A little history about me. I've always performed well academically. I've credited a significant portion of this to an excellent memory. I rarely took notes in class, but as long as I heard the topic being discussed in class I could normally integrate/recall that information when it came time to take tests. This was the case for as long as I could remember all the way through graduate school. I'm not a fitness nut, but I've been in average or better shape for most of my life. I started training in martial arts when I was 15 and continued on/off through around 27 or so, with some of that time spent teaching. However, at 205 pounds I'm currently carrying about 30 pounds too much.
About 7 years ago, I starting to find that I was tired all the time. I'd opened a restaurant, wasn't sleeping that great, was working long hours, had lots of stress, and found that I was generally exhausted most of the time. I chalked it up to "getting older". Despite a career change a couple of years ago, I was still tired all the time, even when I woke up. My libido was very low, my muscles tired very quickly (so that giving a 10-15 minute foot rub was sort of painful on my hands), and my general outlook was not very upbeat.
I got tested for Low-T and the test confirmed I was, in fact, low. As my wife and I were looking to have another child, I postponed starting treatment until after we conceived. I began treatment for the low-T about a year ago. At my last physical in October, my PCP said he thought I probably had sleep apnea as well. (Took the tests, and that diagnosis was confirmed as well. I should be getting my CPAP in about a week.) My fasting blood sugar was also just a hair above the normal range.
The ongoing symptoms that I've been dealing with for years are: Foggy brain, poor recall, Muscle weakness, chronic fatigue, depression (or flat affect). Low-T, Sleep apnea, and high blood sugar can each contribute to some/all of these. My hunch is that the sleep apnea was the first problem, and that it contributed to the Low-T/Sleep Apnea problems with are only making things worse. I am (strangely) looking forward to getting my CPAP as the promise of "restful sleep" is sweet music to my ears after not having it. I've read that it can take about a year of CPAP treatment before the brain "recovers" from the damage that has been done to white matter. That spurred my research into things that may help restore cognitive function/potential more quickly...which of course, brought me here. I've acquired some NSI-189, and a bunch of powdered supplements from Powder City. Once I get my CPAP, my "recovery plan" is as follows:
1. Drink lots of water (I'm not very diligent about this and know that it can be a big contributing factor to fatigue).
2. Get lots of restful sleep. I've got two sons ages 9 months and 2.5 years...so sleep apnea aside I haven't really had many nights in almost 3 years where I haven't been up with a baby.
3. Exercise. My 23andme.com data suggests high intensity cardio training is the best workout for me.
4. Diet. I'm going to start a low-fat calorie restricted diet (1600 calories per day) spread out over two meals. 23andme.com data suggest low-fat works better for weight loss than low-carb for me.
5. Some sort of neuro-stack.
For the stack, I've got the following compounds already:
NSI-189
COQ10
NAC
Lion's Mane
Sulbutiamine
Uridine
Alpha GPC
CDP Choline
Noopept
Royal Jelly
Creatine Monohydrate (for capsule filler)
Omega-3 Capsules
I'll also be trying to work in some of the suggestions from a TEDTalk that I saw that discussed behaviors that support neurogenesis found here. Looking for advice on things to add/remove from this stack or my routine. My goal for the stack is to increase neurogenesis and maximize the "survival" of any new neurons created. I'm hoping that with weight loss, my apnea will be drastically reduced/eliminated and I'll be able to lose the CPAP. After that, I'd see what happens with my T-levels if I go off the TRT. Trying to get back to a medication free and highly functioning state of being.
Cheers and thanks!
For context...
T-Results Test Date/Time Normal Range Free Testosterone
273 ng/dL 6/11/2013 @ 2:29 pm 350 – 1000 --
381 ng/dL 9/2/2014 @ 8:36 am 348 – 1197 11.3
961 ng/dL 10/17/2014 @ 8:38 am 348 – 1197 34.0
1136 ng/dL 3/6/2015 @ 8:15 am 348 – 1197 >50.0
783 ng/dL 8/28/2015 @ 8:26 am 348 – 1197 25.1
Complete bloodwork from Physical on 10/2/2015 was normal except for Hemoglobin A1c @ 5.9% (normal range 4.0 – 5.6%). Doctor said he’d characterize that as pre-pre-diabetic.
Current treatments:
125 mg Testosterone Cypionate Once Weekly
250 IU HCG 3x/week
¼ mg anastrazole 2x/week
Allergy injections every three weeks
Prescribed a CPAP, which I will receive/begin using this week
Edited by PerfectBrain, 30 November 2015 - 07:01 PM.