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Greetings members!
It's been close to a year and a half now since I discovered I suffer from low testosterone. I am currently 33 years of age and for most of my life have been an avid athelite. In fact I would say I come from an elite athletic background. I stand 5'9 and weigh 220 pounds of which is very solid as far as a BMI ( body mass index) is concerned. If I had to guess I would say I am about 16% bodyfat. I can bench press 405 pounds x2 reps. I can leg press over 1000 pounds for reps and shoulder press 100 pound dumbells for multiple sets with reps ranging from 8-12 reps.
I was the child star athelite and also a track star in high school. When I was 12 years old I ran a 4.8 second 40 yard dash. When I was in highschool as a freshman ( 14 YO) I ran the 100 yard dash in 10.7 seconds. Varsity guys were usually running it not much faster. I could stand flat footed and jump into the back of a full sized pickup truck and max out on the bench press 315 pounds at a weight of 160. I had all the little alpha male traits. I was aggressive, confident, carefree, and had the most insane libido that even my friends couldnt relate to who were the same age.
After high school I dedicated all my energy into bodybuilding. When I graduated at 17 I weighed 175 pounds and within 5 years of training exploded up to 210 pounds of solid muscle. I attached a picture to confirm this. I have never used steroids and have always been accused of using due to the dramatic results I acheived in the weightroom. All through my 20's I felt great until around the age of 29 where I started to see my ability to recover from the workouts had been slightly reduced. I chocked it up to age and figured since most nfl running backs retire around 33-35 that it was just the begginning of age settling in a little bit.
At the age of 29 that is really the last time I can say I really felt good like the kind of good that just comes out of you naturally without any reason at all. When 30 set-in I started to notice I was getting depressed. I tried reading philosophy like Nietzsche to gain a different perspective on things and although it helped it was not the help I trully needed. Fast forward to a year later at 31 and things are escalating. I began to experience crying fits with severe sobbing that would come on very suddenly if I saw something on a movie or song that was reflective or melancholy. I began to feel distant, isoltaed, grumpy; my coworkers noticed I wasnt goofing around and cracking jokes like I used to. I should add that at the time (and I still am) I was living in an apartment all by myself. I began to lose interests in my hobbies and I started to notice my libido going down and erectile strength reductions. I also started having night time anxiety attacks.
In march of last year I woke up one morning and felt absolutely horrible. I had not thought about sex for almost two weeks and I had no energy at all. Surprisingly a woman had come into my life at the time and since it had been years since I had a relationship I figured I would have been feeling like a dog in heat like I normally would have, but I didn't and this was awful because the woman is very attractive. I was dizzy, depressed, and worried I had a terminal illness. Thats how bad I felt. I said to myself "something is wrong with me".
Now I'm the kind of guy who hardly ever goes to the doctor so when I wake up one morning and call into work and decide to have bloodwork taken out of the blue, I am hardly imagining things. I went to a walk in doctor and described my symptoms. I had no significant knowledge about hormone levels previous to this experience but knew that testosterone was crucial for male libido. I asked the doctor to have it checked. I had not had my testosterone checked since I was a boy ( 13) when I developed gynecomastea. I had no idea what a surprise I was in for when the results came back.
My total testosterone was 294 ng/dl and it was taken at 10 am. I asked the lab tech if this was normal even though the ranges were 240-880 ng/dl since mine was very close to the bottom. He said it was. lol.. Notice the doctor didn't also see any sign to provide any followup or consultations. I went online and was shocked to see just how low my numbers were and found that many men with levels higher than mine were receiving hormone replacement therapy. I went to a urologist who agreed that my levels were a "bit low" for a man my age and my sister who was a nurse went with me for support. He asked me if I had ever used steroids. Little did I know this was going to be a battle ahead of me with doctors asking this question. I told him the truth and said no and my sister also chimed in and verfied what an amazing athelite I was in high school and how I was naturally more muscular than most the other boys. etc.. At any length he requested a total T lab, Free T, FSH, and LH. My sister asked the urologist if he thought it was primary or secondary. He said I don't know yet which intimated he also agreed that hypogonadism is clearly showing itself to be an issue here. This time the labs were taken at 8am. The Total T came to a whopping 305 ng/dl, the free T came to an 11.2 on a scale from 10-24 and the FSH and LH were not very much over the entry levels of those labs as well. What was the doctors diagnosis? Well he said everything looks normal in my book. I would be hesitant to put you on testosterone he said.
The next visist was to an endocrinologist and with labs not musch better taken from him which also included SHBG, estradiol, cortisol, and a few others he informed me I was normal also. This time my parents went with me and he asked them to leave the room. When they left the room he asked me if I had ever used steroids before. I'm starting to sound like a broken record here I know but again I told him with the utmost sincerity "no". He asked me to drop my pants so he could feel my testicles so he could confirm no atrophy had occurred. I did so reluctantly because I wanted to tell him how his disbelief in my answers and also my parents attending the appointment to provide genuine support in favor of truth was very unprofessional and unempathetic. First of all most doctors have no idea what that word means or have any knowledge of the emotions necessary to convey it.
