Re: Difference between low T and hypogonadism?

[Guest guest]

Larry,

I hope you're already experiencing improvement.

A few suggestions:

1) Dosage: Your mileage may vary, but, generally speaking, doing 200

mg Depo T every 2 weeks tends to elicit a high total testosterone

reading (beyond the reference range) if tested during the first week.

This can cause your doctor to decrease your dosage unnecessarily.

Additionally, much of the T may convert to E2 (estradiol), which

negates the effects of T when estradiol goes above a certain level

(above 30-35 pg/mL). The Endocrine Society's Guidelines for Androgen

Deficiency, as well as the American Association of Clinical

Endocrinogists Hypogonadism Guidelines, advise 100 mg Depo T per week

as a good starting point. The protocol is based on some math: 1)

healthy men produce between 50-75 mg testosterone per week (7-11 mg

per day). 2) Out of 100 mg of Depo T, only 70 mg is actual T.

2) Needle size & pain: The doc prescribed a decent sized needle to

draw out the oil. However, you may find this needle size painful

(which might have been a factor in spreading out your injections every

2 weeks). You can use 22 G needles to draw out the oil, then switch

to a 27 G needle to inject, which is slightly bigger than the needles

used by diabetics to inject insulin. Their 30 G needles are

considered " painless " .

As for the distinction between " hypogonadism " & low T, one might draw

a line (arbitrarily) at 200 or 300 ng/dL total testosterone, depending

on the lab's reference range & how recent the doctor's knowledge is.

In addition to having a total T below the threshold, hypogonadism

includes lowered sperm count (below 20 Million). According to the

AACE, there is no " official " point at which hypogonadism occurs, as

men can have less than 300 or even 200 ng/dL & be relatively

asymptomatic (though for how long, one cannot say). The lab info has

to be coordinated with observation of signs & symptoms.

Regarding needle & syringe expenses, you can try gpzservices.com for

needles & syringes. Another site- jrsmedical.com - has smaller (1mL)

syringes (Becton-Dickinson type used by diabetics). Both sites are

quite inexpensive.

The last question is the trickiest. It varies from one individual to

the next, but you might get wood (assuming your E2 is kept between

15-30 pg/mL) within the first 1-2 weeks. Life Extension (lef.org)

mentions that it can take between 6 - 12 months for atrophied genital

tissue to recover (http://tinyurl.com/5qesak). Personally, I doubt

it'll take this long if one addresses the problem early & properly.

Happy Thanksgiving.

~Xian

>

>

>

> Just came from Docs. He will humor me and run some more blood work but

> said he himself has a low T, though higher than mine, and that

> gels/creams won't get me up far enough-no surprise there I'd already

> pretty much figured that out from what I've read here. (He did have

> advertising for Androgel in the patient room.) Drew blood for the

> blood work and then had nurse give a 1 cc injection of testosterone.

>

> Prescription is for Depo-testosterone 200 g/ml #1 vial, instructions

> to inj. 1cc q 2 weeks.

>

> 2nd prescription is for 3cc syringe w 22g 1 1/2 needles #1 box UAD

> with testosterone.

>

> He said in all his practice he has only come across 3 true

> hypogonadism cases but he treats lots of patients with low T from ages

> 17 to in their 90's.

>

> He also said in someone with T and free T levels as low as mine he

> would not have expected the Viagra to work.

>

> So what's the difference between hypogonadism and low T?

>

> Realizing that without the diagnosis my insurance probably won't cover

> anything what is the cheapest way to get the prescription filled?

>

> Lastly, if this is going to give me wood how soon would I expect it?

>

>

> Larry

>