Dr put me on HRT and im lost

[juniorvs087]

Hello everybody im new here on the forum and just wanted to say im glad to be here and found this site.Im not a fitness buff and never really went to the gym alot exept for a few new years promises..lol.Really back to my questions..First a little back ground,i had serious back injury in 2008 at work and have been under Dr. care including specialist since then and now disabled by social security but i have been on pm since 09 and i have noticed decline in my body and mind.My DR. took some blood test and said he suspected my T levels was low based on what i told him,plus the pills he has me taking and well it was.Im 38 male and my T was 176 ng/dL and Free T was 4.6 pg/mL and My DR put me on T injections 1/mL every 2 weeks 200mg/mL.I have no real knowledge of HRT and started searching for more info on the subject.I found a HRT clinic that will remain nameless but after a few visits im convinced maybe my DR i see every month does not know what he is doing and he is not a Endo DR.The HRT clinic said i should be on afew other things with the T to protect me and have a completed HRT program.I will say that the cost was 3-4 times higher at the clinic vs what my Dr was charging me.My real question is should i seek better treatment vs money or is that just part of HRT place.Anyone who has been in this same situation or area,i would greatly appreciate your input.thank you.

[HRTstudent]

Few things...

First of all, welcome to the forum. Despite this forum's overall theme, this HRT sub-forum is a bit of its own entity. There are definitely some fitness enthusiasts here, but by no means is everyone here like that. There are plenty of just regular men who take or are considering medical hormone replacement.

Next, most endocrinologists are NOT the doctors you want to go to. These doctors, despite the common perception, are experts in diabetes by and large. Next would be thyroid and very very far down the list would be testosterone replacement. And even then, the testosterone diseases they would even know about would be a few rare genetic disorders which you almost certainly don't have.

Which brings us to the next point, most general practitioners are not experts in HRT/TRT. This is a specialty that is sought out by doctors on their own. It's not a subspecialty that a doctor learns about in medical school or residency. Most of the time, it's a general practitioner who liked the subject and decided to branch into the field. Having said that, many of the drugs commonly used in HRT for men are commonly used by urologists. So, as a general rule, I would say your best bet at finding an expert in HRT is by finding a general doc or urologist who specifically go after the male low testosterone crowd. It can be hard to find. There is a sticky on this though.

Next, you mention the clinic said there are a "few things" you need to be on, but that's possibly untrue and at the least misleading simply because they don't know you. The reality is, most men on TRT end up doing fine on your basic transdermal testosterone cream. This is used by many men across the country, and it improves their lives to their satisfaction.

This definitely does not mean, however, that other drugs will not be needed or will not help. HRT is very much a clinical experiment where you are the sole subject. Do you do better on gels or injections? Do you aromatize a lot? How does your SHBG effect your T? How is your nutrition? Lifestyle? Motivation to work on other areas? etc etc etc... there are many factors that will impact your treatment. At first, you may need a common drug such as an aromatase inhibitor (anastrozole aka arimidex) but you might find that over time with smaller doses, more frequent injects etc that you dont need the AI.

Nobody can tell you if you should go to that clinic or to your general doctor. There are plenty of good docs who take insurance, but they are the minority. A clinic is almost a guarantee that they will prescribe the right drugs should you need them, but that doesn't necessarily mean you are getting the best care. I will say this: earlier on in my TRT journey I would have readily paid out of insurance to see a doctor who knew about TRT but I couldn't afford it. If I had excess funds, I most likely would have done this and never looked back. However, with more effort on my part, I was able to find a couple doctors who are very promising, and one of which I've been working with for months now.

Finally, there are many men in the same place you are right now. My best advice is to read as much as you can and become your own best health advocate. No doctor will ever care more about your health than yourself.

[juniorvs087]

Thanks for that fast info and the welcome.I really did not want to come here and post with the wrong intro and get mistook for looking for the wrong info..I have never had any hormone therapy so this is my first time and kinda wanted to get some more insight from anyone who has had this type of problem.Im really concerned about having the side effects from just taking the T and shutting off my own T even if its really abnormally low but at the same time i can tell its working even though its been only 3 weeks.I will continue to read all the threads i can and try to digest all the info out there..right or wrong...and i will hope to continue to get better with time as i am still looking to rehab my poor condition.Again thanks for your insight and knowledge.I will be glad to hear anything else you have on the subject and will look for your threads that have info closer to what im looking at.THANKS..

[OdinsOtherSon]

No doctor will ever care more about your health than yourself.

I'm finding this out for myself right now....HRTstudent is 10000000% correct....finding a doc who is knowledgeable in the specifics and complexities of male HRT is difficult, but worth your while!

[juniorvs087]

Im learning alot of info and facts that i never knew..man i love this forum too.I hope i can reason between myself,my DR and what im learning here plus what the HRT clinic has told me.From what ive seen in the past with other treatments ive had not really like this topic but ive seen negative responses from DRs when asking or giving them info that you have learned... that their ego gets a little bruised or they get the wrong ideas but im only concerned about my body and whats being put into it by them.Its like the other guy said you must look out for your own health because they might not.I had been told my current plan im on by my DR is not enough giving my T level and half life of th T cyp im on and i should be on other stuff to counter the effects and be safe plus i want my body to be healthy and hormones to be correct so im feeling better.Also im sorry for the long way around using certain words as you all know that until i get so many posts that my posts will be blocked by the forum as it thinks my posts are spam or something.Its really hard to edit and remove and replace words so my post dont get blocked..thanks

I'm finding this out for myself right now....HRTstudent is 10000000% correct....finding a doc who is knowledgeable in the specifics and complexities of male HRT is difficult, but worth your while!

[JohnnyVegas]

Great thread. I have nothing to add other than keep updating us on your protocol so you can get feedback. The process should be simple, but sometimes not easy. Hopefully in a few months you will be healthy and knowledgable about what you are putting in your body.

Maybe you will even get the fitness bug.