New Member: Just started TRT, high cholesterol, and Statin

[Flyers74]

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum, I'm an adult male, 49 yrs old, 6'2", 185 lbs. I'm fit, athletic, and stay in shape working out 5 days per week, been doing this religiously since about 19yrs old. (lifting weights and cardio every week, but not a body builder, just lifting to stay fit and have some muscle build).

I just started on Xyosted (TRT) last week; which I'll explain farther down.

High cholesterol runs in my family, and I've been 'watching it' with my primary docs over the years until about 3 years ago we decided it was time to try diet first, which didn't change it at all. So Rosovustatin it was. Up until this point I've never had a TST (Testosterone) level ever taken with all the blood tests over the years, it seems Primary Docs never put this in standard labs unless you ask!

I've always had a very strong libido, and never had sexual problems with my wife, or those times when I need to take care of myself Avg about 3-4x per week of one flavor or another.

Now this could be pure coincidence just with age, or maybe it's related? but April/May 2022 was when I started on Statin, 10mg daily. It was working great, took lab checks every 3 mos. or so. Somewhere during this period, between the 6 mos to 9 mos on the Statin, I started to notice Erectile Dysfunction symptoms, problems with orgasms not completing, and also losing sensation (sometime between Nov 22 and Jan 1st 2023). But at this 9 month mark (Jan 23) is where my cholesterol levels were all perfect, and total Choles. was down to 151.

I panicked, thinking it must be the Statin, so I immediately stopped, called my doctor, and told him what was going on, so we did a blood test, finally ordered a TST test as part of the lab work, and I was at 283 ng/Dl.

I remained stopping everything, and about 2mos later I had another set of labs, lipid panel and TST, and cholesterol was back up to 229, but only the LDL is what moved and shot up, all others remained exactly as they had been.

My testosterone went up to 293 during this period. So my doc pretty much stated it's my genetics, my body makes too much LDL. But he was certain the statin had nothing to do with my TST levels and my ED problems? But during this 'off statin' period, my ED pretty much stopped, and things worked fairly well again, but still not like I was in the prior years... and I wouldn't say my sensation was totally back either...

He referred me to a Urologist, who I saw this past July, and he ordered a full hormone panel, which is shown in the 'labs_3' results.

Labs_1: Shows 'before' I started Rosovustatin
Labs_2: Shows 'after' the 9 mos I was on it, right before I completely stopped.
Labs_3: Shows the full hormone panel, still no longer taking statin, but I did start taking some over the counter 'Plant Stenol' pills
Labs_4: Shows current labs as of last week, still no statin, but was still taking the plant Stenol.



I just started TRT this last week, as the Urologist said we need to try and get my TST up, and also told me to get back on the statin, as that wouldn't be causing my ED/sexual issues?

And right now my symptoms came back, as my urologist said I'm right on that edge, and TST can act like a 'cliff', you can hit that cliff when it goes low, and you suddenly start having symptoms..


I see my 'FSH' and 'phosphorous' seem really low? could that be a contributing factor? also my HDLs were always real low, seemed to have gone up a bit when on the statin, maybe that's part of the issue to my low TST levels?


Just wanted to get any thoughts or ideas as to why I'm so low...I wish I had a baseline TST from back before I did anything, but like I said, never knew to check it, and doctors never ordered it.

So for all I know, I could have been borderline low TST all my life and just never knew it?

I don't eat bad either, I do have carbs, but not anything bad, I eat fairly healthy, I don't eat cheeses at all. I don't drink soda, sugary drinks, etc, all I drink is water or unsweetened iced tea or black coffee with just light flavored creamers, but that's it.

And I don't think I have sleep apnea issues or anything? but I don't know about Zinc levels? I used to have low Vit D, but you can see in the labs I"ve been taking daily, and its been back in good range for over a year now...

Thanks so much for any thoughts or ideas!!

 

[Systemlord]

Some research has found that using statins increases blood sugar, because statin use can stop your body's insulin from doing its job properly.

This can put those who use statins at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

People with sleep apnea tend to have higher hematocrit and given you’re already near the top end of the ranges, I don’t know how you expect to manage it on TRT.

TRT can worsen untreated sleep apnea.

Low FSH is the stimulating hormone for sperm production, which will be almost fully suppressed on exogenous testosterone. Same for LH, the stimulating hormone for the body to make testosterone and some estrogen.

