Low T because of obesity?

[shayima]

Hi, i've got a question, i'm a 19 year old paraplegic dude with low testosterone, i'm also overweight, I weigh 105kg ish and i'm 175cm tall, I used to be 125kg but now it's gotten REALLY hard regardless of what I eat, i've read low T can make it harder to lose weight because of higher insulin levels, is that true? My doc only prescribes me testosterone gel which hasn't worked, he doesn't wanna give me injections because he thinks I have low T because I am obese, which I think is a factor in it, but not the whole picture. 4/10 people with my injury have low testosterone, and my levels are incredibly low, i've done 3 blood tests.

I uploaded my test results, the latest test were after he told me to go on the gel for one month and then take a break for two weeks and then take another bloodtest to see if my testosterone production had gotten stimulated from the gel, I told him that this wouldn't work as the natural production shuts down but he wouldn't listen, i've since contacted a private health clinic specialized in testosterone to get the help I need.

Could these insanely low levels for a 19 year old be caused solely by my obesity?

EDIT: Forgot to mention I pretty much have all the symptoms of low T.

 

[Vince]

Hi, i've got a question, i'm a 19 year old paraplegic dude with low testosterone, i'm also overweight, I weigh 105kg ish and i'm 175cm tall, I used to be 125kg but now it's gotten REALLY hard regardless of what I eat, i've read low T can make it harder to lose weight because of higher insulin levels, is that true? My doc only prescribes me testosterone gel which hasn't worked, he doesn't wanna give me injections because he thinks I have low T because I am obese, which I think is a factor in it, but not the whole picture. 4/10 people with my injury have low testosterone, and my levels are incredibly low, i've done 3 blood tests.

https://i.imgur.com/TtE30NP.png

There are my blood tests, the latest test were after he told me to go on the gel for one month and then take a break for two weeks and then take another bloodtest to see if my testosterone production had gotten stimulated from the gel, I told him that this wouldn't work as the natural production shuts down but he wouldn't listen, i've since contacted a private health clinic specialized in testosterone to get the help I need.

Could these insanely low levels for a 19 year old be caused solely by my obesity?

Please repost, I wonder why it's so light?

 

[shayima]

Yeah, I don't know why that happened, let me edit the post, very weird.

edit: I think I fixed it? looks normal for me now.

 

[Vince]

I would first start a diet/exercise program and possibly Metformin. Look into going low-carb.

A low-carb diet for beginners
https://www.excelmale.com/forum/showthread.php?14206-A-low-carb-diet-for-beginners[SUB][SUP]
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[shayima]

I've tried loads of different diets including low carb, it worked from 125kg to 105kg but i'm stuck now, been trying to eat clean for months, yet no progress at all when i'm eating the same things that made me lose 20 kg before, which is why I suspect that my low T is the issue here.

 

[Systemlord]

Hypothyroidism can be the cause of your symptoms as well, low T gets a bad rap for low energy and fat gain. Beware most doctors get thyroid wrong and blindly follow these lab ranges that are too broad and have been narrowed over the years. You should just type in lab data.

Your doctor is the poster child for an idiot!

 

[FeelingLost]

Hi shayima,
I am very sorry to hear about your injury or affliction. I hope we can help you but most of us are not doctors and I would think you will need a dam good one.
You say "4/10 people with my injury have low testosterone, and my levels are incredibly low, i've done 3 blood tests."
Do you know why men with your injury get low T?

As for your question :
"Could these insanely low levels for a 19 year old be caused solely by my obesity?"
You are 5'7" 235#. In my opinion NO I don't think so but that is just an opinion based on my gut feeling I can't offer any proof.

You also asked if raising your T lvl would help you loose weight. It sure did for me and it helped build muscle but major changes in my diet and exersize was also required.

Do you have use of your arms do you use a wheelchair?
We have 3 wheelchairs in my gym and those guys are unbelievable. Their arms are thick as tree trunks.

Anyway that's enough from me for now. I hope something I posted is of use to you.

 

[shayima]

Hypothyroidism can be the cause of your symptoms as well, low T gets a bad rap for low energy and fat gain. Beware most doctors get thyroid wrong and blindly follow these lab ranges that are too broad and have been narrowed over the years. You should just type in lab data.

Your doctor is the poster child for an idiot!

Yeah, idk to be honest, both hypothyroidism and hypogonadism have similar symptoms, but I feel more like i'm leaning towards hypogonadism seeing as I have more symptoms that fits that better. Yep, I know he is, that's why I changed to a private mens health clinic specialized in testosterone therapy, unfortunately it's a 7 hour drive away from where I live.

