23 years old, low libido, need your input

[poisonesspimp]

Thanks for the input man. This is definitely something I need to do but I'm really really hard on myself.. I spend a lot of time in the gym and out with friends which helps tremendously. I get the most relief from exercising I rarely think about this shit when I’m at the gym. Often though when I’m out with friends this is on my mind which affects my ability to have fun or enjoy the moment… I think it will help me a lot if I just trust the experts and concentrate on other things.

Have you gained any muscle? how much do you work out just wondering.

 

[southpaw41]

Have you gained any muscle? how much do you work out just wondering.

No I havent gained any muscle for a while (but I havent tried to). I just go to the gym now to stay in shape. I try to make it there 3-4 days a week for about an hour. I work pretty much every muscle group and run the treadmill throughout the week.

I havent tried to "get big" since college. The biggest/strongest I ever was was sophmore year in college when I was 19-20. In fact I have noticable stretch marks on my forearms from that time. I was a solid 180lbs then (165ish now). My appetite was much more back then than it is now.

I didnt have any of the symptoms listed on my first post when I was 19-20 except low body/facial hair and possible fertility issues. Always had a sex drive and could stay focused during class. All the other symptoms came sometime when i was 21 and a half/ almost 22

 

[Chris.N]

I don't want to be a huge downer or anything but you might want to get a MRI of your Pituitary Gland. You may have a prolactin secreting tumor on your gland. I mean you can supplement the symptoms with zinc and a bunch of other stuff all but you probably want to tackle the source of the problem. Bring this up to the Dr. and see what he thinks. I am 25 years old and I had the surgery and it was a piece of cake. It took like 3 hours and I was out of the hospital that same night. The tumors are almost always benign and the surgery is done through the nose. Just a thought. Keep me posted man, I am interested in what you find out.

 

[southpaw41]

I don't want to be a huge downer or anything but you might want to get a MRI of your Pituitary Gland. You may have a prolactin secreting tumor on your gland. I mean you can supplement the symptoms with zinc and a bunch of other stuff all but you probably want to tackle the source of the problem. Bring this up to the Dr. and see what he thinks. I am 25 years old and I had the surgery and it was a piece of cake. It took like 3 hours and I was out of the hospital that same night. The tumors are almost always benign and the surgery is done through the nose. Just a thought. Keep me posted man, I am interested in what you find out.

already had an mri on the pituitary. here is what the report stated, "2 extremely small nonenhancing nodules within the left paracentral aspect of the pituitary gland anteriorly may represent small microadenomas."

They were so small the mri could barely pick them up. All doctors I met with said they are too small to do anything but I will bring it up again. If this does turn out to be the culprit I think I would rather suppress the prolactin with dopamine meds rather than get brain surgery.

I have another mri on pituitary in December to see if there was any growth.

What results did you have with the surgery?

 

[Chris.N]

My tumors where both micro as well. Which is why they did a high contrast MRI to find the two little bastards. Once they were both removed through the nose I did a cycle of Test Cyp ( Prescribed by my Endo) HCG with Clomid and Nolva to bring all my levels back up. I did the 12 weeks of Cyp, 16 days HCG and then 45 days Nolva and Clomid and then Bammm dude!!! i was completely back to normal. I started keep lean muscle, lost a lot of fat, my eyesight improved ( tumors place pressure on optical nerve) my overall well being was great and all my levels went back to normal. Surgery was a way better alternative then having to TRT the rest of my life. So if you do have a tumor it is a lot easier to fix the source then have to explore around for the problem.

 

[poisonesspimp]

No I havent gained any muscle for a while (but I havent tried to). I just go to the gym now to stay in shape. I try to make it there 3-4 days a week for about an hour. I work pretty much every muscle group and run the treadmill throughout the week.

I havent tried to "get big" since college. The biggest/strongest I ever was was sophmore year in college when I was 19-20. In fact I have noticable stretch marks on my forearms from that time. I was a solid 180lbs then (165ish now). My appetite was much more back then than it is now.

I didnt have any of the symptoms listed on my first post when I was 19-20 except low body/facial hair and possible fertility issues. Always had a sex drive and could stay focused during class. All the other symptoms came sometime when i was 21 and a half/ almost 22

Yeah exactly man. I worked out every day, was extremly disiplined was doing hundreds of pushups running weights all of it to try and get myself back to feeling better. Never gained any muscle maybe a little definition but that was it not even noticable. I did that more months man.

