Hey guys - long time member, first time posting in this section. I’ve read the stickies, and a number of posts - though it’s been a little tough for me to drum up the stones to post about this, but in any case here goes. (I’m posting under a new username since this is kinda personal and my old username contained searchable personal information)
I’ve been experiencing fading erections, fewer erections, a drop in drive, libido, emotional state, energy, etc. I’ve felt like my T is low. My wife and girlfriend (you read that correctly, we are a polyamorous triad) have both noticed fading erections. GF has anecdotally noted this more often when my back was worse. Wife has not specifically noted this, but has agreed that this is a problem. I used to want sex 3 or 4 times a day, now it’s maybe 3 or 4 times a week. This began several months ago, around the time I stopped lifting due to back pain.
I saw my PCP at Kaiser, who ordered the bloodwork you see. Following this he said “everything looks good!” - I told him he was nuts and asked for a referral. He responded that I could ask the Urologist about it when I went in for my vasectomy (which was scheduled a few weeks in the future). The Urologist said we should absolutely not proceed with the vasectomy until any other issues are completely sorted out. He exampined my testes, determined they were normal and healthy, then immediately referred me to another urologist, who I saw the next morning (yesterday) - he suggested TRT was probably the right call, and I asked to see an Endocrinologist, because TRT seemed like a bandaid and potentially missing root causes. The referral was made, but I still haven’t heard from the Endocrinology department - of course, I’ll be posting updates on here as they become available. I know my lab results are not exactly complete.
It just doesn’t seem reasonable that a 35 year old man in great shape with an amazing sex life should suddenly turn up with low Testosterone and suffering erections. All my other numbers looked really good - my blood pressure is 100 over 70, my resting heart rate is below 60. I’ve even been borderline paranoid about things that could lower my T. I avoid soy like the plague (so much that my ladies often used laugh at me about it - though they don’t laugh about it anymore). I don’t drink much at all, and I don’t even use endocrine disrupting sunscreen. The people I’ve told have looked at me in confusion - I’m fit, strong, very masculine.
Personal life has been more financially stressful due to some difficulty at my company (I run a small busness), we lost our biggest client who was continually dicking us around and it’s been tough to replace that volume of business, but this happened months before these symptoms began.
Now the basics, as per the sticky:
-age: 35
-height: 5’10.5"
-waist: 36"
-weight: 182 lbs
-describe body and facial hair: facial hair is thick, dark, grows quickly, and scrapes the faces of women when we kiss even if I’ve recently shaved.
-describe where you carry fat and how changed: around the midsection mainly, some in my cheeks. Love handles are visible, but not so bad.
-health conditions, symptoms [history]: Asthma - been off corticosteroids for a decade, only taking Serevent 1x/daily. Very well controlled. Recent condition symptoms include: low energy, poor mood, feeling defeated, less drive, lower libido, fading erections, emotional sensitivity, less patience.
-Rx and OTC drugs: Only other Rx drugs I’ve taken in the last year are Cyclobenzabrine, Mobic, and Ibuprophen, as needed for back issues - have not taken in months. NO hair loss drugs (I have an infuriating amount of hair). No recreational drugs, very little alcohol. I take a daily multi, zinc, and sometimes a t-booster with tribulus and longjack, which honestly hasn’t really done much beyond placebo.
-Diet: 2 eggs with toast and butter in the AM typically, lunch usually involves a decent serving of meat and vegetables, snakcs tend to be a little sweeter like dark chocolate with nuts, dried figs, etc, and dinner is usually meat carb and veg, often chicken or fish. (Been eating a bit less red meat due to the drought, but I still eat plenty)
-Training: Stopped lifting a few months ago due to back issues. Compensated by swimming, doing pull-ups, and running. Typically, I excersize about 4 or 5 days a week, on average between 30 and 50 minutes. I’ll often run 1.5 mi, swim for a mile or two in the ocean, then run another 1.5 miles home and feel good after. Sometimes it’ll just be a run, sometimes just a swim. I also work with my hands often, doing things like fabrication, but sometimes do pretty strenuous physical labor like roofing (which takes the place of workouts of course).
-testes ache, ever, with a fever? Testicles have had some pain occasionally typically coninciding with back pain. I’ve been informed by chiropractors that this is typical of sciatic nerve pressure - essentially phantom pain.
-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed - morning wood is hit and miss. Used to be every morning I awkoe with a glorious boner, but now it’s maybe 50/50, sometimes popping up after I awake, and usually not 100% hard.
Here is my labwork:
TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL (240 - 871 ng/dL) 269
ESTRADIOL (11 - 44 pg/mL) 11
FSH (no stated range) 3.6
LH (no stated range) 3.3
TSH (0.35 - 4.00 mcIU/mL) 1.80
CBC:
WBC’S AUTO (4.0 - 11.0 x1000/mcL) 6.2
RBC, AUTO (4.70 - 6.10 Mill/mcL) 5.47
HGB (14.0 - 18.0 g/dL) 16.2
HCT, AUTO (42.0 - 52.0 %) 47.3
MCV (80.0 - 94.0 fL) 86.4
MCH (27.0 - 35.0 pg/cell) 29.7
MCHC (32.0 - 37.0 g/dL) 34.3
RDW, BLOOD (11.5 - 14.5 %) 14.5
PLATELETS, AUTOMATED COUNT (130 - 400 x1000/mcL) 195
WBC Differential:
NEUTROPHILS %, AUTOMATED COUNT (42.0 - 75.0 %) 58.6
LYMPHOCYTES %, AUTOMATED COUNT (20.0 - 51.0 %) 30.3
MONOS %, AUTO (1.0 - 12.0 %) 7.9
EOSINOPHILS %, AUTOMATED COUNT (0.0 - 10.0 %) 2.8
BASOPHILS %, AUTOMATED COUNT (0.0 - 1.0 %) 0.4
NEUTROPHILS, ABSOLUTE, AUTOMATED COUNT (1.8 - 7.7 x1000/mcL) 3.6
LYMPHOCYTES, AUTOMATED COUNT (1.2 - 3.4 x1000/mcL) 1.9
MONOCYTES, AUTOMATED COUNT (0.1 - 1.0 x1000/mcL) 0.5
EOSINOPHILS, AUTOMATED COUNT (0.0 - 0.7 x1000/mcL) 0.2
BASOPHILS, AUTOMATED COUNT (0.0 - 0.2 x1000/mcL) 0.0
PSA (<=2.5 ng/mL) 1.0
CREATININE (<=1.30 mg/dL) 1.10
ALT (<=63 U/L) 27
Sorry for the long post, I wanted to get as much history and info as seemed pertinent as possible in the first post of the thread. Any help and advice would be very welcome.
EDIT - in addition to this, I should add that I’ve lost about 15 lbs over the last 5 or 6 months.