help plz

[ukguy]

I have been on TRT since 1993, since my own testicles stopped all production of testosterone at age 45.

I had a DVT (deep venous thrombosis) when I had a PICC line for antibiotics in 2007. Same vein as the line so likely caused by the line. Treated with Coumadin for 6 months and the clot resolved. I have remained on TRT continuously since 1993. 3 years ago I added Arimidex due to high estrogen levels.

I have never had another DVT. I have had to have 3 coronary stents placed due to artery stenosis since 2000, but I have a horrible familial history of coronary artery disease. So I don't know if my CAD can be blamed on the TRT?

I know my quality of life is greatly enhanced from the TRT as I well recall how miserable life was when I had no testosterone in my body. You have to weigh the risk vs. the benefits. When my T was low, not only did I have no libido but I was severely depressed, constantly fatigued, suffered from constant panic attacks and anxiety to the point my life was miserable. With my first injection of T, I was a changed man and none of those symptoms have ever reoccurred. To me it is not even a question as whether to continue the TRT. When my Cardiologist demanded I stop the TRT in 2000, following my first stent, I plainly told him I would rather be dead than live without testosterone. He has never brought the subject up again. 14 years later, I certainly don't regret my decision to continue the TRT.

With a history of DVT, if you are just looking to jack up your testosterone even though your natural level is normal or near-normal, then I say it is contraindicated. If your endogenous testosterone is low and it is drastically affecting your quality of life, then you have to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks? I would rather live a shorter happy life than live a long miserable life.

Hello

I have also been on trt for several years now, and without it i am exactly like you described how you felt also before you started trt. However last month i had a discectomy (partial removal of disc l4/l5 to relieve severe sciatica pain i had been suffering from for 2 years. the surgery was a success but 6 days later i suffered a pulmonary embolism(blood clot on lung) due to the hospital deciding that i wasn't a risk for clotting after surgery so i didn't required any blood thinners. so basically i was very unlucky and developed the clot probably due to being so immobile after the surgery in thinking it would help heal the disc/surgery better. anyway i stopped my trt a 3 weeks before the surgery and haven't had any trt now for 6 weeks and the terrible symptoms from low testosterone have hit me like a tonne of bricks, i am healing very well after the surgery and lung clot set back but mentally and physiologically i am distraught, to the point that over the last few days i have felt so low i am in constant fear. i have decided that life without trt is not going to work at all for me, but i am still on blood thinners for the next 6 weeks, its called apixaban and i am worried that a) if i restart my trt it might have an effect on the blood thinners or for all i know it might help? and b) if the trt even on 150mg testosterone per week (which was my usual dose) will put me at risk of another clot? i have read conflicting information but the bottom line is i simply cant carry on living the way i feel so regardless of the risk i think i will have to restart my trt asap. and the fact that the only blood clot i have ever had was a provoked clot from the surgery leads me to think that i am not specifically at risk from developing another clot from trt.
any help or advise will be much appreciated.