 

[southpaw41]

My tumors where both micro as well. Which is why they did a high contrast MRI to find the two little bastards. Once they were both removed through the nose I did a cycle of Test Cyp ( Prescribed by my Endo) HCG with Clomid and Nolva to bring all my levels back up. I did the 12 weeks of Cyp, 16 days HCG and then 45 days Nolva and Clomid and then Bammm dude!!! i was completely back to normal. I started keep lean muscle, lost a lot of fat, my eyesight improved ( tumors place pressure on optical nerve) my overall well being was great and all my levels went back to normal. Surgery was a way better alternative then having to TRT the rest of my life. So if you do have a tumor it is a lot easier to fix the source then have to explore around for the problem.

Glad to hear you turned your problem around, that's good to hear on forums like these it gives us some hope. The problem with my mri is it didnt not label what they found as "micro adenomas". I am assuming they are just too small at this point to label them as anything except "nodules." This is definately something I want to keep an eye on though hopefullythey do not grow.

 

[southpaw41]

got my 24 hour DHEA urine test results today..

-1.5 (0.5-7.2)

the blood dhea is as follows

**Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate**
DHEA-Sulfate 299.3 (211-492)

Pretty bad i assume..

 

[southpaw41]

Met with the doctor last friday and discussed the labs listed above. He thinks the problem lies in my adrenals or thyroid but cannot be tested further until i get better (have mono right now). I have an intolerence to corn so he reccomended i cut it out of my diet completely. This is easier said than done because corn is in a lot of stuff but im doing my best. Since my dhea is low he recommended 15/mg day of transdermal dhea cream which I just got today. Additionally he recomenmended some fish oil tablets. He is confident I will feel a lot better if I cut corn (and its products) out of my diet and use the cream. So below is what I am taking everyday.

15/mg day of Life-Flo DHEA cream
10000iu vitamin d drops
3 Carlson Fish Oil soft gels with food
2 Uni-Liver/Beverly Hills Ultra 40 liver tablets with each meal
1 serving of Green Vibrance powder
Sulis Ultra multi-vitamins with food

 

[sade]

I have the same symptoms as you, my morning cortisol is also high. Your DHT is low, wouldn't that be causing problems?

 

[musulman]

what was your cortisol measured at?

 

[sade]

Mine was 747 - range was something like 107 - 536

 

[southpaw41]

I have the same symptoms as you, my morning cortisol is also high. Your DHT is low, wouldn't that be causing problems?

yes absolutely low dht could be contributing to my symptoms. dht is much more potent than testosterone and is directly correlated with facial/body/arm hair growth which explain why I am not too hairy..

anyway ive been sticking the the regimen i posted last and have been seeing some improvement.

I am now getting some nocturnal erections and have been dreaming which is really nice. I didnt list this as a symptom previously but i havent had a dream during sleep for a long time (or at least I didnt remember them after waking up). For the past couple weeks ive been dreaming and remembering them. Has anyone else here lost their dreams from these kind of problems?

Everything else is pretty much the same. Morning erections are either non-existent or week, tired during the day, etc.

I would have to say that the vitamin d and avoiding corn is helping the most. Avoiding corn is by far the most difficult task because corn and its products are in everything. I literally had to cut out 75% of what I normally eat. Also i can no longer go out to eat unless i get a salad with no dressing. also most alcholic drinks out of the questions which sucks because im only 23..

I will be trying a few new things in the future. First I'm done looking at porn. I've read about porn induced ED from desensitation. Two I am no longer going to over train myself at the gym. This is something I've done in the past and plan on correcting once I get back in the gym. Finally I plan on seeing an allergist for my corn allergy to find out what specifically I should be avoiding and what I should be eating instead.

Ill keep you posted on my progress.

 

[james2012]

From all the symptoms you are having they mainly point to Low T. But your T levels look good. I would maybe recommend seeing a Endocrinologist and get another blood test early in the morning. Have you previously used AAS ? If so you may need to cycle some HCG to get your libido and everything back on track.

HCG did the trick for me. Switching from the depo to Testim helped a bit, but man things really kicked when I started the HCG. I know it is a LH analogue and helps the boys stay in shape, but it must be doing something else hormonally. Can anyone elaborate on what else this drug does? It's just awesome for me.

 

[southpaw41]

Wanted to stop in and give an update. For the second time this year I had a wet dream (last night) which surprised the shit out of me. I also had one 2-3 weeks after my varicocele surgery back in February. This must mean I am moving in the right direction.

