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Y testing has now been passed on to an endocrinologist. Now they have asked for bw for estradial and prolactin. Does anyone know why? Is this to establish a starting point or is it to determine if TRT is applicable. I believe its the first, but unsure.
Prolactin is a must, an abnormal elevation could be the potential cause for low t and is treatable. E2 depends, it has a place in hypogonadal guys displaying high %bf and/or estrogen dominance (gyno, wide hips), as high estradiol will also lead to low t.
Hello everyone I am a new member and new to all of this. I can't seem to figure out how to start a thread or ask a question so please forgive my ignorance but I need some advice/help and would greatly appreciate some feed back....apologies but this might be long. Quick background the last 6 years I have had some issues which I now belive to be from low T levels. I had some blood work in 2014 and recently in 2014 my levels were 6 that's what the doc told me. I don't get copy of my lab results so I don't know anything except what they tell me. My symptoms for the last 4-6 years have been no energy, no sex drive and when it did happen o had a hard time staying erect and didn't get much enjoyment from it. I felt sluggish in my brain and was struggling at work and all I wanted to do was sleep. My bones ached and most of the time I felt almost sick and it didn't matter how my diet was good or bad I just kept packing fat on my stomach. My doc back then put me on anti depressants and said I was depressed those didn't help anything and made me feel more sick. A couple months ago I started taking test shots when I found out my levels in 2014 were at 6 and my thyroid was working just fine so that's ruled out. I started with 1cc of enthanate 250ml every 3 days and am now taking that dose once every 5 days. All my negative symptoms are gone my sex drive and enjoyment are back. I have energy and can concentrate on work and going to the gym. In the 2 months I have been on a good diet and with the test and gym have lost 45 pounds and can actually feel muscle where as before I was just big and soft. I went from 315 to 270. I'm 6'3 and am stocky my ideal weight is 220 which is my end goal. My problem is my doctor isn't on board with me taking the shots and wants me on SSRI (seratonin pills). I don't want to take them and want to try and be as safe and smart about taking the test as I can be. I don't know what to do without proper support from a doctor but I do know that I can't go back to how I was my health is way more at risk if I continue to be fat and have no energy. As it stands I'm lucky I'm not diabetic. Please help with any advice or info that may help currently I'm just trying to take a dose that I can maintain cause I feel I may have to take this for life. My doc thinks it's hypogonadism but wants me off the test to run more tests to be sure. I will come off it if I have to for the tests but think its best to stay on it until I get my weight back to a good level. I think the health risks if I stay low and get heavier are more dangerous then if I take the t and get back to a healthy weight. So any advice or suggestions with dose or any advice or info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and help.Quote:
Originally Posted by bizzarro
Can't you find a real doctor? The sort of an endo, or an urologist? Where you from?Quote:
Originally Posted by lVletalhead
What's your age?
You must pretend a copy of bloodwork from doc. I will tell you a secret: your health belongs to you, not him. You have your rights as a patient. Be more confrontative. If you feel worse on the SSRI crap then don't take it.
Now that you have commenced taking exogenous Test on your own some precious data including pituitary LH&FSH are lost, due to negative feedback (suppression). Those are needed to tell testicular failure from secondary (ie in the brain or pituitary) causes of low t. Another thing useful to know is Prolactin, as elevated levels (ie. from a tumor) can also lower endogenous T. If these were included in bloodworks ordered by your doc it would be great, also in the eventuality you decide to consult another doc.
I encorauge you to get a proper diagnosis and prescription. The dose your on is a "cycle" one and not a regular TRT protocol. It will also drove your E2 levels insane and those can trigger serious issues. This supposing you aren't taking an AI.
It's a wonder how your first bloods date back to 2014 and your doc is still about "running more tests". That probably means he doesn't know what he's doing. If the levels you reported - 6 - are in nmol/l (173 ng/dl), that means it's super low, and you're in full right of appropriate therapy.
