Symptoms of Low T Except Libido and Erections Still Good

[Logrige]

Hello All,
About 6 months ago I started weight training with body trainer. He said I was one of his hardest working clients but noticed I was not making muscle. He said it would be a good idea to get T tested. I read up more on low T issues and sure enough I have some symptoms: Insomnia, anxiety, and low energy, and man boobs could be smaller for being normal weight and eating somewhat healthy. However, I don't have a low libido and I do get erections. I don't get them like I used to but from time to time they are very good. I get morning wood most mornings.

Anyway, I got tested and looks like my T is on the lower end.

My doctor said T was low but I'm within range which confuses me. He prescribed me with 120 mg of cypio a week.

Do you guys think it's worth it to start TRT if libido is good with test results shown below? Is it possible to start for about 6 months and if it makes things worse stop and get back to normal? I want to see if it helps with sleep, energy and anxiety most of all. But I don't want to permanently mess up libido. Oh, and I'm in my late 30s.

TTotal: 367 ng/dL (range: 264-916)
Free T: 12.2 pg/mL (88.7-25.1)
DHEA-Sulfate: 264 ug/dL (range:102.6-416.3)
TSH: 2.470 ug/dL (range: 0.450-4.5)
LH: 4.3 mlU/mL (range: 1.7-8.6)
IGF: 202 ng/mL (range: 90-278)
Estradiol, Sens.: 14.6 pg/mL (range: 8-35)
SHBG: 16.3 nmol/L (range: 16.5-55.9)

Thanks!!!!

 

[savefoxes]

Yeah, you will likely benefit from it. Just make sure there's nothing that's affecting your t levels first, like sleep apnea

 

[Gman86]

Man I would feel like absolute garbage with those levels! I personally would hop on test at ur age. I started when I was 27, 36 now, and being on HRT has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I’m extremely happy that I get to be on it for life. Feel like it’s a huge advantage over being natural. Not just in the gym, just in life in general

And for the record I’ve been a health freak my whole life, and still had high SHBG and very low free T at 27. Spent a ton of money with supplements trying to get my free T up, with no luck. Then spent years and a bunch of money trying to do things other than Test to fix things, with no real luck in the end. So the politically correct answer to ur question is to try and get ur levels up naturally before trying HRT, but my personal advice is to hop on, dial in, feel great, and enjoy ur life to the fullest. And worst case scenario if u don’t like being on it u simply just stop taking it and ur natural levels will return to baseline within a month or two

 

[Systemlord]

Yeah, in range doesn't mean healthy. Not every man is going to have sexual issues when he has low testosterone.

Your estrogen is low too, testosterone will help with that.

 

[Logrige]

I certainly do feel like garbage. Doctors attributed to depression, but I honestly don't think I have depression. I'm feel just fine as far as "saddens" goes. I'm just always tired and don't have the energy for anything. I do have anxiety, but it slowly worsened into my 30s which jives with t dropping as we age. I was a little worried that TRT could mess up my libido but I don't even feel like finding a lady to take advantage of that lol

Man I would feel like absolute garbage with those levels! I personally would hop on test at ur age. I started when I was 27, 36 now, and being on HRT has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I’m extremely happy that I get to be on it for life. Feel like it’s a huge advantage over being natural. Not just in the gym, just in life in general

And for the record I’ve been a health freak my whole life, and still had high SHBG and very low free T at 27. Spent a ton of money with supplements trying to get my free T up, with no luck. Then spent years and a bunch of money trying to do things other than Test to fix things, with no real luck in the end. So the politically correct answer to ur question is to try and get ur levels up naturally before trying HRT, but my personal advice is to hop on, dial in, feel great, and enjoy ur life to the fullest. And worst case scenario if u don’t like being on it u simply just stop taking it and ur natural levels will return to baseline within a month or two

LOL I certainly feel like garbage. And those were the levels with me taking zinc, vit d, and ashwagandha. Everyone tells me I'm depressed but I'm confident I'm not. I'm just tired all the time which means I don't feel like doing anything. I reserve the little energy I have for working out but it's such major drain. When I was younger, working out made me feel so good.

I guess I was under the impression that low libido was the main symptom and other symptoms wouldn't be related to low t if libido is good.

I'm going jump on and post progress.

Thank you so much for sharing experiences.

 

[Gman86]

Yeah, in range doesn't mean healthy. Not every man is going to have sexual issues when he has low testosterone.

