Mri

[jwh7699]

Trying to convince my Primary Doctor to schedule me for an MRI. Still feeling sluggish after being on T since August of 2011. My protocol for the last 2 months has been 100mg of Cyp once a week.

Couldn't find any current posts on requests for an MRI.

If anyone has any facts that could help my case in convincing my Doctor, please let me know.

Thanks!!

[kelkel]

If you needed an MRI it more than likely would have been evident in your pre-TRT BW. Low LH, FSH, high prolactin, etc. They can cause any number of issues. If for some reason you feel it's relevant your doc should accomodate you. It isn't costing him a dime. Have you had current BW pulled?

[HRTstudent]

What evidence do you have that suggests you might need an MRI?

[jwh7699]

No current B/W. My prolactin levels in the past have swung from a high of 20 to a low of 4. The sluggishness and brain fog is getting too me.

I have had some vision problems the last 2 months. Headaches, cloudy vision, sensitivity to light, not seeing as clearly. I had Lasik vision correction 6 years ago. I don't think my eyes should be going bad so soon. I don't have diabetes and I had my thyroid levels checked a few months ago and they were all normal.

[HRTstudent]

None of these directly yell out at me that you "need" an MRI. If you had consistently elevated prolactin of 20 then maybe, but it doesn't sound like that's the case. More info on that could be helpful.

Regardless, MRI's are quite expensive. If you really want one, for whatever reason, you might have better luck with an endocrinologist. I could see a primary care physician trying to avoid an MRI for a variety of reasons, especially when it's not screaming in his face "this patient NEEDS an MRI".

[jwh7699]

I hear from where you are coming from. It's just frustrating after a year and half I'm still feeling sluggish more times than I'm not.

I'm a cause and effect type person. It makes more sense to me to see what caused my Testosterone to go down rather than just saying it went down just because.

[HRTstudent]

I hear from where you are coming from. It's just frustrating after a year and half I'm still feeling sluggish more times than I'm not.

I'm a cause and effect type person. It makes more sense to me to see what caused my Testosterone to go down rather than just saying it went down just because.

That's not a bad idea. Some doctors care about the cause, some just want to treat it. Both can work.

But an MRI is not likely, on average, to help people determine what might be causing their low T. It's usually a combination of insidious lifestyle and diet choices as opposed to trauma or physical damage to the brain.

I would maintain that you probably have a better shot at getting an MRI from an endo rather than a GP. Endos routinely order MRI's and can interpret them better than your average GP, who because of insurance, is probably swayed away from ordering lots of MRI's.

have you posted blood work on here? Often times the members on this site can look at bloodwork and offer insights that might help you figure out the cause. But nothing on this forum can replace the patient-doctor relationship.

[steroid.com 1]

Hypothyroidism???

Need to see blood work.

[jwh7699]

No Thyroid issues. My Test blood work is over 6 months old. I have an Dr. appointment in a couple weeks. Gonna request newer blood work then.

12/13/12

TSH 2.090 uIU/mL 0.450 - 4,500

Thyroxine (T4) 5.8 ug/dL 4.5 - 12.0

T3 Uptake 37% 24 - 39

Free Thyroxine Index 2.1 1.2 - 4.9

Triiodothronine (T3) 93ng/dL 71 - 180

[HRTstudent]

I would actually say you very well might have thyroid issues. Those numbers may be in range, but they are far from optimal.

I'm not saying thyroid is the answer to your problems, but I would definitely be working on my thyroid before I bothered with less potentially beneficial things like an MRI which may or may not be of any diagnostic value.