Visiting Endo, Looking for Advice

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

Hey folks. I’m new here, but I’ve been lurking for a while. I have some questions about getting tested for testosterone etc.

Background: I’m 27, male. I played tennis for my HS/College, and I can hold my own on a basketball court. This being said, I’ve never been big or strong, and I’ve relied on being relatively fast with good reflexes and jumping ability. From 22-25 I was around 150lbs at 5’11" (unfortunately I was “skinny fat” to a degree, usually around 16-17% body fat with love handles). I got tired of being relatively weak, and about a year ago I started to get more serious about training.

Reading this forum, I found many reasons to lose the fat first, or bulk up first. Since I was more annoyed with being weak than fat I decided to go for the latter. Over the last year I’ve upped my caloric intake (while eating fairly healthy) and hit the gym hard 6 days a week. Though I’ve gone up to 170 pounds, I haven’t gotten that much stronger. I feel like the majority of the weight has been fat (I’m now 18-19%) in my midsection. My bench went up from only 130lbs to around 150lbs. Bicep curls from 25lbs to just 30lbs (they refuse to Grow!). I feel that most of this is due to getting better at lifting as opposed to actually growing muscle.

Also I feel much less motivated than before, and even a little “depressed.” The past year I’ve had severe, unremitting insomnia. I can fall asleep, but I wake up every hour or so, heart pounding, usually from a nightmare type dream. I’ve also been experiencing anxiety. What made me think about possible low testosterone is that I’ve been suffering from a worsening case of ejaculatory anhedonia over the last 2-3 years. Basically everything “works” but I get little to no pleasure from orgasms.

I’ve never been on gear, and no drugs besides the occasional adderall in school, some weed here and there and social drinking (2-3 times a month).

Anyway I’m going to an endocrinologist next week and I’m going to ask about testing for low testosterone. Is there anything else I should get tested for? I’ve been tested for sleep apnea (since I snore a lot) and came back negative. Also I’ve done basic bloodwork with nothing amiss save for low-normal B12 (been supplementing ever since).

Thanks for any help.

2

What bloodwork did you get? Some issues doctor’s ignore if they are “in range”.

Read the Bloodwork stickey for suggestions on blood. For oyu, I would definitely get Cortisol checked, but there are other mandatory tests that are needed to paint an accurate picture.

Once you’ve browsed through the stickeys a bit, lets discuss your concerns.

3

You and I are soul brothers lol. Well not really but we have similar situations. Everyone says I am very skinny, but I too am skinny fat and my arms are skinny compared to everything else (so are my legs). My guess is cortisol as well (I agree with VT)…I would also get you thyroid checked (I had a thyroid problem, once I had a tsh of 8 on a scale of .5-4.5 and the first doctor that I left did nothing now I am on thyroid hormone).

Make sure you AT LEAST get: CORTISOL, TSH, FREE T3, FREE T4…

I assume you are getting testosterone checked…once that gets back we will see where we are. I know it is frustrating working out and not getting anywhere whereas other people seem to get sexy bodies while we are left with FATTER bodies after going to the gym. I always laugh when people at gyms tell me that I have to eat a lot more food because they don’t understand when I eat a lot of calories I just get fat I do NOT get muscle to compensate… don’t give up hope…

4

[quote]federer23 wrote:
Hey folks. I’m new here, but I’ve been lurking for a while. I have some questions about getting tested for testosterone etc.

Background: I’m 27, male. I played tennis for my HS/College, and I can hold my own on a basketball court. This being said, I’ve never been big or strong, and I’ve relied on being relatively fast with good reflexes and jumping ability. From 22-25 I was around 150lbs at 5’11" (unfortunately I was “skinny fat” to a degree, usually around 16-17% body fat with love handles). I got tired of being relatively weak, and about a year ago I started to get more serious about training.

Reading this forum, I found many reasons to lose the fat first, or bulk up first. Since I was more annoyed with being weak than fat I decided to go for the latter. Over the last year I’ve upped my caloric intake (while eating fairly healthy) and hit the gym hard 6 days a week. Though I’ve gone up to 170 pounds, I haven’t gotten that much stronger. I feel like the majority of the weight has been fat (I’m now 18-19%) in my midsection. My bench went up from only 130lbs to around 150lbs. Bicep curls from 25lbs to just 30lbs (they refuse to Grow!). I feel that most of this is due to getting better at lifting as opposed to actually growing muscle.

Also I feel much less motivated than before, and even a little “depressed.” The past year I’ve had severe, unremitting insomnia. I can fall asleep, but I wake up every hour or so, heart pounding, usually from a nightmare type dream. I’ve also been experiencing anxiety. What made me think about possible low testosterone is that I’ve been suffering from a worsening case of ejaculatory anhedonia over the last 2-3 years. Basically everything “works” but I get little to no pleasure from orgasms.

I’ve never been on gear, and no drugs besides the occasional adderall in school, some weed here and there and social drinking (2-3 times a month).

Anyway I’m going to an endocrinologist next week and I’m going to ask about testing for low testosterone. Is there anything else I should get tested for? I’ve been tested for sleep apnea (since I snore a lot) and came back negative. Also I’ve done basic bloodwork with nothing amiss save for low-normal B12 (been supplementing ever since).

Thanks for any help.

[/quote]

Vbella
Had the best advice if you need a good DR I have a colleague in california who is really good and she will look into the root cause of your problem similar to what I do with people, but it will be with a DR. She is really great and affordable. I would try to isolate why you are feeling this way and then get proper blood work to rule out adrenal, thyroid, and sex hormones imbalances while looking into proper lifestlye, nutriton, or other biological , emotional, physical and environmental stress present. Pm me for details.

5

BARE minimum: Cortisol (8am draw), TSH, Total T, Free T. I would also get Free T3, Free T4, Vitamin D-25OH.

It sounds to me like you have adrenal fatigue and possibly thyroid issues, but I hate to guess w/out bloodwork.

Read the “blood work, testing…” and “Advice for Newbies” stickies.