I've been lurking here for a while now. I've read a lot of the posts
and have used Deja to read some of the older stuff -- but I may have
missed a thing or two. Please forgive me if I ask something that has
been covered elsewhere. I know this is long, but I type 60 wpm, and
sometimes I'm hard to stop after I get started.

About a year ago I had my Testosterone level checked. I was at the doc
for something else and happened to mention that my sex drive seemed to
be lacking. So, my doctor took some blood.

My wife had been complaining that I had not been paying enough
attention in the bedroom for quite a while. Which is probably true.
But, we have three boys -- ages 8, 7 and 4 -- and for a good number of
years sleep had been hard to come by.  There were a lot of times when
given a choice, I'd choose sleep over sex. And, it wasn't uncommon to
have a child with us in bed -- so, opportunity wasn't always there.
And finally, I'd gained about 120 pounds since the honeymoon 12 years
ago -- so I wasn't really convinced that my wife would want me rolling
all over her despite her complaints about my seeming lack of interest.
(As I told a friend of mine: "If I was her I wouldn't want me crawling
all over me.")

Those are the excuses I made to myself. I believed them. As a matter
of fact, last year when the doctor asked if I had any other problems I
presented my low libido in the following manner, "Well, I've got this
wart on my finger. Oh yea! and I seem to have a decreased interest in
sex."

The blood work came back showing I had a T level of 147. The doc said
300 to 1000 was normal.  He prescribed Androgel.  At the end of a
month my T had gone up to roughly 350 -- I don't recall exactly.  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. I applied it for two more weeks and quit.  I'm
not really a big medicine-taking person. I hadn't put any research
into the problem before taking Androgel. And I was kind of
uncomfortable with the whole thing. I hoped there might be a more
natural solution.

I found this newsgroup shortly thereafter.

I thought some of my problem might be my weight.  In January I started
going to the gym (I tried to start in November -- I didn't want to be
one of those post-New-Years-get-my-body-in-shape guys, but the
holidays conspired against me). I've been working out steadily since
January and am stronger than I was when I was in my mid-twenties and
looked like I actually went to the gym. Any muscle definition I
currently have is hidden by flab, but I can tell my arms are a bit
beefier. I work out for an hour at a time; I'm not exactly
overtraining.

At the same time I started going to the gym I modified my diet. I
started eating more protein and fat. I tried to model my meals after
those I found in "The Testosterone Advantage Plan," (Lou Schuler). (I
need to insert a disclaimer here -- after I concluded that working out
and diet were unlikely to take my 147 too far toward 1000 I didn't
follow the meal plan as closely as I could have. And Lou Schuler
doesn't claim you will make huge testosterone jumps. It still makes
for good reading.)

So, I was working out. I was eating better. I read through this forum
and other resources.

I had a physical in June.  I went in feeling pretty good. I had more
muscle mass (even though I am still a big fat guy), and as I said, I'd
been paying more attention to what I ate.  I felt better -- not that I
ever felt bad -- I just felt better due to the fact I knew I'd been
taking better care of myself.

The doc did some blood work. And the results: My cholesterol dropped
to 187 (from 199) and my Testosterone dropped to 37 (that is not a
typo: 37).

My doc wanted to start me on Androgel again. I thought it would be
best to see an endo, and have an appointment to see one in September.

Hearing my T was 37 was quite the downer. Maybe the test is wrong,
maybe not. It was taken early in the morning, so that should be one of
my higher readings.

What I don't understand is that, aside from decreased sex drive, I
don't have any of the other symptoms I'd expect.  I don't feel bad. I
sleep well. I don't think I'm depressed any more than anybody else
(i.e., past having common worries). I may be moody -- it's hard to
tell -- it is OK to get a bit grumpy if you have to tell a child
half-a-dozen times to get into the bath tub?  I can't tell if I'm
forming breast tissue as I have flabby fat-guy chest at the very
least.  (I may lack the "lust for life" that another poster
mentioned.)

I don't have ED on as a rule. The plumbing works, I just don't care to
use it. If my wife initiates intercourse I'm ready to go. The only
recent ED I had came about after we got a dog; his cage was in our
room and I felt like he might be judging my performance. That
distraction created some problems for me. It hasn't happened since.

Sometimes I wonder if I feel this good with low T, would I feel even
better if I had a normal amount.  Some of the things I've read would
seem to suggest as much.

I've ordered Shippen's book so I'll be up to speed when I see my endo.
Waiting until September to get more answers is likely to drive me
nuts, so I thought I'd post here (and posting is therapeutic in
itself) and ask some questions.

And my questions are:

1. Would using Androgel for 6 weeks cause my body to shutdown its own
T production?  I used one packet per day for 4 weeks and then a packet
and a half for two. I don't recall the concentration, though I've got
about a month's supply left at home -- I'll check the label when I
think about it.

2. Can my Testosterone actually be as low as 37? Has anyone ever seen
it lower? At that level wouldn't I be very depressed? Tired? Part of
me thinks the 37 is a mistake -- the other part of me thinks I am in
denial.

3. What effect does obesity play in T production.  This is the point
I'm having the hardest time finding info on. Has anybody lost a bunch
of weight and found their testosterone went up?

4. I don't smoke and I have less than 1 beer per month (I did a fair
bit of drinking in college, however. I've read this is bad). My big
vice was Diet Coke; I'd drink a 12-pack a day. I've dropped soda pop
altogether from my diet. I've nixed aspartame as well (I don't
necessarily buy into all the propaganda about aspartame being bad ...
I just don't think its good). I drink a lot more water now. I'm trying
to limit my caffeine.  

(Another aside: Since I've cut out the Diet Coke I've started losing
weight faster. I've dropped just over 10 pounds in 3 weeks. I didn't
expect that to happen. Maybe it's the sodium. Maybe something else.
Maybe coincidence.  I'm not working out any harder. I'm not making any
judgements/endorsements -- I just thought it was interesting).

Has anybody seen anything about the effects of aspartame or caffeine
and whether or not they interfere with T production?

5. If I am developing female breast tissue due to low T, when I
finally get this sorted out, either through TRT or TET, does the
breast tissue turn back to male breast tissue?

6. Does it ever happen that a person has, say, a T level of 147, they
start TET or TRT or lose a gob of weight or get visited by angels in
the night or find a leprechaun and his pot of gold, and boom!, their T
production picks up on its own?

When I started researching low testosterone I have to admit I hoped to
find an easy-to-implement "magic" solution. Based on what I've read,
it doesn't appear that there is such a thing. This forum has been a
big help. My thanks to everyone who has posted and especially those
who post on a regular basis for sharing you experiences and answering
the same questions time and time again.

-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
   http://www.newsfeed.com       The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =-----