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Looks to me like your Progesterone is quite high…LH and FSH could be higher but they are not terrible, doubt they are the issue. However, elevated Progesterone can inhibit T production/libido so that could be what’s going on here… see these studies:
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=532
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=533
Your Testosterone is quite low however, approaching borderline, and the critical Free Testosterone is so low its outside the range. Both of these would definitely impact your libido, being so low, which could be due to high Progesterone.
ALSO – your ALT (liver) enzyme level is WAY HIGH, outside the range. Has your doctor checked further into your liver function??? I’d be asking for a complete liver function test (LFT) at minimum to make sure your liver is ok!!
You may be surprised at some of the symptoms of liver disease (not saying that’s what you have but you should check things out just to be safe): medicinenet.com/drug_induced … rticle.htm
You may want to discuss the above with your doctor… and do some more research on your own. This is just my opinion and by no means am I a medical professional.
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Those T levels are very low, hypogonadal even.
Dude, you need to talk to a doc, endo or specialist that views these results as a bad thing in a man.
Or at least tell them your symptoms, show them these results, show them studies that correlate such results as hypogonadal (see “Other Studies” section of this site) and try and figure out how to boost your T levels (clomid, nolvadex, hcg) without the need for TRT first.
You should also get another full Hematology/CBC panel done to see what is going on with your Red Blood Cell count, Platelets, Hematocrit, Hemoglobin, White Blood Cells, and Differentials… and get a referral to a Hematologist if these results are abnormal (sounds like your RBC is way above range – funnily enough so is mine 19 months off, as well as other abnormalities in the CBC panel) for more testing/diagnosis.
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Solon,
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You have both Free and Total T outside the range, low end. In other words, hypogonadal. That’s a major part of why you would feel so terrible, fatigued etc. You can try some natural supplements to try and boost your LH/T, ie Tribulus, Zinc, Tongkat Ali (and others listed in Naturals section of this website) but don’t expect miracles. Otherwise again, you’d need to find someone, an Anti-aging doctor perhaps, that would be open to trying treatments like Clomid/Nolvadex, maybe hCG… if tht fails you may need to fly to the US to see the likes of Crisler or Shippen.
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Your RBC count is high, outside of range. This is a possible symptom of Polycythemia Vera. Do you have a complete Hematology panel done/Complete Blood Count to see the whole picture?
I ask because I also now have elevated RBC, in addition to elevated Hematocrit and Hemoglobin, as well as decreased platelets and White Blood Cell count. I am getting retested for this shortly and if still out of range, will be seeing a Hematologist for further testing.
If you do not have a Hematology panel, I advise you to get one ASAP to investigate if there is something going on with your blood. There are blood conditions (like Polycythemia) that can lead to terrible fatigue and such.
You would need to see a Hematologist to be diagnosed properly if your panel comes back with out of range numbers, so I advise you to get tested.
As for combatting shrinkage, try L-Arginine 2-3 grams at night (or low dose Viagra) before bed on an empty stomach to stimulate Nitric Oxide production and nocturnal erections, to provide oxygen to the penile tissues to prevent fibrosis.
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Do you have a complete Hematology panel? If so please post it.
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As mentioned in my previous posts in this thread, I would get a complete LIVER FUNCTION TEST (LFT) to make sure everything is ok with your liver, and a complete HEMATOLOGY PANEL/COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT to see what’s up with the elevated RBC and more.
Your ALT enzymes are still quite high… I would lay off all the supplements you are taking and give your liver a break, since it has to process them all, then get retested in a month or two.
Once you get retested, and if the LFT or Hematology Panel come out with out of range values, I would ask for a referral to either a Liver/Biliary specialist or a Hematologist.
Your Free T and Total T are quite low, despite a decent LH… have you had any tests done to rule out Primary Hypogonadism (signal being sent from HTPA to testes, but they aren’t responding to produce T)? ie Clomid Stimulation test, etc?
Perhaps you injured yourself down there when doing squats and the resultant low T values are a due to testicular injury. Just a thought, although certainly Finasteride could be the cause of such hormone imbalances, as we all know.
So to answer your questions – no, I wouldn’t bother taking Tribulus or other supplements, I’d quit them for a month at least, get retested and see where things are at, and if still out of range, make the necessary appointments with the necessary specialists - hormones (Endocrinologist), Liver (Biliary specialist), Blood (Hematologist).
Good luck.
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Given the obvious low testosterone level and accompanying symptoms, why don’t you try testosterone replacement?
Your estradiol is also still too high irrespective of the “normal range”.
That normal range doesn’t differentiate for age and is the same one used for ninety year old men.
The fact is most young men have much higher testosterone levels and much lower estradiol levels. Resulting in a much high androgen to estrogen ratio and a high level of free testosterone.
Most men on TRT feel much better when their estradiol is between about 17-27pg/ml.
I would not be suprised if you felt better on TRT and perhpas by lowering that estradiol a little too.
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The fact that you mentioned yourself being a carrier of Mediterranean Anemia is interesting to me as I am a carrier of this myself.
I remember someone else also mentioned about an Irish gene that caused them to have too much iron in their blood… well look at what I digged up right off the mayo clinic website.
“Although thalassemia causes anemia, don’t confuse thalassemia with iron deficiency anemia. People with thalassemia often have more iron in their bodies than they need. For this reason, if you have thalassemia, don’t take iron supplements unless your doctor recommends it.”
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Dude, millions of men worldwide take TRT for periods of time without much problem. And to get past problems such as these. You should try it for a month or two. I wish I had. Maybe it’ll make you feel better. Maybe it’ll cure up your testicle ache.
Then I believe you do the hcg right as you are stopping the TRT.
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What are the ranges for your liver/vitamin levels?
To me it seems you are definitely low on T and thus need to try and boost that somehow. Wether you want to go straight for TRT or not is up to you – while it would certainly get your T up high, you would be dependant on it.
As you know there are other treatments such as clomid, hCG and Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) which you can try beforehand to try and boost endogeneous T production, so you wouldn’t have to rely on TRT.
You need to print out the materials and discuss them with your endos if you want to try that route, ie:
aace.com/pub/pdf/guidelines/hypogonadism.pdf
download.journals.elsevierhealth … 045508.pdf
blackwell-synergy.com/doi/ab … 05.00075.x
Otherwise they will just stick you on TRT and yea, if you want to reap the benefits, its generally a lifelong commitment to my knowledge. Hence if you want to maintain fertility you should use hCG + TRT.
But the goal would be to try and restart your own production and there ARE treatments to help with that before you go for the big guns (TRT). The trick is convincing or finding a doc willing to try jumpstarting you FIRST, before you consider TRT.
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