Yo yo. I’m a 28 year old male in decent shape that has been struggling with low energy for as long as I can remember. I’m prescribed adderall to “jump start” myself when needed.
I went to an endo and he said my hormone levels (thyroid, cortisol, adrenal, testosterone) were all normal, but I’d like to know what you guys think of the blood results. I’ve been reading about TRT and how they may help energy levels, so I’m eager to know more.
The test was done in the morning.
Testoserone (total): 342 ng/dL (348-1197)
Testosterone (bioavailable): 207 ng/dL (128-430)
Testosterone (free): 8.55 ng/dL (2.5%) [ NOTE: I calculated this myself using www issam.ch/freetesto.htm ]
SHBG: 20.6 nmol/L (16.5-55.9)
Age: 28
Height: 6’0
Weight: 170 lbs
Waist: 30~ inches
Hair: I have hair all over, nothing crazy. I have a full beard and I’m going bald.
Fat: Although thin I have disproportionate fat in my hips and tits. Nothing crazy, but it bothers me. I’m at about 17% body fat.
Diet: Normal. About 2400cal a day 40/30/30.
Training: Ice Hockey avg 3 times a week. Strength training on non-hockey days for 20-30 minutes.
Balls: only hurt when aroused for too long.
Erections/Sex Drive: Normal.
Supplements: Whey 2-3 scoops a day, Vitamin D, ZMA. I started taking 5g creatine very recently.
Your total t levels simply are too low! The reason your doctor said your fine is cuz docs dont suggest t replacement unless your levels are way below normal range. Try geeing your body fat levels lower than 12% cuz the more body fat you have the more testosterone can aromatize into estrogen. Iodine, zinc and magnesium deficiences can have an effect on t levels also make sure your are getting some saturated fats cuz not enough of that can have an effect on t levels too. Get your 8 hours of sleep too! theres a million other things I’ve missed here as well but thats for starters.
[quote]22jacast wrote:
Your total t levels simply are too low! The reason your doctor said your fine is cuz docs dont suggest t replacement unless your levels are way below normal range. Try geeing your body fat levels lower than 12% cuz the more body fat you have the more testosterone can aromatize into estrogen. Iodine, zinc and magnesium deficiences can have an effect on t levels also make sure your are getting some saturated fats cuz not enough of that can have an effect on t levels too. Get your 8 hours of sleep too! theres a million other things I’ve missed here as well but thats for starters.
[/quote]
The doc said bioavailable testosterone is what mattered. He stated that it was lower than normal, but not to the point where he believed it has an impact on energy and mood.
I never heard of the body fat thing. Do you have any research on T level differences for males who are borderline overweight (~20% body fat) vs 12% body fat?
Everything else I got locked down. I hit my macros at least 6 days of the week and I sleep enough. I take all the supplements just in case, although only vitamin D has been shown to affect T levels. But I live in Southern California so I seriously doubt vitamin D is the issue.
Update: my shrink has prescribed me an anti-depressant to see if that helps. I’ll give it a shot over the next couple months and will report back. My current plan of action is:
Try meds shrink gives me
Go to sleep center to get sleep analyzed (to rule out sleep apnea)
Get additional blood test, measuring stuff mentioned in the sticky + second opinion from my general doc
If those steps fail to yield anything I’ll ask my endo to start me on TRT.
This is interesting because being that you are 28 years old, you have the total Test production of a 50 year old male. Gotta find a doctor that is willing to listen to the way his patients feel. Not everything is in the numbers.
Doc prescribed me Zoloft to combat “depressive” symptoms. Unfortunately it did not help, but actually exacerbated the symptoms. I found myself being really lethargic all day long unless stimulated by Adderall/Caffeine. I had trouble eating, both from motivation and I had bad stomach aches from the meds. Also, as luck would have it, I got a woman into bed for the first time in months, and had her stop answering my texts/calls after I disappointed not once, but twice. At least now I can tell my doc I suffer sexual dysfunction without being dishonest about it!
I stopped taking the Zoloft after 4 weeks because I couldn’t tolerate it any more. I felt much better after I was off it for a week.
My psychiatrist now put me on Effexor. I’m a few days into that and will report the experience later on! Right now I’m tolerating it okay. I don’t notice any difference, but I’m suffering stomach aches like I did with Zoloft. Also my libido hasn’t really recovered.
I talked to an “anti-aging” doc and he refused to prescribe me testosterone due to my age (28). I’m gonna keep looking around just in case the neurotransmitter route is a total dead end.