Ok, so I found this site when doing some searching. Seems like there are some pretty knowledgeable folks here and wanted to get your take/advice if possible. Apologies for the novel...
FWIW, I have some pretty good baseline knowledge - am a Kinesiology major and do actively research on a daily basis all health related things.
I'm 32 almost 33. Been physically active all my life in competitive sports and took up casual bodybuilding in my late teens. I was always super skinny - about 6'4" 120lbs @ 15, started 'bodybuilding' (naturally) @ 16 and by 18 was 6'5" and about 220lbs...still pretty lean. Around that time I bumped into some serious gym guys...did tons of research on anabolics and eventually tried a few shots of each (totaling about 3weeks) Sustenon, Deca and Test Cyp, but the parents found out and shut that down.
I continued the natural bodybuilding lifestyle into college, got up to almost 300lbs, but bodyfat was getting sloppy...around %18-30. Putting on mass has always been extremely difficult and sporadic along with strength, but I always remained super disciplined - no alcohol, eating regularly, supplements, etc. I ended up blowing out my knee playing hoops and have been on and off until a few years ago.
Fast forward to today - I've been back in it seriously for a few years...still very slow going at gaining any muscle or strength. Felt like I always have. I tried a couple PH's - Dimeth and Bold. Dimeth made me feel awesome, but always felt horrible coming off - always did a proper PCT. I currently measure 6'4" now and about 270lbs @ ~%20 BF.
I finally got up the nerve to see an endo (I also developed some gyno in my teens before taking anything) and below are my results. She did another blood test a few days ago to test Test, LH, Prostate and Estrogen one more time, but the plan is for me to think about it and get on HRT on my next visit, July 12th if I want.
Cortisol Total 16.7mcg/dL
Estradiol 37pg/mL
LH 6.2mlU/mL
Test Total 186ng/dL
Free Test % 2.83%
Free Test 52.6pg/mL
Vitamin D 24ng/mL
Everything else was pretty normal and in range.
I've fathered a couple kids pretty easily and seem to have an ok sex life. It does seem to be more of an issue the past couple years...just not as interesting or easy as it used to be. My appetite is definitely much less than it used to be, but it's always been mostly slow in the mornings and seems to be more of a chore sometimes.
Seems like my LH is relatively high, along with my Estrogen - could this be a combo of Testicles failing or never working properly and not generating enough Total Test and also too much Aromatization?
FWIW - my dad and brothers all have issues putting on muscle and all devoped gyno in their teens. My dad, his fater and his father's father all got prostate cancer as well - could this be from the wonky Aromatization and Estrogen?
My Free Test % is *high* but I guess my Free Test # of 52.6 is on the low side, right?
Thanks!