Reading List

Besides the stickies (natch) what are some books that everyone has found valuable in educating themselves about all things hormonal. I’m not referring to Suzanne Summers’s latest, but something geared towards the educated layman.

I’m not using this thread as my case study, but I’ve been struggling with crushing fatigue for about 15 years (currently 38), weak libido for the last 2 years and a penis that refuses to cooperate. I have high TSH (5.2), normal T3/T4, high cortisol (AM reading 10.4 on scale of 3.7 - 9.5), low triglycerides (<35), and high fasting glucose (120). Some of these items seems contrary to one another and I’d like to start reading something before I come back to this forum and/or make an appointment with my doc so I can ask some educated questions.

Thanks all.

i haven’t found good comprehensive up to date books out there. forums, medical studies, and blog posts by cutting edge doctors have been the most help to me.

Have read many, just to know what is out there. Books written by docs are mostly useless as they are limited by professional standards and inability to evolve their thinking.

A new book, Testosterone: A Man’s Guide by Nelson Vergel - complete confusing horse shit and over priced, nice cover artwork. Gets great reviews from guys who think that they are learning things. However the book is tainted by steroid abuser language, gear and values. And a great deal of facts are simply wrong. There is no excuse for such errors. The book is another source of disinformation and had not been proofed by anyone who had any depth of understanding. The writing is quite bogus too, you can guess what he means, but if you don’t know the stuff first, you are lost, if you know the details, why would someone be reading it.

page 30: “Testosterone esters are modifications made to the testosterone molecule to increase the time that the liver breaks it down [, so you do not need to inject it every day.]” Wrong and sounds like it was written by a imbecile.

“Also, the larger the carbon chain, the longer the ester, the less soluble the drug is in water” Wrong, base testosterone, and the esters are not soluble in water, he does not understand why T esters are used.

Page 49, top of page, dies not understand what he is talking about or is unable to describe what he [might] know. Either way - fail. “increase testicular size” should read “restore testicular size”.

Page 51: “… use of the estrogen receptor modulators tamoxifen or anastrozole.” He is telling the reader that anastrozole is a SERM [NOT!].

PAge 53 “Clomiphene citrate increases LH and testosterone. It does not appear to down-regulate testicular Leydig cell activity, because it blocks testicular estrogen receptors.” What is he thinking, what will a newbee think that means? “down-regulate testicular Leydig cell activity” is also out of context.

Reports that there was a clomid trial that was successful in treating primary hypogonadism. Readers will now be confused about what primary hypogonadism really is.

Page 62, states that TRT labs should be right before next injection. Suggests use of SERMs to manage E2 levels. Does not address what are two separate issues. If anastrozole is used to manage E2, there is never a need to using a SERM.

Page 66, states that DHT is responsible for growth of the prostate, ignores all of the research that shows that estrogens are the cause.

Page 84, recommends hCG 2500iu EOD, clomid and nolvadex all at once. What else can one do to degrade one’s LH receptors? These drugs should never be stacked. Large dose hCG has been discredited for years.

The end of the book ends with a large amount if filler, unless you are looking for clinical trials for the use of testosterone in postmenopausal women.