Taking steroids at a young age, but with a massive variocele.

[Amenrab]

I know it's not good to make a post here asking this kind of question because most people will just assume I can't be bothered to read the stickies, but I have a variocele in my left nut and I'm not sure how different this makes me to everyone else.

I'm 19 now, and had a variocele since I was about 13/14. Gyno and bacne developed about a year after that. I haven't had any of my hormone levels checked yet, as I've only recently learnt that varioceles will reduce test, and I won't be able to do so for a few more weeks. I have a lot of symptoms of low test and high estrogen though - gyno, puffiness, water retention, and low sex drive. But the main thing is that I have a tendency to gain fat very easily, and muscle very difficultly, even though I follow everything very closely. Progressive overload, no junk food, no alcohol, sleep 8 hours, eat 1lb of meat everyday, 400 caloric surplus.

From what I've read so far, hormonal fluctuations in a normal person are like this:
Pre-cycle - low estrogen, high test
Early cycle - low estrogen, high test
mid/ late cycle - high estrogen, high test
after cycle - high estrogen, low test (until PCT [estrogen blockers and test boosters] are taken)

People are generally discouraged from taking steroids until they're about 25, 21 at the earliest, because you can **** up your endocrine system and hormone levels. But my question is, if my test levels are already ****ed up from my variocele, how would steroids affect me? I'm not talking about pumping all kinds of stuff into my system tomorrow, but maybe one or two cycles of test over the next few years so that I don't look like shit while saving up £1500 for a variocele surgery. If I do take anything, it won't be for a few more months when I've read a lot more about each compound, done another cut/ bulk cycle just to make sure my bad gains weren't just caused from me, tried other methods of reducing estrogen and raising test, and any other important measures I think of.

But of course, this is all meaningless if my blood levels come back completely normal.

[kelkel]

Have you looked into embolization?

[Amenrab]

Have you looked into embolization?

Currently reading up on it now.
Will it help to bump my test levels back to normal and reduce my estrogen as effectively as surgery?

It'd be great if it does. I wasn't hoping to take steroids until they started to decline naturally, at about 35 or so, because of the health risks when you take them incorrectly.


Edit: Looks like it's going to cost the same as surgery, ~1500GBP. So it's not an option for me in the forseeable future.

[kelkel]

First choice should be a corrective procedure. Test or TRT is a last resort.
Do you know what your E2 (sensitive panel) is at the moment? If for some reason it's sky high simply reducing this will elevate your testosterone .
Can you post BW with ranges?

[Amenrab]

First choice should be a corrective procedure. Test or TRT is a last resort.
Do you know what your E2 (sensitive panel) is at the moment? If for some reason it's sky high simply reducing this will elevate your testosterone .
Can you post BW with ranges?

I'm not sure about any of my hormonal levels, as I've only recently learnt that variocele reduces my test. So I haven't had a chance to get any formal medical work done.

Embolisation or surgery is my first choice, it's just that it will take me such a long time to get the money to pay for it since I'm at university right now, and may have to pay a lot for travel fees and living expenses while I do an unpaid internship over the summer.
Since I can't afford the bill to fix my test levels right now, the only two choices I can think of are:
a) Keep working hard and eating well to carry on having a shit physique
b) take a bit of test to improve my physique, to stay motivated while I save up

[Roger11]

I'm not sure about any of my hormonal levels, as I've only recently learnt that variocele reduces my test. So I haven't had a chance to get any formal medical work done.

Embolisation or surgery is my first choice, it's just that it will take me such a long time to get the money to pay for it since I'm at university right now, and may have to pay a lot for travel fees and living expenses while I do an unpaid internship over the summer.
Since I can't afford the bill to fix my test levels right now, the only two choices I can think of are:
a) Keep working hard and eating well to carry on having a shit physique
b) take a bit of test to improve my physique, to stay motivated while I save up

OR how about option C

Go and get a full hormone panel done and post it here with ranges as kelkel has asked and let us take a look mate.

[David LoPan]

Wait and get your full blood work panel and see what is up before you do anything.

Listen to kelkel

[Amenrab]

OR how about option C

Go and get a full hormone panel done and post it here with ranges as kelkel has asked and let us take a look mate.

Yes, I'll definitely get my levels checked, and act accordingly, but for now I'm just trying to consider all options.
I'm working on the assumption that test is low and estrogen is high, but if they come back normal then I won't be posting on here for at least another 5 years.

[Java Man]

I hope you don't stay away based solely on this. You don't have to be taking aas to post here. Lots of members don't cycle at all. This forum is about healthy lifestyles. Sometimes responsible aas administration is part of it but by no means required.

[thisAngelBites]

It sounds like you're in the UK and a uni student - can you not avail yourself of help under the NHS? Not that it's perfect, but with a bonafide health issue, they can be somewhat slow, but then you are not forced to come up with the money on your own. Anyway, I assume you have already considered this, but I mention it in case there is some obstacle (and I know about petitioning the local primary care trust, etc., in case you want to be referred and your GP won't etc).

[Amenrab]

I hope you don't stay away based solely on this. You don't have to be taking aas to post here. Lots of members don't cycle at all. This forum is about healthy lifestyles. Sometimes responsible aas administration is part of it but by no means required.

I usually post on another fitness forum, it's just that AAS discussion is banned over there.

It sounds like you're in the UK and a uni student - can you not avail yourself of help under the NHS? Not that it's perfect, but with a bonafide health issue, they can be somewhat slow, but then you are not forced to come up with the money on your own. Anyway, I assume you have already considered this, but I mention it in case there is some obstacle (and I know about petitioning the local primary care trust, etc., in case you want to be referred and your GP won't etc).

I could try, though I've never really had much luck with the NHS. Because they're publicly funded they usually try their best to help as few people as possible, and as cheaply as possible.

I also only came into the UK about 7 months ago, so I also need to register with a GP.

[kelkel]

Take a look at the BW examples in the Finding A Doc sticky at the top of the forum Amenrab.