No acute symptoms of low-T but things are slowing down. I can’t put on as much muscle as I could a few years ago and the training volume I can handle is way down.
Age 63
Free T: 47
Total T: 293
These are indeed very low levels and TRT is needed, if in Hawaii a competent doctor may be a challenge because I’ve known of others who have had difficulty locating someone with a clue. You need more lab testing before TRT comences, estrogen and SHBG are needed among other things.
The cause of low testosterone should be investigated, I started TRT with an iron, ferritin and vitamin D deficiency which could have contributed to a testosterone decline because iron is needed to make red blood cells.
These are disease state levels and your levels are sub optimal. There is a clinical study which shows cardiovascular risk levels <440 ng/dL. It’s common to hear older men tell us after starting TRT that they feel on an order magnitude better than they did pre-TRT when it was thought there were only mild symptoms.
The slow decline often creates a new normal for the body, most older men will say they have the raging sex drive they had when younger and muscle recovery is much improved and can often increase gym performance that wasn’t possible without TRT.
If you say to a doctor you have little symptoms and it’s only the inability to build and hold onto muscle, you will be denied TRT and it will be attributed to aging and therefore normal. You should strive for optimal and sick care isn’t in the business in optimizing health.
If building muscle is difficult, remember the heart is a muscle as well and it needs to be healthy if you want to live a long life.
Testosterone Threshold for Increased Cardiovascular Risk in Middle-Aged and Elderly Men:
These data showed that a testosterone threshold of 440 ng/dL was associated with increased Framingham 10-year CVD risk in middle-aged and elderly men. Poor sexual performance, decreased morning erection, and loss of libido had an impact on the testosterone threshold for CVD risk.
- Testing needed
Total T
Free T
SHBG
Estradiol Sensitive (E2)
LH-Luteinizing Hormone
FSH-Follicle stimulating hormone
Prolactin
Cortisol
Ferritin
Thyroid Panel
CBC-complete blood count
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
Lipid profile/panel
Thank you systemlord! I will follow up with the doc. I do have low-T symptoms that I had attributed to normal aging, but I’m starting to realize that low-T is likely the underlying problem.