I’m 52 and here are my last labs.
Prolactin 15.8
FSH 4.3
LH 6.2
Total T 365 ng/dL
My free T was at the low end of the range too but my EHR Portal is annoying to navigate so I don’t have the exact number.
In 2007 I got a vasectomy. I developed chronic groin pain shortly after. Not balls so much at first but where I was cut. I got epididymitis in 2010 (fu**ing horrible), I got a vas reversal in 2012. At one point after my reversal my free T was around 485. I was around 47. My energy and libido went to like nothing in last 5 years. Body does not respond well to exercise like it did just a few years ago. I was running the stairs at work less than 5 years ago and could get pretty strong just doing a quick tabata workout of free hand exercises and dumbells. Not so much anymore.
Long story short I hurt my shoulder training for a swim meet last month. I got a hold of a some T from a friend, a rip blend he was not using. I did about 1.5 ml and about a week later I was having sex with my wife like we hadn’t had it in 7 years. I felt like a porn star. Having a libido again was nice as I had no desire for the last few years.
I had suspected low t was a problem and kept bugging my doctor but he would not prescribe it. This rip blend shot, which was mostly testosterone propionate with some trenbolone and masterone, made me realize that my problem is hormonal and not mental. I think the two surgeries on my scrotum may have damaged my testicles.
I have been reading about steroids and TRT a lot in last few weeks to educate myself and am here to seek out advice.
How do you find a provider? I am not interested in getting androgel from a GP that has no idea how to manage someone on TRT or getting a shot every 2 weeks. I have no problems injecting myself.
Any advice would be appreciated. I feel like I know what it’s like to have a life again. I don’t want to go back to feeling like a eunuch. It’s not just the sex but my energy was nice too as was my mood. It’s amazing to just feel compelled to grab my wife again, lol.
My goals are just to bump things up to where I have a little energy and sex drive again. 365 seems too low for a guy that is in pretty good shape for at least 4 months every year and is not obese and completely sedentary. I’m too young to not want sex anymore either.
So you just drove a top fuel dragster and now you want a Dr to give you a license to drive a Prius. ’
Dude, you shouldn’t have just taken the blend without knowing what it was and what it would do. Its doubtful a Dr will give you a script to make you feel the way the blend did but they (if they are good and know what they are doing) will get you to a optimal level which will make you feel like your younger self.
I trusted my friend who used to own a gym. I have done a lot of research and now understand it was a silly thing to try first, lol. Oddly both times I did it the pattern was the same. Not much at first, probably worse sex drive, but at about day 5 a huge surge in libido. That sh** hurts like hell too LOL. I took a small amount too. I did .5ml EOD for three days. Total of 1.5ml but it definitely had a big impact in erection quality and just sheer lust, lol. It was great.
Getting my libido back was welcome. Like I said, I have had two surgeries on my junk and had chronic pain down there for years.
I understand but that dose was probably enough to shut down your natural production.
I’m 53 and I self treat and cruise year round with about 2 blast a year. You need to concentrate on finding a good TRT doc and read this forum from top to bottom including the Pharma forum.
I have to wait now to get tested if I want to get an accurate picture of my levels.
Or maybe since you have to practically be a woman to get a script now (not kidding, I think FTM transgenders can get T easier than a man with a T level 1 point above the lowest end of the reference range with no libido, fatigue, brain fog etc., lol) I can get tested and my levels may be low enough to get a script from my GP I can take to a good TRT doctor.
It always seems to lead back to the question, where do you find a good TRT doctor?
My T levels dropped from close to 500 to 360 in less than 5 years. My last 2 tests have been in the 300’s with the last one being the 360. Both taken in the morning on a full nights sleep. I’m 6’ 2" 215 and was training hard all summer. A good weight for me is like 205.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll read this forum top to bottom.
Since I self treat, I’m not a good reference for this. However, a lot of guys here advocate Defy Medical. You might check them out. I’m pretty sure @systemlord uses them. He may be able to help you more.
Defy Medical is very good at managing TRT, however insurance based healthcare can be a nightmare as none of the so called hormones doctors specialize in TRT, androgels are prescribed first because no skill is required by the doctor, then it that doesn’t work it’s 200mg every 2 weeks which puts a guy on a hormonal roller coaster.
Finding a knowledgeable TRT doctor under insurance, it’s like playing the lottery.
Clinical experience is the ONLY way anyone learns how to do TRT well, Defy Medical has over 20+ years clinical experience in hormones.
I had a feeling I would just have to pay oop. I paid oop for my vasectomy reversal. Best money I ever spent and it saved my marriage and my life. I think after a couple years of horrible sex the two 1.5 ml of rip blend induced pile drivings I put on my wife have convinced her that it would be money well spent. Having a good sex life is important to well being and quality of life. I train hard 4 weeks out of the year and the last couple of years it has gotten hard to get strong and lose weight. Just night and day in the last 3 years. I feel like I’m having hot flashes all the time too. It’s ridiculous. I will probably do nothing until I get my physical next month and get my bloods done then and use that and contact defy.
