Low T. Should I start TRT?

[brad710]

Hello all. I've been suffering from ed and zero libido for almost 2 years now. Didn't even think to get my testosterone checked until a couple of months ago. My results were 28ng/dl. I think this is really low. My research tells me 300 - 1000 is normal. I spoke with my new doctor and she said i have to stop drinking booze and smoking weed for 3 to 6 months b4 i can start TRT. I had already quit smoking last year and have only had a few drinks in the past 2 months. I'm not any better. I've been training kickboxing, gi and nogi jujitsu 6 to 12 hrs a week for 1.5 years hoping if i trained hard enough my body would fix itself. No such luck. I've been researching trt and something i came across today says i can't have kids if I'm on it. I emailed my doc and she agreed. I would like to have another child with my wonderful gf but can't right now with my terrible symptoms.

1. ED
2. zero libido
3. No ejaculate (or very little)
4. low motivation
5. gained fat (stomach mostly)


My awesome and trusted doctor of 20 years retired 2 years ago and i haven't even met my new doctor face to face. I wonder if she knows anything about TRT and/or fixing my heath problems. I scheduled a meeting with her so i can introduce myself and try to fix things. Do I need to find a new doc? Should i be seeing a specialist? I'm sick of feeling this way. I use to be a fun, energetic, athletic man and now i feel like a luke warm turd.

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thx

[kelkel]

Hi Brad. Full Blood Work is where you HAVE to start. It gives you a chance to correct what may be wrong, if possible. There's a good example in the Finding A Doc sticky thread at the top of this forum. Tell your doc that is what you would like to get. When it comes to your level of 28 ng/dl, Labcorps range is 348 - 1197 from memory, which puts you in the toilet. Way beyond the normal low. This should pique your interest for a possible problem beyond the norm.

Many things can cause low T, like the vices you mentioned as well as hypothyroidism, pathologies, varicoceles, trauma, cortisol or prolactin issues and many others. Demand that blood work.

[monster-ish]

If you end up on trt you can't get prescribed hcg to keep the boys working if you want kids

[kelkel]

If you end up on trt you can't get prescribed hcg to keep the boys working if you want kids

Monster yes you can. I'm prescribed it as are many here. It's slowly (emphasis on slowly) becoming more acceptable. It's even on HCG's package inserts for Hypogonadic hypogonadism. Just many docs aren't up to speed with it, or hormones for that matter.

[monster-ish]

Monster yes you can. I'm prescribed it as are many here. It's slowly (emphasis on slowly) becoming more acceptable. It's even on HCG's package inserts for Hypogonadic hypogonadism. Just many docs aren't up to speed with it, or hormones for that matter.

Kelkel sorry bro that was suppose to be a can not a cant lol but yes ur right it does seem like most docs are still in the Stone Age wen it comes to hcg and horomones

[Low Testosterone]

Good rules of thumb:

If testosterone (total) is less than 200 ng/dl, measure prolactin to rule out prolactemia
If prolactin is over 100 ng/ml endocrinologist may be needed to rule out pituitary tumor
You should definitely have prolactin checked with a number that low.
Prolactin over 150 ng/ml normally indicates pituitary tumor, not always but often.
Prolactin 25-100 ng/ml may be associated with use of certain medications.

[brad710]

Other results i got from my blood test are as follows.

Lipid panel:
Cholesterol = 178
Triglyceride = 260
HDL = 43
Cholesterol, non HDL = 135
LDL = 83

Hemoglobin H1c:
HGB A1c = 5.8

Average blood sugar calculated from HbA1c = 120

I have know idea what most of this means.

I am on no medications.

[OingoBoingo]

As kelkel said above, check out the Finding a Physician sticky for a list of tests you'll want to get. Even if your doctor doesn't know which tests to order, you will!

[Simon1972]

make an appointment with the LOW T guys that sponser this website- you are so low i wouldnt bother with a "maybe" dr that would for the most part be practising a form of medicine that is foreign to them.

i know when i had tow T i would go to a dr- get told ""your ok"and i would go hide in a corner until i managed to get the strength again to try to convince another dr to consider me.

do it right the first time- make that call

[kelkel]

make an appointment with the LOW T guys that sponser this website- you are so low i wouldnt bother with a "maybe" dr that would for the most part be practising a form of medicine that is foreign to them.

i know when i had tow T i would go to a dr- get told ""your ok"and i would go hide in a corner until i managed to get the strength again to try to convince another dr to consider me.

do it right the first time- make that call

I understand what you're saying but with his extremely low T level he needs to rule out pathologies as well.

