About to Embark on TRT Regimen

Hey all,

I’m new here and thought I would join up so I could get advice and info on TRT, even though I’m not into bodybuilding.

I’m about to turn 50 in a few weeks and have been having problems with low (often non-existent) libido and poor to mediocre erections for the last three or four years, plus reduced penile sensivity and substantially less intense orgasms. I’ve also been experiencing some of the other symptoms associated with hypogonadism, such as apathy, social withdrawal, very low motivation, general loss of interest in a lot of things, memory problems and cognitive problems as well. In short, just not giving a shit about anything, including sex, even though I still whack off once in a while.

I experience bouts of fatigue too, reduced physical capacity overall, and a sense of just not having much energy anymore. At times I think I feel like an 80 year-old man trapped in the body of a 50 year-old.

I also have Type 2 diabetes (although my glucose levels seem more in line with pre-diabetes than full-blown T2 diabetes) and I am treating it with diet and exercise. I will not take metformin for my diabetes, because I have heard it can play serious havoc with testosterone levels. I also have obstructive sleep apnea, but this is being treated. (I’ve been on CPAP for the last 13 years now.)

I saw my doctor a few weeks ago and told him about my erectile difficulties. He sent me off to get some blood work done, and the results are noted below. I live in Canada, and there we use SI units to measure things, but I’ll post the US values as well.

Total testosterone: 5.8 nmol/l (167.15ng/dl)
Bioavailable: 3.7 nmol/l (106.63ng/dl)

Standard testosterone ranges in Canada are:

Total: 7 ~ 38 nmol/l (201.73 ~ 1095.10 ng/dl)
Bioavailable: 3.5 ~ 12.0 nmol/l (100.86 ~ 345.82ng/dl)

So, as you can see, my bioavailable t-levels are pretty-well rock-bottom, and below rock-bottom where total T is concerned.

The doctor didn’t ask for my prolactin, FSH, or LH levels to be checked. I wonder if he forgot to ask for these tests to be done, or if he was going by the results of testing I had done at a men’s clinic three years ago, which shows that prolactin, FSH, and LH levels were OK. Testing for E2 levels or estradiol didn’t even come into play. As an aside, it’s worth noting that my T-levels were found to be low three years ago (If memory serves, the total T level was 270 ng/dl).

Initially my doctor was reluctant to prescribe testosterone because ‘it might cause cancer’, but I think he was thinking that way because my PSA levels hadn’t been tested at the time I first approached him about the matter. My PSA levels were found to be normal in this round of testing.

Once he saw my results he agreed I should be on TRT, and prescribed 1% Androgel to be taken four times daily for a 90-day trial period. I’m going to fill that prescription next week.

I’m really hoping it will help turn things around for me, because if it doesn’t, I don’t know what I’m going to do then.

Hi Alba,

I am also in ON, and on TRT. You definitely needed more bloodtests before going on TRT, read the stickies and try to get as many of the tests as possible. Also I have never heard of Androgel being applied 4 times a day, maybe twice but not 4. If you need to find a good TRT Dr. Please PM me.

Bill