Hello. I am fortunate enough to have an Endo appointment this Thursday. I am hoping to finally get some treatment for extremely low Testosterone levels. Here are my may 25th 2015 results for reference.
Free Testosterone 28 range: 31 -94 pmol/L
ACTH 2 <10 pmol/L
Cortisol AM 191 range: 170-540nmol/L -other times turned out 70, and 200,
Total testosterone 12.6 range: 7.6- 31.4 nmol/L
LH 2 2-9 IU/L
FSH 4 2-12 IU/L
Prolactin 8 <18ug/l
Norepinephrine 1.2 0.8-3.4 nmol/L
Epinephrine <0.1 <0.8 nmol/L
Estradiol 57 <157 pmol/L
And previous random TSH tests indicated: 5.01, 3.4, 5.6, and various ranges between 3.2 - 5. I have not TSH tested in the past few months. Hashimoto antibodies were tested and are <10 so that is ruled out.
My Symptoms: I basically been very anhedonic, depressed, withdrawn, unmotivated, disinterested, no sex drive, social withdrawl, low energy, poor memory, uncomfortable physical anxiety on and off, poor stamina and easily drained after physical activity, carrying anything usually causes me to feel dehydrated or dreadfully worn out, irritability, brain fog, poor memory, sleep inconsistencies, hypoglycemia, prone to fungal infections, pains and tightness and possible inflammation in my neck, peripheral circulation issues, dark circles under my eyes, collagen loss and notable wrinkles around my eyes, thin skin, poor wound healing, slightly yellow skin on my face.
I am early 30's. Thin composition. 5'7, 130. Low body fat aside from my legs and butt and slightly on belly.
Potential factors for my problems: A tremendous catastrophic decline in my health when I had a life threatening reaction to Accutane when I was 18. There have been class action lawsuits and has been removed from the market in over 11 countries including the United States. Had links to endo issues, lower serotonin levels, IBS and a whole host of other long lasting conditions. Additionally I been long withdrawing from Valium for the past 4 years. From 5mg+ I am down to 1.2mg. Also some pregnenolone moderate dose use a few years ago combined with too quick benzo withdrawal + chronic stress... this caused me to crash hard and had what resembled an Adrenal Crisis. Slowly that would improve. Some SSRI use over the years but not much lately (many are known to raise prolactin levels). Cymbalta was last used little over a year ago. My T was higher then than it is now.
What helped a bit for hormones was Royal Jelly + ginkgo Biloba but these days I have very bad reactions to royal jelly. Possible due to brand but I just really rather avoid it. Eleuthero Root + other ginsengs I noticed had some pro-hormone effects but the side effects are often very undesirable including immense sedation (korean ginseng), palpatations, and lower blood sugar.
What I would like to know is how can I prepare myself for my endo appointment to allow him to investigate causes? I have a list of things I feel are important to get tested. Free T, Total T, Estradiol, LH, FSH, Cortisol Am, Cortisol afternoon, TSH, Free T3, UREA.
I want to know what else I should look out for or bring to my doctor's attention? I will print out for him a few studies indicating Low T leads to depression as he is pretty old fashioned and previously recommended I just go back to my psychiatrist. But the reason I have some optimism is that he stated if my T results were slightly lower than that of the 2014 may tests then he would treat me. I will take him up on that.
Edited by AlexCanada, 10 June 2015 - 04:33 AM.