20 Yr Old Low Test Family Thinks No Big Deal

[username1235]

To make a super long story short as possible, i'm 20 years old I just moved to NJ to Fl to go to college and live with my dad. I was dignosed with low test over a year ago and was put on trt by one doctor and then taken off by another hoping my levels would increase naturally. Now that Im living in FL my Dad took me to see a new endocrinologist. My test level as of sept 2012 were 290 ng/dl and he initially gave me a prescription to repeat the blood work as well as a bone density scan. My testosterone came back 370 ng/dl this time around and the dr was pretty much content with this level since my bone scan was okay and all my other blood work was normal.

When my dad saw I was looking stressed out after the dr told me this he basically said to the dr that this has been stressing me out because its like Im a steroid freak or something. The loss of muscle off trt is the last of my concern my main concern is feeling mentally foggy, depressed, and lethargic and no libido when Im not on trt. The muscle gain was just a bonus. After telling my dad and my dr this they told me yes you probably did feel better on the trt but you would feel great if you snorted coke too that doesnt mean you need it. Then the whole ride home my dad pretty much just gave me a lecture that this is all in my head and stop googling low testosterone and that I have to stop acting like Im miserable all the time.

Does anyone have links to any credible medical research I can present to my dr as well as my father explaining that my levels are that of a 90 year old man not a 20 year old?

[kelkel]

Morning.

Sorry to hear about your plight and lack of support. You'll get support here! First, post your blood work here with ranges for us to look at. Many doctors just do not understand hormones and live off of what reference ranges say. This is not good. How you feel is paramount. You are at the bottom of the scale and should be at the top at 20 years of age. There is an issue here and the causative factor needs to be found now, not ten years from now.

Couple questions. Do you have a history of AAS or pro-hormone usage or anything else that may have impacted hormone levels? Have you suffered any head or testical trauma in your lifetime? There are many things that can lead to low T that can be corrected with an astute doctor. Hypothyroid will cause hypogonadism. High cortisol can effect T levels and so can many other things. Our bodies have to be "in balance" to work effectively and efficiently.

If your blood work does not include LH & FSH levels as well as a good thyroid panel then you should re-do it. Thyroid should include TSH, FT3, FT4 and RT3 at a minimum. LH & FSH are important as it will help us determine whether you are possibly primary or secondary hypogonadal. If low you very well may need to have an MRI done to rule in / out any pathologies (pituitary issues) which can easily shut you down and effect many men and women. Take a look at the Finding a TRT Physician Sticky for blood work examples. And start supplementing with D3 immediately as it will improve your Free T level.

More will chime in as well User. Hang in there!

kel

Below are some easy to read articles on Test levels, etc. Google is your friend as well:

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/...Members_01.htm

http://www.lef.org/protocols/male_re...oration_01.htm

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/...ing-Men_01.htm

[steroid.com 1]

20 year olds shouldn't have the testosterone serum levels of an 80 year old...tell your Dad and "Doctor" that...

You need to find another Doctor; something is wrong with you.

Post your bloodwork here and let's see what we have...

[username1235]

Thanks for the support guys. I'm no expert but I have done my fair share of reading on the topic. I want to keep this as brief as possible in explaining my medical history as I have spent the last year seriously trying to figure out wtf is causing this issue. I first went for blood work after being seriously depressed for a good year. After the labs came back low my dr sent me for an MRI to rule out a pituitary issue. The scan came back with a possible microadenoma. They rescanned with time with contrast and they still said a possible microadenoma. I then went to a nuerosurgeon who told me even if it was a microadenoma it wouldnt be capable of causing my issue if its that small and that it would most likely be producing prolactin (prolacting came back normal) I was then put on trt, initially androgel and then injections. My mother was constantly trying to find better doctors who would be willing to get to the root of my issue. I saw another supposedly good endo who told me my levels werent that low and that I dont neccessarily need treatement. Both endos told me that my issue cant be caused by being a late bloomer either because I have already developed judging by my testicals (my father was a very late bloomer and didnt hit puberty until 17). In june of 2012 I got an appointment with an endo who works in conjunction with a doctor who is head of pediatric endocrinology of a hospital. They were both under the impression that I am actually just a late bloomer (judging by the fact that my growth plates are that of a 16 yr old) and that I never should have been put on trt in the first place and now its a question of whether or not the trt ****ed up my system too much for me to be able to ever produce it on my own. I was taken off the trt cold turkey in june of 2012 and told to wait 3 months to get bloodwork. After getting bloodwork I ended up moving to florida and now Im dealing with this idiot doc. I also almost forgot to add that I have a varicocele.

My intial labs the first time I was diagnosed with low test are

06/24/11

Test serum 283 NG/DL (280,800)
Free Test 4.5 PG/ML (7.2,24)
LH 2.6 MIU/ML (1.7,8.6)
FSH 5.8 MIU/ML (1.5,12.4)

My labs in september are

09/21/12

Test Serum 295 NG/DL (348-1197)
Free Test 44 PG/ML (52-280)
Cortisol 21 UG/DL (8-19)
Prolactin 12 NG/ML (3-18)
LH 4 MIU/ML (1.7-8.6)
FSH 6 MIU/ML (1.5-12.4)
SHBG 32.3 NMOL/L (16.5-55.9)

Unfortunately I dont have the most recent bloodwork at the moment, they were done on october 10/15/12 I will get them when I can but everything to my knowledge besides the total testosterone came back roughly the same as in september.

I really appreciate you guys taking the time to help me out I know this is a pretty long post but I tried to just keep it to the most important info.

[jasondd1]

'm no expert but it seems like a clomid/HCG restart would be my first choice. If it is primary it won't work and you could then move on to TRT but if it is secondary it might just do the trick. Again I too am a novice at this so the pros here may disagree with me.

[kelkel]

User can you fill me in more on your microadenoma, specifically how many millimeters is it. I happen to own a microadenoma myself that is 2mm in size and totally shut me down without affecting my prolactin level. All adenomas are not prolactinomas so I'm curious why your doc would expouse that info.

That said, you still need to find a competent doctor asap.

kel

[steroid.com 1]

This ---->a microadenoma myself that is 2mm in size and totally shut me down without affecting my prolactin level.

Docs miss this a lot of the time.

Men the age of the OP with low Testosterone levels almost always point to pathology.

Find a Doc who understands and it trained in how to correct your condition.