Starting out on TRT begins to process of shutting down your natural production, and waiting for the exogenous testosterone to build up in your system, which take 4-6 weeks, provided you don’t change the dosage.

If you change the dosage in the future, everything is reset, another 4-6 weeks to steady blood hormone levels.

You never said what is your TRT protocol, how much and how often.

 

[Flyers74]

Oops... thanks, forgot about that..

My Urologist has me taking the Xyosted 100mg dose, 1x per week...

BTW, for the approx. 9mos+ I was on the statin, we didn't notice any change in my blood sugar(s)...

So all of the reports I posted are BEFORE I've taken any TRT, just FYI.... I just started my first dose of Xyosted last weekend...


I guess my main questions really are:

1) What caused my TST to be so low in the first place? is it just because I've had high cholesterol prob. my whole life, and it's just catching up to me now? Or is it because of the statin?

2) What should I do? continue with this TRT plan, or just stop everything for a year and see what happens? (ie no TRT, no statin, etc)

 

[Systemlord]

My Urologist has me taking the Xyosted 100mg dose, 1x per week...

Not a bad protocol, however if you need tweaking to get your levels into a range where you feel optimal, that may be difficult on Xyosted, because the dosing increments are a bit more than incremental.

Let’s say you need 120 mg to feel good and optimize, 50, 75 and 100 doesn’t allow for that. On cypionate, you can increase in 1 mg increments.

 

[Systemlord]

As far as your slightly elevated glucose, that points to type 2 diabetes, which lowers vitamin D. Low-T increases your risk of developing diabetes.

Glucose and hemoglobin A1c is not always a reliable test for insulin resistance.

As for the low phosphorus, diabetes, starvation, and alcoholism can be the reason why phosphorus is low. Type 2 diabetes can make you dehydrated, increasing the hematocrit.

 

[Flyers74]

Well, my fasting blood sugar seems to sit around 100 +/- a little here and there, but for the most part doesn't seem to ever reach the pre-diabetic ranges...

I eat well, so no starvation, and I also don't drink alcohol...

but yeah, maybe my long-term low T is why my sugar sits at the higher end of that range?

 

[Belekas]

Well, my fasting blood sugar seems to sit around 100 +/- a little here and there, but for the most part doesn't seem to ever reach the pre-diabetic ranges...

I eat well, so no starvation, and I also don't drink alcohol...

but yeah, maybe my long-term low T is why my sugar sits at the higher end of that range?

Sorry to chime in, but usually 90% of people don't eat well. No disrespect but thats how it is. Traditional BB diets ain't healthy in the long-term thats for sure. Also be very skeptical of low-fat diets as well. What is your diet like?

I won't even start about Cholesterol as thats a huge can of worms by itself.

 

[Flyers74]

yeah, agreed, I should have said "I eat reasonably", lol... but certainly not a whole-foods diet or Mediterranean diet or anything...

(my mom does do that btw, has been doing it since her 30s when our family genetics showed it's face with her 300+ cholesterol!... she still takes statin 5mg daily to keep those lipids in check)

 

[Flyers74]

I eat the same thing 7 days a week for breakfast, 1 cup of whole grain oatmeal with chopped strawberries, bananas, blueberries, cinnamon sprinkled in, and a TBSP or two of metamucil powder for extra fiber..

lunch during the week I have PBJ sandwiches (2), along with few diff oatmeal/fiber bars, and prob. like a cup or two of regular pretzel sticks or similar...

dinner my wife mixes it up daily, so we will have grilled chicken with some string beans or other veggies, sometimes spaghetti with some meat mixed in, or sometimes we cook some burgers on the grill, but that's prob. more like once every other week...

we have more chicken during the week than anything else..


certainly not the perfect diet, that's for sure, but we don't have junk food around...we don't drink alcohol, soda, or any sugared drinks. On the weekends we like iced tea (unsweetened, and we don't add anything to it)

I'm sure we don't get nearly enough fruits and veggies (and nuts, etc?) in our diets, that's for sure..

but any suggestions I'll definitely take!


(But as far as cholesterol, sadly it's in my family genetics, and like I proved in my blood testing, in 2 months going off statin, my LDL went right from 80s level back to 150s... like my primary said, my body just creates too much LDL..)

 

[Flyers74]

oh, BTW...

I 'hate' fish, seriously, I really can't eat any seafood, at least not yet in my life, the taste still makes me gag!

Also I really don't eat anything dairy, besides maybe 1x or 2x a month I may have a bowl of cereal...

and I don't have eggs much either...maybe once every couple months at the most..

