clomid no longer working? New testosterone level at 345

[adam1973]

Two months into using clomis 25mg every other day and my testosterone levels were at 650. Now two months later my latest blood work (completed mid february 2013) shows my testosterone level is at 345?!?! I havent changed the dose or skipped any. Has anyone else had this happen?????

My primary doctor has since refered me to an endo (female) whom I have met this morning.


The female endo, I met with today, wants me to stop taking the clomid and armmour thyroid and get my blood tested (again) to get a baseline. She wants me off all the drugs for at least 3 weeks. She spent maybe 20 minutes reviewing my previous 3 labs and did a physical on me and asked me some questions.

She said my balls are small. I said they are bigger than they were. She asked if Ive been having headaches I said no. any vision issues I said no. She asked about my sex drive I said its there just not like it was 2 or 3 years ago but still better since I started clomid.

I asked her the following question "I'm 40 years old, what testosterone level would you put me at?". Her response "Around 400". I told her Im already at about 400 and that I felt really good at 600-700. She said that I would be self administering the drug and eluded (I think) that I would determine my own level.

I am a bit confused on what she said. If I am self administering testosterone and she only prescribes a set amount then how would I determine my own level? how is IM Testosterone supplied?

I asked her why another lab and why not just order a pituitary MRI? She said she needed to follow these procedures in order for my HMO to approve the MRI.
She gave me a lab with FSH, Prolactin, LH, Total testosterone, free testosterone, Thyroid peroxidase Antibodies, TSH, T-4, and IGF-1. I tool the lab but told her I am not sure I will be working with her. I asked her about checking estrogen and SHBG she kinda chuckled an said its not required. Is there stuff missing on this lab?

Im thinking about looking for another endo.

[austinite]

I don't understand what she meant by saying "you determine your own level". But I'm surprised that she got panels for all that and turned down E2. Do you happen to have a copy of your mid-February bloodwork handy? If so, please post it here with ranges.

[adam1973]

Thats whats so ****ed up. The February blood test was for thyroid panel and total testosterone only!

[adam1973]

I am trying to find out why the clomid is no longer working

[jasondd1]

I am trying to find out why the clomid is no longer working

From what i have seen it stops working for a lot of people. I tried it for 6 weeks and it raised me to 590 but tanked everything else.

[evan_2k]

I am really interested in this. I went to my Uro doc today. I have low T. The doc ask if i was planning on have anymore kids, I said yes and have been trying recently. She said if I go with a IM Test C protocol, it can lower my sperm count. So she suggested I take Clomid for the meantime and see how that effects my natural test and sperm count. Would like to follow this and see if this is something I should even consider.

[adam1973]

I am really interested in this. I went to my Uro doc today. I have low T. The doc ask if i was planning on have anymore kids, I said yes and have been trying recently. She said if I go with a IM Test C protocol, it can lower my sperm count. So she suggested I take Clomid for the meantime and see how that effects my natural test and sperm count. Would like to follow this and see if this is something I should even consider.

It depends on if you have primary or secondary failure. In my case I'm secondary and the clomid worked for a while. Now the clomid isn't working. Also, I had a vasectomy a few years ago so having kids/fertility is no longer a concern for me.

[adam1973]

From what i have seen it stops working for a lot of people. I tried it for 6 weeks and it raised me to 590 but tanked everything else.

What do you mean by "tanked everything else"?

[HRTstudent]

To be frank, I am not sure if clomid is a good long term treatment. The longest studies go for 3 years, but I don't know beyond that. If fertility is not important to you, and given your age, it might be best to opt for testosterone replacement .

The testes desensitization to LH is normal with aging. I'm not sure what we can do, if anything, to avoid or slow that (aside from eating traditional, nutritious diets). If you have no problems going on TRT then it's worth considering at this point to me. Of course, clomid is much easier in many regards. There are definitely pros and cons to each.

Quite frankly, she didn't seem like the doctor you want to treat you for TRT anyways. I would look for a good doctor who specifically self educates on male HRT. (It probably won't be an endo!)

If you wanted to continue using clomid you would be well to get those labs pulled that she ordered. It might be telling...

[jasondd1]

What do you mean by "tanked everything else"?

e2, free test, dhea, progesterone, and igf-1 all tanked. Total test was good but it screwed up everything else. Not sure if there as a direct correlation on all of them but it seems it was for enough to make me miserable. At the end of 6 weeks it caused my progesterone so low I could not sleep. It seems it can affect people a number of odd ways.