21 Years Old and Low Test - Thoughts on TRT?

Just had some bloodwork done. I’m 21 years old.

Total: 346 (348-1197)
Free: 8.2 (9.3-26.5)

The ‘normal’ ranges he gave me are in the parenthesis; I forgot to ask him for the units over the phone. I’m going in on Saturday to talk more about this with him, but wanted to ask you all for advice. Would you suggest TRT for this? I’m concerned with fertility issues, would hCG remedy this?

Sex drive is pretty low, which is why I wanted to get blood work done in the first place. How about simply taking Cialis instead of TRT? I have facial hair, decent build (6’2", 200lbs, ~17% BF)…I don’t look like I have horrible testosterone levels.

Edit: New labs done in the morning, I’ll update with ranges this weekend.

TT = 497 ng/dL
FT = 13.1 pg/mL
LH = 4.3 mIU/mL
FSH = 2.4 mIU/mL
E2 = 4 pg/mL
DHEA = 372 ng/dL

Test definitely on the low side considering your age.

TRT no if you don’t have to so you have to now look into why your levels are on the low end.

So I suggest taking a read of the stickies on this forum to get up to speed. That way if you go to the doctors you can have a 2 way conservation.

You have only just scrached the surface with those 2 blood tests. There could be something else causing issues which you want to investigate.

In the stickies it also lists what blood tests to get done. What time was your blood drawn?

Thanks, I just read through the stickies… Lots of good information. The test was done around 7pm, which is bad in and of itself, but will a morning test show a large increase? Either way, I plan to question my doctor much more come this weekend. I’m curious as to what could possibly be causing this. The only thing I can think of is Accutane… Took it twice during my adolescence. Otherwise, no drugs, little alcohol.

[quote]gieryic wrote:
Thanks, I just read through the stickies… Lots of good information. The test was done around 7pm, which is bad in and of itself, but will a morning test show a large increase? Either way, I plan to question my doctor much more come this weekend. I’m curious as to what could possibly be causing this. The only thing I can think of is Accutane… Took it twice during my adolescence. Otherwise, no drugs, little alcohol. [/quote]

You will want to get test levels in the early am checked. Good luck and let us know once you get more tests done.

Thanks. Would being sick (with a cold) and being on antibiotics affect testosterone results? Another question for my doctor.

[quote]gieryic wrote:
Thanks. Would being sick (with a cold) and being on antibiotics affect testosterone results? Another question for my doctor.[/quote]

Yes it could. Your immune system is fighting off an infection so your body is not devoting as much resources to what it would consider a non-essential function (tes tproduction).

You need your levels checked whilst relatively healthy around 8 am.

I was 20 when I was diagnosed…My T was 360 with the same ranges as you. TRT has positively changed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined. It was the best decision I have ever made.

Please consider the benefits when deciding whether it’s worth it or not (as well as the risks, which in my opinion, are strongly outweighed by the improvement in life)

I’m a completely different person, in a good way. If higher T makes you act differently, people will treat you differently, and your success in life will be different (better, in this case.)

So remember, it’s LIFE ALTERING, for more than just sex drive and gaining muscle.

[quote]randallh1989 wrote:
I was 20 when I was diagnosed…My T was 360 with the same ranges as you. TRT has positively changed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined. It was the best decision I have ever made.

Please consider the benefits when deciding whether it’s worth it or not (as well as the risks, which in my opinion, are strongly outweighed by the improvement in life)

I’m a completely different person, in a good way. If higher T makes you act differently, people will treat you differently, and your success in life will be different (better, in this case.)

So remember, it’s LIFE ALTERING, for more than just sex drive and gaining muscle.[/quote]

You may be a lucky one but at 20 years old, low Test is likely a symptom of an issue and not the cause. You could be setting yourself up for failure down the road if you are in a diseased state and just band-aiding it with TRT.

OP did not get the tests done at the right time and only got a snapshot of the tests that are required. He has some work to do before committing to lifelong HRT.

Similar issue.

I’m 25, fairly healthy, pretty muscular (5,10 185lbs 15%bf).

My T level was 324. Doc said it should be about 700 at my age. I was surprised by the result considering I’m fairly muscular and strong, i have an unusually deep voice, and i’m a hairy mofo… all signs that i thought would indicate at least AVERAGE T levels.

My sex drive has never been in question. I have, and enjoy having, sex daily.

The test was done fairly early in the morning. I am a moderate drinker, 2 nights a week. One thing that I can think of that may be a cause is I have insomnia. I dont sleep very well most nights, typically 4-5 hours of broken sleep a night.

Should i consider TRT? Maybe just short term? I feel like i’m too young and dont want it to affect my body’s ability to produce on its own. And I really dont want my muscles getting any bigger, I already feel stocky. But I feel strange about having such low T levels for my age and fitness level

[quote]rhyss wrote:
Similar issue.

I’m 25, fairly healthy, pretty muscular (5,10 185lbs 15%bf).