[brad710]

I ordered another testosterone test and a prolactin test. Thx for your time and the advise

[kelkel]

Let us know how you make out brad.

[brad710]

Met my new Doc (took 2 weeks for an appointment) she seems nice (caring, energetic, open to treatment options). Tested my prolactin, results were 5.9. this is good i think. Retested my testosterone, results 46. Still in the toilet. Doc referred me to Endocrinologist who wants more blood work and MRI. Got a message from kaiser today telling me the MRI suggested by the endo doc is not "medically necessary". Sounds like it would be better for their bottom line if i just died. Anyway going to get blood drawn tomorrow (probably) and will keep you all posted. Thanks for your help and advise in the responses. appreciated.

[kelkel]

Insurance companies overruling your doctor. Ridiculous.
Keep us in the loop.

[almostgone]

Met my new Doc (took 2 weeks for an appointment) she seems nice (caring, energetic, open to treatment options). Tested my prolactin, results were 5.9. this is good i think. Retested my testosterone, results 46. Still in the toilet. Doc referred me to Endocrinologist who wants more blood work and MRI. Got a message from kaiser today telling me the MRI suggested by the endo doc is not "medically necessary". Sounds like it would be better for their bottom line if i just died. Anyway going to get blood drawn tomorrow (probably) and will keep you all posted. Thanks for your help and advise in the responses. appreciated.

If your endo feels it is medically necessary, you could try appealing the insurance company's decision. It is usually a HUGE pain, but I have had BCBS reverse a couple of decisions after appealing (one was a biventricular pacemaker that BCBS said was " medically unnecessary"). Most recently, they suddenly stopped covering my cyp injections because they had no proof that it was medically necessary; even though they had been kicking in on the shots for over a year. Finally after jumping through the hoops and dealing with the runaround, BCBS admitted it was an error on their part. ( I had mailed in copies of my labs via registered mail since the Dr. had already faxed he information twice but supposedly it was never received). After I pointed out that I had documentation that someone @ BCBS had received my labs, they said it was a coding error on their end and went back and paid their portion of the shots they had declined.
So, an appeal might be an.option.
Best of luck!!

[brad710]

The good news is my primary care doc got the MRI through. The bad news is she got it pushed thru cuz my comprehensive blood work came back and the endo doc fears i have a tumor. Thx for the replies and support guys. It is most appreciated.

[Simon1972]

The good news is my primary care doc got the MRI through. The bad news is she got it pushed thru cuz my comprehensive blood work came back and the endo doc fears i have a tumor. Thx for the replies and support guys. It is most appreciated.

a step in the right direction brad, hope its benign at worst- glad to see you are getting real medical intervention finally and best of luck.

[kelkel]

Tumor or not, you'll be just fine. Better to know than not know.

(have one myself)

[brad710]

Got my MRI results back today.

1. Several small nonspecific white matter lesions presumed microvascular with no acute intracranial findings.
2. Borderline hypoplastic sella/pituitary with no focal pituitary lesions.

So my doc say's "you do not fit the cards on this one". I scheduled an appointment with an endocrinologist for next week. Maybe the endo can help me figure out whats going on. I'm glad a don't have a tumor but it's almost worse not being able to find the root cause of this problem. On the bright side my son is happy and healthy and my girl is being supportive. I'll keep this post updated as i find out more. Thanks for listening and the reply's.

[kelkel]

Good to hear brad.

[brad710]

Talked with the endo doc today she says idiopathic hypogodenisum. She wants me to do a sleep study to see if I have sleep apnea. We talked about hcg treatment. 1000 units 3 times a week for 3 weeks is 3200 bucks. She said we'd most likely have to do this 3 times. I want to have another child but no guarantee any of it will work and 9600 bucks is money I don't have and my insurance wont cover any costs. Anyone else on hcg treatment? Is 3200 dollars every 3 weeks average cost? I have kaiser anyone else using kaiser? Anyone tried clomid? Thx.

[brad710]

My health insurance company must be taking a page out of the flea market or garage sale business model because after "negotiating" with them they agreed to reduce the cost of my HCG treatment tremendously. So hopefully I'll be able to start HCG treatment in a couple weeks. I'm really excited to get back to feeling like a human being. I'll keep you all posted on my progress. Thanks to all who posted with suggestions and support. It really helped me. Thanks.

[kelkel]

Refresh my memory Brad. What were your last Lh & FSH numbers?

[brad710]

LH = 0.2
FSH = 0.8
I don't know if that is in mg/L or what, didn't say. However my last testosterone check was 16