Thread: Low testosterone

Originally Posted by david

31. But I don't think I ever had a higher testosterone level, I suspect not even when I was 16. I was always the one getting tired first at all sports, and I've always tried the hardest. No doctor has ever thought of looking at it though. I got a lab referral from my GP on my insistence this time. A futile attempt to resolve my low energy levels, lack of concentration, weak erections etc...The list is long.

Given you are in ADL David, I thought I could off some advice re appropriate drs. Check ur PM. If u have money, there is the Australian Life Extension and Enhancement Clinic which probably takes a more liberal approach to these matters. More pricey though.

Thanks buddy, I'll see if I can get an appointment with one of them. Or ultimately I'll ask for a referral for a urologist. I really think TRT has the potential to change my life, especially as I am getting in my 30s. It's well researched, easily available, and not expensive, why should I not have the chance to try and see how it works for me?

I moved to Adelaide in 2008 (from overseas) and I don't know many people here, especially not doctors. You may have saved me hours of searching. I don't think I can afford the Australian Life Extension and Enhancement Clinic, although I have never heard about them. Judging by the name, they might be the type of clinic that would be interested in looking at my problem more open mindedly. Do you know anything about their fees?

I've read about your struggle and hope you're on your way to getting better.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

David.

U'd have to email them re: their fees.

Originally Posted by david

Thanks buddy, I'll see if I can get an appointment with one of them. Or ultimately I'll ask for a referral for a urologist. I really think TRT has the potential to change my life, especially as I am getting in my 30s. It's well researched, easily available, and not expensive, why should I not have the chance to try and see how it works for me?

I moved to Adelaide in 2008 (from overseas) and I don't know many people here, especially not doctors. You may have saved me hours of searching. I don't think I can afford the Australian Life Extension and Enhancement Clinic, although I have never heard about them. Judging by the name, they might be the type of clinic that would be interested in looking at my problem more open mindedly. Do you know anything about their fees?

I've read about your struggle and hope you're on your way to getting better.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

David.

Originally Posted by david

I really think TRT has the potential to change my life, especially as I am getting in my 30s. It's well researched, easily available, and not expensive, why should I not have the chance to try and see how it works for me?

IMO, 30s is relatively young to be considering HRT/TRT, which generally becomes a lifelong practice.

Originally Posted by take2

IMO, 30s is relatively young to be considering HRT/TRT, which generally becomes a lifelong practice.

what would u suggest with his TT at 11? Would non-prescription anti-E's really make much of a difference, assuming his diet is not especially bad

Originally Posted by Sim882

what would u suggest with his TT at 11? Would non-prescription anti-E's really make much of a difference, assuming his diet is not especially bad

Not sure what I'd suggest, I'd have to go back and re-read his posts. Having said that, and based on your own experiences, perhaps some form of ongoing therapy is needed. I'm just mindful that 30s is young to be committing to a process that may well be lifelong.

I had a major win on thursday.

I went to see my local GP and spoke to her about trt. I was allways under the impression that only a urologist or endo could prescribe T gel , but i was getting tired of having to make appointments with the specialist so i thought i would speak to her about it.

I fibbed a bit and said i had had a conversation with the specialist about my treatment. I said that the treatment was very straight forward , i stay on the gel and get my bloods tested once every 6 months to check the levels. Bingo! the GP wrote me out a script with enough repeats to last me till my next bloods in july.

I do have to pay full price for the script is $89 for a box of 30 sachets, because i dont fall outside the range at 10.

I don't regret the tests and specialist appointments as they did rule out many other conditions and discover the pituitary micro-adenoma, which was ultimatly responsibile for the reduced production of lh and fsh. But having reached this point i am hugely relieved that i have reached this understanding with the GP.

I have come to understand that this trt process takes time to work, i was expecting immediate results but it did take a good three months for my body to adjust fully. Now i enjoy a quality of life that i forgotton , still going for the record of three in one day (wicked grin) but hey i am not complaining :). I am no expert but i am glad i didn't rush the process as i might have been tempted to get a larger dose and this might have had unwanted effects, more aromatization and or testicular atrophy. Its all about a steady admistration , i take the same dose of 5g every morning at roughly the same time - about 10am , which i think gives my natural production time to occur overnight and suppliments test levels as they drop to very low levels during the day.

