Low Testosterone. What can a doctor do?

I have low testosterone. I know i do. I can’t grow a beard and have little to no body hair and am very skinny. I’ve been researching on the forum and one of the recommendations people seem to give is going to a doctor to have my testosterone levels checked.

I was just wondering, how do doctors check testosterone levels and how is it treated if it turns out you do have low testosterone levels?

Thanks guys!!

Hi Hs,

I think your best bet here is to do a Google search on testosterone test. There is a lot of information given there, and should solve most of your questions - Probably including some you hadn’t thought of :)

Excellent advice, Tit.

To provide a very short reply:

Test: a blood test
Treatment: transdermal (through the skin) T gel daily or monthly injection (I believe that’s called a “jab” in the UK :) )

A question for you: how old are you and do you have any illnesses that might be causing this? It’s normal for some guys to be skinny and hairless well into their 20s.

Does going to the gym slightly boost testosterone levels? I am not sure

Ps I’m skinny and I’m 23 and I have bum fluff for a beard lol

HeadShrinker: I’ve been dealing with this problem with my father, and I’ve been posting about it here. There are a lot of good links and information there.

First question: How old are you? Has your body hair/body composition changed, or have you always been this way?

Testosterone levels peak at around 30 years of age and then slowly decline at 1-2% per year. It is rare for young men to have low testosterone, but not unheard of.

Doctors are hesitant to diagnose this condition. Make sure your doc tests not only total testosterone but also free or bioavailable testosterone. Total testosterone is largely meaningless. Also, it would be a good idea to test for estradiol (a potent form of estrogen). High estrogen in men can wreak havoc with their bodies. Most docs won’t test for it, believing that estrogen is a “female hormone” and irrelevant to men. This is incorrect.

Treatment for low T is generally a gel or a shot. Gels work better, I’m told, because they administer more gradually than shots, maintain a more consistent level in the body, and don’t excite the body’s aromatase reaction as much to convert T to estrogen.

Temporarily, but not in a sustained way over the long term:
http://www.body buildingweb.net … growth-hormone/
http://www.musc lesweb.net/blog … sterone-levels/

I used to do a lot of weight lifting and I recently started doing some again. Everything had been going fine. I had good muscle tone, my clothes still fit, and I looked good.

Then I started squatting. Holy fucking shit!! After just one workout, my appetite ignited, my legs swelled, my energy soared (after sleeping off the workout). Now my pants are too tight! We’re talking about one fucking workout!!!

I have no doubt that squats cause major hormonal changes in the body.

When I first started working out as a kid, I could never get my weight above 180 pounds. Then I started squatting, and my bodyweight soared to 225. And I was completely solid.

If you want bigger arms, squat. If you want higher testosterone, squat. Just be prepared to buy a whole new wardrobe.

Are you sure that isn’t fluid buld-up in your legs. - Like swollen ankles and feet?

To go that far after one work-out seems a bit hectic.

ModestoMan, do you think leg presses would work as well as squats? I have a problem bearing a lot of weight through the back, and wondered whether doing the work from the pelvis down would achieve the same effect.

I know it sounds crazy. In the old days I could squat mid to high 300’s. Until this week, I hadn’t even tried squatting in over a decade. Some of it is probably muscle memory. I was using only about 125# this week. But I did 5 sets, and I think that made the difference. My legs are still bigger, 3 days later. Not only that, but my body fat is down and my upper body muscle size and definition are improved. I’m brimming with energy. I can’t walk past a mirror without flexing, and I suddenly look strong again. Not like an old 50-ish guy hanging on to a shadow of his youth (which is where I’ve been), but like an actually strong and energetic guy.

I’ve been having sleep problems, waking up at night to pee and then not being able to fall asleep again. The night of the day I did those squats was the first night in over a week that I didn’t wake up during the night, and I haven’t woken up again since. This is definitely changing me.

I don’t think leg presses are as effective. Something about bearing the weight through the legs, hips, and back really fires up the system.

I don’t think you need to use a lot of weight. 100 or 150# was enough to do it for me. Maybe it will get harder over time, and I’ll need to use more weight. But for now it’s enough, and it might be enough for you, too. Maybe even less weight will work.

headshrinker,

There’s a Yahoo group "hypogonadism2" that deals with all of this in great detail.

Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos

You would want to test Total and Free Testosterone, and Estradiol, which is the main form of estrogen that has effects in men (don’t test for Total Estrogens, which is meaningless in men). These are simple blood tests.

Of course being a UK person, you may have trouble convincing your doctor to order these tests. You would have the same problem in the US, but would have the alternative of ordering the tests online (lef.org and similar sites).

If Estradiol is too high, you would want to treat that first since doing so will raise T levels without using any T supplementation. However, finding a doctor who knows anything about estrogens in men, and is even willing to test them, is difficult. Go to the Yahoo group and ask about all this. There may be others in your area who have faced the same problems.

By the way, the "symptoms" you describe don’t necessarily mean your testosterone is low. So don’t be surprised if the tests come back normal.

I’ve read that zinc is an aromatase inhibitor, meaning that it blocks the conversion of testosterone into etradiol. A first step for lots of guys embarking on hormone treatment is to start taking zinc supplements. The USRDA for zinc is 15 mg, but I’ve seen recommendations of 50 mg daily for middle aged men, and 100 mg for older guys who take diuretics (diuretics deplete zinc).

Zinc is also allegedly good for the prostate, which contains a higher concentration of zinc than any other part of the body. Further, there’s evidence that kids who take zinc supplements do better in school: http://www.ars. usda.gov/resear … q_no_115=171893

Super high doses are not recommended, however, as performance gains start to reverse and problems set in when people take hundreds of mg daily.

3 things for you to do until you get the jab that they recommended…

Deep, heavy squats followed by protein.
Tribulus
Fenugreek seeds and a healthy fruit and veg diet.

Okay. In the interest of science and full disclosure, the squats I did this weekend were not my “first” set in a decade. I did a few squats the week before, just to test out my form. I used very light weight and just went through the motions. I got some muscle soreness just under my butt. After a week, it was healed enough so I could do some real sets, and the results are as I’ve described them above.

I think that self treatment can work for guys with marginally low T. But I think you still want a baseline lab test. I mean, if your T levels are 1000 ng/dl and your free T is 110, you can probably safely assume that T isn’t your problem. You can look for an answer to your symptoms elsewhere and save yourself some money on supplements.