mack truck
New Member
Hey all,
Looking to start TRT but want to see if i could first find the underlying cause of my low t levels, and cure it instead of masking it with TRT.
I'm also thinking of an HPTA restart but then i'm wondering if it will achieve anything since my LH/FSH are at normal levels. Appreciate any help!
Hormones
Testosterone, total
216 (286 - 802) ng/dL
Testosterone, free
34.17 (34.51 - 107.78) pg/mL
Testosterone, bioavailable
138 (138 - 430) ng/dL
SHBG
16.0 (14.5 - 48.4) nmol/L
E2 (Estrogen)
32.6 (7.6 - 43.0) pg/mL
LH
4.0 (1.7 - 8.6) mIU/mL
FSH
3.5 (1.5 - 12.4) mIU/mL
Prolactin
16.7 (3.46 - 19.4) ng/mL
Cortisol (AM)
8.30 (3.7 - 19.4) ug/dL
IGF-1
160.3 (150 - 350) ng/mL
Thyroid Panel
TSH
4.54 (0.27 - 4.20) uIU/mL
T3, free
3.6 (2.0 - 4.4) pg/mL
T4, free
1.24 (0.93 - 1.70) ng/dL
Lipid panel
Cholesterol
216.1 mg/dL
Desirable: <200
Borderline: 200 - 239
High risk: >240
HDL
32.7 mg/dL
Low: <130
High: >60
LDL
139.5 (<130) mg/dL
VLDL
27.90 (<40.0) mg/dL
Tg (Triglyceride)
219.5 (<200) mg/dL
CBC
HB (Hemoglobin)
12.5 (14 - 18) g/dL
Hematocrit
45.1 (42 - 50) %
RBC
4.79 (4.5 - 6.2) x10*6/uL
WBC
5.60 (5.0 - 10.0) x10*3/uL
WBC & diff / Lymphocyte
40.6 (20 - 40) %
MCH
26.0 (27 - 31) pg
MCHC
29.5 (32 - 36) g/dL
MCV
94.2 (80 - 95) fL
RDW
10.1 (2 - 20) %
Platelet count
250.0 (150 - 400) x10_3/uL
ESR
(up to 10) mm/hr
Clotting time
(2 - 6) mins
Bleeding time
(1 - 6) mins
CMP
-General
Glucose (fasting)
98 (65 - 99) mg/dL
Calcium
8.60 (8.40 - 10.2) mg/dL
-Liver
ALP
82.0 (40 - 130) U/L
ALT (SGBT)
40.2 (Up to 41) U/L
AST (SGOT)
24.9 (Up to 40) U/L
Bilirubin, total
0.80 (up to 1.1) mg/dL
Bilirubin, direct
0.20 (up to 0.25) mg/dL
Bilirubin, indirect
0.60 (0.1 - 0.75) mg/dL
-Kidney
Urea Nitrogen (BUN)
43.5 (<50) mg/dL
Creatinine
0.862 (<1.1) mg/dL
-Electrolytes
Potassium
4.60 (3.60 - 5.5) mmol/L
Sodium
141.0 (135.0 - 152.0) mmol/L
Chloride
99.0 (98.0 - 110.0) mmol/L
-Proteins
Albumin
4.40 (3.6 - 4.6) g/dL
Protein, total
7.30 (6.4 - 8.3) g/dL
================================================================
Stats:
Age: 33
Height: 6'5
Weight: 264 lb
Body fat: %27
================================================================
A little history:
I started bodybuilding at 13. Seriously when I was 15. So as far as I can remember, I'd been bodybuilding my entire life.
For 15 years, I religiously followed a bodybuilding and nutritional regiment. I knew so much about the two, I honestly felt almost most trainers, bodybuilders were idiots.
But unfortunately, no matter how much effort and dedication I put in...it never really paid off. People that barely knew anything about bodybuilding, zilch about nutrition and were half assing their workouts, were making gains in less than a year what took me 15 years. And I'm not talking about your genetic freaks. I'm talking about your average Joe.
With clothes on, people couldn't even tell I worked out. What's more frustrating was hearing "you must be doing something wrong" "you gotta change your diet" "change your training" "you have to hit your muscles slower, faster"...etc. And all I could think was "Really dude? You really think in 15 years I haven't tried every single variable? You think the reason I haven't packed on slabs of muscle is because I didn't go slower on the weights or that I didn't eat an extra spoon of peanut butter?"
About 12 years into bodybuilding natty, I decided to pick up the needle. Unfortunately, I never done blood work beforehand.
I made nice gains, nothing spectacular, just satisfactory. But for the first time in my life, people were coming at me with "wow!" The compliments meant that results weren't bad at all.
Cycle ended. Ran PCT. Went back to my natty regiment.
