New to the Group

[Guest guest]

Hello all. I am new to this group and have enjoyed spending the last several

hours reading archives and looking over the files area. I just wanted to make an

introduction and give a bit of my background. I am 35 years old and been

struggling for almost 5 years with mild depression, fatigue, poor memory,

irritability, difficulty concentrating, and brain fog. Actually, I had been

experiencing these symptoms longer but only sought treatment after a divorce 5

years ago. My family doctor diagnosed me with depression and anxiety and started

me on antidepressants. Over the course of 3 years I tried 7 different meds

without one ounce of relief. I was always fair and gave each of them a minimum

of 8 weeks to begin working. I finally gave up and simply decided that I would

just have to live this way. It has been absolutely miserable. Fast forward 2

years and I have recently gotten remarried and it is an amazing relationship. As

happy as my new bride makes me, I am still suffering with all the same symptoms

and it is sometimes difficult to even make it through the day. Also, shortly

after getting married I realized that I was not able to achieve or maintain an

erection a majority of the time. I went back to my family doctor and he gave me

a sample of Cialis. This medication allowed me to maintain an erection but it

was at this time I began to realize that I also had zero libido. My wife is

beautiful and goes above and beyond the call of duty to get me " interested " but

it just isn't there. This is when I started researching and realized I might

have low testosterone. It had honestly never crossed my mind, and I had NO idea

that it could cause so many symptoms. I was a bit excited thinking I had finally

discovered what had been causing me to be so miserable for so many years. I went

back to the doctor and told him I suspected low testosterone so he ordered a

battery of tests. He called the next day and said my testosterone was normal. It

really took the wind out of my sails. I continued to do research that indicated

I might have low levels of testosterone so I decided to get a copy of the lab

results and see what I could figure out on my own. Here are the results of what

he tested:

TEST RESULT LIMITS

Glucose, Serum 90 65-99

BUN 12 5-26

Creatinine, Serum 0.97 0.76-1.27

eGFR >59 >59

BUN/Creatinine Ratio 12 8-27

Sodium, Serum 142 135-145

Potassium, Serum 4.9 3.5-5.2

Chloride, Serum 103 97-108

Carbon Dioxide, Total 25 20-32

Calcium, Serum 9.8 8.7-10.2

Protein, Total, Serum 7.4 6.0-8.5

Albumin, Serum 4.2 3.5-5.5

Globulin, Total 3.2 1.5-4.5

A/G Ratio 1.3 1.1-2.5

Bilirubin, Total 0.4 0.0-1.2

Alkaline Phosph, S 71 25-150

AST (SGOT) 14 0-40

ALT (SGPT) 17 0-55

Cholesterol, Total 161 100-199

Triglycerides 143 0-149

HDL Cholesterol 46 >39

VLDL Cholesterol Cal 29 5-40

LDL Cholesterol Calc 86 0-99

LDL/HDL Ratio 1.9 0.0-3.6

TSH 1.760 0.450-4.500

Throxine (T4) 8.3 4.5-12.0

T3 Uptake 34 24-39

Free Throxine Index 2.8 1.2-4.9

Testosterone, Total 336 280-800

So I realize that according to the lab, my testosterone is within normal limits,

but my research indicates it is still very likely to be the root of my problems.

I have scheduled another appointment to talk to my doctor about TRT, at least on

a trial basis to see if there is any improvement. In the past he has been open

to my thoughts and opinions so hopefully he will agree to it. If not then I

suppose it's time to start looking for another doctor who is willing to look

beyond the numbers. I hope to find relief soon and I wish the very same for all

of you who are suffering.