I'm a 33yo just diagnosed with low testosterone. I went to my physician because I was having headaches, my BP was elevated and I have been particularly exhausted the past few months. BP normally 130/85ish but was running 160/100 consistently. Took some blood and sent me for a head MRI. MRI was normal. Blood came back with elevated albumin, TSH and ALT (although ratio of AST/ALT was ok). We decided I was dehydrated from the previous night of drinking, my liver was protesting with the elevated ALT and since my mother/sister/grandmother all have Hashimoto's thyroiditis I was probably heading down that path. He ordered a thyroid panel for antithyroglobulin, thyroperoxidase Ab, Free T4, total T3 and another ultra sensitive TSH. As I he was leaving the room I asked if we could also throw testosterone in there too and he said sure. I was fully expecting to be diagnosed with hypothyroidism but was shocked when ALL of my thyroid functions tests came in right down the middle of the reference ranges BUT total testosterone came in at 196 ng/dL and free T at 7.1 ng/dL.
At first this didn't make sense to me. I'm a large guy at 6'5" and about 310 lbs (I know too much and I've been working on it). I've been working out and exercising regularly since the end of 2011 and I've lost about 20 lbs but have managed to put on some muscle too. I have three children with the youngest being 2 years old and never had any problems with conception. I've have a low booming voice, use 50lb dumbbells for bicep curls, hair in more places than I'd like and no problems with E.D. I'm highly accomplished and everything seemed ok.
Started to look into and as it turns out I was wrong! When I graduate high school I was 6'5" and about 210 lbs and very fit. I played sports four seasons per year and felt great. Went to college and stop playing sports and started studying a lot. My "freshman 15" was more like freshman 35 lbs. The next year I packed on another 20 lbs. During college I attempted to get back into the gym and exercise but it was always really difficult to "over the hump" to where I was fit enough to begin pushing my fitness level up more. Looking back it was the start of serious exercise intolerance. I also started having problems with anxiety/depression in college as well. Anti-depressants never seemed to work for me. I tried a few times with a few different meds but was never relieved. By the time college was over I was about 285 lbs. I went to dental school for 4 years and did 3 years of residency and was up to 300 lbs. Residency sucks and since it was hospital-based I was "On-call" all the time and learned to live chronically stressed, chronically mentally tired and chronically physically tired. Started having kids, went into private practice, house, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Fast-forward to today. I'm a 33 years old father of 3 young boys. I'm 310 lbs and it's all in my belly/chest and I'm not happy with my physical state. On the other hand I have a thriving practice, own my own home, have a happy marriage, should be happy by all accounts. I'm not. For the past 10 years I have been mentally and physically exhausted, had severe exercise intolerance, I've had no ED problems but I have had a seriously low lobido, I'm famous for my disinterest in just about anything and while some find my dry sense of humor and inability to enjoy anything endearing many do not. The past year I have been particularly exhausted, pretty disinterested in everything, felt mentally cloudy, really depressed, and I feel like I have leg and lower back weakness. My wife has been saying for the past few years I seem to have an inability to enjoy all that I've accomplished. She's right! I feel stretched thin, empty inside, like I'm just going through the paces.
My point int writing this is it has always been easy to blame these symptoms on stress, aging, genetics, obesity, etc and I'm truly shocked that I've waited this long to seek help and that so many signs and symptoms could go on being dismissed by me for so many years. As you all know the symptoms can be slow, insidious and mimic normal aging so well or other diseases that it can be very difficult to catch. I don't think getting my testosterone levels back up is going to cure all my problems but I suspect reading other people's stories it will help a lot. Going to go see an endocrinologist next week....I'm still interested in finding out why I'm so low at 33 years old?
At first this didn't make sense to me. I'm a large guy at 6'5" and about 310 lbs (I know too much and I've been working on it). I've been working out and exercising regularly since the end of 2011 and I've lost about 20 lbs but have managed to put on some muscle too. I have three children with the youngest being 2 years old and never had any problems with conception. I've have a low booming voice, use 50lb dumbbells for bicep curls, hair in more places than I'd like and no problems with E.D. I'm highly accomplished and everything seemed ok.
Started to look into and as it turns out I was wrong! When I graduate high school I was 6'5" and about 210 lbs and very fit. I played sports four seasons per year and felt great. Went to college and stop playing sports and started studying a lot. My "freshman 15" was more like freshman 35 lbs. The next year I packed on another 20 lbs. During college I attempted to get back into the gym and exercise but it was always really difficult to "over the hump" to where I was fit enough to begin pushing my fitness level up more. Looking back it was the start of serious exercise intolerance. I also started having problems with anxiety/depression in college as well. Anti-depressants never seemed to work for me. I tried a few times with a few different meds but was never relieved. By the time college was over I was about 285 lbs. I went to dental school for 4 years and did 3 years of residency and was up to 300 lbs. Residency sucks and since it was hospital-based I was "On-call" all the time and learned to live chronically stressed, chronically mentally tired and chronically physically tired. Started having kids, went into private practice, house, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Fast-forward to today. I'm a 33 years old father of 3 young boys. I'm 310 lbs and it's all in my belly/chest and I'm not happy with my physical state. On the other hand I have a thriving practice, own my own home, have a happy marriage, should be happy by all accounts. I'm not. For the past 10 years I have been mentally and physically exhausted, had severe exercise intolerance, I've had no ED problems but I have had a seriously low lobido, I'm famous for my disinterest in just about anything and while some find my dry sense of humor and inability to enjoy anything endearing many do not. The past year I have been particularly exhausted, pretty disinterested in everything, felt mentally cloudy, really depressed, and I feel like I have leg and lower back weakness. My wife has been saying for the past few years I seem to have an inability to enjoy all that I've accomplished. She's right! I feel stretched thin, empty inside, like I'm just going through the paces.
My point int writing this is it has always been easy to blame these symptoms on stress, aging, genetics, obesity, etc and I'm truly shocked that I've waited this long to seek help and that so many signs and symptoms could go on being dismissed by me for so many years. As you all know the symptoms can be slow, insidious and mimic normal aging so well or other diseases that it can be very difficult to catch. I don't think getting my testosterone levels back up is going to cure all my problems but I suspect reading other people's stories it will help a lot. Going to go see an endocrinologist next week....I'm still interested in finding out why I'm so low at 33 years old?