Unfortunately, I lost most of the gains I'd made in about 6 months even though I tried all I could to maintain and add to the gains.
2 years after my first cycle, I started another one. 6 months after ending it, like the first time, I was left with nothing to brag about.
Typical stats off-cycle:
Weight: 214 lb
Body fat: %16
1st cycle:
Week 1-4: D bol 35mg ED
Week 1-12: Test E 500mg EW (250mg x 2)
PCT (1st cycle):
HCG 1000 IU ED for 10 days, 4 days after last pin of Test E, then...
Clomid: 100/100/50/50
Nolvadex: 40/40/20/20
2nd cycle:
Week 1-2: Anadrol 50mg ED
Week 3-4: Anadrol 100mg ED
Week 1-12: Deca 500mg EW
Week 1-15: Test C 600mg EW
Week 1-16: Eq 600mg EW
PCT (2nd cycle):
HCG 1000 IU ED for 10 days, 4 days after last pin of Test E, then...
Nolvadex: 20/20/20/10/10
Clomid: 50/50/50/25/25
About a year after my 2nd cycle, I moved, started traveling a lot, hence wasn't able to maintain my bodybuilding and nutrition regiment. I stopped going to the gym. And since I wasn't working out, I felt dieting and 6 healthy meals a day was useless. So for the first time in my life (well, sorta), I started eating junk food. Plan was to get back on track soon as I settled down.
Settling down didn't come till 3 months later. But by then, I'd already broken my habit. I was too lazy and too demotivated to get back to my healthy lifestyle.
4 years later, today, I'm yet to get back to working out and eating healthy. I've been leading a pretty sedentary lifestyle and my diet consists of a lot of fried food and white carbs. Needless to say, 15 years of gains went down the drain. I now stand at the above stats. Used to hover at around %15-18 body fat.
So now, looking at my lab results, im thinking "Holy fuck! My T is tanked. I wonder if its been like that all my life?!". But i'll never know since i'd never done BW...yeah, wish i could slap old me.
I'm not surprised though, since what got me to get BW done now was the low T symptoms i'm experiencing...all %99.9 of them.
So here i am, trying to determine why my T is so low. Find the underlying cause, and fix it. That would be the ultimate success story. If cause cannot be determined, and TRT is safe to start, then that's the route i'd like to go. I'm hoping you guys can chime in.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for any point in the right direction!
Looking to start TRT but want to see if i could first find the underlying cause of my low t levels, and cure it instead of masking it with TRT.
I'm also thinking of an HPTA restart but then i'm wondering if it will achieve anything since my LH/FSH are at normal levels. Appreciate any help!
Hormones
Testosterone, total
216 (286 - 802) ng/dL
Testosterone, free
34.17 (34.51 - 107.78) pg/mL
Testosterone, bioavailable
138 (138 - 430) ng/dL
SHBG
16.0 (14.5 - 48.4) nmol/L
E2 (Estrogen)
32.6 (7.6 - 43.0) pg/mL
LH
4.0 (1.7 - 8.6) mIU/mL
FSH
3.5 (1.5 - 12.4) mIU/mL
Prolactin
16.7 (3.46 - 19.4) ng/mL
Cortisol (AM)
8.30 (3.7 - 19.4) ug/dL
IGF-1
160.3 (150 - 350) ng/mL
Thyroid Panel
TSH
4.54 (0.27 - 4.20) uIU/mL
T3, free
3.6 (2.0 - 4.4) pg/mL
T4, free
1.24 (0.93 - 1.70) ng/dL
Lipid panel
Cholesterol
216.1 mg/dL
Desirable: <200
Borderline: 200 - 239
High risk: >240
HDL
32.7 mg/dL
Low: <130
High: >60
LDL
139.5 (<130) mg/dL
VLDL
27.90 (<40.0) mg/dL
Tg (Triglyceride)
219.5 (<200) mg/dL
CBC
HB (Hemoglobin)
12.5 (14 - 18) g/dL
Hematocrit
45.1 (42 - 50) %
RBC
4.79 (4.5 - 6.2) x10*6/uL
WBC
5.60 (5.0 - 10.0) x10*3/uL
WBC & diff / Lymphocyte
40.6 (20 - 40) %
MCH
26.0 (27 - 31) pg
MCHC
29.5 (32 - 36) g/dL
MCV
94.2 (80 - 95) fL
RDW
10.1 (2 - 20) %
Platelet count
250.0 (150 - 400) x10_3/uL
ESR
(up to 10) mm/hr
Clotting time
(2 - 6) mins
Bleeding time
(1 - 6) mins
CMP
-General
Glucose (fasting)
98 (65 - 99) mg/dL
Calcium
8.60 (8.40 - 10.2) mg/dL
-Liver
ALP
82.0 (40 - 130) U/L
ALT (SGBT)
40.2 (Up to 41) U/L
AST (SGOT)
24.9 (Up to 40) U/L
Bilirubin, total
0.80 (up to 1.1) mg/dL
Bilirubin, direct
0.20 (up to 0.25) mg/dL
Bilirubin, indirect
0.60 (0.1 - 0.75) mg/dL
-Kidney
Urea Nitrogen (BUN)
43.5 (<50) mg/dL
Creatinine
0.862 (<1.1) mg/dL
-Electrolytes
Potassium
4.60 (3.60 - 5.5) mmol/L
Sodium
141.0 (135.0 - 152.0) mmol/L
Chloride
99.0 (98.0 - 110.0) mmol/L
-Proteins
Albumin
4.40 (3.6 - 4.6) g/dL
Protein, total
7.30 (6.4 - 8.3) g/dL
================================================================
Stats:
Age: 33
Height: 6'5
Weight: 264 lb
Body fat: %27
================================================================
A little history:
I started bodybuilding at 13. Seriously when I was 15. So as far as I can remember, I'd been bodybuilding my entire life.
