26 Years Old - Low Testosterone. Trying to find out why?

[falco21]

I recently had a doctor's appointment. Haven't been to the doctor in a long time. Decided to finally go back. I found a very highly rated doctor near me and had all the tests done. Everything came out healthy but I voiced a concern to the doctor that lately I have been dealing with a few symptoms of what seems to be low testosterone . I have been very tired lately, low sex drive, and I feel I am not growing anywhere near how I should be based on my diet and lifting habits. The doctor decided to run a full blood test. The results for my testosterone level came back at 357 ng/dL on a scale of 250-827 ng/dL. The doctor mentioned that it was on the lower side but it does fall in the normal range. And said everything is OK.

I don't find this right. I am 26 years old and feel that my levels should be much higher. In my bloodwork, we did find that I had a Vitamin D-3 deficiency and I have been supplementing it since. The other finding was a high thyroid test. The doctor was not alarmed with it though considering my brain activity in relation to the thyroid test was not abnormal. In his view, had my thyroid been an issue, my brain activity would signal it much more than it currently is, so he feels that I just have an above normal reading than the average person.

My thyroid reading is as follows:

T3 Uptake was at 42%. The normal range is between 22-35%. My T4 total was 4.7mcg/dL in a range of 4.5 - 12.0 mcg/dL. My Free T4 Index was 2.0 in a range of 1.4-3.8.

Need some advice here! Looking for answers.

Thanks!

[Sh0tsf1red]

Are you going to a general practitioner, endocrine specialist or just some south Florida anti aging clinic?

[falco21]

Are you going to a general practitioner, endocrine specialist or just some south Florida anti aging clinic?

This was just a general practitioner

[Mr Tick]

Hey Bro,

Ok, In the same boat as you were when I was 27, my T was 289. Those levels are not normal for someone your age. Your doc is right they are in the normal range but you don't want to be on the low end of normal. My doc at the time ran me through a series of different things trying to see if my body would start to make T again on its own. I did a compilation of vitamins, Clomid then to HCG monotherapy. At the end of all of this the only thing that worked somewhat was the HCG. It got my body to get my numbers up to the 550's but it also spiked my Estrogen levels. Mind you, for me personally I didn't get the full benefits that I see now with the shot and my numbers being 800-900. After about a year of this and TONS of reading and research I decided that I wanted to just go on TRT shots. It's a lifelong choice and I encourage you to make sure you do a lot of reading before making any long-term decision.

Either way find a new Doc man. Either a urologist or endocrinologist might be a better choice of Doc. I am very very lucky to have a GP Doc that knows a lot about the male systems and was willing to work with me to get my numbers to the upper ends of the scale. You might be lucky enough to be able to get your body to start making enough Testosterone on its own to get to the upper ends of the scales and not need to get on the shot.

For me I'm very glad I chose the shot because I was not seeing the full benefits from the HCG alone. In choosing to do the shots I have to do a shot every 5 days for the rest of my life. Vacations, Job, Social events, it doesn't matter, I plan everything with my shots in mind.

Dr Crisler has a TON of great information out there. Look him up. The book The definitive testosterone replacement therapy manual by Jay Campbell is a decent book for someone looking for knowledge.
Your best bet is to get to reading. Remember this is your life and you are about to make decisions that will affect the rest of your life.

Good luck and be sure to stick around here. They have TONS of great and very smart people here. Also be sure to check out the HRT Stickies. Be wary of people with low posts and short time members. We have trolls here buddy but they don't normally last long.

[jwh7699]

Because of your age I would recommend looking into a few other things before considering TRT.

First would be some additional Blood Work: Free Testosterone , Estradiol - Sensitive, SHBG, Prolactin, FSH, LH.

The last three tests are important because; Prolactin levels tell if your Pituitary Gland is functioning Normal or not. (secondary hypogonadism)

FSH and LH would indicate if your Testicles are working properly. (primary hypogonadism)

You want to get these blood tests done before starting on any type of TRT.

