Hey everyone, I’ve been lurking around here for a few weeks but thought I would introduce myself now that I’ve officially started TRT as of this morning. In addition to the recently diagnosed low-T, I also have Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) which is a genetic condition that causes my body not to produce Cortisol. I take a replacement for that in the form of Dexamethasone and Fludrocortisone daily. I’m interested to hear from anyone else who might have both conditions, or a good understanding of how the interactions work. My belief is that while the CAH is well controlled on the meds I’m currently on (doctor has dialed me down to what we think is a minimum effective dose), corticosteroids actually work a little too well as far as suppressing androgens. I know that untreated, CAH patients end up with excess androgens (but also a lot of other nasty symptoms, so going untreated is not a good idea).
So funny story with my first injection today - while I get blood drawn and flu shots done regulary without any problems, I had what the doc called a ‘psychosomatic reaction’ to my first T shot today and totally fainted for a few seconds. I woke up on the floor with my wife and 3 kids looking down at me. Luckily I came to quickly and felt fine after just a few minutes.
I welcome any comments or advice, thanks in advance!
Here’s my stats as requested in the sticky:
-age: 34
-height: 5ft 7"
-waist: ~38in
-weight: 243lbs
-describe body and facial hair:
Currently a large belly, although I have a large frame and distribute fat evenly so I don’t look my current weight. Never been very muscular even when I trained semi-regularly in my early 20’s. In my late 20’s I took up distance running, completed 3 full marathons from about 2008-2011. I weighed as low as 175 at the time, then after I started having kids I totally fell off the wagon, gaining weight every year. Just recently I started on Nutrisystem (but planning to switch to Paleo soon) and have dropped about 15lbs over the past month or so.
-describe where you carry fat and how changed
I think I covered this in the previous section, only change has been gaining more weight every year the past few years.
-health conditions, symptoms [history]
As mentioned above, CAH. Also mild exercise induced asthma, seasonal allergies.
-Rx and OTC drugs, any hair loss drugs or prostate drugs ever
Testosterone Cypionate 200mg - today only
Going forward doctor said he was fine with splitting the dose and doing 100mg weekly. My wife is an RN and will be doing the shots for me at least until I get a little more comfortable to do it myself.
Dexamethasone 0.5mg daily
Fludrocortisone 0.1mg daily
Hydrocortisone 5mg (as needed on exercise days).
No hair loss/prostate drugs.
4000IU Vitamin D3 since round 1 of my labs
-lab results with ranges
Doctor requested 2 rounds of labs due to insurance requirement for TRT, but there are some different ones for each round. I’ll list everything I got in hopes that more info is better.
Round 1:
ACTH <5 (7-69pg/ml)
(Metabolic Panel)
Glucose 87 (70-99 mg/dl)
BUN 10 (6-20 mg/dl)
Creatinine 0.74 (0.8-1.4mg/dl)
eGFR 120 (>60 ml/min/1.73)
Calc BUN/CREAT 14 (RATIO 6-28)
Sodium 142 (133-146 meq/l)
Potassium . 4.4 (3.5-5.4 meq/l)
Chloride 101 (95-107 meq/l)
Calcium 9.5 (8.5-10.5mg/dl)
Protein, Total . 7.1 (6.1-8.3g/dl)
Cortisol, AM Specimen <0.2 (4.8-19.5 ug/dl)
Testosterone, Total 152 (300-1080ng/dl)
Sex Horm Bind Globulin 26.2 (16.5 - 55.9nmol/l)
Testosterone, Free 3.2 (4.8-25.7ng/dl)
Vitamin B-12 409 (200-950pg/ml)
Vitamin D, 25OH 17 (20-100ng/ml)
Round 2 (~2 weeks after Round 1)
CBC W/O DIFF, WITH PLATELETS
WBC 12.9 H (4.0-11.0K/UL)
RBC . 5.13 (4.1-5.7M/UL)
HEMOGLOBIN . 14.5 (13.0-17.0 G/DL)
HEMATOCRIT 42.9 (37-49.0%)
MCV 83.6 (80.0-100.0fL)
MCH 28.3 (27.0-34.0PG)
MCHC 33.8 (32.0-35.5G/DL)
FERRITIN 375 (30-400NG/ML)
PSA . 0.58 . (<-4.00NG/ML)
PROLACTIN 18.8 H (4.0-15.2NG/ML)
TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL 140 L (300-1080NG/ML)
SEX HORM BIND GLOBULIN 27.8 (16.5-55.9NMOL/L)
TESTOSTERONE, FREE 2.9 L (4.8-25.7NG/DL)
-describe diet [some create substantial damage with starvation diets]
Varies - currently doing Nutrisystem, but going to switch to Paleo or similar so I can be eating healthy in a way that’s sustainable over the long term. In the past few years I haven’t paid a lot of attention to my diet but do cook at home most of the time, and have a taste for big heavy craft beers. I’m cutting out the beer and any other alcohol almost entirely.
-describe training [some ruin there hormones by over training]
Recently haven’t had the energy to do much other than walking. I have an under-desk treadmill that I walk on for about 1-2 hours of my workday 2-4 times per week.
-testes ache, ever, with a fever?
No.
-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed
Depends on the time frame. Haven’t changed in the past few years, but morning wood is somewhat less frequent than 10 years ago.