Women have hot flashes when their estrogen drops to about zero during menopause, your low estrogen is causing hot flashes.
Two of my sisters (60’s) always carry portable lipo powered fans in their purses. Lol.
You almost always get a higher level of care going private, since you are paying cash doctors can spend more time on your case instead of spending the majority of their time filling out paperwork for the insurance companies in order to get paid.
The last time I saw my endocrinologist, I was speaking with him for 15 minutes and I could see him visibly getting nervous that I was taking up that much time.
This is interesting. I’m positive that my vasectomy is where my hypogonadism came from. I got a terrible infection after the surgery and my testicular function never recovered.
Vasectomy was the biggest mistake of my life. I was messed up for 10 years. Just now have issues under control.
I was always dead set against it but after watching my wife squirt a couple of watermelons out of her vagina I let guilt override common sense. I went from swearing I’d never get one to a moment where I was starting a new job and feeling vulnerable for the first time in our marriage. It is not something you should do for anyone but yourself. Doing something like that to make someone else happy, or worse yet because of pressure or guilt, is just a recipe for disaster.
To be honest, I am starting to think that with technology available you might be better off supplementing. Until I got that shot and saw what it can do for your libido I am not sure I would have been okay with TRT. It made me realize working balls are not necessary to feel good and have a great sex life.
But yeah, cutting on the cords that supply blood and nourishment to you balls is just stupid.
And on a the flip side of your post I had a vasectomy in 2010 and it was a great decision with zero regrets. No sides, positive sexual benefits, wife loves it, cost benefit, no worrying.
For most men, vasectomy is fine and works out well. If you end up with chronic pain though the guys that perform them can’t always “fix” it. I was one of those guys. It’s a well known problem with the operation. You can read the statistics yourself in the American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines guidelines and the Canadian Urological Association (CUA) guidelines as well as the NHS website.
The AUA puts the number at 1 in 50 and the CUA puts it at 1 in 20. NHS has a number like 1 in 10. That’s some level of chronic discomfort or pain on a spectrum. I can post links if you like.
We can argue with until we are blue in the face, I know what I went through. It was hell. I was in pain sitting at work all the time and would wake up in horrific pain, like a red-hot needle was being stabbed into the scrotum at the base of my penis with morning wood. It got to the point where I had trouble taking any sort of long trip in the care, watching a kids play, seeing a movie etc… I was fine right after the the original vasectomy too, but I slowly developed escalating pain over the course of the next few years and had no idea what was going on. At year 3 post vasectomy, when the epididymis on the back of my right testicle blew up to the size of a big fat sharpie and I was given a doppler and told if there was no blood flow there were going to harvest my testicle. I started to suspect that my body was not handling the operation well.
When I got reversed, instead of a small incision or small bilateral incisions, I had my scrotum split all the way up the middle. I went to probably the best vasectomy reversal/fertility guy in the US and paid out of pocket. Best money I ever spent. The nightly pain that had my heart jackhammering every night and waking up with burning pain and agony every morning was gone. In hindsight I think my original guy did a lot of cautery and left a lot of sutures in me and getting all of that scar tissue out probably took care of some entrapped nerves. Who knows.
I think it’s great you had a good experience with vasectomy. Most men are okay, some have bad outcomes. Just don’t act like your experience is what all mens is. If you turn out okay it’s not because you’re tough either, it’s because you are one of the lucky ones or rather not one of the unlucky ones…
I’m not arguing dude. Im just presenting the other side. Im sorry you had to go through all of that. But the fact is most vasectomies aren’t your situation. Not sure where the “tough” thing came from, jeez. It honestly sounds like your doc fucked it up. Im glad you’re better.
I was afraid that “tough” statement was too belligerent. Yeah man, it was bad. Some people can get really militant about their positions on vasectomy to the point of shouting you down if they don’t like what you’re saying. That was knee jerk and in response to hurt and arguments that are all in my rear view mirror hopefully. I am a little messed up in the head from it still I guess. Important thing is I survived and things are going great so thanks for your sentiments.
I contacted Defy Medical and I think I’m going to just pull the trigger on baseline testing, consultation and therapy. At the prices they quoted I would be foolish not to try it. My wife I think will be on board if it means she gets the affectionate guy she had before he developed chronic groin pain back. What I went through the last few years was a nightmare for both of us.
I took my initial panels for Defy this morning. I just need to get a physical form filled out for them and then I can get scheduled and get going.
Anyone here see any benefit to doing the Thyroid tests? I decided to do them to get a baseline but the last test I had last year was fine and I really am not interested in messing with my thyroid. I paid the extra 130 just to have it for me.
I think it’s a good idea to have them done. I also paid the extra money to get them through Defy. A lot can change in a year, mine changed dramatically in a year.