WestB87
Member
Hey Guys,
I’ve been lurking here for a few months now while I researched my potential issues that have been increasing in frequency and magnitude.
I’m a 34 year old father of 4 in what could be considered good physical shape, though that hasn’t been the case for many years. I’m 5’6” and 170lbs.
For reference, I’ve posted my most recent labs in the bloodwork and labs sub-forum.
Background: Was a skinny and relatively muscular active kid. Hit puberty around 12 or so and developed gynecomastia. Living in a beach town, my self worth took a pretty heavy hit and I shut myself in and gained weight. Fast forward to 2005 and I needed to join the military to get out of my toxic town, the people in it, and my family. Lost enough weight to just eke by the weight maximum. Served in Afghanistan, many hotbed locations, got to see the Baltics, got stationed in Alabama and that was that. During my last year in (2012) I got married and fathered my first son. Weight gain came back along with a few educational degrees and a few more sons. At this point I weighed 235lbs at 5’6”. In 2018 after nearly 2 decades of gynecomastia I made the decision to get it removed, which was the most positive life altering decision I’ve made up until this point in my life. I started losing weight and working out more (I have lifted weights my whole adult life) and here in 2022 I am now 170, which took A LOT of hard work, meticulous food weighing and logging. My body began to feel more achy and worn out in the joints as time has gone on. My strength began to decline, but could be a function of the weight loss.
During the pandemic, I was permanently relegated to telework. I’m a pretty social guy, enjoy dressing in suits and fancy clothing with all the fixings and am known as the office rockstar. Halo effect was in full force. Since being relegated to telework, my mental state and overall motivation have absolutely tanked. My wife and I neared divorce (we’ve since regained much of what we had lost in our relationship and selves) and I just progressively started feeling worse and worse. Brain fog, a very “meh/muted” feeling 24/7, lethargy, and a lack of motivation. Started having issues keeping erections too, which my wife immediately took to thinking was me not liking her anymore. She’s since been calmed and realized that something is going hokey internally with me that could be causing it.
Curious as to what might be wrong, I went through Quest in October 2021 to do a full blood work up and testosterone check. My wife laughed at me even getting tested as I’m “the manliest guy she’s ever freakin known” (her words). Came back low on Vitamin D and Test was at 278ng/dl. Figured I could make some further improvements and test again in 3 months. Supplemented some vitamins and minerals, dropped booze entirely, got more sleep and tested again in January 2022. Vitamin D levels were right, but test came back at 276ng/dl.
Started up the process to be seen by Defy. Just got my labs back for it and got the following numbers of relevance to you guys.
Hematocrit: 46.8
Total Test: 336 ng/dl
Free Test: 10.8 pg/ml
DHEA-S: 489 ug/dl
TSH: 1.570
LH: 5.1
IGF-1: 243 ng/ml
Estradiol: 15.8 pg/ml
SHBG: 23 nmol/l
DHEA registered high/above reference and IGF-1 is at the top of the range. Free test seems better than what it should be given total T, but I’m a neophyte to all this and may be totally off base. The high levels of these may explain the overgrowths of bone I have under my tongue in my jawbone.
Anywho, thanks for reading if you’ve stuck around this long. I’ve attached a pic of my “now” which shows why my wife and friends I’ve talked about to about my low T issues all kind of laugh and don’t believe me until I show labs. I’ve had a natural propensity to gain muscle and fat. Losing either takes significant effort to do so. Thanks for any input and I’ll be posting more as I go forward with this.
I’ve been lurking here for a few months now while I researched my potential issues that have been increasing in frequency and magnitude.
I’m a 34 year old father of 4 in what could be considered good physical shape, though that hasn’t been the case for many years. I’m 5’6” and 170lbs.
For reference, I’ve posted my most recent labs in the bloodwork and labs sub-forum.
Background: Was a skinny and relatively muscular active kid. Hit puberty around 12 or so and developed gynecomastia. Living in a beach town, my self worth took a pretty heavy hit and I shut myself in and gained weight. Fast forward to 2005 and I needed to join the military to get out of my toxic town, the people in it, and my family. Lost enough weight to just eke by the weight maximum. Served in Afghanistan, many hotbed locations, got to see the Baltics, got stationed in Alabama and that was that. During my last year in (2012) I got married and fathered my first son. Weight gain came back along with a few educational degrees and a few more sons. At this point I weighed 235lbs at 5’6”. In 2018 after nearly 2 decades of gynecomastia I made the decision to get it removed, which was the most positive life altering decision I’ve made up until this point in my life. I started losing weight and working out more (I have lifted weights my whole adult life) and here in 2022 I am now 170, which took A LOT of hard work, meticulous food weighing and logging. My body began to feel more achy and worn out in the joints as time has gone on. My strength began to decline, but could be a function of the weight loss.
During the pandemic, I was permanently relegated to telework. I’m a pretty social guy, enjoy dressing in suits and fancy clothing with all the fixings and am known as the office rockstar. Halo effect was in full force. Since being relegated to telework, my mental state and overall motivation have absolutely tanked. My wife and I neared divorce (we’ve since regained much of what we had lost in our relationship and selves) and I just progressively started feeling worse and worse. Brain fog, a very “meh/muted” feeling 24/7, lethargy, and a lack of motivation. Started having issues keeping erections too, which my wife immediately took to thinking was me not liking her anymore. She’s since been calmed and realized that something is going hokey internally with me that could be causing it.
Curious as to what might be wrong, I went through Quest in October 2021 to do a full blood work up and testosterone check. My wife laughed at me even getting tested as I’m “the manliest guy she’s ever freakin known” (her words). Came back low on Vitamin D and Test was at 278ng/dl. Figured I could make some further improvements and test again in 3 months. Supplemented some vitamins and minerals, dropped booze entirely, got more sleep and tested again in January 2022. Vitamin D levels were right, but test came back at 276ng/dl.
Started up the process to be seen by Defy. Just got my labs back for it and got the following numbers of relevance to you guys.
Hematocrit: 46.8
Total Test: 336 ng/dl
Free Test: 10.8 pg/ml
DHEA-S: 489 ug/dl
TSH: 1.570
LH: 5.1
IGF-1: 243 ng/ml
Estradiol: 15.8 pg/ml
SHBG: 23 nmol/l
DHEA registered high/above reference and IGF-1 is at the top of the range. Free test seems better than what it should be given total T, but I’m a neophyte to all this and may be totally off base. The high levels of these may explain the overgrowths of bone I have under my tongue in my jawbone.
Anywho, thanks for reading if you’ve stuck around this long. I’ve attached a pic of my “now” which shows why my wife and friends I’ve talked about to about my low T issues all kind of laugh and don’t believe me until I show labs. I’ve had a natural propensity to gain muscle and fat. Losing either takes significant effort to do so. Thanks for any input and I’ll be posting more as I go forward with this.
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