I am a 40 year old male in southeast Texas. I was not feeling myself. I had a reputation as a hustle kind of guy. Non-stop worker and just busy getting stuff done. It just went away about 6-7 years ago. I was avoiding tasks, couldn’t stay awake. Gaining weight fast. I got up to 265.
Started treatment at a franchise TRT clinic in September 2015. The symptoms described on the radio commercial sounded like my sympoms. (I don’t have any of the labs from my times there)
First Free T result came back a “119” in September 2015. They checked it again, still the same. Low enough that the PA refused to treat me. He ordered a pituitary MRI. Diagnosed with Rathke Cleft cyst. Treatment was started shortly after at 200mg Test Cyp every week for a month. Then dosage was reduced to 150mg per week.
Arimidex was prescribed at .5mg - 48 hours after shot in February 2016. In response to a really bad mood and increasing fatigue.
Had shots every week from October 2015 to August 2017 with increasing dosages. Not sure of when dosages were raised. The increases were in response to my symptoms. Finished at 240mg per week when I stopped and searched out an Endo. Weight was up to 285 and I had no control. Dieting did nothing. BF % was 24% according to a float test done at the gym I used.
Endo shut down all Test and arimidex first week of Sep 2017. I haven’t had anything since. Labs were ordered and as follows:
Cortisol - AM / 4.3 ug/dL / 6.2-19.4 / Below low normal
Hematocrit / 46.1 % / 37.5-51.0
Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy / 27.4 ng/mL / 30.0-100.0 / Below low normal
Testosterone, Total, LC/MS / 761 ng/dL
ACTH, Plasma / 9.2 pg/mL / 7.2-63.3
Hemoglobin A1c / 5.8 % / 4.8-5.6 / Above high normal
IGF-1(BL) / 155 ng/mL
Prostate Specific Ag, Serum / 0.8 ng/mL / 0.0-4.0
TSH-ICMA / 1.2 uU/mL
Free T4 by Dialysis/Mass Spec / 0.85 ng/dL
Cholesterol, Total / 230 mg/dL / 100-199 / Above high normal
Triglycerides / 527 mg/dL / 0-149 Above high normal
HDL Cholesterol / 27 mg/dL / >39 / Below low normal
Glucose, Serum / 101 mg/dL / 65-99 Above high normal
BUN / 15 mg/dL / 6-24
Creatinine, Serum / 1.06 mg/dL / 0.76-1.27
BUN/Creatinine Ratio / 14 / 9-20
Sodium, Serum / 139 mmol/L /134-144
Potassium, Serum / 4.5 mmol/L / 3.5-5.2
Chloride, Serum / 100 mmol/L / 96-106
Calcium, Serum / 9.6 mg/dL / 8.7-10.2
Protein, Total, Serum / 6.8 g/dL / 6.0-8.5
Albumin, Serum / 4.6 g/dL / 3.5-5.5
Globulin, Total / 2.2 g/dL / 1.5-4.5
A/G Ratio / 2.1 / 1.2-2.2
Bilirubin, Total / 0.2 mg/dL / 0.0-1.2
Alkaline Phosphatase, S / 59 IU/L / 39-117
AST (SGOT) / 23 IU/L /0-40
ALT (SGPT) / 47 IU/L / 0-44 Above high normal
The next step was to take a different Cortisol test. I was given a ACTH Stim test. Pulled blood, gave me a shot, Waited an hour (I went and fell asleep in the truck, felt ill the rest of the day), Pulled blood again. Awaiting results.
I am just exhausted. Not motivated to do anything. If I sit down for any length of time, I am falling asleep. I am taking some modafinil too just to keep up with family stuff but if I lay down to sleep, I am out like a light. I have lost 20 pounds since stopping the shots but a lot of that is water weight and some intermittent fasting may be dropping some. I am at my wits end on this. I am not tied to this doctor. I am listening.