 

[shayima]

Hi shayima,
I am very sorry to hear about your injury or affliction. I hope we can help you but most of us are not doctors and I would think you will need a dam good one.
You say "4/10 people with my injury have low testosterone, and my levels are incredibly low, i've done 3 blood tests."
Do you know why men with your injury get low T?

As for your question :
"Could these insanely low levels for a 19 year old be caused solely by my obesity?"
You are 5'7" 235#. In my opinion NO I don't think so but that is just an opinion based on my gut feeling I can't offer any proof.

You also asked if raising your T lvl would help you loose weight. It sure did for me and it helped build muscle but major changes in my diet and exersize was also required.

Do you have use of your arms do you use a wheelchair?
We have 3 wheelchairs in my gym and those guys are unbelievable. Their arms are thick as tree trunks.

Anyway that's enough from me for now. I hope something I posted is of use to you.

I think men with my injury gets low testosterone from their spinal cord being broken, it affects the whole body in different ways, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22024324

"These findings confirm both a substantial population of men with SCI and with testosterone deficiency, and a significant association between testosterone level and severity of SCI."

I'm injury between T4-T5 which means that I can't feel or move anything below half my stomach.

I try to eat around 1300-1500 calories per day as suggested by my dietitian to lose weight, but to no avail.

Yes, I have full upper body strength and my arms are very strong, I use a manual wheelchair.

 

[Will Brink]

Hi, i've got a question, i'm a 19 year old paraplegic dude with low testosterone, i'm also overweight, I weigh 105kg ish and i'm 175cm tall, I used to be 125kg but now it's gotten REALLY hard regardless of what I eat, i've read low T can make it harder to lose weight because of higher insulin levels, is that true? My doc only prescribes me testosterone gel which hasn't worked, he doesn't wanna give me injections because he thinks I have low T because I am obese, which I think is a factor in it, but not the whole picture. 4/10 people with my injury have low testosterone, and my levels are incredibly low, i've done 3 blood tests.

I uploaded my test results, the latest test were after he told me to go on the gel for one month and then take a break for two weeks and then take another bloodtest to see if my testosterone production had gotten stimulated from the gel, I told him that this wouldn't work as the natural production shuts down but he wouldn't listen, i've since contacted a private health clinic specialized in testosterone to get the help I need.

Could these insanely low levels for a 19 year old be caused solely by my obesity?

EDIT: Forgot to mention I pretty much have all the symptoms of low T.

Obesity is a factor, but as a paraplegic, you have a much more complicated clinical picture and his blaming is exclusively on your weight is overly simplistic. Your situation will also have a direct impact on your T levels and TRT a must in your situation likely. See:

Testosterone And Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI)


If your doc refuses to get you the TRT that's effective for you, start looking for another doc.

 

[shayima]

Obesity is a factor, but as a paraplegic, you have a much more complicated clinical picture and his blaming is exclusively on your weight is overly simplistic. Your situation will also have a direct impact on your T levels and TRT a must in your situation likely. See:

Testosterone And Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI)


If your doc refuses to get you the TRT that's effective for you, start looking for another doc.

Yep, that's exactly what I told my doc, but unfortunately a big majority of the urologists seems to be very ignorant when it comes to testosterone treatment, especially testosterone treatment combined with SCI. I have contacted a private health clinic that is specialized in testosterone treatment and they seem willing to give me injections. Thanks for the article, very good read from what I could understand I've lived my whole life with no motivation, drive, libido etc and i'm growing very tired of it, no progress in anything because i'm exhausted all the time, so hopefully TRT will be the thing that finally gets my life on the right track.

 

[FeelingLost]

Yep, that's exactly what I told my doc, but unfortunately a big majority of the urologists seems to be very ignorant when it comes to testosterone treatment, especially testosterone treatment combined with SCI. I have contacted a private health clinic that is specialized in testosterone treatment and they seem willing to give me injections. Thanks for the article, very good read from what I could understand I've lived my whole life with no motivation, drive, libido etc and i'm growing very tired of it, no progress in anything because i'm exhausted all the time, so hopefully TRT will be the thing that finally gets my life on the right track.

Hi shayima, You bring up a good point I hope I am not being too personal with my question.
libido- how does that work for a person with your condition?
I ask because if sex/the mental release from a climax is not possible having a high libido could be its own hell.