Your estrogen is low too, testosterone will help with that.

Agreed on all of the above. I had pretty much every symptom of low T other than any sexual issues. And my total hovered between 600-700, which was not only in range, but “optimal”. It was my free T that was bottom of the barrel and giving me all the low T symptoms. So in range absolutely doesn’t mean healthy

 

[Gman86]

I certainly do feel like garbage. Doctors attributed to depression, but I honestly don't think I have depression. I'm feel just fine as far as "saddens" goes. I'm just always tired and don't have the energy for anything. I do have anxiety, but it slowly worsened into my 30s which jives with t dropping as we age. I was a little worried that TRT could mess up my libido but I don't even feel like finding a lady to take advantage of that lol

LOL I certainly feel like garbage. And those were the levels with me taking zinc, vit d, and ashwagandha. Everyone tells me I'm depressed but I'm confident I'm not. I'm just tired all the time which means I don't feel like doing anything. I reserve the little energy I have for working out but it's such major drain. When I was younger, working out made me feel so good.

I guess I was under the impression that low libido was the main symptom and other symptoms wouldn't be related to low t if libido is good.

I'm going jump on and post progress.

Thank you so much for sharing experiences.

U might want to start really low and go slow with ur dose tho. I would personally start with around 80mg/ week, and titrate up ur dose by 20mg/ week every 6 weeks or so, until u find a dose u feel best on. Some do best on really low doses, and some do best on 200mg/ week. Starting in the middle is a little tough, just because it’s harder to know whether u should go up or down in dose if u don’t feel good. So I would personally just do it smart and start around 80mg/ week, and titrate you as needed. That’s at least what I would do if I could do it all over again

 

[Systemlord]

Doctors attributed to depression, but I honestly don't think I have depression.

It's very common for men to get put on antidepressants when low normal testosterone is causing their problems.

A lack of knowledge and education in medical school is to blame.

 

[Systemlord]

I had pretty much every symptom of low T other than any sexual issues. And my total hovered between 600-700, which was not only in range, but “optimal”. It was my free T that was bottom of the barrel

The data is clear, aging men will see a rise in Total T and SHBG and declining Free T which will increase their chances of developing prostate cancer and aggressive cases.

High Free T was even shown to delay the diagnosis.

 

[Logrige]

U might want to start really low and go slow with ur dose tho. I would personally start with around 80mg/ week, and titrate up ur dose by 20mg/ week every 6 weeks or so, until u find a dose u feel best on. Some do best on really low doses, and some do best on 200mg/ week. Starting in the middle is a little tough, just because it’s harder to know whether u should go up or down in dose if u don’t feel good. So I would personally just do it smart and start around 80mg/ week, and titrate you as needed. That’s at least what I would do if I could do it all over again

That makes sense. My doc actually wanted me at 200mg a week but I told him I was worried about sides so he dropped me to 120 mg for first 6 weeks then I would go up to 200 mg. If starting lower improves odds of managing sides, then that is the way to go. I also plan to add HCG once I'm dialed in since I plan to have kids in about a year.

 

[Gman86]

That makes sense. My doc actually wanted me at 200mg a week but I told him I was worried about sides so he dropped me to 120 mg for first 6 weeks then I would go up to 200 mg. If starting lower improves odds of managing sides, then that is the way to go. I also plan to add HCG once I'm dialed in since I plan to have kids in about a year.

Ya just do things right from the start and u’ll save urself more time, trouble and money than u can ever imagine. Just start very low and go slow. And I think adding the HCG in once ur dialed in is a great idea. Would definitely dial in on test first before adding HCG

 

[George42]

I'll be interested to see how u get on.. I've just posted about my experience with going on trt because of all the kinda symptoms you listed but without libido issues.. I then had to come off because my libido went annoyingly high. I'm awaiting some advice on my thread but I'd like to hear how you get on, being in a similar situation to me..

 

[Belekas]

That makes sense. My doc actually wanted me at 200mg a week but I told him I was worried about sides so he dropped me to 120 mg for first 6 weeks then I would go up to 200 mg. If starting lower improves odds of managing sides, then that is the way to go. I also plan to add HCG once I'm dialed in since I plan to have kids in about a year.

You want the minimum effective dose to help with your symptoms and avoid as many sides as possible so going lower before going higher does make sense to me as well fwiw. I'm planning to start 125mg and go from there as well. A lot of times less is more ime.