Re-post the lab numbers in this thread.

Have you used any Steroids in the past?

[ShaRkKy]

I recently had a doctor's appointment. Haven't been to the doctor in a long time. Decided to finally go back. I found a very highly rated doctor near me and had all the tests done. Everything came out healthy but I voiced a concern to the doctor that lately I have been dealing with a few symptoms of what seems to be low testosterone . I have been very tired lately, low sex drive, and I feel I am not growing anywhere near how I should be based on my diet and lifting habits. The doctor decided to run a full blood test. The results for my testosterone level came back at 357 ng/dL on a scale of 250-827 ng/dL. The doctor mentioned that it was on the lower side but it does fall in the normal range. And said everything is OK.

I don't find this right. I am 26 years old and feel that my levels should be much higher. In my bloodwork, we did find that I had a Vitamin D-3 deficiency and I have been supplementing it since. The other finding was a high thyroid test. The doctor was not alarmed with it though considering my brain activity in relation to the thyroid test was not abnormal. In his view, had my thyroid been an issue, my brain activity would signal it much more than it currently is, so he feels that I just have an above normal reading than the average person.

My thyroid reading is as follows:

T3 Uptake was at 42%. The normal range is between 22-35%. My T4 total was 4.7mcg/dL in a range of 4.5 - 12.0 mcg/dL. My Free T4 Index was 2.0 in a range of 1.4-3.8.

Need some advice here! Looking for answers.

Thanks!

I am a year younger than you are and also diagnosed with low T. Still didnt start my prescribed TRT regimen until i get down to the cause of it.
Also my vitamin D levels were 29.6. borderline... should be above 30 upto 100.
Luckily you are in USA and there are many informative specialist in this field compared to my area....
Update on what you are going to do.. I would advise you to see a specialist rather than a GP.

[thisAngelBites]

You're vitamin D deficient because you don't get enough sunlight. Sunlight (especially in the early morning) turns on hormone production in your brain (this is called circadian rhythm and it is mediated by sunlight). One of the things that happens when you don't get this morning sun signal is that your cortisol levels rise, because your body gets stressed when it doesn't get its light signal. When your cortisol levels go up, it means you have less substrate hormones to make testosterone so your testosterone levels drop.

Blue light from computers and televisions also hijack this system, because any time you look at one you are sending a signal to your brain that it is the middle of the day. This disrupts your sleep hormones and further stresses the body, again, lowering testosterone.

If I were you, before I started playing around with testosterone and all the difficulty that entails (hematocrit, etc), I would consider trying a month or two of getting your light situation sorted because you might be able to radically improve the situation without having to spend the rest of your life on medication. Young men typically have high testosterone and they don't have to worry about elevated hematocrit - so that is not a necessary aspect of having normal T levels, and to me it means that there is obviously a lot we still do not understand about the endocrine system and TRT.

[thisAngelBites]

P.S. taking some vitamin D pills doesn't help any of this. You need some light.

[ashragoth]

Well, here's my experience. my T lvl is at 275. I've told the doctor that I have been experiencing depression and low sex drive. Considering that my T lvl is at normal low he still prescribed me 200 mg every 2 weeks of testosterone cypionate because I reported my symptoms of low testosterone .

I hope this helps.

[assguy22]

Why don't you try to find out the cause of the problem?
Check your full hormone panel, Thyroid included. Seee what happens at night, Are you sure you have a good sleep quality?

My hypogonadism (and even hypothyroidism) is a consequence of my sleep apnea. I will get my cpap machine in few weeks.

[assguy22]

Why don't you try to find out the cause of the problem?
Check your full hormone panel, Thyroid included. Seee what happens at night, Are you sure you have a good sleep quality?

My hypogonadism (and even hypothyroidism) is a consequence of my sleep apnea. I will get my cpap machine in few weeks.