Help for a 60 yr Old

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

My father is 61 and has been having a persistent drop in his overall mood/energy over the past decade. I understand this is totally normal but it is really starting to effect him more lately. I told him to consider getting prescribed really low Trt or just letting him borrow a small amount of my gear. Only down side is he has borderline high cholesterol, so I am having second thoughts about this.

He is very active for his age, has a job when he is on his feet 80% of the time and does yard work outside constantly on his days off. He is pretty healthy, a little over weight and bf ~20 if I had to guess.

The other thing I was considering, and might be a simpler fix was getting him some DAA, but I have no idea if this is safe for someone his age, I frequent several forums and this topic never seems to come up. Advice anyone? On either the DAA or low dose trt, especially if some of the older folks can contribute based on their experiences (not sure if anyone on here is quite 60 yet lol). Oh and at this stage of his life he’s not looking for gains, it’s solely for mood/well being.

2

Has he had his thyroid checked? I had similar problem around 64, and thyroid medication has helped me enough to still aim (not there yet) for 405 deadlift/squat.

3

Yes, I know my dad had his TSH and T3/4 checked a few years back and everything was fine, the guy puts a lot of morton salt on everything, and ironically my mom was always like “that stuff will give you a heart attack!”, but it seems to have kept his thyroid going.

And yeah he’s not trying to get 400lbs of the ground anytime soon, but very impressive for >64yr

4

There are 7 stickies here and the webmasters do not see that the stickies need icons.

Start by reading the advice for new guys sticky.
Note first paragraph
If he is taking any meds, Rx or OTC, these may be part of the puzzle.

TSH should ideally be near 1.0, the range is typically 0.5 - 5.5; which is really stupid.
Labs should be fT3, fT4, not T3, T4 and these should be near mid range.

Body temperature is the best overall measure of overall thyroid function. See the thyroid basics sticky for guidance on checking body temperature.

Salt does not cause heart problems. When there is hardening of the arteries and increased blood pressure, low sodium levels reduce blood volume and that compensates for the pathology. Salt does not create risk for otherwise healthy people.

If your mom avoids salt, she can be iodine deficient, have her check temperatures as well.

Cholesterol increases with lower T levels and TRT can often lower cholesterol.

Labs for Dad:
TT
FT [do not substitute with androgen indexes etc]
E2
TSH
fT3
fT4 [not T3, T4]
IGF-1 to eval GH levels
CBC
Fasting Cholesterol
Fasting glucose
AM cortisol [please to at 8AM]
CRP [overall inflammation]
Homocysteine [cardio]
PSA
If he is to start TRT, he needs to first have a DRE [digital rectal exam to eval prostate]

Might be cheaper to order labs on your own. Depends on insurance restrictions etc and they are interesting in disease not overall heath.

5

[quote]KSman wrote:
There are 7 stickies here and the webmasters do not see that the stickies need icons.

Start by reading the advice for new guys sticky.
Note first paragraph
If he is taking any meds, Rx or OTC, these may be part of the puzzle.

TSH should ideally be near 1.0, the range is typically 0.5 - 5.5; which is really stupid.
Labs should be fT3, fT4, not T3, T4 and these should be near mid range.

Body temperature is the best overall measure of overall thyroid function. See the thyroid basics sticky for guidance on checking body temperature.

Salt does not cause heart problems. When there is hardening of the arteries and increased blood pressure, low sodium levels reduce blood volume and that compensates for the pathology. Salt does not create risk for otherwise healthy people.

If your mom avoids salt, she can be iodine deficient, have her check temperatures as well.

Cholesterol increases with lower T levels and TRT can often lower cholesterol.

Labs for Dad:
TT
FT [do not substitute with androgen indexes etc]
E2
TSH
fT3
fT4 [not T3, T4]
IGF-1 to eval GH levels
CBC
Fasting Cholesterol
Fasting glucose
AM cortisol [please to at 8AM]
CRP [overall inflammation]
Homocysteine [cardio]
PSA
If he is to start TRT, he needs to first have a DRE [digital rectal exam to eval prostate]

Might be cheaper to order labs on your own. Depends on insurance restrictions etc and they are interesting in disease not overall heath.[/quote]

Thanks for the response, the only RX he takes is a statin for the cholesterol(pretty sure it’s atorvastatin) and OTC the occasional ibubrofen when he is feeling sore, but sometimes it is a high dose 800mg, or he is on it for a week at a time, and he always takes a multivitamin and selenium.

And yes the most recent labs were for free T3 and T4, didn’t feel it was necessary to make the distinction, not sure how knowledgeable the people who replied would be lol (glad they are). I know his TSH was in the reference range of the lab that administered it, can’t remember exact #, but as you say that might be sub optimal even if it was in range.

And I know salt in and of itself isn’t bad for cardiovascular health, my mother just has an old school way of thinking haha. Plus as I’m sure you know the iodine you get from certain types of salt is essential for thyroid function. By the way my mom has been on female HRT since menopause and seems to be fine physically and emotionally (although I do worry about the increased risk of stroke) and I doubt she is iodine deficient.

He had a prostate exam (I think) last year, and he told me it was fine. But I will try and get him to get the rest of those markers checked out, and getting the labs will not be a problem. Thanks