Hi everyone,
This is going to be a bit of a life story but I hope it helps you guys understand my scenario.
I’m 22 and I’ve been working out since the age of 16. I started working out when I got diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis which compounds my complications. I used to weigh 145 Lbs at 5’11 (skinny kid) when I started working out. Now I weigh around 165 Lbs with approximately 5% more fat. There was a time early on when I did programs such as Strong Lifts, etc. and I made strength gains. I have just given up on eating as well as I used to. I’ve experimented for years between 2500-5000 calories. You name it, I’ve tried it. However I haven’t made even a 1 Lb gain in lifts in several years let alone size. I have bad insomnia, immobilizing fatigue, hairloss, zero muscle strength (friends and family can lift more than me after only a couple of months of working out), I’m so irritable that I just ask people to avoid me at several times of a day.
I’ve spent at least a hundred hours browsing on the internet for possible answers. I know for a fact that it isn’t just my autoimmune hepatitis. I’m not lazy. On a lot of days I don’t leave the house from the fatigue so I started an online business and I work off my couch for several hours a day. I can barely go to college anymore so I’ve changed all my classes to online. I very recently got engaged and recent events have made me realize I have a loss of libido.
I do blood work every other month or so for my condition and these are my testosterone levels:
- Testosterone, Serum 447 (348-1197 ng/dL) 10/29/2015
- Testosterone, Serum 337 (348-1197 ng/dL) 06/18/2016
- Testosterone, Serum 436 (348-1197 ng/dL) 07/12/2016
- Testosterone, Serum 437 (250-827 ng/dL) 03/09/2017 (different lab, same result. How?)
I understand that my Testosterone isn’t scary low. But could it possibly help me feel any better if I were on low dosage TRT? I’m not asking because I have Testosterone tunnel vision. I’m honestly very close to giving up and fear that it’ll be a very slippery slope downhill if I do. I can only motivate myself to workout because I pretty much can’t even walk otherwise from my osteoporosis. I’m not looking for an excuse to be shooting up 150 mg/mL. My gastroenterologists have been beyond useless in helping with my issues. I’m expected to live my whole life like this. I’ve travelled to several countries to find better gastroenterologists but I’ve come to the conclusion that it simply isn’t my autoimmune hepatitis. I’m now on gabapentin which has way less side effects than prednisone and I feel as terrible as anyone could ever feel.
I am scheduled to get my labs done on Monday. I’ve made a list after browsing these forums of some of the things I should request to get tested. Are there any others you would recommend? Am I wasting my time suspecting testosterone to be the issue?
For ANY advice you could give me, I will be tremendously grateful. I am unimaginably desperate at this point.