24, but I am a firefighter so I constantly have poor sleep, stress, and my diet is terrible. The only thing that gets me is I felt so much better sexual wise before injecting Testosterone. What is your advice to me? Stick with it or re-start and attempt to change levels via natural means and a healthier lifestyle. FWIW I am 5’10 170lbs and fairly muscular. Gym maybe 3x week. I just couldn’t stand the fatigue anymore and low mood that is why I jumped on TRT after seeing a 380 TT and trash free T level. but I seriously think maybe my poor sleep/stress created a cycle that lowered my testosterone. Also I think its safe to say my fatigue pre trt could have easily been because of my poor sleep and stress. I just feel lost… Really just looking for some direction on this
Yes, 382 is pre TRT, and unfortuantely no thyroid labs yet or CBC panel. My next set of labs will show full thyroid panel and CBC panel.
I was up and down (and plenty of that was actually down) for a full 6 weeks. Week 7 is when I started to feel better. I almost quit at week 6 because I thought I should have felt better by then.
Keep at it.
Thank you for the encouragment. I just keep telling myself I could have resolved this more naturally as I am 24 and looking to have children one day. Also given all of my life factors (poor sleep, diet, stress) it kind of makes sense my test was in the gutter… I really fear Ill never have kids and that I am going to constantly try to “dial in” to feel better.
Would have been good to know going into it. I assume you are doing this without a doctor’s assistance?
I mean…you are a firefighter…how much can you actually change? It is doubtful you would get yourself into a healthy range based on initial numbers anyway BUT given your age if you could make fundamental changes in your life and see how you react why not give it a try? THAT BEING SAID giving TRT a go for 6 months or so to try to get it dialed in may help too. Are you familiar with the fertilization ramifications of being on TRT?
I thought I was aware… HCG one day will help me regain fertility correct? At least that was my understanding.
This is what my thought process is. I had a great sex life before TRT with those lower numbers… now since starting I know my hormones are in limbo but Viagra is my saving grace for the last 3 weeks. With it it doesn’t matter if I have a strong libido or what not, 10/10 erections. I just don’t want to have to rely on it since I thought TRT would enhance my libido/erections not make them worse than pre TRT.
Well dude your body is kind of going through some big changes right now. Maybe stick with the viagra for a few weeks/months and then see if you can drop it. I have read others on here with libido and erection issues (most dissipate).
Are you a moderate to heavy drinker?
I don’t drink any alcohol, ever. I know that sounds lame but after seeing so many accidents due to alcohol I have seriously lost the desire for it.
@NH_Watts one thing that might be interesting to know is that both my sister and mother have hypothyroidism and take Synthroid.
Hence my looking for bloods and specifically TSH. A broken thyroid can negate many of TRT beneficial effects.
Not lame at all dude. I gave it up a while ago for those and many other reasons. Good for you. Any other drug use, prescriptions? Propecia/finesteride?
Is it correct to assume that IF I had a low functioning Thyroid… My body down-regulated Testosterone to my intial 380 ng/dl (a level my thyroid could manage) but now since starting TRT my Thyroid can’t keep up with the higher levels of Testosterone. Thus me feeling like shit. This is all assuming my Thyroid is Hypo.
Im not sure if thats how it works TBH.
No drug use. I am going to start supplementing with a good multi-vitamin as im sure my body is deficient. I haven’t eaten a green vegetable in over 20 years lol. Can’t be healthy…
Same, feels like I am spinning my wheels here. I’m sure me worrying about all of this is not doing me any favors either.
I see a lot of valuable information here and that is the main reason I joined and started posting. I have struggled with bouts of depression/suicidal tendencies/extremely emotional prior to TRT. One thing I can say is that my Anxiety has improved since starting and overall my emotions feel more dull (non existent?)… I hope I can steer clear of those negative emotions as I feel like I have a long life ahead of me. I don’t want to be selfish and take the easy way out but sometimes its hard to manage. I feel like I have a greater purpose to help others (why I chose my career). Sorry if I am ranting, just typing what comes to mind.
I got this too. I felt/feel better albeit less “in touch” for lack of a better term. I think its just how you feel with higher test. The emotional aspect of the estrogen is blunted by the androgen.
Read this study about empathy and Testosterone. I think you are spot on with your thoughts… since researchers are trying to draw a link to T and emotions such as empathy and anxiety.
Unfortunately part of TRT is patience and that’s the hardest part. You are going to feel less than ideal the first couple months. It sucks but it goes by quick. At around 6 weeks get bloods and see where 100mg/week puts you. That’s a low dose and there’s a good chance you will require a higher dose but don’t change anything yet. Each dosage change needs a couple months. Once you find the right one it’ll have all been worth it. Don’t make the same mistake me and most everyone here did and start changing shit before 8 weeks. You’ll spend the next year feeling like shit if you do. I had to re-start back at 100mg and up the dose 20mg every couple months until I got the right one. It’s the best way to do it and you’ll know exactly where each dose puts you.
For me libido is the last thing to come. You may have spurts here and there where it comes and goes but eventually it’ll stay constant at the right dose. The doubling up initial dose won’t kill you just don’t do it anymore obviously. Imagine how you’ll feel when you are optimised so that you have something to look forward to and know there’s a pot of gold at the end if you’re patient and learn from others mistakes.
Thank you for your input. Much appreciated. So you can say in your experience your libido is consistent now that you have found a correct dosage and have been consistent with time? Every time you change your dosage what are the immediate effects you notice? I know 3 weeks is too soon to speculate… I was just really expecting to have a much higher libido and the honeymoon phase. Not the opposite.