The following is a history of my bloodwork in the time that has passed
since I found I had Low T and High Prolactin. I hope the format is OK.
If it looks like crap in your reader you can cut and past it into
notepad using the courier typeface.
DATE TOT_T FREE_T %FREE_T PROLACTIN
-------------------------------------------------------------
Jul01 147 (300-1000)
Oct01 350 (300-1000)
I had been on Androgel for 4 weeks.
Jun02 36 (300-1000)
I had discontinued Androgel in November 01
Jul02 146 (300-1000) 56.2(1.6-18.8)
Aug02 122 (241-827) 3.39(5-21) 2.78(1-2.7) 65 (2.1-17.7)
I weighed 354
Appt. with endo
MRI Turns up two small tumors on pituitary
Start BROMOCRIPTINE (09-03-02) 2.5mg nightly
Nov02 138 (241-827) 3.39 (5-21) 38 (2.1-17.7)
BROMO bumped to 5mg nightly (11/14/02)
Dec02 207 (300-1000) 3.70 (8.7-55) 39.3(1.6-18.8)
Start DOSTINEX (12/18/02) .25mg twice weekly
I weigh 370 pounds
Jan03 153 (241-827) 4.10 (5-21) 46.3 (2.1-17.7)
DOSTINEX bumped to .5mg twice weekly
Mar03 32.1 (2.1-17.7)
DOSTINEX Bumped to .75 mg twice weekly on 3/7/03
Jun03 230 (241-827) 4.00 (5-21) 24.4 (2.1-17.7)
I weigh 330
DOSTINEX Bumped to 1 mg twice weekly on 6/9/03
Oct03 347 (241-827) 5.69 (5-21) 1.64(1-2.7) 22.2 (2.1-17.7)
I weigh 308
Feb04 328 (241-827) 20.1 (2.1-17.7)
DOSTINEX bumped to 1.5 mg twice weekly on 2/25/03
Jun04 392 (241-827) 10.33 (5-21) 2.65(1-2.7) 15.9 (2.1-17.7)
I weigh 285
Oct04 454 (241-827) 11.12 (5-21) 2.45(1-2.7) 12.8 (2.1-17.7)
I weigh 269 pounds
Feb05 464 (281-827) 15.73 (5-21) 3.39(1-2.7) 11.5 (2.1-17.7)
Jun05 10.1
(2.1-17.7)
Oct05 563 (281-827) 9.7 (2.1-17.7)
What's New (from the post 4 months back): I've been taking 1.5 mg
Dostinex twice a week since February 2004 - in other words, the last 5
blood tests. My meds haven't changed but my condition continues to
improve.
My weight hasn't changed enough to mention. I continue to go to the
gym. I have dropped a pants size. I assume I have a bit more muscle. I
guess that would make sense.
I put this together to track my progress and thought I'd post it just
in case it would be of interest to others. I don't think I'm
fascinating -- I just know that when I was trying to figure out what
was wrong with me I read everything I could find. Maybe this will help
someone.
Regular readers of the group will know that I have trouble being
concise; in keeping with that tradition a boatload of text follows.
In July of 2001 I found I had low Testosterone: 147 ng/dL (scale 300
to 1000). Without doing any additional bloodwork my Primary Care
Physician prescribed Androgel (Sep 2001). I don't recall the dosage -
it was one packet, which I believe is 5 grams. After a month my T had
climbed to 350. I can't say my sex drive went through the roof, but
there were times during the day that I could feel "stirrings" for no
reason - not I-need-to-have-sex-NOW! stirrings ... just something new
going on. I told the doc I really didn't notice a big increase in my
sex drive. He upped my prescription to 1.5 packs of Androgel. I
applied it for two more weeks and quit as I hadn't felt I'd adequately
researched the problem.
I thought some of my problem might be my weight. I weighed something
over 360 and thought that being fat might cause low T. In January I
started going to the gym and made a great effort to drop some weight.
At some point I picked up Lou Schuler's "The Testosterone Advantage
Plan," and tried to improve my condition through diet and exercise.
FWIW, Schuler makes no claims that diet and exercise will cause
dramatic leaps in Testosterone levels such as I needed. Likewise,
obesity can affect T levels but, again, probably not to the extent I
was being affected by something.
I had a physical on June 7, 2002. I went in feeling pretty good. I
felt I had more muscle mass (even though I was still a big fat guy),
as I was stronger and as I said, I'd been paying more attention to
what I ate.
The doc did some blood work. And the results: My cholesterol dropped
to 187 (from 199) and my Testosterone dropped to 36 (that is not a
typo: 36) on a scale of 300 to 1000 being normal. This would have been
11 months after I'd been diagnosed with low T and about 7 months after
I'd discontinued use of Androgel (I started Androgel in September 2001
and used it for 6 weeks. So, I should have discontinued use by
November. I don't have solid dates.)
