New to the Forum With Comfirmed Low T

[FeelingLost]

New to the Forum with possible Low T

I'm in my early 60. Retired Aerospace engineer in good health or so I thought.
Been retired for 6 years and have been doing my bucket list. One day about 2 years ago I sat down in my living room comfy chair and lost all desire to leave it.
If I could put my condition into one word it would be apathetic.

Add infrequent mild anxiety and mild panic attacks do to feeling hopeless i decided to go see my PCP 3 months ago. The doc performed a complete physical exam with bloodwork. His diagnoses was depression and he put me on 10mg of Lexapro while we waited for the blood work. 3 days in I called because the antidepressants side effect were very bad. Yes my anxiety and panic attacks were gone but my mind was dead to the world. I asked to cut the dose to 1/2 and he agreed. I ended up take even less do to how numb it made me feel.

Fast forward to blood tests results are ready. Doc says I can't find anything physically wrong with you other than you have an extremely low testosterone lvl (177) and he started to write a script for zoloft I think. I stopped him and asked if my low T could be the reason I have lost all interest in life and become so apathetic.
He said maybe. I told him I did not want to spend the rest of my days drugged to the point I did not care about not caring. He stopped writing the antidepressant and prescribed Testim 50mg. once per day and a revisit in 60 days for more blood work. I am to call him if my anxiety panic attacks return as we wait to see what the TRT does.

Oh my god I wrote a book. OK I'll stop here. Bottomline I am looking for a forum style support group that is more focused on mens health than how pumped can I get at the gym. So far I have enjoyed what I have read here and can relate to several forum members. If you made it thru all this thanks for listening.

 

[Gene Devine]

Hi and welcome to Excel Male.

The symptoms you have described are classic to hypogonadism. Please use this site and the information in it to learn as much about testosterone therapy as you can...it's why we created it.

It sounds like your PCP is good on you trying to increase your testosterone serum levels but know that most PCP are NOT trained well if at all in TRT for men...so it's very very important for you to learn here.

Also, watch this video by our dear friend Dr. John Crisler on how to apply testosterone gels that will get you the best chance at increasing your serum levels.

https://vimeo.com/124213946

Also, learn what blood work you need and what needs to be monitored over time.

 

[FeelingLost]

So 30 years ago I got a Vasectomy. Back then the docs said this operation would not effect me in any negative way. Now 30 years later I don't believe they had a clue if this would effect us later in life.

What is todays thinking about Vasectomy and do you think it leads to Low Testosterone later in life?

 

[CoastWatcher]

In all candor, you haven't had an appropriate workup if the only test pertaining to your hypogonadal status was total testosterone. Your doctor's cavalier approach to that low total testosterone value, put you on an antidepressant until you intervened, indicates he's not really qualified to manage your TRT protocol.

At at the very least, you should have free testosterone, CBC, PSA, LH, FSH, estradiol (sensitive test), a full thyroid workup (TSH, t3, t4, rt3) DHT. Did your doctor tell you a significant number of men fail to see improvement on topical testosterone? It's an absorption issue (I failed miserably), and for those men injections are the preferred mode of delivery.

Many of us found our initial attempts to obtain therapy were hindered by doctors who were clueless. Please let us know what else was ordered and how you are being monitored.

 

[FeelingLost]

Thank you for the welcome Gene and the video. I will give the forearm no hands method a try(very inventive) after my next blood test. Comparing the two methods might help me get the most for my money.

Hello Coastal Watcher, Thank you for your cantor and I do understand and agree with you. For right now I am just glad my PCP is willing to work with me and not drug me into Oblivion. He has already told me this is out of his field of expertise and a urologist specializing in TRT would be more suited. That said he also warned me that Denver was filled with male enhancement clinics and to be very wary.

So for right now my PCP is willing to run any blood test LabCorp is capable of. I have printed out this forums TRT target doc for him to look at. We will find out very soon if this jell is doing anything. I am only on day 15.
Will TRT fix my brain? I don't know. Right now I have a little hope some level of TRT will help me and that is more than I had 2 months ago and way better than antidepressants. Its baby steps and blood tests for me.

Not sure why my question about Vasectomies and lowT was merged with my intro but OK. It was a seperate question in my mind and my way of trying to meet other members other than mods.