My own personnal experience with this. I am old 64 and have suffered with ED and no libido for 10 years. My TT was 180
My doc gave me too much T (trough 1175 FT 33 the top of the FT range was 18) and my libido came rushing back I was so horny BUT
I still had ED I could not get hard. It was hell on earth. I stopped my injections for a week to come down as fast as i could. I never want to go there again.

 

[shayima]

Hi shayima, You bring up a good point I hope I am not being too personal with my question.
libido- how does that work for a person with your condition?
I ask because if sex/the mental release from a climax is not possible having a high libido could be its own hell.

My own personnal experience with this. I am old 64 and have suffered with ED and no libido for 10 years. My TT was 180
My doc gave me too much T (trough 1175 FT 33 the top of the FT range was 18) and my libido came rushing back I was so horny BUT
I still had ED I could not get hard. It was hell on earth. I stopped my injections for a week to come down as fast as i could. I never want to go there again.

Like, I can masturbate/have sex and climax which i'm very thankful for, because not a lot of people with my condition are able to reach climax, and when I do, I feel this intense feeling in my whole body and it's very pleasant. I'm able to get hard, but keeping it up is the problem(about 40-50% of the time I can't keep it 100% hard), but I have a viagra prescription so that solves that problem, I'm looking into Cialis atm though because i've heard it's more effective(lasts a longer period of time).

Edit: Isn't Viagra/Cialis an option for you? It must be hell to never be able to get it up :/

 

[CoastWatcher]

You mentioned a men's clinic (that was some distance from you). Where do you live?

 

[shayima]

You mentioned a men's clinic (that was some distance from you). Where do you live?

Sweden, unfortunately not too many clinics that specializes in testosterone here.

 

[Will Brink]

Yep, that's exactly what I told my doc, but unfortunately a big majority of the urologists seems to be very ignorant when it comes to testosterone treatment, especially testosterone treatment combined with SCI. I have contacted a private health clinic that is specialized in testosterone treatment and they seem willing to give me injections. Thanks for the article, very good read from what I could understand I've lived my whole life with no motivation, drive, libido etc and i'm growing very tired of it, no progress in anything because i'm exhausted all the time, so hopefully TRT will be the thing that finally gets my life on the right track.

You can forward them that page which has studies listed specific to SCI and T. SCI or not, it's a major challenge to find docs with a clue about TRT. You came to the right place for advice at least.

 

[shayima]

You can forward them that page which has studies listed specific to SCI and T. SCI or not, it's a major challenge to find docs with a clue about TRT. You came to the right place for advice at least.

Will do! I just think it's kinda sad that I can google for a few hours and have better knowledge about testosterone treatment than my DOCTOR who has gone to university and studied medicine, absolutely absurd.

 

[Dave B.]

I try to eat around 1300-1500 calories per day as suggested by my dietitian to lose weight, but to no avail.

Yes, I have full upper body strength and my arms are very strong, I use a manual wheelchair.

If you're trying to kick-start some weight loss, or just reboot your immune system and possibly your gut bacteria in the process, you might ask your dietitian about intermittent fasting, or a FMD "fast-mimicking diet" like that proposed by Dr. Valter Longo, which means for a time you eat something like 800 calories per day for a period of time.

I've had really good experiences with brief fasting and the FMD regimen. The studies and data just keep coming about the benefits of fasting methods -- there's even a recent study linked on the front page of this site right now: https://www.excelmale.com/content.php?554-Fasting-May-Regenerate-Repair-Intestinal-Stem-Cells

 

[shayima]

If you're trying to kick-start some weight loss, or just reboot your immune system and possibly your gut bacteria in the process, you might ask your dietitian about intermittent fasting, or a FMD "fast-mimicking diet" like that proposed by Dr. Valter Longo, which means for a time you eat something like 800 calories per day for a period of time.

I've had really good experiences with brief fasting and the FMD regimen. The studies and data just keep coming about the benefits of fasting methods -- there's even a recent study linked on the front page of this site right now: https://www.excelmale.com/content.php?554-Fasting-May-Regenerate-Repair-Intestinal-Stem-Cells

I have tried A LOT of things, including intermittent fasting, eating less than 1k calories per day and for long periods of time, nothing at all works, I even tried water fasting for a week to see if that'd do anything, didn't do jack shit, kept all my weight on even though I only took in water, vitamins and minerals for a week. It's like I hit a plateau that I just cannot get away from, kinda kills my little motivation that I have left and lately i've been starting to eat unhealthy shit more often.

 

[Country23030]

[h=2]Low T because of obesity?[/b]Yes, but it's a multifaceted problem!