 

[Belekas]

Have I missed or are you barely eating any animal protein throughout the day? Oats, sandwiches, bars and pretzels...man...this shit is far from healthy. Should always prioritize protein from animal sources. I'd say at least 2g/kg. Also a lot of folks are underfed and overtrained. Regarding Cholesterol I'll go ahead and say that if you are metabolically healthy, eat good, workout, sleep well and stay on top of your blood work/health/symptoms then it shouldn't be a problem, but I am no doctor, but remember that all doctors, or at least most doctors are big pharmas slaves and work exactly by the model to put as many ppl on statins as possible even though there is no cause and effect studies done which actually show that high LDL is detrimenal to ones health. If you are eating Carnivore only. But since most of your diet is composed from carbs which are problematic to a lot of people then the problem could very well be there. Id say eating such diet for you is far from optimal and you should explore other venues and think out of the box. Plenty of good info on this forum regarding this particular issue and hope you give time to read and study and then perhaps change your eating habbits.

Watch Prof Bart Kays videos on YouTube regarding Cholesterol, statins, meat, research, etc, etc , and you will have a better idea of how this works.

Just my 2cents.

Regards,
Bel

 

[Belekas]

oh, BTW...

I 'hate' fish, seriously, I really can't eat any seafood, at least not yet in my life, the taste still makes me gag!

Also I really don't eat anything dairy, besides maybe 1x or 2x a month I may have a bowl of cereal...

and I don't have eggs much either...maybe once every couple months at the most..

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods on earth so you are missing out on them for sure. Fish is different and depends if its wild caught or pumped with antibiotics from the local supermarket. Dairy if tolerated has a lot of good benefits as well. Raw milk, cheese, etc esp.

 

[Flyers74]

yes, you are definitely correct, statins are prescribed like candy. Almost everyone I know in my age group is on a statin. What I wish I knew was what any of their Testosterone readings are! but docs never get that done on routine bloodwork!

Not a single friend of mine knows their TST level... crazy...

Yeah, so we eat animal proteins weekly via our dinners, as we mostly cook chicken, and sometimes various things with read meat (spaghetti w/meat, burgers, etc)... but I'd say 75% of the time it's chicken versus read meat..

Thx for the recommendation on the vids, I'll check out Dr. Bart Kay ..

My wife and I both are not very knowledgeable when it comes to cooking, we are both very basic cooks, and also as you can tell, aren't very good at knowing how to eat right.

We have been considering just hiring a nutritionist to help us get started on a better path.. prob. a good thing to do...

 

[Flyers74]

I've always thought cheese was just bad fats! so I never eat it, except for occasional pizza, but all other cheese also makes me gag! same with seafood, wish I could tolerate it.

Eggs are just an occasional thing, but I too thought they were mostly bad for you as well? ie cholesterol?

 

[Belekas]

I've always thought cheese was just bad fats! so I never eat it, except for occasional pizza, but all other cheese also makes me gag! same with seafood, wish I could tolerate it.

Eggs are just an occasional thing, but I too thought they were mostly bad for you as well? ie cholesterol?

Cholesterol is not bad for us and it helps us make cell membranes, many hormones, and vitamin D. Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods on the planet and same goes for red, ruminant meat. Chickens, turkeys, porks are mono gastric animals, meaning that whatever crappy diet they get fed, thats pretty much what you will be eating. Most Ruminant animals have four-chambered stomach and their meat, even the cheapest will be far more nutritious and bio available for digestion. I'd say def study the Carnivore diet and Prof. Bart Kay will surely put you on the right track. He also answers questions on his YT channel if you comment below his video.

Raw cheese is super healthy as well if you can get some. I like not raw as well and it helps my sensitive gut, which is very interesting.

It's 2023 and everyone who says Cholesterol is a bad thing, or offers Cholesterol lowering diets, etc, IMO, should be avoided like poison. But I will let you do all the watching and reading and be the judge for yourself.

Best regards,
Bel

 

[Systemlord]

1 cup of whole grain oatmeal with chopped strawberries, bananas

Oatmeal and bananas and NOT good for diabetics! Cut out bread, that means pizza as well! I never have cheat days. It’s temptation that can get you off track.

 

[Systemlord]

I'd say def study the Carnivore diet

My glucose levels are plummeting on the carnivore diet. In just one week fasting glucose has gone from 138 ->114.