Tested my son for testosterone

[BigTex]

Did he take multiple blood tests? Is he under the supervision of a doctor to rule out other issues? Seems premature for a 26-year-old to jump on TRT based on one blood test with a total testosterone level of 467. Did you get his SHBG and Free T measured?

Our son has no health insurance, no money and harldy any belongings. When he was young he had a testicle that never fell. The doctors in Argentina put him on HGH to force it and it never fell. We have had him tested before and he was diagnosed with low T. This was at 17 year old.

So I will also throw this into the picture...he has been suicidal on many occasions. We have taken him to a psychologist ansd he just refused to talk of even go. So he ended up not trusting us any longer. He has spent way too much of his time on political issues and blames everyone for his lack of success even though he has done this to himself. In 7 years he has been given a brand new car and owned 3 others. We paid cash for the new car and he totalled it and had the other repossessed. Being a football coach for his entire time growing up, I admit I was not there much so he did not talk to me for years after he left home.

 

[waterbottle1258@tutanota.]

Everyone is quick to blame testosterone for all of their struggles. I was one of them. Check my posts to see my history. I was actually in the same situation at age 26 in regards to T levels. I am off of T and feeling better than when I was on.

It's hard to be a parent I bet. Getting a good paying job in todays world is tough. But you shouldn't be doing this to your son. His hormones were in a good spot. Now you have to worry about elevated E2, hematocrit for the rest of his life and dial it in.

 

[FunkOdyssey]

He has spent way too much of his time on political issues and blames everyone for his lack of success even though he has done this to himself.

He's a polarizing figure, but in my opinion Jordan Peterson is the answer to this particular problem in a young man. The books are great if he will read them. If not, just point him to Peterson's YouTube channel. He's probably straightened out millions of floundering young men at this point.

 

[DorianGray]

Our son has no health insurance, no money and harldy any belongings. When he was young he had a testicle that never fell. The doctors in Argentina put him on HGH to force it and it never fell. We have had him tested before and he was diagnosed with low T. This was at 17 year old.

So I will also throw this into the picture...he has been suicidal on many occasions. We have taken him to a psychologist ansd he just refused to talk of even go. So he ended up not trusting us any longer. He has spent way too much of his time on political issues and blames everyone for his lack of success even though he has done this to himself. In 7 years he has been given a brand new car and owned 3 others. We paid cash for the new car and he totalled it and had the other repossessed. Being a football coach for his entire time growing up, I admit I was not there much so he did not talk to me for years after he left home.

This is a complex psychological issue very, very similar to what we experienced with my oldest son. Similar also, in some respects to the son of a close friend, who called two days ago reaching out for help for him. I feel your pain, BigTex, and then some, we've been through it all. Labels are put on like, bipolar, mild autism, but few treatments lead to a concrete solution. Medications which they take for awhile then burn out and refuse to take, counseling which some attend, others refuse. What seems like a normal child early on, changes into adulthood and the symptoms become worse. Every case is different because in reality, it is a "spectrum" of psychological conditions, unique to each individual because brain wiring cause is as unique as fingerprints. This is why doctors have no cure. The only case management I have seen to be effective is another friend's son. Dad (mainly), had to take charge of his life, which he somehow managed to do in a subtle way, where he was allowed to. Moved son into their house, got him to accept therapy (after going through three psych drs.), makes sure he takes his medication, drives him to the gym (the son likes to work out so that was an "in" for dad). He gets SS disability for his son (adult now) plus additional $ from state to be his caregiver, writes off the room in his house for that purpose (a legit IRS deduct.). The main thing is for you to talk to as many professional people in the field as necessary to find out how to approach your situation. And it will be step by step, incremental, backwards then forward. In my friend's case, he told me he had to worry about finding his son hanging in the garage, battle his hiding booze places in the house, not taking meds, up and down roller coaster of anger and violence (and this is a big strong kid). Hang in there, BigTex, it can be done.

 

[tareload]

I just can't believe that the majority of those replying (many of whom should know better) seem to be supportive of a 26-year-old starting TRT based on one blood test that was largely incomplete.

Just for the record, I am supportive of parents reaching out and trying to help their son. If this was some newbie poster then yes I would drop the hammer based on your logic above. But this is BigTex and he knows exactly what he is getting his son into based on my read of all of his past posts and history. He has 40 years+ of AAS under his belt and a good understanding of how the HPTA works along with control of HPTA. As @FunkOdyssey laid out us lecturing isn't going to do any good here.

