Contemplating starting TRT but I’m really not sure….

[Iowadad]

I will try to keep this short and sweet for you guys I’m 46-year-old male with many symptoms of low-t. I have terrible brain fog and memory. Low motivation. I get a lot done, but I really have to push myself to do it. I never feel rested. I’ve had ED for several years and absolutely zero libido. My heaviest was 276 pounds about two years ago I’ve lost 50 pounds in those two years and now I bounce between 220 and about 235. I have a pretty clean diet. I think the biggest factor here is going to the gym. I do good for a while, but then I fall off the wagon. It’s hard to go to the gym when you’re always tired even if I do, it’s not enough motivation to keep me going back. I had a full screening of labs done. My total test was 682 and free test was 9.4. There’s a snip pasted here of some of my results. My doctor prescribed me 80 MG two times per week of testosterone cyp. He said most likely my symptoms are from my free low-t he would like to see that number between 20 and 30.

I’m just looking for some opinions here and wondering what you guys would do if you were in my shoes. One of my concerns is if I go on the testosterone and give it six months and it doesn’t make me feel any better and relieve some of these symptoms most likely want to come off the regimen. I’m concerned that my natural test levels will be even lower than they were before I started the therapy.

[Cuz]

I will try to keep this short and sweet for you guys I’m 46-year-old male with many symptoms of low-t. I have terrible brain fog and memory. Low motivation. I get a lot done, but I really have to push myself to do it. I never feel rested. I’ve had ED for several years and absolutely zero libido. My heaviest was 276 pounds about two years ago I’ve lost 50 pounds in those two years and now I bounce between 220 and about 235. I have a pretty clean diet. I think the biggest factor here is going to the gym. I do good for a while, but then I fall off the wagon. It’s hard to go to the gym when you’re always tired even if I do, it’s not enough motivation to keep me going back. I had a full screening of labs done. My total test was 682 and free test was 9.4. There’s a snip pasted here of some of my results. My doctor prescribed me 80 MG two times per week of testosterone cyp. He said most likely my symptoms are from my free low-t he would like to see that number between 20 and 30.

I’m just looking for some opinions here and wondering what you guys would do if you were in my shoes. One of my concerns is if I go on the testosterone and give it six months and it doesn’t make me feel any better and relieve some of these symptoms most likely want to come off the regimen. I’m concerned that my natural test levels will be even lower than they were before I started the therapy.

Right, your free t is pretty low and if you do start therapy you would want to be in the mindset of staying on. Its a long term thing as you may know, whether it makes you “feel” any better may be questionable. Hard to say, you have pretty decent total T , your estrogen is a tad high but won’t hurt anything if youre not noticing any bad side effects from it. I am on trt myself I personally would say go for it but im also an avid lifter and use it to help better my physique and not soley “feel good” use as that usually goes away after a couple of months on treatment and you level out

[Iowadad]

[QUOTE=Cuz;7599229]Right, your free t is pretty low and if you do start therapy you would want to be in the mindset of staying on. It’s a long term thing as you may know, whether it makes you “feel” any better may be questionable. Hard to say, you have pretty decent total T , your estrogen is a tad high but won’t hurt anything if youre not noticing any bad side effects from it. I am on trt myself I personally would say go for it but im also an avid lifter and use it to help better my physique and not soley “feel good” use as that usually goes away after a couple of months on treatment and you level out[/]

I guess maybe feel good wasnÂ’t the right term. I just want to feel better less brain fog more drive some libido back. I do realize that testosterone therapy is supposed to be a lifetime decision. ThatÂ’s where my concern lies if I go on testosterone and it doesnÂ’t help what would be the point of me staying on? IÂ’m just concerned that it may not be the root cause of these problems. I see my total tea at almost 700 and I think thatÂ’s a decent number. IÂ’ve had it checked three times every time my testosterone has been between 650 and 700 and my free T is always around 9.

[Cylon357]

You likely need to get your SHBG down to get your free t up. I would consult with a doc about that LH being over range... I would expect to see a little higher total test with LH that high.

Regarding SHBG, boron is sometimes reported as helping, though I would recommend checking examine or similar sites for non suppressive ways to lower SHBG. Many steroids will do this, but with a total T of almost 700, I don't know that I would be too quick to jump on the trt bandwagon. The lone exception that you MIGHT look at would be proviron . It has been reported, though I can not personally confirm, that at low doses (25 to 50mg per day), it does NOT impact hpta function. Rather, it serves only to bind SHBG... I would proceed with caution on this. It could be perfect for your situation, or it might end up being suppressive. Note that proviron is also reported to lower estrogen, so that would seem like a double benefit for you IF it works as advertised. I've only used it as part of TRT so I can't comment from personal experience on its suppressive nature.