A Success Story for
TRT
I had a vasectomy in December 2003 when I was 40. I’m now 43. I got a nasty infection after that in the prostate (and who knows where else). About six months later, I really was becoming fatigued, losing interest in sex, feeling depressed and gaining weight in the belly area. Although I know the prostate has nothing to do with T, something happened somewhere in my body after the vasectomy as a result of the infection. My GP ordered lots of labwork and all were essentially normal. As a final effort, he tested T and the thyroid panel. Wouldn’t you know it, I had low T.
My pre-treatment Total T was 175, which was measured in the morning. As soon as the results came back, he called me in and gave me a 200mg injection of T-
Cyp in the deltoid. A couple of days later, I tore down and rebuilt the deck on my house in two days. What an uncredible difference the T made.
I got tired of going to the nurse for injections so I tried
AndroGel, starting with the 5gm per day packet. I didn’t feel much better, still easily fatigued, depressed and just “blah”. I think all 5gm did was completely suppress what little T I was making. One of my 5gm
Androgel labs, lunchtime draw:
Total T: 115 (later draws went as high as 275)
Bio-T: 94
Free-T: 32
SHBG: 7
After about 4 months, my doctor switched me to the 10g 2-packet per day Androgel treatment. I really didn’t notice any improvement with how I felt and I was tired of the delay in getting dressed in the morning waiting for it to dry. The 10g raised Total T to about 450, but I really didn’t feel better. My GP really wanted to help, so he referred me to an endo.
The endo was pretty thorough and ordered an MRI of the brain and found no abnormality of any glands. Initial labs with the endo were:
FSH: 0.4 (RR 1.4 - 18.1)
LH: 0.1 (RR 1.5 - 9.3)
Prolactin: 5.4 (RR 2.1 - 17.7)
SHBG: 5 (RR 11-80)
FSH and LH are quite low, but he said that could be suppression by the T treatment.
We both thought it best to switch back to T-
Cyp. He gave me 300mg IM in the butt. Total T 14 days later was 365. Total T on day 21 was just
105. He then gave me another 300mg on day 21. I did this for three 3-week cycles until I did my research. Obviously, this wasn’t working well and I had huge mood swings during the 3 weeks. With help from this board and other places, I went back to my GP, who really wants to help. I told him that 100mg/wk was much better than 300mg/21 days and he agreed.
I feel so much better. Energy, libido, mood are all better - in fact, I can’t remember when I’ve felt better. I’ve done 2 T labs since starting back on 100mg/wk. The difference is simply amazing, even though the total amount of medication per week is still 100mg. These labs are the day before re-injection:
Total T: 803
Bio-T: 734
Free-T: 258
SHBG: 4
and a month later, better, not-so-high levels, and good E2
Total T: 590
Bio-T: 523
Free-T: 180
SHBG: 6
E2: 15 (I learned from the forum to have this checked)
Other meds I take for hypertension along with T-
Cyp with no problem:
Lotrel 10/40 (calcium channel blocker + ACE Inhibitor)
Atenolol 37.5 mg (beta blocker)
Lasix 20mg (diuretic)
I now self-inject 100mg/week of Depo-Testosterone branded T-
Cyp in alternating thighs and feel so much better. I use a 23 gauge 1" needle inserted almost all the way in.
Just wanted to tell my
TRT story in case it helps someone and say “thanks” for the information I’ve taken away from this forum by reading the experiences of others and of the experts who post here.
One question, though, does anyone here have any ideas on why the SHBG is so low ? Doesn’t that bind/carry T for later use ? Should I even care, since I feel better ?
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