Body Description
Height: 5 feet and 11 inches
Weight: 235lbs currently, Usually 250+ in past
Body fat Percentage: 20% - 30% maybe even higher
Age: 22 y/o
Current Total Testosterone: 322
Quick Personal Bio:
I Have been obese my entire life. Horrible diet, low to zero activity level, and developed the body to accompany the lifestyle. This reached a critical point about 8 months ago when i started a prison sentence for DUI. During the isolation I found the resolve to change my life around 180 degrees. During some body weight exercises with a friend in prison he asked if I have had trouble losing weight. I replied yes. He asked if I am often tired for no apparent reason during the day. Same reply. He asked if I suffer from depression. Same reply. He pointed out my pre-mature hair loss and over sized breasts and told me I show all the signs for an Under active thyroid. Upon release I had blood work done two weeks ago for the thyroid and my doctor suggested I test my testosterone levels as well.
Lifestyle upon release/August 2013:
as part of my self commitment to my new lifestyle I began a radical change in diet. I eat exclusively eggs, vegetables, chicken breasts, salmon and other fish, occasional snack of pistachios cottage cheese along with the occasional other meat and small amounts of granola to go with a small serving of yogurt and berries a couple mornings a week. Whey protein in 60 gram serving once a day. My focus is on as few carbs as possible while getting 180 grams of proteins a day. I do not religiously count my calories but focus in on whole foods and portion control. I am working in lawn maintenance and work just under 20 hours a week mainly consisting of mowing lawns at a decent heart rate. This goes along with a physical and blood check which leads me to the subject of testosterone and my apparent lack of it.
As my activity level increases with this new job and healthy diet I am still feeling mild depression, tiredness during middle afternoon, inability to get a solid nights sleep, and mood fluctuations. I just had a follow up am blood draw to recheck the testosterone levels. This is being done by a general practitioner.
Questions:
Do I qualify as having Low T?
What role has low T had in my weight gain? (I understand the importance of calories in/calories out in overall weight and acknowledge my very poor diet and lifestyle of the past)
What should I expect if I move forward with TRT?
That’s all I can thank of right now. I have found a lot out from this forum and other articles on the subject but feel I would benefit greatly from becoming a member here and posting my information and situation and getting some personalized feedback.
Thanks for any and all input!
Please feel free to ask any questions regarding my situation for me clearance.
Cheers
[quote]AmericanRadAss wrote:
Age: 22 y/o
Current Total Testosterone: 322
Questions:
Do I qualify as having Low T?
What role has low T had in my weight gain? (I understand the importance of calories in/calories out in overall weight and acknowledge my very poor diet and lifestyle of the past)
What should I expect if I move forward with TRT?
[/quote]
Yes, you qualify as having low T. Despite whatever lab range you were given, it is not normal for a 22 year old to have a TT of 322.
With a TT of 322, and given your BF%, we can assume that you are estrogen dominant. Having an optimal Testosterone:Estradiol ratio will facilitate fat loss.
We will all sing harmoniously to tell you that at your age you probably have an underlying condition and TRT will only mask that condition. Sometimes not even well enough to alleviate all of your symptoms. You would be wise to figure out what that is and treat that. Your T will likely improve.
The majority of the time guys at your age with low T have secondary hypogonadism (google it), and unless you’ve sustained some type of head trauma, it can often be fixed.
Please read through the stickies if you have not done so. Get more blood work in accordance with the blood testing sticky. You will probably need to specifically request the thyroid labs. Doctors get caught up in testing TSH and fT4. This is not sufficient to diagnose subclinical thyroid issues.
KSman will want to know your body temperatures and history of iodine intake, so start thinking about that.
thyroid basics
– need history of use for iodized salt and vitamins that list iodine
– need oral body temperatures from when you first wake up and mid afternoon
– hypothyroidism can make you fat and sometimes will cause low T
advice for new guys
Labs: - see above sticky for definitions
TT
FT
E2
prolactin
LH and FSH - VERY IMPORTANT
fasting cholesterol
fasting glucose
CBC
TSH, fT3, Ft4 [not T3, T4] - do not do soon after doc palpates your thyroid!
Carefully read the stickies. You will need to read more than once and refer to these as you increase your knowledge.
You need green vegies in your diet, all vegies that are colorful are good.
5000iu vit-D3, look for tiny oil bases caps, [Wal-Mart USA has these]
You need EFA’s in your diet, fish oils, nuts, flax seed meal or oil.
[quote]AmericanRadAss wrote:
Age: 22 y/o
Current Total Testosterone: 322
Questions:
Do I qualify as having Low T?
What role has low T had in my weight gain? (I understand the importance of calories in/calories out in overall weight and acknowledge my very poor diet and lifestyle of the past)
What should I expect if I move forward with TRT?
[/quote]
Yes, you qualify as having low T. Despite whatever lab range you were given, it is not normal for a 22 year old to have a TT of 322.
With a TT of 322, and given your BF%, we can assume that you are estrogen dominant. Having an optimal Testosterone:Estradiol ratio will facilitate fat loss.
We will all sing harmoniously to tell you that at your age you probably have an underlying condition and TRT will only mask that condition. Sometimes not even well enough to alleviate all of your symptoms. You would be wise to figure out what that is and treat that. Your T will likely improve.
The majority of the time guys at your age with low T have secondary hypogonadism (google it), and unless you’ve sustained some type of head trauma, it can often be fixed.
Please read through the stickies if you have not done so. Get more blood work in accordance with the blood testing sticky. You will probably need to specifically request the thyroid labs. Doctors get caught up in testing TSH and fT4. This is not sufficient to diagnose subclinical thyroid issues.
KSman will want to know your body temperatures and history of iodine intake, so start thinking about that.
Welcome to the forum.
[/quote]
Thanks for all your help. Iv’e gone to see my general practitioner first of all to check my thyroid for hypogonadism. He had blood tests done on both the thyroid and my testosterone. The secretary called me back saying that my thyroid s fine but my testosterone was low with a result of total testosterone being 322 I went in for a secondary test then found this forum and made this thread. I’ve read briefly over the stickies and am trying to digest as much info as possible.
Is the general practitioner knowledgable in the need or these more in depth blood tests?
Am I wasting my time with. General practitioner and directly contact a endocrinologist?
Is his assessment of my thyroid to be trusted? Could he have overlooked secondary hypothyroidism?
thyroid basics
– need history of use for iodized salt and vitamins that list iodine
– need oral body temperatures from when you first wake up and mid afternoon
– hypothyroidism can make you fat and sometimes will cause low T
advice for new guys
Labs: - see above sticky for definitions
TT
FT
E2
prolactin
LH and FSH - VERY IMPORTANT
fasting cholesterol
fasting glucose
CBC
TSH, fT3, Ft4 [not T3, T4] - do not do soon after doc palpates your thyroid!
Carefully read the stickies. You will need to read more than once and refer to these as you increase your knowledge.
You need green vegies in your diet, all vegies that are colorful are good.
5000iu vit-D3, look for tiny oil bases caps, [Wal-Mart USA has these]
You need EFA’s in your diet, fish oils, nuts, flax seed meal or oil.
[/quote]
Thank you all your input.
Will a general practitioner be able to conduct these labs or will I need to go to an endocrinologist?
Veggies are now a huge staple in my diet. Same with fish oil I will grab some d3.
If you could refer to the questions I asked the previuos replied that would be super helpful.
Thanks again