 

[CoastWatcher]

Thank you for the welcome Gene and the video. I will give the forearm no hands method a try(very inventive) after my next blood test. Comparing the two methods might help me get the most for my money.

Hello Coastal Watcher, Thank you for your cantor and I do understand and agree with you. For right now I am just glad my PCP is willing to work with me and not drug me into Oblivion. He has already told me this is out of his field of expertise and a urologist specializing in TRT would be more suited. That said he also warned me that Denver was filled with male enhancement clinics and to be very wary.

So for right now my PCP is willing to run any blood test LabCorp is capable of. I have printed out this forums TRT target doc for him to look at. We will find out very soon if this jell is doing anything. I am only on day 15.
Will TRT fix my brain? I don't know. Right now I have a little hope some level of TRT will help me and that is more than I had 2 months ago and way better than antidepressants. Its baby steps and blood tests for me.

Not sure why my question about Vasectomies and lowT was merged with my intro but OK. It was a seperate question in my mind and my way of trying to meet other members other than mods.

When was your last PSA?

 

[FeelingLost]

When was your last PSA?

12/13/2016
Prostate-Specific Ag, Serum - LC 0103xx

	[TD="class: header"] Name	[/TD]

 

[CoastWatcher]

12/13/2016
Prostate-Specific Ag, Serum - LC 0103xx

	[TD="class: header"] Name	[/TD]

That's a key measure to have as a baseline at the start of TRT. In light of earlier comments about testing that I had made, I was hoping it had been captured.

 

[CSI007]

That low T value is very low. It's no wonder you feel like crap. As others have said, the GEL/Cream route may or may not work. It' didn't for me and actually made my T level worse. It's important to give the therapy a chance to work and stick with it. But if you blood levels o not increase significantly on the GEL, don't give up. Injections are easy (I hate needles and have been managing injections since earlier last year, HCG first then T)

Good luck to you and keep us up to date on your progress.

 

[FeelingLost]

Hello CSI007, thank you for your post. It is nice to know there are options if the gel fails to work. Sticking myself in the butt every month doesn't sound very appealing but I could do it if I could get the old me back.

 

[CSI007]

Hello CSI007, thank you for your post. It is nice to know there are options if the gel fails to work. Sticking myself in the butt every month doesn't sound very appealing but I could do it if I could get the old me back.

I use a 28 or 30 gauge insulin needle and jab the top of my thigh. It's all done subq so no muscle involved. After the first shot or two I have not really felt any pain. At first I felt some pain from the oil but not any more for some reason. The area will be a tiny bit sore for a day but nothing I can't handle.

 

[CoastWatcher]

Hello CSI007, thank you for your post. It is nice to know there are options if the gel fails to work. Sticking myself in the butt every month doesn't sound very appealing but I could do it if I could get the old me back.

Injections aren't as bad as many fear. However, they are administered more often than monthly. A good starting protocol typically calls for injection every 3.5 days, or twice a week. It becomes routine because TRT, when successful, is remarkable.

 

[FeelingLost]

Injections aren't as bad as many fear. However, they are administered more often than monthly. A good starting protocol typically calls for injection every 3.5 days, or twice a week. It becomes routine because TRT, when successful, is remarkable.

Thanks CW. I did not know one could use tiny insulin needles into the fat and not need to go deep into muscle with a horse needle because the T was thick as syrup. But I have just started my learning curve.
My only experience with T injections was binge watching bignoknow's vlog videos on his 3 year journey of treating severe depression with TRT.

 

[Leesto]

Thanks CW. I did not know one could use tiny insulin needles into the fat and not need to go deep into muscle with a horse needle because the T was thick as syrup. But I have just started my learning curve.
My only experience with T injections was binge watching bignoknow's vlog videos on his 3 year journey of treating severe depression with TRT.

Probably many of us started out with big needles. I used a 22 ga 1.5" for many months. What a relief it was to switch to a smaller needle! If you can start out on a smaller needle you'll avoid a lot of the anxiety.

I use a 27 ga 1/2" which I find gives a good balance between load time and pain avoidance. Now and then one will sting pretty good but for the most part the injections are painless. I use the quads since that location is convenient and I can easily use two hands. Don't tense the muscle before or during injection. Try to stay relaxed and keep the muscle loose.