I was on TRT for ~2.5-3 years. First year was life-changing. Then I started getting hypertension and brutal headaches in the back of my neck. Lowering my dose did nothing. I switched from injections to androgel, still brutal headaches. Came off and headaches went away. No PCT as endo didn’t give me Clomid and I told him I was coming off. I was 170-340 ng/dL natural. Diagnosed with normosmic idiopathic hypogonadtropic hypogonadism.
My hypothalamus isn’t doing much. Should I do Clomid for 30 days or see if nature takes back over?
Well would you stay on clomid indefinitely? Cause i think you’ll just be back to awful numbers again when you go off it.
Your numbers look a lot like mine before trt.
No. Wanted to see if I could just get back to 300’s as I was naturally before I started. Maybe I have to accept being on injections for life. Just sucks.
I’d wait another month or two and retest. I bet it goes up a little more.
@oppenheimer, have you considered doing a trial of thyroid treatment yet?
No. I wish I had gotten that tested again.
You’re at the point where you’re stuck in limbo, thyroid is the next step. All your symptoms are expected with someone who has poor thyroid function attempting TRT.
As far as lab testing goes, having testosterone (or Free T) in the low normal range, you can still have problems with low normal Free T3 levels if they are outside of what’s normal for you.
Well my TSH came back fine again. I’m going for a liver ultrasound soon. I’ve been off TRT since November and my lipids are still bad, my T is still low, and my ALT has been elevated slightly for over a year.
I also have high LDL and non HDL cholesterol. Is it something to worry about?
I just had an ultrasound done 4 months off TRT. I have liver steatosis and polyps in gallbladder. My lipids are terrible.
Low T can cause none alcoholic fatty liver disease. I don’t know whether to take testosterone or not.
The decision given your current situation shouldn’t be that difficult.
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That’s literally the study I read. I think I’ve had metabolic syndrome since a teenager. I’ve been complaining of the same fatigue and dark circles around my eyes for 20+ years. So now it looks like testosterone will HELP me instead of hurt me. Hypogonadism sucks.
I am prescribed 4 pumps of androgel but I’m not doing it at the moment. Scared of the sides I had last time.
Test your thyroid again after a few months of starting TRT. I had a similar problem, TRT causes my ferritin to drop. I could have my ferritin at 128, start TRT and the symptoms start as early as 1-2 weeks in.
Metabolic syndromes comes with disregulation of various processes within the body, you have to find it and treat it. It took my 7 years to figure it all out.
When I start taking vitamin D, immediately my body starts pulling calcium out of my bones because I’m not absorbing enough through my dysfunctional G.I.
You should be more afraid of the side effects of doing nothing, because at some point you will be beyond the point of no return.
My thyroid numbers are never out of whack, sadly.
One weird thing I’ve noticed being on and off TRT two times now, each time for ~2-3 years, is that I get lipomas when I’m coming off TRT.
The lipomas and cysts scare me because the lipomas don’t hurt, but the small cysts in between my rib cage does. I don’t know if TRT is helping me or hurting me and it’s making me feel despair and hopeless.
Thyroid dysfunction doesn’t always show up on labs, that’s why the symptoms can’t be ignored. You’re symptoms all point to thyroid problem when on TRT. Back in the day before TSH blood testing was even a thing, doctors treated the symptoms.