Also this is family issue so I am biased to be on the non-judgmental/listening side in this case (shocking I know). Hence my bias.

 

[tareload]

He's a polarizing figure, but in my opinion Jordan Peterson is the answer to this particular problem in a young man. The books are great if he will read them. If not, just point him to Peterson's YouTube channel. He's probably straightened out millions of floundering young men at this point.

 

[Pacman]

Total Testosterone - 467

That's not very high, but it's not exactly out of range either.

What about the free T? DHT? etc ... Is this just one individual blood test, and not a comprehensive one at that?

I am not in your shoes, but I would have been a much more hesitant to start someone with something that is a lifelong commitment when it may not even be what he needs.

When I got tested for low T, my levels were less than 80 total, in 3 separate tests, all of which I took a week apart from each other. When I got to ~450 after a month on Androgel I felt AMAZING! Not everybody needs to have 900 total T to feel great....

If I could attain ~450 total T naturally I'd chuck out all my T vials in a heartbeat.

This post kind of worries me... If at some point he won't have access to his exogenous T, his depression will be 100 times worse. You are directly causing him to be dependent on an external solution for a problem that may not even exist. Yeah it might help him now in the short term, but it can very well turn into a curse later.

I really do hope that this is what he needs since he already started, but damn, this does not seem like a wise thing to do...

This post reminds me of that quote by Maslow -
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”

 

[tareload]

Before I spend much time on this

If I would only take a moment and think this before posting. Well done, I may use this if you don't mind.

 

[BigTex]

Just for the record, I am supportive of parents reaching out and trying to help their son. If this was some newbie poster then yes I would drop the hammer based on your logic above. But this is BigTex and he knows exactly what he is getting his son into based on my read of all of his past posts and history. He has 40 years+ of AAS under his belt and a good understanding of how the HPTA works along with control of HPTA. As @FunkOdyssey laid out us lecturing isn't going to do any good here.

Also this is family issue so I am biased to be on the non-judgmental/listening side in this case (shocking I know). Hence my bias

Thank you for those comments @readalot.

Plus my wife has 37 years’ experience with anabolic steroids. So it is not our 1st rodeo. Now let me thicken the plot even more. I am not our son's biological father. But I am the only father he remembers. His biological father sexually abused him when he was two years old and attempted to kill him in Argentina. My wife spent years fighting the Catholic controlled courts trying to get custody and keep this monster from our son. This kid went to countless private, and court appointed psychologist and psychologists, and all agreed that he was a victim of a horrible abuse. I came along and helped her fight the battle and the courts gave a temporary restraining order. In the meantime we hired some kind of unscrupulous people in Argentina to help me get both of them out of the country, legally. He was released from my wife private psychologist but I started noticing signs of the abuse in his personality. Once he left home and we no longer carried him on our insurance. Now he is way to old and he refuses to get help. So my wife and I talk with him all the time about how he feels and how to face his issues and get over them. He admits he has a distrust of men. Now back to the T levels, he wanted to start on testosterone and he is an adult. As I mentioned he was diagnosed with low T when he was 17 and now he wants to do something about it and has educated himself very well on the subject. He can’t afford a doctor’s care so I guess I am the next best source. If not me, it will be someone else on the street. I prefer to handle this myself. Once he gets a job and insurance he promised he will go to my doctor and let him handle the rest. Already after a week, he says she feel much better mentally and doesn’t feel depressed and in a mental cloud all the time. He has also gotten out of the house and started lifting weights. So, this to us is a big improvement. As parents we have been faced with a situation that if we do nothing, it could end bad, so we have to pull out all stops. Since we are in control of this it can be ended if thing go bad. I certainly want our son and my wife to not have to endure any more pain that what they have already been through. My wife was wrecked and to the point of doing something that might not have ended well for her. I honestly hate spilling my dirty laundry on you guys but I guess I am at the point I need to get it off my chest too. Couldn’t imagine having to deal with this.

 

[tareload]

Thank you for those comments @readalot.

