TRT advice for military member

[stotler]

Hello,

I'm a 27 yo AF officer who's been in the service for under a year. I think I've been suffering from low T symptoms for the past few months so I got some labs from Labcorp and my initial test test showed my total T at 200 ng/dL. A test of free and total about two weeks later showed free test at 6.2 pg/mL and total at 323 ng/dL. I went to the base doc and they ordered their own labs which showed total test at 431 ng/dL, free test at 7 ng/dL, shbg at 43 nmol/L, and albumin at 4.7 g/dL. I'm wondering what's the best way to pursue this further. The base docs said they won't recognize the independent tests since "they're not up to military technician standards" which I get..but I'd rather give it another shot with a civilian doctor and get their two sense. The docs said they'd do a follow-up 6 months from now and go from there. I don't want to wait that long and I'm in the process of working with the patient advocate on base; however, I don't want to make such a fuss of things that it could potentially jeopardize future career opportunities. I'm just hoping to get advice from any other service members who have dealt with similar issues. I workout regularly, meditate, & exercise, however I suspect I've dealt with low T for the past few years with way I've been feeling overall. Thanks for the input.

 

[NoHablo]

Stotler,

I am a retired military officer.

There are lots of moving parts here, but you can certainly get your arms wrapped around them. You will hear lots of "...yeah, but's," because there are many things to consider when trying to get to your ultimate solution. This is not bad, but can sometimes make learning and determining a course of action for yourself difficult.

That said, here are a few things that I think you should think about .....

1. You "think" you've been suffering from low T ? Believe me, for those who suffer from low T, there is no doubt in there mind that they are suffering. If not from low t, then certainly from something. I realize that you didn't mean it this way, but I'm just saying ....

2. Military medicine will not address your needs. It's designed to keep you healthy enough to do your job and no more. High end care, like hormone replacement (more than just testosterone), by a knowledgeable and experienced doctor does not exist within this system (in my 30 plus years of experience).

3. Find a knowledgeable doctor that you trust, be compliant, and allow him to do his/her job. The doctor can by close by or on-line. Both work well.

4. You need to understand the difference of being treated for "low t" and the desire to be "optimized (I really don't like this word, because it sounds like a markedly ploy, but it works for our purposes here)." The meanings are different, often misunderstood, and mistakenly used interchangeably.

5. Address all of your sex hormones, not just include testosterone, and your thyroid as well. Learn your body and manage your nutrition, hydration, sleep, and exercise appropriately.

6. Cost? Get over it! As an AF officer, you can afford to invest a few bucks in your health/life !! Truth is, for most people, cost in not prohibitive any more ....

Bottom line: Go off base !

Respectfully my friend,

 

[Vince Carter]

I am prior Air Force. My only reservation is if you piss hot for Test or something like that though you will/would have a legit prescription for it. Though I'm unsure how the metabolites appear in a urine sample or what the .mil cut off might be. If you got popped for a random 24hrs after you injected I suppose the metabolites in the urine would be high enough to get flagged.

You may be surprised by what you find with your primary care provider, too.

My other thought is if Big Blue will treat you is it something that you can remain worldwide qualified; deployable.

Like the most of us in the civilian world this can come down to your Doc knowing something about TRT, or not. It's an open conversation you can have with your primary care provider, too, how they might view TRT obtained outside their purview.