Hang in there guys i know the process is a very frustrating one but it is worth the hassle.

-Paul

Perhaps your brain wasn't deprived of dopamine by the low test. I think that explains part of the extraordinary rush many experience initially (I apologise if my comments seem to misunderstand what you have writeen - my PC is screwed and I can't really make out most of the writing on the page as the image is very distorted.)

Originally Posted by biggus

I had a major win on thursday.

I went to see my local GP and spoke to her about trt. I was allways under the impression that only a urologist or endo could prescribe T gel , but i was getting tired of having to make appointments with the specialist so i thought i would speak to her about it.

I fibbed a bit and said i had had a conversation with the specialist about my treatment. I said that the treatment was very straight forward , i stay on the gel and get my bloods tested once every 6 months to check the levels. Bingo! the GP wrote me out a script with enough repeats to last me till my next bloods in july.

I do have to pay full price for the script is $89 for a box of 30 sachets, because i dont fall outside the range at 10.

I don't regret the tests and specialist appointments as they did rule out many other conditions and discover the pituitary micro-adenoma, which was ultimatly responsibile for the reduced production of lh and fsh. But having reached this point i am hugely relieved that i have reached this understanding with the GP.

I have come to understand that this trt process takes time to work, i was expecting immediate results but it did take a good three months for my body to adjust fully. Now i enjoy a quality of life that i forgotton , still going for the record of three in one day (wicked grin) but hey i am not complaining :). I am no expert but i am glad i didn't rush the process as i might have been tempted to get a larger dose and this might have had unwanted effects, more aromatization and or testicular atrophy. Its all about a steady admistration , i take the same dose of 5g every morning at roughly the same time - about 10am , which i think gives my natural production time to occur overnight and suppliments test levels as they drop to very low levels during the day.

Hang in there guys i know the process is a very frustrating one but it is worth the hassle.

-Paul

Originally Posted by Gutshotpro

Hi there Sim882,

I've just turned 27 and used to use finasteride also. Hair started thinning at 19 and so tried it for a while then stopped due to it reducing sex drive mainly. From what I understand no long term tests have been done concerning finasteride use (maybe I'm wrong?) so it it entirely possible it causes sustained drops in testosterone levels, even tho it's supposed to be suppressing only DHT instead of your overall testosterone levels.......

Without reading through all the pages in this thread what are you now/have been prescribed to remedy this? Any success? I will get my testosterone results back shortly, got them done in NZ a few weeks ago while I was back there, will be interesting to see what they are.

Cheers.

I researched finasteride last year for a friend, there were a heap of studies available, the one i found most interesting was one done in conjunction with the company that makes propecia, and it stated that the hair regrowth/slowing of loss was no different when taking the full tablet as is normally prescribed, than when you take 1/4 of the tablet daily, howver by reducing to the 1/4 tablet daily you severely decrease the loss of libido, decrease the risk of gynocomastia (man boobs) and decrease the risk of prostate problems & erectile disfunction. I will see if I can find what i did with the research (i saved it so we could present it to the friends gp) and post it (or links to where it can be found).

Originally Posted by Sim882

Perhaps your brain wasn't deprived of dopamine by the low test. I think that explains part of the extraordinary rush many experience initially (I apologise if my comments seem to misunderstand what you have writeen - my PC is screwed and I can't really make out most of the writing on the page as the image is very distorted.)

Yea that initial rush is awesome isn't it? then it fades away which i found really frustrating. I had all the classic symptoms tiredness, depression, overwieght, ed etc.

I just wish that gp's were as quick to offer men hormone replacement therapy as they are women. Maybe it's time that some of us brought this to the attention of the health minister as there are many men out there that suffer a low quality of life and go through a long frustrating process to get treated.

Originally Posted by Dollfinn

I researched finasteride last year for a friend, there were a heap of studies available, the one i found most interesting was one done in conjunction with the company that makes propecia, and it stated that the hair regrowth/slowing of loss was no different when taking the full tablet as is normally prescribed, than when you take 1/4 of the tablet daily, howver by reducing to the 1/4 tablet daily you severely decrease the loss of libido, decrease the risk of gynocomastia (man boobs) and decrease the risk of prostate problems & erectile disfunction. I will see if I can find what i did with the research (i saved it so we could present it to the friends gp) and post it (or links to where it can be found).

yes, the research only concluded 1/4mg was as effective as reducing DHT concentrations in hair. For whatever reason they didn't test whether this meant it was as effective as baldness treatment, although one can infer.

