I’m 26, 5’8" and 130lbs. I’ve been in and out of doctors’ offices for the past 6 years, mainly due to run-in with stage 1 testicular cancer which is now in remission, but what I’m most currently navigating through the medical system is what I’ve been told is low testosterone (who’d have thought that having one in the sling would have caused me issues down the road? /s). My symptoms range from severe muscle pain, ear pressure from TMJ (this one is interesting), joint crackling, depression, brain fog, fatigue, and anxiety. Surprisingly, I’ve been able to maintain fairly well in the sexual department. Traveling to get an idea that I may have a hormonal imbalance has not been the easiest, especially when many doctors are reticent in believing that a testicular cancer survivor may be suffering from a hormonal issue. That being said, I’ve had to go through the gamut of doctors who have diagnosed me with fibromyalgia, CFS, ADHD, and have spent more than $5k in visits to doctors in a year alone — worrying that it may be MS, ALS, a new cancer, unaligned chakras caused by psychic vampires. Exhausted from the Adderall and Valtrex that my CFS specialist convoyed for me (latent Epstein Barr angle, here), I went to an endocrinologist and demanded that I check my parathyroid and T levels. Looking back, I find it funny now that I suspected that it was my parathyroid that was causing my elevated calcium (I was supplementing with vitamin D, none of it was getting absorbed) and not low T causing early onset osteopenia. Parathyroid is fine and my labs come back (refer to discovery labs #1 + #2) showing my T was at 350 ng/dl.
O.K., great, progress. Right? I’ve been suffering for so long, out of a job because of my pain, and just want to get on something, anything at this point to figure out how this year went to complete shit out of seemingly nowhere.
I ask, “Is this normal for someone who’s 26?” and I get, “Testicular cancer survivors should be able to make up for the lack of two with just one. Come back in 3 months.”, “What about estradiol?” and I get scoffed at by him. This is a doctor at a University hospital in NYC, mind you. Fuck you, buddy. I find a better doctor who’s willing to do HCG and TRT.
Anyways, I’m 4 weeks in, 2 weeks with my dosage upped from 100mg/wk to 150mg/wk and HCG 250IU. Labs with new doctor show that LH and FSH are high, par on course for long-term survivors of testicular cancer who eventually suffer from primary hypogonadism and infertility! Yay! Banked whatever measly baby batter was left after doing HCG for a few weeks, then rushed to try my prescription of test-cyp. Was on it for 2 weeks, didn’t notice any difference in body pain, joint pain, and got the order to up the dose to 150mg.
I’m doing .375ml subQ injections twice a week into my abdomen. Haven’t noticed much of anything yet, besides regular morning wood. My wife thinks I’m more depressed, but I’m also upset over the lost time I’ve had to deal with putting everything on hold until I get some semblance of normalcy back in my life.
Now I’m recovering from going to the gym for the first time in a few months and that was the biggest mistake, let me tell you. All my muscles are sore, joint pain is 10x worse, and I’m basically crawling around the house. I thought that I’d try easing into my normal routine before all the fatigue, joint pain, but it’s proving too difficult.
Am I alone in how low T is making me feel? I don’t think I’ve heard of many people go through what I’ve gone through, but then again, I did go through an orchiectomy and there aren’t too many people online talking about getting on TRT after having dealt with testicular cancer.
What do you guys think about my labs/protocol?
first labs with crappy endo:
most recent labs:
*CHEMISTRY*
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| Total Protein = 8.0 | 5.9-8.4 g/dl |
| Albumin = 5.1 | 3.5-5.2 g/dl |
| Globulin = 2.9 | 1.7-3.7 g/dl |
| A/G Ratio = 1.8 | 1.1-2.9 g/dl |
| Glucose = 91 | 70-99 mg/dl |
| Sodium = 140 | 135-147 mmol/L |
| Potassium = 4.5 | 3.5-5.5 mmol/L |
| Chloride = 97 | 96-108 mmol/L |
| CO2 = 23 | 22-29 mmol/L |
| BUN = 13 | 6-20 mg/dL |
| Creatinine = 0.87 | .90-1.30 mg/d |
| e-GFR = 118 | >or=60 ml/min |
| e-GFR, African American = 137 | >or=60 ml/min |
| BUN/Creat Ratio = 14.9 | 10.0-28.0 |
| Calcium = 10.1 | 8.6-10.4 mg/dl |
| Bilirubin, Total = 1.2 | <1.2 mg/dl |
| Alk Phos = 79 | 40-156 U/L |
| AST = 12 | <40 U/L |
| ALT = 15 | <41 U/L |
| Cholestrol = 184 | <200 mg/dL |
| Triglycerides = 99 | <150 mg/dL |
| HDL CHOL., DIRECT = 54 | >40 mg/dL |
| HDL as % of Cholestrol = 29 | >14 mg/dL |
| Chol/HDL Ratio = 3.4 | <7.4 |
| LDL/HDL Ratio = 2.04 | <3.56 |
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*HEMATOLOGY*
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| WBC = 4.91 | 3.66-11.99 x10(3)/uL |
| RBC = 4.98 | 4.20-5.90 x10(6)/uL |
| HGB = 15.5 | 12.3-17.0 gm/dL |
| HCT = 45.4 | 39.3-52.5 % |
| MCV = 91.2 | 80.0 -100.0 fL |
| MCH = 31.3 | 25.0-34.1 pg |
| MCHC = 34.1 | 29.0-35.0 gm/dL |
| RDW = 13.7 | 10.9-16.9 |
| POLYS = 55.3 | 36.0-78.0 % |
| LYMPHS = 35.2 | 12.0-48.0 % |
| MONOS = 6.9 | 0.0-13.0 % |
| EOS = 2.4 | 0.0-8.0 % |
| BASOS = 0.2 | 0.0-2.0 % |
| IMMATURE GRANULOCYTES = 0.0 | 0.0-1.6 % |
| PLATELET COUNT = 255 | 144-400 x10(3)/uL |
| MPV = 9.1 | 8.2-11.9 fL |
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*THYROID & PROSTATE*
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| TSH = 1.530 | 0.178-4.530 uIU/ml
| PSA Total = 0.83 | <4.00 ng/ml
| PSA, FREE = 0.35 | Not Estab. ng/ml
| FREE PSA = 42 | n/a
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*SEX HORMONE*
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| TESTOSTERONE, TOT.,S. = 422.7 | 249.0 - 836.9 ng/dl |
| TESTOSTERONE, BIOAVAILABLE = 230.1 | 72.0-460.0 ng/dl |
| SHBG = 30 | 10-57 nmol/l |
| FREE TESTOSTERONE = 83.30 | 30.00-150.00 pg/ml |
| LH = 5.2 | 1.7-8.6 mIU/ml |
| FSH = 15.7 | 1.5-12.4 mIU/ml |
| PROLACTIN, SERUM = 5.9 | 4.0-15.2 ng/ml |
| ESTRADIOL = 14.44 | 7.02-49.06 pg/ml |
| 250H, VITAMIN D = 88.2 | 32.0-100.0 ng/ml |
| DIHYDROTESTOSTERONE = 353 | 106-719 pg/ml |