Hi Guys, This is a great thing you guys have done.
I was diagnosed in June of 2011 with low T, I’ll give the numbers in a minute, but the GP I go to just gave me some gel and said see you in 3 months for blood work. I figured this would be an easy thing to control. After minimal results from the Androgel after 3 months, we checked 6 months later.
He only checked TT and PSA. TT came back lower than when I was first diagnosed in June! Told him I wasn’t wasting my money anymore and wanted injections. He said logistically it wasnt a good option. Started me on Androderm patch. Started getting Severe welts after a month and he finally agreed to send me to an Endo for shots.
I found this sight 2 nights before my first appointment (thank God!) and printed some things off to bring with me to the appointment. Without even running labs the Dr. took my most recent blood work of some minimal panels from 2 months ago and said he was starting me on 200mg T IM twice a month. I asked about doing 100mg once a week, divided into smaller doses every couple of days.
He said no there is a bell curve after the shots as you feel worse, then it is time for another shot. I said I dont want to feel worse, just steady. He disagreed and I could see where this was going. I asked about using HCG as part of the protocol and he asked why. I explained because I didnt want my testes to shrivel up. He said that is a fertility drug and doesn’t use it on any of the 400 men he is treating for low T, especially if I’ve had a vasectomy already.
Then I asked him about monitoring my E2. He said your not growing breasts are you? I said no, and he said Im not going to treat you for a problem that isnt there. I went over with him that I was new to this, but with all the research I’ve done, as the FT goes higher, the E2 will as well. This offsets the benefits of the T. He said no way. At this point I just wanted to get the script and get out and look for another doc.
He gave me a bunch of labs to do after a month and a half of the treatments, (no E2 or DHT) but did not want a new lab run to get a base line of numbers before starting the injections. I went home and searched for another Dr. that had better reviews and just made another appointment for 2 weeks from now. Anyway, I can see this is certainly going to be more difficult than I thought, at least in the begining. I am going in for first shot and lesson on how to inject myself on Monday.
My question, after this long winded story, is after I start the injections, do you think it would be better to stick with the twice a month IM protocol to start, or switch right away to the twice a week SC option? There’s no way I’m going back to the guy who prescribed me the first vial since he fits right into the typical egomaniac, closed minded, know-it-all Dr. Hopefully this second opinion Doc will be more helpful since the office visits are only covered 80% each time. I could go broke just trying to find the correct Dr. Also, without the HCG and Amiridex, do you see a big negative to starting the treatment with just the T and not the others? Should I wait to start until I find someone willing to work with me all the way?
41 years old
6 foot 1
35 inch waist
208 pounds
Male pattern baldness. Mostly just hairaround the side of my head with Peach fuzz in the middle. No back hair, but average amount of hair on the rest of my body. Facial hair has always been light and slow growing. I could go 3 days without shaving and it would just be noticeable.
Fat is mostly carried around my waist and face and chest.
Usual Low T symptoms, low libido, no joy, but not depressed, completely unmotivated, hard time losing the fat around my waist, no morning wood, restless sleep. Had Melanoma on back 6 years ago. It did not spread and condition is cured.
No meds (stopped the Androderm 2 weeks ago)or supplements. When I get motivated to start exercising again, I use Protein powder once a day after my workouts.
These are the only labs the GP ordered. All Fasting
NA 138.5 (136-145)
K 4.53 (3.5-5.10)
CL 107.9 (98-107)
CO2_LC 24.6 (23-29)
ASTNEW 17(5-34)
TBILI 1.1 (0-1.1)
ALTNEW 17 (10-40)
ALPNEW 44 (35-123)
GLU 101 (70-105)
TP 6.9 (6.4-8.3)
CA 9.1 (8.5-10.5)
CREAT 1.3 (0.7-1.3)
BUNNEW 14 (7-18)
ALBNEW 4.8 (3.5-5)
CHOL 153 (0-200)
TRIG 93 (0-250)
LDL_CL 84 (0-130)
HDLNEW 50 (30-70)
TESTOSTERONE, SERUM 251 (348-1197)
FREE T 5.7 (6.8-21.5)
PSA .34 (less than .4)
Roughly 2500 calorie per day. Been really lazy lately and have been eating a lot of sweets, so it has been more than that and bad calories. But usually fruits, veges, eggs, nuts, chicken, beef everyday. Not much fish at all.
Training is in fits and spurts. Not motivated at all right now, but when I am, I’ll do total body weight workouts with minimal rest 3X a week. Cardio another once or twice. Usually will go for several months and then slack off.
Testes ache more and more. Usually when aroused. I thought it was a side effect from a Vasectomy in December. No fevers.
Morning/nocturnal wood was gone until about 3 months on Androgel. Since I stopped the patch 2 weeks ago they are diminishing again.