Hello,
Brand new user, been reading posts and trying to get up to speed but seems it’s taking a little longer for me. Appreciate your patience.
I’ve read all of the stickies in the TRT section and am making my second way through it to get a better understanding.
25-age
6’7"-height
40-waist
295-weight
Endomorph with less than average facial hair… slightly patchy-describe body and facial hair
a lot around the stomach area… upper chest as well-describe where you carry fat and how changed
Multiple health conditions when I was a child. Tracheotomy, severe lung problems, still have asthma and one lung is blocked off. Also had vocal chord paralysis which miraculously healed at 9 months. -health conditions, symptoms [history]
Viagra 200 mg PRN. Albuterol inhaler. Temporarily on tramadol for an unrelated injury. Flonase, Zyrtec.-Rx and OTC drugs, any hair loss drugs or prostate drugs ever
– real dangers! see this http://propeciahelp.com/overview55
Labwork done 4/20/17 as recommended by GP. Only tested FT and TT
FT- 8.42 (5.05-19.8)
TT - 312 (240-950)
Other biometric results… not sure if relevant but thought I would include:
Your Value Standard Range
CHOLESTEROL 165 mg/dL <200 mg/dL
TRIGLYCERIDE 70 mg/dL <150 mg/dL
HDL 46 mg/dL 40 - 59 mg/dL
LDL CALCULATED 105 mg/dL <100 mg/dL
NON-HDL CHOLESTEROL 119 mg/dL <130 mg/dL
GLUCOSE-FASTING 95 mg/dL 74 - 99 mg/dL
This is all I have as of now… more scheduled for 5/19/17 and will update when I have it.
-lab results with ranges
Protein bar in the AM.
Chicken and veggies for lunch (wife and I have been meal prepping this for 6 months or better)
Dinner- varies… salmon or tuna with quinoa or cous cous. Steak sometimes. pizza limited to once a week.-describe diet [some create substantial damage with starvation diets]
play hockey for 2 hours, 3 days per week. Been lifting 3-4 days per week. Stand splits… (mon, chest. tues, back. thurs, legs. sat shoulders, etc) I am sure to exercise for 5-6 days per week whether it is lift of hockey or both.-describe training [some ruin there hormones by over training]
Never ache that I can specifically think of. -testes ache, ever, with a fever?
Don’t really get morning woods… maybe a couple times per month. -how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed
So this is my story, it will maybe help explain the above information or at least give a better understanding of my personal situation which is what brings me here.
I have had testosterone issues that I know of for at least 4-5 years. I have ED ever since I can remember. I never jacked off or had a sexual partner until I was 21… was more conservative in belief structure. Also have never really had much libido. I had my test levels tested 3 or 4 years ago and my GP wanted to get me on test injections but I was scared at the time. Instead, I got a prescription for Viagra to help with the ED. I have been purchasing this online for 4 years or so as I haven’t really had a GP I’ve been using until recently and it’s much cheaper online than through a pharmacy (even generic. Also during this time (3-4 years ago) I did a couple prohormone cycles of test (oral with a PCT) and had very good results.
My problem now is that I am realizing that my libido is even less… used to be intimate every day and now it’s 1-2 times per week. Depression, anxiety, mood swings, and most noticeably, weight gain. I’ve gained 40-50 pounds in the past 1-2 years. Note that I’ve been eating pretty healthily for 6+ months and I’ve been exercising 5-6 days to week pretty steadily with VERY minimal results. (I’ve lost 5 pounds in about 4 months of mostly consistent diet and exercise). Note that I do splurge from time to time so my diet hasn’t been perfect, but feel like for the most part I should at the very least be seeing results.
Fast forward to today. Appointment with an Andrologist. Came to her with the TT and FT results. She informed me that I’m not necessarily low, because I’m in the normal ranges. I stated all of my symptoms and she said exercise and diet are most important as well as 8-9 hours of sleep (which I get consistently). I informed her that my diet is pretty consistent (she said the best is to go as close to plant food as possible) as well as exercise and sleep. She kept pounding away at the diet. I agreed that diet could be better, but feel that’s not the only issue. She said that testosterone causes infertility and I stated that I was doing my own research and HCG can help with this. She wrote me scripts for hCG 1000mg per week AND Arimidex but stated that she wants a full panel of blood results and semen analysis. She said that depending on the results she will call me and we can move forward with one of the scripts or the other. The purpose of writing both scripts was so that we could move forward with either option after the results come back. I also mentioned that I thought hCG should be used in conjunction with Test injections and she looked at me like I was crazy. Overall, I felt like she was very rushed.
Would only hCG or Arimidex fix my issue without Test injections? From my understanding of reading posts was that the hCG was to be used in conjunction with TRT so as to help prevent infertility and other hormone suppression. hCg helps my body create testosterone itself, correct? I am still very dumb in this area and would really appreciate a simplified explanation of this as I’m still at the beginning of the learning curve.
I know that when the rest of my blood results are available this could give a better overall picture of my situation and will post those when available.
My questions are this:
Is it true that hCG should NOT be used in conjunction with test injections?
What purpose would a semen analysis have and how should I prepare myself for the results?
Should I look into getting a second opinion about TRT for me?
Thanks in advance for the help, it is truly appreciated.