I am 33 years old and have been feeling the negative effects for a long time. I go back and see the doc next week and going to ask to be refers to a urologist or endocrinologist. I live in Canada in the northern part of British Columbia. Thank you very much for answering I will try and get them to print out a copy of my latest and previous lab work so I can give more info. Where I live I know a couple people on trt and they say it doesn't work and my doc said she would give me one shot of enthanate 750ml every 10 weeks she also said that they require 3 tests that show me low before even considering treatment. And due to how I presented over the last 6 years she diagnosed me with depression amd anxiety and is still focusing on that. I refuse the pills cause they don't help and I don't want them. For me the fact that the shots took away all those negative symptoms and gave me back my life and sex drive I just don't want to go back to how I was before. My poor wife I'll end up divorced if we go through more sex less years. I don't know lots but from what I read that would spike me and make me crash I don't want to swing up and down and want to find a way to keep my levels decent where I won't risk adverse side effects and not end up that low again cause it's super depressing feeling like that and not having any energy or motivation. I will look at Prolactin and try get some work to check my estrogen levels too my doc didn't order that last round and knew I was taking the shots. Thanks again I really appreciate the input.Quote:
Originally Posted by bizzarro
Indeed, it will. That's why TRT often fails. The problem is GP (and often endo too) have little to no training at all when it comes to sex hormones. That's why you ought to find the right doc, and I'm sure it won't prove impossible in a modern nation like Canada.
Good luck with everything.
If you lower the estrogen levels can the "wide hips" come back to normal?Quote:
Originally Posted by bizzarro
Don't go to Endo's for your TRT cause of the Endos are diabetes special try and find and Andrologist, he/she will be more open minded about trt and have more experience on this subject, I had the same problem and I change like 4 endos and after the trial and error I found an Andrologist and she prescribe me the TRTQuote:
Originally Posted by lVletalhead
I doubt the bone can be remodeled at our age but losing fat around waistline and gaining shoulder mass will help achieve a more masculine look for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by TjmAble
Thank you very much for the advice. My problem is I live in a smallish town about 80,000 and I don't think we have any of those. Not even sure if we have an endo might be one in town so far it looks like there's a couple urologists and I can't find any docs here that are researching testosterone and the ones that do practice trt from what I have heard from their patients don't give them enough test to make a difference. That's partly why I put myself on a cycle to see how it would make me feel and for the first time in years I feel good but I know what I'm doing isn't likely safe long term. I have an appointment to see my doc on Tuesday I'll try get copies of my BW for more info. But all the have done for me in the last 6 years has been anti depressants and SSRI meds which haven't helped me one bit. I am 33 don't have kids never knocked anyone up I am fairly certain it's hypogonadism all the signs and symptoms fit. It's tough when you have been misdiagnosed and mishandled for so long to want to go back.Quote:
Originally Posted by TjmAble
I feel you, as I Pre-Med I advise you that you first do your research and equip yourself with knowledgeable about the TRT subject the more you know the more you can "punch" your doctor with your information and change his mind, I don't know where are you from but here in Europe (I'm from Greece) doctors are tough at prescribe testosterone and most of all the old one 60+ years old and more they are ignorant or just bored and they are not taking responsibility, try and find a younger doctor who is willing to "risk" and have more excitement to treat you properly.Quote:
Originally Posted by lVletalhead
No, sorry. This happen if you are exposed to estrogen during puberty.Quote:
Originally Posted by TjmAble
Whats your height?
Thank you for writing and that's sort of what I tried to do. I told my doc a bunch when I went in first to justify why I started taking the test shots and told then how I was feeling and was still met with them trying to put me on pills. I'm going to ask for a referral to a different doctor but am having trouble finding one who would help. We don't have any endocrinologist in town and only a few urologists and 1 sports medicine doctor I'm debating trying the sports medicine doc but I don't know. It's that whole rock and a hard place thing hey.Quote:
Originally Posted by TjmAble