I'm currently seeking out the best route for effective treatment to alleviate my low T symptoms. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
It's been close to a year and a half now since I discovered I suffer from low testosterone. I am currently 33 years of age and for most of my life have been an avid athelite. In fact I would say I come from an elite athletic background. I stand 5'9 and weigh 220 pounds of which is very solid as far as a BMI ( body mass index) is concerned. If I had to guess I would say I am about 16% bodyfat. I can bench press 405 pounds x2 reps. I can leg press over 1000 pounds for reps and shoulder press 100 pound dumbells for multiple sets with reps ranging from 8-12 reps.
I was the child star athelite and also a track star in high school. When I was 12 years old I ran a 4.8 second 40 yard dash. When I was in highschool as a freshman ( 14 YO) I ran the 100 yard dash in 10.7 seconds. Varsity guys were usually running it not much faster. I could stand flat footed and jump into the back of a full sized pickup truck and max out on the bench press 315 pounds at a weight of 160. I had all the little alpha male traits. I was aggressive, confident, carefree, and had the most insane libido that even my friends couldnt relate to who were the same age.
After high school I dedicated all my energy into bodybuilding. When I graduated at 17 I weighed 175 pounds and within 5 years of training exploded up to 210 pounds of solid muscle. I attached a picture to confirm this. I have never used steroids and have always been accused of using due to the dramatic results I acheived in the weightroom. All through my 20's I felt great until around the age of 29 where I started to see my ability to recover from the workouts had been slightly reduced. I chocked it up to age and figured since most nfl running backs retire around 33-35 that it was just the begginning of age settling in a little bit.
At the age of 29 that is really the last time I can say I really felt good like the kind of good that just comes out of you naturally without any reason at all. When 30 set-in I started to notice I was getting depressed. I tried reading philosophy like Nietzsche to gain a different perspective on things and although it helped it was not the help I trully needed. Fast forward to a year later at 31 and things are escalating. I began to experience crying fits with severe sobbing that would come on very suddenly if I saw something on a movie or song that was reflective or melancholy. I began to feel distant, isoltaed, grumpy; my coworkers noticed I wasnt goofing around and cracking jokes like I used to. I should add that at the time (and I still am) I was living in an apartment all by myself. I began to lose interests in my hobbies and I started to notice my libido going down and erectile strength reductions. I also started having night time anxiety attacks.
In march of last year I woke up one morning and felt absolutely horrible. I had not thought about sex for almost two weeks and I had no energy at all. Surprisingly a woman had come into my life at the time and since it had been years since I had a relationship I figured I would have been feeling like a dog in heat like I normally would have, but I didn't and this was awful because the woman is very attractive. I was dizzy, depressed, and worried I had a terminal illness. Thats how bad I felt. I said to myself "something is wrong with me".
Now I'm the kind of guy who hardly ever goes to the doctor so when I wake up one morning and call into work and decide to have bloodwork taken out of the blue, I am hardly imagining things. I went to a walk in doctor and described my symptoms. I had no significant knowledge about hormone levels previous to this experience but knew that testosterone was crucial for male libido. I asked the doctor to have it checked. I had not had my testosterone checked since I was a boy ( 13) when I developed gynecomastea. I had no idea what a surprise I was in for when the results came back.
My total testosterone was 294 ng/dl and it was taken at 10 am. I asked the lab tech if this was normal even though the ranges were 240-880 ng/dl since mine was very close to the bottom. He said it was. lol.. Notice the doctor didn't also see any sign to provide any followup or consultations. I went online and was shocked to see just how low my numbers were and found that many men with levels higher than mine were receiving hormone replacement therapy. I went to a urologist who agreed that my levels were a "bit low" for a man my age and my sister who was a nurse went with me for support. He asked me if I had ever used steroids. Little did I know this was going to be a battle ahead of me with doctors asking this question. I told him the truth and said no and my sister also chimed in and verfied what an amazing athelite I was in high school and how I was naturally more muscular than most the other boys. etc.. At any length he requested a total T lab, Free T, FSH, and LH. My sister asked the urologist if he thought it was primary or secondary. He said I don't know yet which intimated he also agreed that hypogonadism is clearly showing itself to be an issue here. This time the labs were taken at 8am. The Total T came to a whopping 305 ng/dl, the free T came to an 11.2 on a scale from 10-24 and the FSH and LH were not very much over the entry levels of those labs as well. What was the doctors diagnosis? Well he said everything looks normal in my book. I would be hesitant to put you on testosterone he said.
The next visist was to an endocrinologist and with labs not musch better taken from him which also included SHBG, estradiol, cortisol, and a few others he informed me I was normal also. This time my parents went with me and he asked them to leave the room. When they left the room he asked me if I had ever used steroids before. I'm starting to sound like a broken record here I know but again I told him with the utmost sincerity "no". He asked me to drop my pants so he could feel my testicles so he could confirm no atrophy had occurred. I did so reluctantly because I wanted to tell him how his disbelief in my answers and also my parents attending the appointment to provide genuine support in favor of truth was very unprofessional and unempathetic. First of all most doctors have no idea what that word means or have any knowledge of the emotions necessary to convey it.
I'm currently seeking out the best route for effective treatment to alleviate my low T symptoms. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
u found the right place and like the brother above said there's a Vet by the name of cash wrote a great thread on ur situation on how to come with a solution, pls feel free to ask ? . Welcome to SI
