Greetings everyone, first post here however I’ve been reading through the forums for a couple of months now, tons of good info. I’ve been wondering about low T for the past 7-8 months, and after talking with my wife decided to finally start doing something about it. Found a online telemedicine “clinic”, they sent me an at home test kit (kinda weird I thought?) I put a blood sample on 2 cards and mailed them off. The lab was in San Diego, but I don’t know if it was Quest, LabCorp or who. I got the results back finally and they look much better than I was honestly anticipating. I can’t get a phone consultation until late next week so figured I’d start here and ask for some insight.
34 YO, 6’ 190 lbs, married, 4 kids, was very active up until about age 26 (had 3 kids by then), have weight lifted ever since I was 18, but off and on the past 5 years. Diet is good, very familiar with tracking macros, etc. Work long hours and my family keeps me busy, sleep 6-7 hours average on weekdays.
I Have zero energy, my temper has gotten progressively worse the last 3 years, no sex drive (maybe once a month when my wife gets mad at me about it) brain fog, developing a “spare tire” around the midsection (always had visible abs up until I turned 30) everything aches when I wake up, and generally just feel “old”.
Below are the labs I got, and total T looks better than midrange, however the free T range they have is so narrow I can’t really tell if it’s good, bad , average or what? Any insight or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
My levels pre TRT would range between 400 - 600 and I felt terrible. What I started to understand was that when I took my blood work in the morning, that was the highest my T was going to get that day since you produce it while you sleep at night.
Sooooo…. later that day I would go to work, stress out, then hit the gym. After the physical and mental stress my levels were most likely way lower leading me to feel like crap. Not enough gas in the tank.
@dt2186 yes, this is something we are seeing more and more of. Not saying that it is definitely the cause of your issues, but it has definitely become quite common to see this. Androgen resistance is simply having ‘normal’ levels of testosterone but it doesn’t have the same bang for the buck that it used to. Then you’ll wind up needing to bring those levels quite a bit higher to feel any type of symptom resolution. Work with a specialist to ensure there isn’t any other issue that could be causing this. If none found you can try a trial of TRT to see what effect it has. If it resolves some/all of your symptoms, you’ll have your answer.
I have not, however that was one of my thoughts was getting some more comprehensive labs just to see the bigger picture and possibly eliminate or narrow down where I need to focus.
Thank all for the reply’s, I suppose the results or not so strange after all given the symptoms. I’ll work on getting some further tests though to rule out any other potential causes.
Should I be concerned with my Albumin showing slightly below range?
Of the thousands of people who were told this very thing by their doctors, who obsess with numbers, who left the office accepting the fact that their ‘normal’ numbers meant they would feel like crap for the rest of their lives, until they found a doctor who actually cared about them and wanted to resolve symptoms.
What are good numbers?? You’re delusional if you think there is a good number that applies to everyone. If there was, TRT would be really simple. It doesn’t work that way! Absolutely and utterly delusional. Statements like these demonstrate an absolute ignorance of the subject. Stop telling guys this stuff because it makes them rule out a possible solution based on a garbage opinion.
@dt2186 it could absolutely be androgen resistance related so do NOT rule out TRT as a viable option, regardless of what your ‘numbers’ are. No piece of paper with numbers on it can determine how you feel. It’s sheer nonsense.
You’re in a TRT group where you primarily tell people to look for other solutions because their numbers are good, obsess over numbers and tell people they are fine while ignoring their symptoms, and state that if they only feel better on a higher dose they should lower it back to where they felt like shit and find another solution.