Post Edited to show proper information:
-28 yrs. old
-5’ 10"
-34" empty stomach
-192 empty stomach (currently in calorie restriction)
-Body hair came in later than most. Couldn’t grow a real beard if I tried and only lately (perhaps results of my new higher test levels) has it been coming in at a more rapid pace.
- Lately I feel like I’ve been carrying more body fat, and as usual, the majority is between my neck and hips. Today, I went and got a DXA scan just to see where I stand. Not good. But, as you can see, lower percentages in the arms and legs and a fat boy in the middle. I’ll include pictures and an image of the scan results.
-HISTORY: About four years ago, I felt like shit. Depressed, no sex drive, no desire to be social. I got blood work and the doctor told me I had low testosterone. I can’t remember the units but I know I was at 179 on a scale of 250-1100. He was not a specialist and was uncomfortable just writing a prescription for therapy because based on a physical, everything seemed to be working “down there.” Fast forward 6 weeks to when I was finally able to see an endocrinologist and get more blood work. This time my levels came back at 581 on the same scale. Even though I was 24 and below average, she advised that I needed no therapy since I was in range. So I went on about my life.
About a year ago, I was happily engaged (married now) and had a lot going for me in life, yet I once again had a low sex drive and wasn’t really happy. I finally found a doctor that seemed to know what he was talking about. I took him the results I got from a generic clinic and he agreed there was an issue. He started me on Clomid and hcg and ordered more tests to see what other issues there might be. First blood test showed me once again with low testosterone. In June of 2012, at 27 years old, I started taking 100mg Test Cypionate once a week and Clomid every other day. I have gotten blood work every 8-12 weeks since and my test levels actually got up to 1467, albeit with high Estrogen levels. The doctor switched me from Clomid to Arimedex and the levels dropped. My IFG-1 levels were low so he threw out the idea of getting on CJC-1295 and I have been doing that for 8 weeks. Well, one would think that I was well on my way to feeling like a million bucks; however, that is not the case. I have had a minimal sex drive this entire time (side note: I can perform, but the desire is a rare occasion.) and I still have low energy - even when my levels were about the normal range. I’ve decided that I cannot afford to continue this therapy considering it’s not making me feel better.
TSH 1.48 (0.40-4.50 mIU/L)
T4, Free 1.4 (0.8-1.8 ng/dL)
T3, Free 3.4 (2.3-4.2 pg/mL)
Thyroglobulin Antibodies <20 (<20 IU/mL)
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies <10 (<35 IU/mL)
SHBG 49 (10-50 nmol/L)
rT3 19 (9-28 ng/dL)
Estrogen, Total, Serum 180 (<130 pg/mL)
IGF I, LC/MS 99 (63-373 ng/mL)
Z Score -1.1 (-2.0 to 2.0 SD)
DHEA Sulfate 484 (110-510 mcg/dL) - I supplement with 50mg/day to reach this.
Testosterone, Total, Males 1436 (241-827 ng/dL)
-I’ve since learned that my initial realization of low T could have been caused by my diet at the time. I came off the diet, started eating whatever I wanted and my levels went up a bit. I have always been active; however, I have always been an eater. I was always soft growing up and I would easily classify any kid like myself as a candidate for low T. Was my low T influencing how I grew up or was how I grew up the reason I now have these issues?
I still love to eat and struggle with rejecting bad foods. However, with a specific goal in mind, one with a termination date, I am lights out with a diet. This has resulted in yearly variations in my weight. Up to 210, down to 190 and so forth. Typically, I eat very well during the working hours, moderately for dinner and whatever I want on the weekends.
-I am a program hopper. I would credit some of this to being injury prone and some of it to my hormones. Much like my sex drive and general feeling, my motivation to train varies. I will often change programs (Usually after completion of another) just to keep myself interested. I like training heavy, with low reps and usually lift 3-4 days/week. I would be very surprised if I was classified as overtraining.
-I have never had any unusual feelings in my testes. Note that when my doctor put me on hcg, he told me I would likely feel them “working” and I felt nothing.
-Morning erections are rare. Oddly enough, several times in the last year, I have woken up in mid-sleep severely aroused and would already be having sex by the time I realized what was going on.
I believe that’s it for now and will update with anything I can think of.
I’m now 5 days from my 1-year anniversary and everything is great, except my sex drive. No man should be living like this - I have got to get these issues figured out. I would appreciate any helpful advice that you guys can throw my way.