In my case, finasteride saves your hair 4 years after stopping using it! And even when your T levels are back to normal lol. As an experiment I should one day "juice" and see confirm whether my DHT production is dead

Originally Posted by Dollfinn

I researched finasteride last year for a friend, there were a heap of studies available, the one i found most interesting was one done in conjunction with the company that makes propecia, and it stated that the hair regrowth/slowing of loss was no different when taking the full tablet as is normally prescribed, than when you take 1/4 of the tablet daily, howver by reducing to the 1/4 tablet daily you severely decrease the loss of libido, decrease the risk of gynocomastia (man boobs) and decrease the risk of prostate problems & erectile disfunction. I will see if I can find what i did with the research (i saved it so we could present it to the friends gp) and post it (or links to where it can be found).

yes, the research only concluded 1/4mg was as effective as reducing DHT concentrations in hair. For whatever reason they didn't test whether this meant it was as effective as baldness treatment, although one can infer.

In my case, finasteride saves your hair 4 years after stopping using it! And even when your T levels are back to normal lol. As an experiment I should one day "juice" and see confirm how powerful finasteride has been with me

I had a second insulin resistance test. This is the first one since being on reandron and arimidex. I don't have my first test results but was diagnosed with insulin resistance. Suffice to say, my second test shows reandron + arimidex has made a profound difference.

Insulin Results:

fasting: 3 (normal range < 11)
1 hour: 12 (normal range 9-45)
2 hour: 6 (normal range 5-30).

Glucose Results:

Fasting: 4.8
1 hour: 4.4
2 hour: 3.7

I have not lost bf% or done more cardio in this time, so it cannot be attributed to anything like that. I got these results over the phone from the receptionist, so I have to wait 5 weeks for my dr's interpretation, but suffice to say, this looks like a massive improvement to me. I'm a bit confused why my blood glucose decreased in 1hr 1 and 2, so will be interested in my Dr's interpretation of this. I assume these insulin scores are very good although again have found it hard to research what is ideal.

Anyway I'm quite pleased. It means a resumption of a "normal diet". Indeed, I had kinda believed my insulin resistance had diminished in the last month and had been eating more carbs.

Originally Posted by take2

IMO, 30s is relatively young to be considering HRT/TRT, which generally becomes a lifelong practice.

And IMO 10 as a little young tobe gettign cancer.. Im not going to read through 28 pages of internet debate and at the 11th page there is no progess it just means there is rubbish inebtween..

POST

SHBG
LH
TSH
ALBUMIN
FSH
Cortisol
ACTH
E2
GnHR
Prolactin

and i will be back..

Im a 23yo who just started trt as my results were 7.6 (8.3-29) total t 25.2 (25-120) free t... yet i not long ago i got a 200kg deadlift..

Anyway you have a problem and it needs to be sorted out. Who have you seen what have you done? ultra sound MRI ect? Majority of Gp's are idiots same with endocrinoligists.

Sometimes liver problems can back oestrogen up (p450 enzyme process rmeoval of toxins also metabolises oestrogen affected buy ssr's alcohol ect) A rise in oestrogen creates a rise in SHBG. SHBG attatches to testosterone and binds it making it useless to the body. What lowers shbg? More testosterone and less oestrogen..

Remember oestrogen is made form testosterone in fat cells.

Alcohol is poison no one should drink it especially people in this situation.

Post some results and let me have a crack at it...

As i dont have the time to read 28 pages.

Thanks

all the best n00bs


EDITskipped back a few pages looks like your sorted? or not let me know..

Originally Posted by scottie2301

I just got some results back and was told i was within the normal range and therefore fine...
Test was 18 nmol/L
Oest was 78 pmol/L
He wouldn't test other things such as SHGB and free test, apparently they're unnecessary...
Anyway, when I mentioned that I thought that the test number was low for someone my age, and it was a number more likely to be asociated with someone in their 40's or 50's, he just barked back that it was still within the range....
Think I need to go to another doctor...

Within range is not optimal fuck i hate dr's

Within range is like 80% of the population that has ever been tested..

For example ACTH test at my last pathlab was <10 that going by that 0 would be an acceptable level as it is less than 10..
Pathetic.