Plus my wife has 37 years’ experience with anabolic steroids. So it is not our 1st rodeo. Now let me thicken the plot even more. I am not our son's biological father. But I am the only father he remembers. His biological father sexually abused him when he was two years old and attempted to kill him in Argentina. My wife spent years fighting the Catholic controlled courts trying to get custody and keep this monster from our son. This kid went to countless private, and court appointed psychologist and psychologists, and all agreed that he was a victim of a horrible abuse. I came along and helped her fight the battle and the courts gave a temporary restraining order. In the meantime we hired some kind of unscrupulous people in Argentina to help me get both of them out of the country, legally. He was released from my wife private psychologist but I started noticing signs of the abuse in his personality. Once he left home and we no longer carried him on our insurance. Now he is way to old and he refuses to get help. So my wife and I talk with him all the time about how he feels and how to face his issues and get over them. He admits he has a distrust of men. Now back to the T levels, he wanted to start on testosterone and he is an adult. As I mentioned he was diagnosed with low T when he was 17 and now he wants to do something about it and has educated himself very well on the subject. He can’t afford a doctor’s care so I guess I am the next best source. If not me, it will be someone else on the street. I prefer to handle this myself. Once he gets a job and insurance he promised he will go to my doctor and let him handle the rest. Already after a week, he says she feel much better mentally and doesn’t feel depressed and in a mental cloud all the time. He has also gotten out of the house and started lifting weights. So, this to us is a big improvement. As parents we have been faced with a situation that if we do nothing, it could end bad, so we have to pull out all stops. Since we are in control of this it can be ended if thing go bad. I certainly want our son and my wife to not have to endure any more pain that what they have already been through. My wife was wrecked and to the point of doing something that might not have ended well for her. I honestly hate spilling my dirty laundry on you guys but I guess I am at the point I need to get it off my chest too. Couldn’t imagine having to deal with this.

That is some touching stuff Brother BigTex. Thank you for sharing that. You are one hell of a dude is all that I can say. I am always pulling for you and your family. Best wishes.

 

[BigTex]

Thanks again @readalot. Neither my wife or myself have VICTIM behaviors and can't tolerate people that do. We are doers and solve problems when they happen. I had a VERY rough childhood and grew up in the streets. I have been around some of the worst characters you can imagine and am still here. I never thought I would live to see 40. If fact, two parts of my younger life were made into movies, the most recent was when I lived in NYC. My life started straightening out when I started lifting weights and using steroids. I finally had an out and finally fixed my self-esteme. My wife was the same, she grew up oppressed by government dictatorship living through the Dirty War in Argentina and became a roll model for women breaking the mold of being in the kitchen and pregnant. She was one of the 1st women to win heavy weight nationals in the sport of bodybuilding in Argentina. The 1st women to go IFBB. She also did what no women ever did and fought the Catholic controlled legal system and won. No way we are we going to allow our son to be a victim either like has has been. He is going to act like a man and suck it up and get over all that happened to him. Lifting weights will help him do that. Now he will have something that makes him feel good about himself. No matter how bad things get, the gym is your happy place in life. Hopefully in November he completes this truck driving school we paid for and he gets a job that can actually pay bills and he can be on his own again. In the mean time we have worked out a lot of his trust issues that I never had time to address when I was a football coach working 12 hour days, 7 days a week year round.

 

[gallant]

Thanks again @readalot. Neither my wife or myself have VICTIM behaviors and can't tolerate people that do. We are doers and solve problems when they happen. I had a VERY rough childhood and grew up in the streets. I have been around some of the worst characters you can imagine and am still here. I never thought I would live to see 40. If fact, two parts of my younger life were made into movies, the most recent was when I lived in NYC. My life started straightening out when I started lifting weights and using steroids. I finally had an out and finally fixed my self-esteme. My wife was the same, she grew up oppressed by government dictatorship living through the Dirty War in Argentina and became a roll model for women breaking the mold of being in the kitchen and pregnant. She was one of the 1st women to win heavy weight nationals in the sport of bodybuilding in Argentina. The 1st women to go IFBB. She also did what no women ever did and fought the Catholic controlled legal system and won. No way we are we going to allow our son to be a victim either like has has been. He is going to act like a man and suck it up and get over all that happened to him. Lifting weights will help him do that. Now he will have something that makes him feel good about himself. No matter how bad things get, the gym is your happy place in life. Hopefully in November he completes this truck driving school we paid for and he gets a job that can actually pay bills and he can be on his own again. In the mean time we have worked out a lot of his trust issues that I never had time to address when I was a football coach working 12 hour days, 7 days a week

 

[BigTex]

That's not very high, but it's not exactly out of range either.