Could Androgel use have caused my body to quit T production for more
than 6 months? Was the test wrong?
My Primary Care Physician suggested I start Androgel again. I had
stumbled across ASI and asked for the following bloodwork based on
info found here: SHBG, FSH, Testosterone, Estradiol, Prolactin, TSH,
LH, Free T, Total Estrogens and DHEA.
My PCP was initially reluctant to order the bloodwork. I can't really
blame him; docs must get tired of patients coming in self-diagnosed
based on things they see on TV. After I asked him how long he'd been
my doctor ("A long time," he said) and how often I came in ("Hardly
ever") he consented. My T came in at 146 (300-1000) and my Prolactin
56.2 (1.6-18.8). So, a month after I had a reading of 36 I'd
rebounded to my pre-Androgel levels. Again, was the 36 test wrong? Was
it just a timing thing?
Following the T reading of 36 I'd made an appointment to see an
Endocrinologist; the appointment was set 3 months out and I asked to
be put on a cancellation list. I got a call from the endo's staff just
a day or two after the above bloodwork was done. (The July 02 and
August 02 bloodwork are about a week apart.) I was able to see the
endo in 6-weeks time rather than the original 3 months.
The endo ordered an MRI; I had the MRI in August and received the
results 9/3/02. It turned up two small (3 and 5 mm) tumors on my
pituitary gland. (During a later appointment my endo would tell me
that while ("whilst," for some of our international readers) the
tumors were certainly the cause of my high prolactin, he wasn't
certain they were prolactin-secreting tumors; he would expect my
prolactin to be higher if they were. In other posts I've stated I had
'very high' prolactin. Well, I've since run across folks with much
higher prolactin levels than I have. So, mine are just high while
theirs are ungodly high ('wicked' high for the New Englanders.)) I
remember my weight at this time being 354 as the table-weight for the
MRI was 350 … the tech put me on the table, but the fit was going to
be such that I was eventually sent to an open MRI. (As an aside, on TV
an MRI normally takes about as long as a commercial for Chevy Trucks.
The guy goes into the MRI. You see a truck commercial. The guy comes
out. In real life they are 30 minutes or so. I guess it wouldn't make
for good TV to show the whole thing. And yet, Wife Swap is still on.
Go figure.)
My endo prescribed Parlodel (Bromocriptine) on 9/3/02. I took it at
bedtime - 1/2 pill for the first two weeks and increasing to a full
pill after that. Pills were 2.5 mg. Dosage was doled out like this to
help the body adjust and avoid any side affects.
During the time I was on Bromocriptine I forgot, twice, to take the
dose at bedtime and instead took it the next morning. I had a bit of
nervousness and light-headedness both times. Nothing that would keep
me from taking it during the day again - just enough so that I knew
something was different.
November 6, 2002 I had my first visit to the endo after starting
Bromocriptine. My T had gone up to 138 (241-827) and my Prolactin had
dropped to 38 (2.1 -17.7) My endo doubled the Bromocriptine (from 2.5
to 5 mg nightly).
In December 2002 (12/18/02) I started taking Dostinex. I was started
on 1/2 pill (.25mg) and eased up to a full pill (.5mg) in order to
allow my body to adjust to the medicine and to minimize side affects.
I would take (and continue to take) Dostinex twice a week.
According to: http://www.pfizer.com/download/uspi_dostinex.pdf
dosage should start at .25 mg twice a week and may be increased up to
1 mg twice a week according to the patient's serum prolactin level. I
currently take 1.5 mg twice a week, so I'm a bit past the norm.
Another site I visited suggested a person's body weight may affect the
dose of Dostinex needed.
The PDF referenced above lists several adverse reactions that may
occur. Twice while taking Dostinex I developed nausea and in both
cases thought I was getting the flu. Shortly after the flu thought
passed through my mind I remembered that I'd had Dostinex earlier and
that I might be having a reaction to the medicine. I was right in both
cases; the flu never hit. I haven't had a negative reaction of any
sort in well over a year.
In previous postings I remarked that despite the fact I had low T I
didn't seem to suffer from any of the conditions associated with it
aside from low libido. Looking back, that was not the case.
ED:
I mentioned early on that I didn't have ED. That was not the case. I
had sex so infrequently that I didn't notice. Any performance issues I
had when having sex (and I had them) I attributed to other factors
(stress, being tired, etc.).
Depression:
I certainly had depression. I didn't recognize it until it was mostly
over. I probably still have some. The gyno is enough to cause it.
Weight Gain:
Let's face it people, Ethiopians with hormone disorders don't balloon
up to 370 pounds. I've got to admit I had some fun putting a bit of
the weight on. It did seem that I went from 330 to 360 almost
overnight though, without any big lifestyle changes. And actually,
after 308 I sort of lose track of things (I was in a 30-and-over
basketball league at 308). When I started trying to lose weight I
found it
...
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