My T level was 324. Doc said it should be about 700 at my age. I was surprised by the result considering I’m fairly muscular and strong, i have an unusually deep voice, and i’m a hairy mofo… all signs that i thought would indicate at least AVERAGE T levels.

My sex drive has never been in question. I have, and enjoy having, sex daily.

The test was done fairly early in the morning. I am a moderate drinker, 2 nights a week. One thing that I can think of that may be a cause is I have insomnia. I dont sleep very well most nights, typically 4-5 hours of broken sleep a night.

Should i consider TRT? Maybe just short term? I feel like i’m too young and dont want it to affect my body’s ability to produce on its own. And I really dont want my muscles getting any bigger, I already feel stocky. But I feel strange about having such low T levels for my age and fitness level[/quote]

Start your own thread and stop hijacking this one. Not a chat room.

So I got some old levels from 2.5 years ago, from the same lab:

TT: 650
FT: 18.9

That’s versus the ones from a week ago:

TT: 346
FT: 8.3

I got some more (complete and in the morning) testing done today; those results should be in in a week or so. Any ideas as to what could cause such a drastic drop in a few years? The blood work was done around the same time of day for both of these.

Also:

Some studies I’ve read; http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/89/3/1174.full ; http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/90/5/2595.full?sid=4e9da4b1-9444-4fd8-8a42-d63c5e83b9a3 ; give the impression that both hCG and an AI such as Arimidex stimulate testosterone production. Why not simply take these two things without testosterone injections?

[quote]gieryic wrote:
Also:

Some studies I’ve read; http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/89/3/1174.full ; http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/90/5/2595.full?sid=4e9da4b1-9444-4fd8-8a42-d63c5e83b9a3 ; give the impression that both hCG and an AI such as Arimidex stimulate testosterone production. Why not simply take these two things without testosterone injections?[/quote]

HCG is a viable option for those with idiopathic secondary hypogonadism. The problems sometimes arise with intratesticular aromatization. The doses of HCG required to elicit enough testicular output sometimes result in too much E2 being created in the process.

Arimidex is also shown to raise Test levels by inhibiting E2 feedback, resulting in higher LH/FSH. However, this obviously wouldn’t work for those who are primary. Also, very few people I’ve seen report feeling better on AI monotherapy even with much improved testosterone levels (400->650 for example in my case) and drastically lowered E2 (52->28). I still didnt’ feel any better, and others have reported the same.

Both are worth a shot though to avoid Test injections.

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
el[/quote]

Start your own thread and stop hijacking this one. Not a chat room.[/quote]

I wasnt trying to hijack this thread. Any other forum I go to someone bitches if you start a new thread for a subject that already has an existing thread. So I was just trying to follow “forum etiquette” by posting in here. There’s just no pleasing you discussion board cocksuckers is there?

[quote]rhyss wrote:

I wasnt trying to hijack this thread. Any other forum I go to someone bitches if you start a new thread for a subject that already has an existing thread. So I was just trying to follow “forum etiquette” by posting in here. There’s just no pleasing you discussion board cocksuckers is there?[/quote]

There is a stickey thread for the etiquette. If you had bothered to read it, you wouldn’t have had this question.

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]rhyss wrote:

I wasnt trying to hijack this thread. Any other forum I go to someone bitches if you start a new thread for a subject that already has an existing thread. So I was just trying to follow “forum etiquette” by posting in here. There’s just no pleasing you discussion board cocksuckers is there?[/quote]

There is a stickey thread for the etiquette. If you had bothered to read it, you wouldn’t have had this question. [/quote]

But on second though, due to your irrational response to a simple request, you probably have high estrogen. Definitely get that checked.

Just to bring this thread back around… I’m going in on Monday to get my full blood results back. Total test and PSA came back early… TT = 497 (348-1197); PSA = 1.1 (0-4)

Ok, so the lab put me in as a female and as such I have the wrong reference ranges… that’s being fixed as we speak. The results are in though:

TT = 497 ng/dL
FT = 13.1 pg/mL
LH = 4.3 mIU/mL
FSH = 2.4 mIU/mL
E2 = 4 pg/mL
DHEA = 372 ng/dL

I’m thinking that the low LH and FSH levels (as compared to ranges I found online) are what may be causing low E2, low TT, and low FT?

I’m getting a referral to an Endo… hoping to try hCG to see if that alone stimulates T production. Does this sound like a smart thing to do given my labs?

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]rhyss wrote:

I wasnt trying to hijack this thread. Any other forum I go to someone bitches if you start a new thread for a subject that already has an existing thread. So I was just trying to follow “forum etiquette” by posting in here. There’s just no pleasing you discussion board cocksuckers is there?[/quote]

There is a stickey thread for the etiquette. If you had bothered to read it, you wouldn’t have had this question. [/quote]

But on second though, due to your irrational response to a simple request, you probably have high estrogen. Definitely get that checked.[/quote]

ROFL