First Post! Type 2 diabetes and Low-T

[eman27]

Hey everyone,
my name is eric and this is my first time posting! i posted something over on reddit and someone recommended me to check this site out.

I was diagnosed exactly a year ago with type 2 diabetes. 10.5% HA1C level, 26 years old, 5'7, and 180 pounds. medication 500mg metaformin and 25/15 oseni


i just went in for my check in this week and im now at 5.9%, 175 pounds. i will be changing my medication to Invokamet 50/500mg because the oseni was causing me to gain weight

ive felt great throughout the year once i got my sugarlevel down, but recently ive been experiencing lower libido and unable to maintain an erection during sex. i got my test results back this week and it showed that my testosterone levels is at 287 (175pounds). i compared my test results from half a year ago in May and it was 355 (161pounds) at that time.


Doctor told me that those are low numbers for someone my age and that i will be evaluated again in 3 months. he said there are a variety of factors in play, including my medication, weight, sleep and exercise. those are the things i will be readjusting in the next 3 months and if things dont change, he will refer me to a specialist and mentioned hormone replacement therapy as an option.



ive been doing a bit of research and it seems that getting more sleep, lifting weights and doing more intense form of excerise may help improve my testosterone levels. i currently go to the gym 3-4 times a week only doing cardio workout 2miles on treadmill. i would love to avoid doing testosterone therapy replacement since i know it would become a life-time treatment.

has anyone here gone through low-T + diabetes and do you guys have any advice on what i can do? is it even possible to raise my levels back to normal NATURALLY?


thank you!

here are my test results if anyone wants to take a look. thanks!

 

[CoastWatcher]

Welcome to Excelmale. Congratulations on facing the health challenges you are experiencing and working to manage them. In regard to your testosterone there are some additional tests that are crucial to understand what you're dealing with. The link below summarizes testing as it relates to hypogonadism. Be sure to open the sub-links in order to get a comprehensive picture of what more needs to be done.

https://www.excelmale.com/forum/showthread.php?6751-Blood-Tests-Pre-and-On-Testosterone-Replacement

 

[Vince]

Eric, Welcome to ExcelMale. I would definitely exhaust all my options before going on TRT. Everything you mentioned is very important. Sleep, diet and exercise, have you ever considered eating high fat and very low carb. There are a lot of good post at this site, please check them out.

 

[SoCalSurfer]

Eric welcome to ExcelMale. Make sure to read the sticky post.
I was in the same boat as you with Type 2 diabetes and low T but my level was under 200. I am also on Metformin and 500 mg twice a day and control my AIC with diet and exercise. I tried to go off Metformin but found my AIC went back up to 5.9 before it was under 5 when on metformin. For type 2 diet there is really no one plan fits all, you will need to find what works for you best. Carbs are not the main issue its what type of carbs they are and what you eat with them. a doughnut is not the same as oatmeal. both are carbs but one will spike you blood sugar and one will not. you really want to avoid those spikes and drops. Carbs with high fiber are best, and no low glycemic food. I will say if you going to use sugar use raw sugar and not High Fructose Corn Syrup. HFCS is really bad for diabetics. Also, a lot of those sugar-free foods use sugar alcohol which really is not good.

I am also on TRT and I really have not seen any impact of my Type2 diabetes with changing it. My Type2 could have helped cause my low T but TRT didn't fix my Type2. TRT will make you feel better and increase muscle mass which will help with overall health. If you have low T you can go on TRT but if you are not up to doing injections then try some of the other methods for raising T. For me those didn't work. The T-gels didn't work so I moved to shots twice a week and my levels are in 800-900 range and I am 50. I would say that for your age you should be in the 700-1000 min normal range but it really needs to go on how you feel. Some young men can have a range over 1000. 300-400 range puts your T levels in the 80-year-old man range.

 

[eman27]

Eric, Welcome to ExcelMale. I would definitely exhaust all my options before going on TRT. Everything you mentioned is very important. Sleep, diet and exercise, have you ever considered eating high fat and very low carb. There are a lot of good post at this site, please check them out.

im currently on a somewhat low carb diet. i work at a place with a lot of free snacks and soda and would occasionally have some once in a while. but for the next 3 months i will be on a very strict low carb/high fat diet to see if there will be any changes. thanks!

 

[eman27]

Eric welcome to ExcelMale. Make sure to read the sticky post.
I was in the same boat as you with Type 2 diabetes and low T but my level was under 200. I am also on Metformin and 500 mg twice a day and control my AIC with diet and exercise. I tried to go off Metformin but found my AIC went back up to 5.9 before it was under 5 when on metformin. For type 2 diet there is really no one plan fits all, you will need to find what works for you best. Carbs are not the main issue its what type of carbs they are and what you eat with them. a doughnut is not the same as oatmeal. both are carbs but one will spike you blood sugar and one will not. you really want to avoid those spikes and drops. Carbs with high fiber are best, and no low glycemic food. I will say if you going to use sugar use raw sugar and not High Fructose Corn Syrup. HFCS is really bad for diabetics. Also, a lot of those sugar-free foods use sugar alcohol which really is not good.

I am also on TRT and I really have not seen any impact of my Type2 diabetes with changing it. My Type2 could have helped cause my low T but TRT didn't fix my Type2. TRT will make you feel better and increase muscle mass which will help with overall health. If you have low T you can go on TRT but if you are not up to doing injections then try some of the other methods for raising T. For me those didn't work. The T-gels didn't work so I moved to shots twice a week and my levels are in 800-900 range and I am 50. I would say that for your age you should be in the 700-1000 min normal range but it really needs to go on how you feel. Some young men can have a range over 1000. 300-400 range puts your T levels in the 80-year-old man range.

thank you for the info! the thought of having to manage my testosterone with injections,etc on top of managing my diabetes just seems like such a daunting task. i will definitely do everything within my power the next 3 months to see if i can raise my levels up naturally or at least figure out what the underlying problem might be first before i consider TRT.

ive read through a lot of the info on the site already and i already feel a lot more prepared if and when i do have to start TRT. thanks guys!