Hey guys,I have been lurking around here a bit over the past couple of years and figure it’s time to ask advice. To start, I am almost 38 years old, 5’8’’ tall and weigh 205. I am approx 30 lbs overweight with most of the fat around the belly. I have been married and working rotating shifts(2-12 hour days, 2 days off, 2-12 hour nights, 2 days off ,repeat)for 15 years now.
Factoring in overtime and 2 kids, this wreaks havoc on forming/keeping workout routines. About 7 years ago I had a loss of libido that prompted me to see a doc. He checked my prostate and found no problems then scheduled blood work. Blood work results came back in normal range according to him with T on low side of normal but in range.
With a family history of my mother dying of brain cancer, he sent me to endo to check out pituitary and rest of grey matter for anything abnormal. MRI came back good, so endo pops me a shot of T and reschedules for checkup in 2 weeks. It made absolutely no difference in libido so he referred me to a psych saying problem was likely in my mind. I didn’t go that route because I was and am sure it is not the problem.
About 8 months ago I started having high bp problems so doc put me on 20mg dose of Benicar and bp has been ok since then. I read the post on this forum about E2 and decided to have doc run bw on my recent checkup after discussing hormones with him. Here are some of the results from LabCorp…
HDL CHOLESTROL 30mg/dl >39
LDL CHOLESTROL 105mg/dl 0-99
TSH 2.130uIU/mL 0.450-4.500
Thyroxine(T4) 6.3ug/dl 4.5-12.0
Tes serum 369ng/dl 241-827
Free Tes(direct)12.8pg/ml 8.7-25.1
Estradiol 33pg/ml 0-53
There are plenty more results that I can post if needed. The nurse called to give the results and said all was normal except my cholesterol and advised me to take 1000mg fish oil 2x daily. I already take 2400mg daily. I had her fax the results to me. From what I have been reading on this forum, my TT and FT are lower than should be and my E2 is higher than should be.
For several years now I have felt as if I were in a “mental fog”. I struggle to learn new things ,have reduced reading comprehension and have to be reminded of things by my wife quite a bit. I think that last part is normal after 15 years of marriage.
I have had low energy levels for a few years now,along with loss of strength and muscle, and thought it was just due to age, shift work, and weight gain, but now am thinking differently.
I have been on a diet for about 6 weeks now and lost 10 lbs in the first 4 weeks but have stalled out the past 2 weeks. Diet consists mainly of volumization, lots of salad with grilled chicken, tuna steak,salmon,and beef. I mainly stay away from breads,pasta and fast food. I eat grapes ,plums,and sometimes a little peanut butter as snacks and I have been averaging 1600-1700 cal per day.
I have appt. with urologist in 2 weeks for consultation on getting a vasectomy. I will discuss these issues with him as well but I am not expecting much help on the issues.
I am going to order some anastrozole this week and see if it helps. I am thinking that it may help with the weight loss which may help with increased T production. Would I benefit from HCG and if so, how hard is it to acquire without Rx? I don’t think I am a candidate for TRT but unsure. Any advice ?
Thanks, Rusty