For 15 years, I religiously followed a bodybuilding and nutritional regiment. I knew so much about the two, I honestly felt almost most trainers, bodybuilders were idiots.
But unfortunately, no matter how much effort and dedication I put in...it never really paid off. People that barely knew anything about bodybuilding, zilch about nutrition and were half assing their workouts, were making gains in less than a year what took me 15 years. And I'm not talking about your genetic freaks. I'm talking about your average Joe.
With clothes on, people couldn't even tell I worked out. What's more frustrating was hearing "you must be doing something wrong" "you gotta change your diet" "change your training" "you have to hit your muscles slower, faster"...etc. And all I could think was "Really dude? You really think in 15 years I haven't tried every single variable? You think the reason I haven't packed on slabs of muscle is because I didn't go slower on the weights or that I didn't eat an extra spoon of peanut butter?"
About 12 years into bodybuilding natty, I decided to pick up the needle. Unfortunately, I never done blood work beforehand.
I made nice gains, nothing spectacular, just satisfactory. But for the first time in my life, people were coming at me with "wow!" The compliments meant that results weren't bad at all.
Cycle ended. Ran PCT. Went back to my natty regiment.
Unfortunately, I lost most of the gains I'd made in about 6 months even though I tried all I could to maintain and add to the gains.
2 years after my first cycle, I started another one. 6 months after ending it, like the first time, I was left with nothing to brag about.
Typical stats off-cycle:
Weight: 214 lb
Body fat: %16
1st cycle:
Week 1-4: D bol 35mg ED
Week 1-12: Test E 500mg EW (250mg x 2)
PCT (1st cycle):
HCG 1000 IU ED for 10 days, 4 days after last pin of Test E, then...
Clomid: 100/100/50/50
Nolvadex: 40/40/20/20
2nd cycle:
Week 1-2: Anadrol 50mg ED
Week 3-4: Anadrol 100mg ED
Week 1-12: Deca 500mg EW
Week 1-15: Test C 600mg EW
Week 1-16: Eq 600mg EW
PCT (2nd cycle):
HCG 1000 IU ED for 10 days, 4 days after last pin of Test E, then...
Nolvadex: 20/20/20/10/10
Clomid: 50/50/50/25/25
About a year after my 2nd cycle, I moved, started traveling a lot, hence wasn't able to maintain my bodybuilding and nutrition regiment. I stopped going to the gym. And since I wasn't working out, I felt dieting and 6 healthy meals a day was useless. So for the first time in my life (well, sorta), I started eating junk food. Plan was to get back on track soon as I settled down.
Settling down didn't come till 3 months later. But by then, I'd already broken my habit. I was too lazy and too demotivated to get back to my healthy lifestyle.
4 years later, today, I'm yet to get back to working out and eating healthy. I've been leading a pretty sedentary lifestyle and my diet consists of a lot of fried food and white carbs. Needless to say, 15 years of gains went down the drain. I now stand at the above stats. Used to hover at around %15-18 body fat.
So now, looking at my lab results, im thinking "Holy fuck! My T is tanked. I wonder if its been like that all my life?!". But i'll never know since i'd never done BW...yeah, wish i could slap old me.
I'm not surprised though, since what got me to get BW done now was the low T symptoms i'm experiencing...all %99.9 of them.
So here i am, trying to determine why my T is so low. Find the underlying cause, and fix it. That would be the ultimate success story. If cause cannot be determined, and TRT is safe to start, then that's the route i'd like to go. I'm hoping you guys can chime in.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for any point in the right direction!
