Hello! Just found this website after starting TRT. I’ve already found some great information in the stickies, and I’ve scheduled a televisit (basically a Skype session) with my endocrinologist. I’ll put some of the important info below, but I’m looking for input on whether I’m on the right track and whatever advise you might have for the discussion with my doctor.
Age: 31
Height: 5’11"
Waist: 36"
Weight: 255 lbs
Body and Facial Hair: Full beard, hairy chest/stomach/arms/legs, patchy hair on back, hairline receding/thinning up front.
Carry Fat: Around mid-section. I have a big chest and broad shoulders, but my stomach sticks out an inch or two further than my chest. Also carry around the “love handles”. This has changed in that I am carrying more of it, but I still seem to carry in the same places as before.
Health conditions: Low T (around 200 or lower for at least 5 years), Low Vitamin D, back injury in 2009 (lumbar strain), back surgery 11/2015 L4-L5 microdiscectomy, herniation of L3/4 and L4/5, migraines, had asthma as a child but “outgrew it”, always tired regardless of sleep, low sex drive, difficulty losing weight, difficulty focusing.
Rx and OTC drugs: Orange Triad Multi-Vitamin, joint, digestion and immune formula, Aleve 220 mg NSAID, Excedrin Migraine as needed, 24 hour allergy relief Cetrizine Hydrochloride Tabs 10 mg.
Labs (as of 3/28/2016)
Testosterone, Serum 146 (348-1197 range)
Testosterone, Free 4.88 (5.00-21.00 range)
% Free Testosterone 3.34 (1.50-4.20 range)
Testosterone % Free+Weakly Bound 43.0 (9.0-46.0 range)
Testosterone Free+Weakly Bound 62.8 (40.0-250.0 range)
DHEA-Sulfate 403.6 (138.5-475.2 range)
FSH, Serum 5.1 (1.5-12.4 range)
LH 3.9 (1.7-8.6 range)
TSH 2.310 (.450-4.500 range)
Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) 9 (0-34 range)
Triodothyronine (T3) 109 (71-180 range)
SHBG, serum 13.8 (16.5-55.9 range)
Vitamin D 25-hydroxy 19.9 (30.0-100.0 range)
Estradiol 11.0 (7.6-42.6 range)
T4, Free (Direct) 1.04 (0.82-1.77 range)
Prolactin 17.5 (4.0-15.2 range)
ACTH, Plasma 32.5 (7.2-63.3 range)
Cortisol 13.5 (6.2-19.4 range morning)
Hemoglobin A1c 5.7 (4.8-5.6 range)
Glucose, serum 101 (65-99 range)
AST (SGOT) 37 (0-40 range)
ALT (SGPT) 79 (0-44 range)
Diet: I have a problem with portion control and sweets. Ideally, I eat eggs in the morning (2 eggs in a breakfast taco or 3 eggs by themselves), chicken breast with white rice and vegetables for lunch, almonds and fruit for snacks, and some form of protein with veggies for dinner (steak and green beans or fish and spinach, something along those lines). That being said, I lack a lot of self-control and my wife is currently pregnant so there is a lot of junk around me that gets consumed almost daily.
Training: After my back surgery in 11/2015, I have been slow to get back into working out. Until recently, I had only been walking short distances, stretching 30 minutes or so daily, and resting. Now I am getting back into some strength movements, but nothing too much because my back is still a concern. I workout about 5 times a week for approximately 45 minutes each workout.
Testes ache? I have had some aching in my testes but not often.
Morning wood? I still have morning wood about half of the time. Erections in general don’t feel full though.
Treating with Testosterone Cypionate 200 MG/ML 1x every two weeks (self-injected with 23G x 1-1/4 needle in the quad).
Also, sent me to a sleep doctor to test for sleep apnea, and I had MRI of my pituitary to check for a mass (nothing to report on that yet).
So far, the discussion I want to have with him includes:
- more frequent injections with a smaller needle (IM or not?)
- addition of hCG and arimidex/anastozole
Anything else I should discuss with him on Friday?