What about the free T? DHT? etc ... Is this just one individual blood test, and not a comprehensive one at that?

I am not in your shoes, but I would have been a much more hesitant to start someone with something that is a lifelong commitment when it may not even be what he needs.

When I got tested for low T, my levels were less than 80 total, in 3 separate tests, all of which I took a week apart from each other. When I got to ~450 after a month on Androgel I felt AMAZING! Not everybody needs to have 900 total T to feel great....

If I could attain ~450 total T naturally I'd chuck out all my T vials in a heartbeat.

This post kind of worries me... If at some point he won't have access to his exogenous T, his depression will be 100 times worse. You are directly causing him to be dependent on an external solution for a problem that may not even exist. Yeah it might help him now in the short term, but it can very well turn into a curse later.

I really do hope that this is what he needs since he already started, but damn, this does not seem like a wise thing to do...

This post reminds me of that quote by Maslow -
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”

I have already though about access and once he gets insurance I will persoanlly take him to my doctor. In the mean time I can provide him all he needs. Seeing him feel good and happy is worth the chance we have taken. But there is no chance of him being left high and dry. Hopefully also, he will be convinced to seek help from a good psycholigist to help him understand his feelings. But being retired and working part time as an adjunct professor, my wife and I can't afford his medical needs. Heck, its all we can do to afford the $400/k in extra groceries. So we do the best we can. There are certainly lot of young men who have had to go on TRT, the whole idea is to make you feel better. If you feel bad with 465, then you need to think about getting that up to a better number. TRT is not so much about where your T levels are but how you feel where you are. He has all the symptoms of low T. He was the one who broght this up.

@Pacman, I know a lot of you guys that are new to TRT see it as perhaps a curse. I started when I was 26 and now about to turn 66. Very rarely been off. My wife started when she was in her early 30's and has never been off, she is 60. Neither of us see it as a curse but a blessing.

After 3 months I will have him start testing more areas. With limited funds I did as much as my wife could afford to spend out of her business account. So we make the best out of what has been thrown at us, Anyway, I know how badly I felt at 65 with a 330. Now at 830, I feel much better. A healthy 26 year old should be on the high end, not the low end, despite all of the soy boys in America. Especially when they show symptoms of low T.

 

[gallant]

The very last thing I want to do is make a negative comment about all you are doing here but are you familiar with the truck driving world? Is so disregard. I drove truck OTR for a few years in my 20s and 30s. It was the worst job I ever had. Some people are cut out for it and some aren't. I hope expectations aren't too high in case he doesn't like it. Give it a try and if it doesn't work don't get overwhelming discouraged again.

 

[Gman86]

I have already though about access and once he gets insurance I will persoanlly take him to my doctor. In the mean time I can provide him all he needs. Seeing him feel good and happy is worth the chance we have taken. But there is no chance of him being left high and dry. Hopefully also, he will be convinced to seek help from a good psycholigist to help him understand his feelings. But being retired and working part time as an adjunct professor, my wife and I can't afford his medical needs. Heck, its all we can do to afford the $400/k in extra groceries. So we do the best we can. There are certainly lot of young men who have had to go on TRT, the whole idea is to make you feel better. If you feel bad with 465, then you need to think about getting that up to a better number. TRT is not so much about where your T levels are but how you feel where you are. He has all the symptoms of low T. He was the one who broght this up.

@Pacman, I know a lot of you guys that are new to TRT see it as perhaps a curse. I started when I was 26 and now about to turn 66. Very rarely been off. My wife started when she was in her early 30's and has never been off, she is 60. Neither of us see it as a curse but a blessing.

After 3 months I will have him start testing more areas. With limited funds I did as much as my wife could afford to spend out of her business account. So we make the best out of what has been thrown at us, Anyway, I know how badly I felt at 65 with a 330. Now at 830, I feel much better. A healthy 26 year old should be on the high end, not the low end, despite all of the soy boys in America. Especially when they show symptoms of low T.

