First blood work

[Mr Tick]

Okay I have been having a extremely low sex drive and a lack of motivation to do anything and just a general since of not caring for at least a year probably close to 2. After doing some reading on effects of low test i decided to go to the doctor. I am 27.


I got my blood work back and the doc said that my Test levels (450) was low for my age and that my DHEA (220) was a little low for my age as well. He said that due to my low energy levels in the morning and higher energy level at night possibility points to the adrenal glands not making cortisol it should. He game me a salivary test to be checked 4 times a day to check it.


He said that he wanted to try a clomiphene test. He said that he wanted to see if taking 50mg per night for 7 nights and coming in on the 8th morning would bump my test levels up by 200 or so. He said checking it this way would allow him to see if i was responsive and would open up the different types of treatments.


Has anyone had this type of treatment prescribed? I am curious as to what the results might be.

[sirupate]

The clomiphene will stimulate your pituitary gland to signal your testes to "get to work", so to speak. I don't know if that is a long-term solution...guys do clomi as part of post-cycle therapy. I have experiemnted with it and felt better...for a while at least. HCG injections may be another way to get the boys working. That assumes, of course, that your testes are capable of producing adequate amounts of testosterone . Sometimes injury or disease prevent that from happening. I assume the doctor didn't test for free-T....that is the more important measure for us. If free-T is low in the range, you could certainly be having those symptoms.

An endocrinologist would be wanting to know why your test. levels are that low for your relatively young age, and would be doing some tests to indicate if the problem is thyroid, pituitary or testicular in origin. Each area might call for a different treatment approach.

[sirupate]

Thinking on the clomi some more, it is an easy and inexpensive way to determine if the problem is pituitary or testicular in origin. If the clomi works, the problem is more likely to be pituitary. That leads to different test(s) and options. Just another way to rule things in or out. My endo had me do a MRI of the pituitary to rule out a tumor...don't worry, they are almost never cancerous, but can mess with the signals being sent to the testes. Had there been a tumor present, certain meds can shrink the tumor and restore functioning. In my case, the answer was supplement testosterone . The MRI is somewhat expensive if you don't need to have it.

[Mr Tick]

He did a full panel test. It has lots of stuff on it. Close to 80 things on it.
T4 Free is 1.30
THS is 1.760
Reverse T3 is 233
Estradiol 17.7
Sex horm Binding Glob, Serum 32.7

[GotNoBlueMilk]

Nice Estradiol number. My baseline was 4, which was responsible for a lot of my issues. My T was in the bottom 1/3rd range which would have not been nearly so bad if my E2 had not been almost nothing.

[Mr Tick]

i have no clue what the some of those numbers are for. I have never heard of reverse T3 or the sex horm binging one either

[Mr Tick]

Okay guys sorry for not updating this. Also for got to mention I stopped working out and taking anything before my first round of tests because I wanted true values without anything skewing them. I have been back in the gym since the second set and have been hitting it hard. I have been currently taking BCAA, Pre workout supp, protein and creatine after workouts. Im not sure what if any effect this will have on my next set of labs I just wanted to note it.


I went back to doc after being on clomid for 7 nights. My levels went up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~First level ~~~~~Post Clomid


Testosterone , serum ____457________ 787
Estradiol_________ ____17.7_________33.7
Sex Horm Binding Glob__23.7_________48.7

I also took an saliva test
7-9am ~~~.58
11am-1pm .56
3-5pm~~~~ .41
10pm-12am .01

DHEA 7-9am~~~~~~376_____Range 71-640pg/ml
DHEA Cortisol ratio/1000 ~~~~~648 ____Range 115-1,188

Test said i might have hypercortisolism during mid day.


Okay when I went back to the doc he said that I had a great response to the clomid and that I could probably get my body to make more. He said that he would like to try to put me on a daily regiment of vitamins for 90 days. He said he has seen them bring T levels up 300 points. He gave me a place to get them at pharmaceutical grade. Im on Vitamin A25,000 2X day, Zinc 25mg 2X day, Boron 3mg 1X day. I have noticed an medium increase in my sex drive and overall since of well being. I think they have helped some but have recently noticed some slight signs of gyno occurring.

I made my 90 days in a few weeks and go back for post blood work. When I called I asked if they could check estrogen levels. They said to tell the doc that I wanted them checked when I came back. My first blood work was a lot of tests but the second time it was just a few. Is there anything that I should ask him to test for this time?

[Mr Tick]

Come on vets. Please take a look

[GotNoBlueMilk]

If you are taking Clomid to stimulate Test levels, it is doing it by stimulating LH. Unlike with TRT, LH should be monitored since you want to see what the level is before starting clomid, during clomid, and post clomid. If your LH drops back down to the pre-clomid levels, then the treatment has not helped recover your pituitary LH levels.

[Mr Tick]

I was only on it for 7 nights. My pre and post test results are up.

[flatscat]

Sorry, I have caught JP's A.D.D.,

Please list time frames between first BW , clomid 7 day trial, and second BW please.

Thanks,

Flats

[Mr Tick]

3/24 First Dr apt and he Took Blood
3/30 Results back on put me on clomid that day and wanted saliva test
4/6 Took blood 2nd time and sent off saliva test
5/9 Both Test came back in and he put me on vitamins
8/16 My next appointment for new blood work

[zaggahamma]

Sorry, I have caught JP's A.D.D.,

Please list time frames between first BW , clomid 7 day trial, and second BW please.

Thanks,

Flats

geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

[zaggahamma]

tick...it sounds as if you are in good hands with this doctor...do you feel he isnt? i also demanded for my cortisol to be checked and the doc ruled that out as a problem but if its looking like different in your case?

what has your doctor recommended now? are you still on clomid and the vitamins?

not feeling any better at all?

[Mr Tick]

He did a saliva cortisol test and i have the results posted above in post #7. I think the Doc is great and really working with me. I am still on the vitamins right now. The clomid was only for 7 days then he did another blood work and thats when he put me on the vitamins. I go back on tuesday for a 90 day blood work to see what the vitamins did for me. I have had a definite increase in sex drive and my over all mood had definitely improved. I would say the sex drive on a 1-10 10 being when i was 16 thinking non stop. I was about a 2 now i would say 5 or 6. Far as my over all since of well being has went up at least double as well. The only thing is there is ups and down for some reason. I will ask for a blood cortisol text this time. As well as an estradiol. I will post doctors comments when i do back and new labs when i get them.


Thanks JP

[flatscat]

It will be really interesting to see your next b/w results. So, are we thinking he is banking on the clomid to have jump started your natty t production? Surely he is not thinking the vit's will increase t or even help maintain those levels....like you said, getting more thorough labs will be helpful.

One more question - is he selling you the vit's?

And, guess you are going on month 5 of this ride - that's a fairly long time without a doc working with you, much less if he is - to get you feeling better and on a steady protocol imho.

Wish you the best of luck!

[Mr Tick]

No he is not selling me the vitamins. The clomid was only to see how receptive my system was to be able to increase my production of testosterone without supplementing it with external sources. Since I was able to get a 330 jump in my number he wanted to see what the vitimans would do.He said he seen study's that the vitimans have shown an increase in natural testosterone production. Thats why he put me on a 90 day regiment. Tuesdays results will show what they did for me. He told me that there is many solutions to having low T but he wanted to start with the easiest method and go from there.

[flatscat]

As long as you are happy with him and your progression, thats ask that matters brother