First post - Introduction

[gon3r]

Hey everyone,

Looks like you have a good board going here. I've been reading all day!

Male
Age 33
Wt 185
BF- 12%
Ht - 5'10

Story so far
1. 3-1-12 - go to urologist for erection issues, no sex drive, very irritable and argumentative with wife over last 6 months. He draws blood only for Total T, nothing else. It comes back at 214, he starts me on Androgel.
2. I start doing research and get frustrated that he only did a test for T and no other labs. I start to feel good on the Androgel after day 7, by week 3 I'm horrible, never really had depression, but now I do, come home from work and just get in the bed, hot flashes, etc.
3. 4-4-12 - go back to urologist for same T labs and it comes back at 69. Uro wants to insert pellets. I leave having now read up and decided I needed a new Dr.
4. 4-16-12 - after searching for two weeks I find a Dr. that advertises HRT on website. More labs, but this time complete labs (Cortisol, complete estrogen, estradiol, T, LH/FSH, Thyroid, Blood count, Hematocrit, DHEA, etc.). T is back at 240, so rebounded from the down it took on Androgel (severe depression and hot flashes had also gone away by this time). Everything else on the labs was normal except my Reverse T3 was off the chart (420 when normal max-350). This Dr. agreed that T injections may be the way to go and prescribes .25ml. He admitted not being too experienced and didn't presecribe any anti-estrogen, HCG, etc. so this raised a bit of a flag
5. 6-12-12 - I never filled the above prescriptions or started the injections as I talked to a friend about what the Dr. prescribed and he said his Dr. had him on 1ml/week (twice what my Dr. had prescribed). So I met w/ his Dr, got a physical, and started taking injections at 1ml/wk (injecting .5ml twice a week) along w/ .25mg Anastrazal, DHEA, Vit D, Zinc, Selinium. After day 10 I started feeling a huge difference for the better.
6. 8-13-12 - Been on the above for two months with zero issues and all my original symptoms completely gone and no side effects. I start allergy shots and they take my blood pressure. My bottom number comes back at 100. I watch it for the next two days and it is inconsistent, but seemed to avg about 145/88. When I first wake it would be 127/66, but as soon as I moved around it would be at the 145/88, even as high as 156/116 for one reading. I panicked and went to my general practitioner to get his opinion. He told me to stop the T right away, said it was all a scam for some to make $$$. He has me on schedule for an MRI to check for a pituitary tumor. I'm pleased about the tumor exploration, but I'm not prepared to stop the T. I asked for a blood work up since I haven't had that done since I started the T injections. He said when I come in for the MRI we will do that also (2 weeks).
7. 8-16-12 - Last two days after my Dr. visit my BP has gone back to a steady 130/80-ish, no more spikes. I feel great, but would still like to understand what the spike in BP was all about. I've injected since then, so it isn't tied to injection day or anything. I'm still on schedule for the pituitary tumor check.

So, that is it. Feeling better than ever, but confused about what I should do. In the dark on my levels. Don't want to be doing any harm w/ the high BP. Have a Primary Dr. that says I'm hurting myself. Didn't want to go to the Dr. that is giving me the T because I'd like a seperate source to give me my labs to remove any suspicion.

Any insights would help, thanks!

[xtitan1]

Hey brutha, congrats on finally posting! Is there any way we can see that blood work, or at least the latest?

You aren't trying to take your own BP are you? That doesn't work, unless you are using a machine of course in which case I'm less able to explain the fluctuations. You also never said what your BP was prior to any TRT.

Now we here are all for figuring out your cause of low t before going on any replacement. On that I agree with that doc. However TRT as a whole is a completely legitimate component of endocrinology and very necessary in those with low levels. Pick up Morgentaler or Shippen's book for detailed analysis of the very real and serious complications arising from untreated low T.

If not being on treatment is causing you to suffer from depression, which can be a fatal disease, then it is doing you harm to not be on it.

We wil probably be able to tell whether you are primary or secondary from your ore TRT blood work and continue from there. Go to the "finding a TRT physician" sticky and get the list of recommended labs and cross reference your labs against and write post everything that matches with dates and reference ranges.

[xtitan1]

And Sorry for the poor writing I'm on my iPad and I can't type very well lol

[Vettester]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!!

Sorry to hear about your "oh so familiar" journey on this stuff! That first doctor was obviously a goon! To me, it's a sure sign of Lack of Knowledge when a doctor's next option from AndroGel is to put you on those crazy pellets. Good move with declining the offer. It's sad when we have members here less than a year on the board that can do a better job of diagnosing and treating this stuff! That's a sad, sad story when you have a guy that completed medical school, and he's licensed to do anything he wants with your health, and then he does.

The second doctor you went to probably surprises me even more. The problem with this doctor is that he actually advertises "HRT" on his Website, which would usually indicate that this is a person that specializes in this area. To me, that's criminal like advertising! When the guy admittedly says he doesn't know much about the treatment, but then gives it to you anyways, yeah, that's a problem! No E2 review, no discussions on primary/secondary, or the need for HCG. He needs to clarify the "HRT" on his site, as it more than likely stands for "Haven't Received Training"!

OK, from thereon it looks like you started to get things a little more on the right track. The BIG thing missing here is obviously the labs. It's hard to make any comments without them. Your current doctor should have probably taken them 6 weeks or so after starting you up on the protocol, but that's the past. Get the full gamut as soon as you can and post it up. On your BP, it could have been a few things. I would want to see your full panel, including the lipids, CBC's, metabolic; especially looking for ALT/AST, BUN, PSA, and others. Congrats with a clean MRI!!!

Please let us know if there's any other medications, alcohol, situations in life causing stress, and a little bit about your lifestyle in general. As xtitan mentioned, refer to the mentioned sticky for the list of hormonal labs. Hoping we can help you fine tune your program and get things optimized. Just know, it's not a 1 month ordeal with making 10 posts. If you're committed then jump in 100%, and respect the board with contributing updates and taking control of your health. You made an excellent 1st post, my hats off to you, and if you devote the time now, you will be grateful for it later on in life (I promise).

Just about forgot ... Make sure to get us the full scope on that thyroid panel. Sounds like that's a problem area that never got dealt with.

[gon3r]

Thanks for the responses and warm welcome. Here are the last labs I received before starting the injections. These were one month after having stopped the month of Androgel use.

[steroid.com 1]

Your RT3 screams Thyroid problems despite normal T4 and T3.

This could very well be the reason for your Hypogonadal state.

Read this: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/reverse-t3/