Hello there! Sorry for the long post, I’ll try to be thorough but concise as I can. New member, long time lurker. Any input would be amazing as I’ve run to the end of the road with doctors.
29yo Australian male. 6ft, 95kg. Generally healthy up until recently. History of asthma, hypermobility syndrome which is worsening over time, anxiety, depression and possibly borderline personality disorder. Barely ever drink alcohol, drink green tea most days.
I’m pescatarian, so eat some seafood dairy and eggs, but no meat or chicken. I eat healthy meals mostly, but do have a tendency to eat pizza, chocolate etc sometimes.
I have been knocked unconscious on at least 3 occasions during my teenage years.
I’ve always been on the chubbier side, never obesce, never lean, somewhat of a dad bod. Never been really strong. I’ve tried a few different workout approaches from bro splits, Jason blahas 5x5, and other similar ones. Generally stick to full body, compound lifts with some arm isolation too. Strongest I’ve ever been was squatting 110kg with a belt, bench pressing 92kg, overhead press 50kg. Not what you would consider beast mode. That was a few years ago, I’m far weaker now.
I’d had some blood tests over the years showing my test level was on the low side of the “normal” range (11 nmol/L). This hovered around that level each time I had it tested. It was always tested as part of overall blood work for other health problems but I never thought much about it as it was inside “normal”.
Eventually I had another blood test that showed I was hovering around the 11 nmol level for T. I queried the doctor about it and he tried to brush it off, but I told him I’ve read of many other people having the same symptoms as me with low “normal” T. He sent me off to an endo to see what the endo thinks.
Endo was good, had an open mind. He said although my levels were within the normal range, we could try trt and see if it helps. The symptoms I had at this stage were: low mood, low energy, low libido, anxiety, depression, low self esteem, low confidence, low motivation, easily irritated, emotional, etc.
So the plan was, try try for 6 weeks, if I feel better, stay on, if not, give up and try something else. It made me feel a lot better. I was on T enanthate 250mg per fortnight IM. I would feel great for the first week, then flat for the second. After 6 weeks I saw him again and although I don’t have the bloods on me, it was higher than before.
So I stayed on TRT for the next 6 months, switching to weekly doses of 125mg IM, and then trying sub cut 62.5mg twice a week. Out of all of those, the best for me was 125mg IM weekly. Wasn’t perfect as I would still feel flat the last 1 or 2 days, but was pretty good. I felt like Superman, was feeling happier, more confident, more energy, libido etc. ALL aspects of my life improved. Had some issues with what I think we’re too much e2 at times but it was far better than before trt. The highest my levels got were 18nmol.
Then after 6 months of trt I went on a 6 week cycle of HCG (under the endo’s instructions). 2500iu HCG twice a week. This made my balls bigger as the trt shrunk them a bit. I felt different on the HCG, more unstable and less resilient than the trt but I stuck with it as the Dr said that’s the best way of preserving fertility and jump starting my system back up.
Well, I had tests done at the end of the HCG cycle, and showed my sperm count was shot to hell (went from 250 million before trt to 3 million at end of HCG cycle). My T was down to 8.1 nmol. Something seriously went wrong with the plan to keep my fertility and natural T production. I was shocked, and devastated and scared.
So the endo then said to stop everything, wait 3 months to see if I rebound back up. I had a preliminary test done last week and showed my sperm is going back up (thank fuck). I also had some blood tests done through a different endo for a 2nd opinion. These were taken last week, about a month after stopping HCG. They are:
Haemoglobin 146 g/L (130-175)
HCT 0.43 (0.38-0.50)
MCV 86 fL
Neutrophils 2.1 /nL
Lymphocytes 1.7 /nL
Monocytes 0.3 /nL
Eosinophils 0.1 /nL
Basophils <0.1 /nL
Platelets 173 /nL
TSH. 2.3 mU/L (0.5-4.0)
Free t4 15.9 pmol/L
FSH 5 U/L (2-12)
LH 6 U/L (2-9)
I didn’t have oestradiol tested this time but recently had results of 52 and 39 in previous months (pmol/L)
Prolactin 352 mU/L (86-324)
Testosterone 14.2 nmol/L (12.0-31.9)
(Previous testosterone results were 8.1 on HCG and 18.6, 18.7 on trt. 11 before starting any trt. )
SHBG 20 nmol/L (15-48)
CRP <1 mg/L (<5)
Ser. Osmo 299 mmol/kg (275-300)
Sodium 146 mmol/L (135-145)
Potassium 5.1 mmol/L (3.5-5.5)
Chloride 104 mmol/L (95-110)
Urea 6.2 mmol/L (3.0-7.5)
Creatinine 95 umol/L (60-110)
eGFR >90 mL/min/1.73m2 (>89)
Bicarbonate 30 mmol/L (20-32)
Total bilirubin 6 umol/L (4-20)
ALP 52 U/L (35-110)
Gamma GT 17 U/L (5-50)
ALT 34 U/L (5-40)
Total protein 68 g/L (66-83)
Albumin 40 g/L (36-47)
Globulin 28 g/L (26-41)
Total calcium 2.43 mmol/L (2.15-2.55)
Corr. Calcium 2.43 mmol/L (2.15-2.55)
Phosphate 1.12 mmol/L (0.8-1.5)
Magnesium 0.89 mmol/L (0.7-1.05)
Testosterone 14.2 nmol/L (12.0-31.9)
SHBG 20 nmol/L (15-48)
Albumin 40 g/L (36-47)
Calculated FTe 392 pmol/L (260-740)
(taken the week before:
Testosterone 11.6 nmol/L (12.0-31.9)
SHBG 14 nmol/L (15-48)
Albumin 49 g/L (36-47)
Calculated FTe 311 pmol/L (260-740))
Cortisol 0810 Hrs 309 nmol/L
Growth hormone <0.1 ug/L
Growth hormone <0.3 mIU/L
IGF-1 Liaison 26 nmol/L (15-43)
I have no idea what most of that means. The endo I saw for a 2nd opinion said its all perfect and normal, which I find hard to believe. She ruled out issues with the pituitary. She basically said that my T is on the lower side of “normal” but that’s just how my body likes it. I argued a bit with her about the concept of normal and how I want to be optimal. She wasn’t having a bar of it! Looks like I’ll go back to the original endo who is more open minded, just spooked me seeing my sperm and T levels plummet during the HCG cycle.
I’m feeling absolutely dreadful these days since stopping all treatment. Worse libido since puberty, no surprise erections, no energy,always anxious, depressed, sensitive, easily irritated etc. FYI the second opinion endo blamed all my symptoms on “depression” and said repeatedly I do not have low t.
But… Thought I should come to the EXPERTS here and see what you guys think? Again sorry for the long post, I wanted to be thorough as this is so important to me and my happiness and wellbeing.
Thanks!