seemed to think that I wouldn’t want to be treated, he started telling me all the bad stuff that would happen if I don’t go forward with treatment…