I went to a well known allergist in my area today to look further into my corn allergy. It turns out I am not allergic to corn at all! The reason this showed up on my blood work is because corn is a relative of grass which I am allergic to. He ran all the corn tests he had and they all came back clearly negative. Hazelnuts and walnuts are the only foods I am allergic to so I will be avoiding them going forward. I have a very strong allergy to ragweed and varying allergies to grasses, trees, weeds, molds, dust, dust mites, cats, and mouse urine (yea idk)… The entire appointment was 3 hours and was very extensive.

The allergist doctor wants be to buy allergy safe micro fiber casings for my beds mattress, pillow, and box spring. Its a new bed and probably the best investment I ever made I am sleeping so much better now. Also he said air cleaners are worth their weight in gold for people with allergies like mine so I will be picking one of them up for my bedroom.

I will be sticking to the regimen listed above (minus the elimination of corn and its products) and hopefully be back in the gym next month (liver panel is still inflamed from mono I had back in August so I want to wait).

 

[southpaw41]

hey guys not much new news since my last post.. Hands and feet always are super cold this time of the year. Gogle search point to hypothyroidism.. Is this a possibility with my labs?

 

[hardasnails1973]

It would be a wise idea to get updated blood work before end of the year because of deductable has been met. Raynaulds syndrome would be most logical explanation which should lead to hypothyroid being ruled out. Things change over time.

 

[Structure]

Hi Southpaw41,

Which of your symptoms remain at this time, and how long have you had them? Certainly mono can cause profound fatigue, and it may take quite some time for that fatigue to go away. Your TSH is borderline high (some doctors choose to treat hypothyroidism when TSH is above 2.0), which also could contribute to your fatigue.

The part of your blood work that really caught my eye was your free T : DHT ratio. This is definitely not typical. There are usually only two causes for this: 5-alpha reductase deficiency or androgen insensitivity. Both of these disorders typically have a very extreme presentation, so doctors don't usually look for the more subtle manifestations.

Mild androgen insensitivity syndrome can present with no abnormalities except impaired fertility and / or decreased body hair. Sometimes, mild gynecomastia that doesn't resolve after puberty is seen. People with mild androgen insensitivity can go their whole lives without knowing they have the disorder; it is usually only detected during fertility testing (see [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mild_androgen_insensitivity_syndrome"]Mild androgen insensitivity syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Androgen_receptor_3-d_model.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Androgen_receptor_3-d_model.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/1/10/Androgen_receptor_3-d_model.jpg[/ame]).

I'm bringing this up to you because a lot of your symptoms are consistent with low androgen levels (brain fog, fatigue, low libido, impotence, impaired glucose tolerance). Some men with mild AIS experience these symptoms, despite having normal or elevated levels of T.

Unfortunately, the only way to test for this disorder is genetically: the androgen receptor gene is sequenced and analyzed for mutations.

I'm in my 30s, and had symptoms similar to yours: brain fog and fatigue (which worsened after eating), and a mildly elevated a1c (5.7). My T was elevated (total T was 1200 to 1400), and my T to DHT ratio was similar to yours (I too had decreased body hair / facial hair). I didn't have any problems with libido or erections, although I did have terrible daily headaches and trouble sleeping. My doctors dismissed my androgen values, and suspected an adrenal disorder, just like you (I shit you not). My TSH was in the 3.0-4.0 range, so I was treated for hypothyroidism, which actually did help to some extent.

After a few years of not really getting anywhere, I started researching different possibilities and came up with mild AIS. No one even gave me the time of day when I brought this up. Logically, I knew that there was no better explanation for my impaired T : DHT ratio, so I insisted upon getting the genetic test, even if I had to pay for it out of pocket. It came back positive.

Since then, I've been on a few different HRT products. I eventually settled on Testim, and am very happy with the results. My headaches and fatigue vanished overnight.

Since Testim is applied over a large area of the skin, and skin contains 5-alpha reductase, a significant portion of the T is converted into DHT. This will bring your DHT levels up to the normal range (or better), and may take care of your energy problems. You will have to be careful to get the correct dosage --- too much will suppress your hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, and will shrink your testicles. This won't happen overnight, so you'll have time to adjust your dosage and get it right.

Good luck, and keep us updated.

 

[James23]

Structure,

With AIS, were you able to keep all of your hair?

Also, if he has AIS, why is his LH only mid-range?

 

[sade]

Structure,

With AIS, were you able to keep all of your hair?

Also, if he has AIS, why is his LH only mid-range?

Many guys with MAIS have normal LH levels.