I started at 27 and I see it as probably the best thing that has ever happened to me looking back. Having optimal hormone levels 24/7 keeps me in a happy and optimistic space where I’m driven and super nice to everyone around me all the time. And I’ve remained fertile while on HRT. Im now 35, about to be 36. I definitely see it as the complete opposite of a curse. Feel extremely lucky that I was able to start having optimal hormone levels at such a relatively young age, and I love knowing that I get to have them for the rest of my life. And from the sounds of how the test is already making ur son feel, I’m guessing he’s gonna look back at getting his testosterone levels optimized as one of the best things that has ever happened to him as well

 

[BigTex]

I understand. We found out as parents we can't determine out kids path as an adult. Like I said, we had him enrolled at The University of Houston in the patrolleum engineering field. One of our family's friends from Argentina works for Exxon and is a computer guy with a PhD and said he could get our kid a job after finishing his degree. He rebelled. So this time we let him choose his path. Our expectation are only that he gets a job. He can change his path anytime he needs but a man need to work and be a bread winner. Your comments are not taken at all negatively and instead take to heart. He wants to drive for something like Amazon, locally or perhaps a Coke and beer route. I personally woud not want to drive a tuck either. I drove a school bus to football games for about 22 years. It sucked. But I was one of the very few coaches that could pass the drug tests and alcohol screens. As you can imagine, my wife and I hope for lot higher degree of success. But at this point we will take anything. Even a mechanic. But thank you so much for the advice.

@readalot, I just suggested that my son watch Jordan Peterson. He wants to be a psychology major but we could see that career in Houston is not going to pay the bills. He still does read a lot about psychology. Thanks!

 

[Pacman]

I have already though about access and once he gets insurance I will persoanlly take him to my doctor. In the mean time I can provide him all he needs. Seeing him feel good and happy is worth the chance we have taken. But there is no chance of him being left high and dry. Hopefully also, he will be convinced to seek help from a good psycholigist to help him understand his feelings. But being retired and working part time as an adjunct professor, my wife and I can't afford his medical needs. Heck, its all we can do to afford the $400/k in extra groceries. So we do the best we can. There are certainly lot of young men who have had to go on TRT, the whole idea is to make you feel better. If you feel bad with 465, then you need to think about getting that up to a better number. TRT is not so much about where your T levels are but how you feel where you are. He has all the symptoms of low T. He was the one who broght this up.

@Pacman, I know a lot of you guys that are new to TRT see it as perhaps a curse. I started when I was 26 and now about to turn 66. Very rarely been off. My wife started when she was in her early 30's and has never been off, she is 60. Neither of us see it as a curse but a blessing.

After 3 months I will have him start testing more areas. With limited funds I did as much as my wife could afford to spend out of her business account. So we make the best out of what has been thrown at us, Anyway, I know how badly I felt at 65 with a 330. Now at 830, I feel much better. A healthy 26 year old should be on the high end, not the low end, despite all of the soy boys in America. Especially when they show symptoms of low T.

For me personally TRT is a blessing, well worth the money and time. My only other choice is to be with no testosterone.

I really do hope it helps your son, nobody deserves to be in such longlasting pain.

It's amazing that you got him to go the gym and you are pushing for him to go to truck driving school. Anything, literally anything to work towards and being immersed in a task or goal will very much likely help him immensely.

Hopefully he can also stop paying attention to politics. That's just a source of unnecessary misery that nobody needs in their life.

Regarding therapy btw, if I can put my $0.02 in... There are problem focused-therapists (e.g. psychoanalysts, "tell me about your childhood and all your pain"), and then there are solution-focused therapists (e.g. cognitive behavioral therapists, "what scares you? okay let's expose you to that fear and see what happens!"). Solution-focused therapists are a much better option if you have a choice between the two... Of course, your son has to be a willing participant for any of it to work at all...

 

[Systemlord]

When he was young he had a testicle that never fell.

The problem with your son could very well be he's only operating on half the testosterone he was destined for, due to the testicle not dropping. As anyone with low-T can attest, enjoyment in life is significantly diminished when T is lower than optimal for a person.

 

[DixieWrecked]

Holy shit! This is an awesome graphic. I'm a science teacher and part of my job is just helping kids grow as people. I'm gonna borrow this.

 

[tareload]

Holy shit! This is an awesome graphic. I'm a science teacher and part of my job is just helping kids grow as people. I'm gonna borrow this.

Ladder of accountability. Let it go forth and multiply!!

Bless you.

PS maybe this version speaks more to the kids?

The accountability ladder

When something doesn’t go right, or something needs doing, there are lots of ways to respond. If you choose a victim mentality it’s easy to ignore the situation, blame others for it, declare your powerlessness or just wait and hope. Or you can choose to consider yourself accountable and take a...

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