Lifestyle changes and optimization takes TIME: How I improved my low T problems.

Hey guys,

A few years back, I posted these two threads related to my issues with symptoms of low testosterone (fatigue, body aches, low libido, always tired, etc.).

Got the results back. Low testo levels. What to do?

Treatment options for Hypogonadism

I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since that first post. Time really goes by fast.

Anyway, I struggled with issues for years that I couldn’t quite find an explanation for. Diet was good. I slept pretty adequately (or so I thought). I excercised (both heavy, moderate and nothing in periods). Still, I felt like shit. Of course, as I became aware that I had a problem things probably got worse as I focused more on it and worried. In fact, my T levels were never THAT low. They were always in range, just on the low part of the range and said to be low with regards to my age.

With regards to testosterone levels, what I’ve learned is that you should not trust values blindly. I’ve forgotten some of the technicalities so I can’t really explain it well, but what I learned is that some people can do really well on low testosterone and that there’s many variables in play. What this means is that just because your T might be on the lower part of the range, but still within the normal range, it does NOT mean you’re sick. It seems like it might be in the interest of pharmaceutical companies and others to suggest otherwise. Bottom line: one single number does not tell it all and even if you have a number that’s perceived as low, it might be okay for you.

Now, here are the two amazingly simple things I implemented that I think made a big difference to me:

1. Reducing caffeine intake and timing it.

I LOVE coffee and I used to be a night owl (see next point). What this meant is that I drank a shit load of coffee. I NEVER had a problem sleeping late at night since I usually worked a lot (carpentry and other stuff), so I reasoned that if I could sleep, it wasn’t a problem to put on a new pot of coffee at 10 PM.

I would also routinely do this at weekend nights and work well into the night on projects I enjoyed. Yet, I was always tired and exhausted.

So, eventually, I realized that my intake was way too high and that I probably had high cortison levels and poor sleep quality because of this. I completely eliminated caffeine for a while, but eventually started drinking it again. I missed it too much.

I just make sure that my intake isn’t THAT high and I also take the last cup at 5 PM. Lately, I’ve been doing some expections on this and I might change this in the weekends. But, it’s still a lot less than it was.

2. Improved sleep rhythm and schedule

Basically, I slept too little. Later on, I slept 8 hours per night, BUT I went to bed way past midnight and got up late. I never heard of the concept circadian rhythm and always thought that as long as I slept enough, it didn’t matter when. I’ve now learned that this is probably not true.

I’m still not perfect, but I’m in bed by midnight most nights and try to get up early.

To me, I feel that these two changes on their own made a huge difference. My health is far from perfect today, but I’m well functioning, fairly energetic and have a healthy libido and good erections.

Also, remember that changes take time. Don’t expect to recover your health in one day. Give it a few months at least. Changes do take time, IMO.

Finally, don’t buy into the TRT hype that there’s something wrong with you just because you’re not packing a boner 24/7 or don’t have morning wood all the time (I had a raging boner this morning, but many mornings it’s more moderate or even nothing). That belonged to your puberty, I think.

Hope anyone can find any help in this.

Regards.

Renholder

I had a big change in my a couple of years when we switched… rooms. The daughter moved out and we took her room as sleeping room. There is a big glass door to the balcony and my part if the bed is entirely in front of the door. So when I raise my head I see right out into the landscape. And as we live in on top of a tower building at 50 meters above the ground, we don’t need curtains or shutters.

Now what the big difference it makes is that I am positioned with my feet loooking right to the East. Which means every morning the sun shines right into my face. Over a couple of weeks, my sleep rhythm completely changed and I am now quite in tune with nature’s day rhythm.

I get tired earlier and when I get to bed I can’t read anymore much (which I regret a little bit, liking to read a lot). But in the morning, usually I wake up with dawn and feel great.

And about coffee, I simply switched to decaf after noon and this works too.

Maybe this gives you an inspiration.

I was diagnosed in May. I had all of the symptoms for over two years, including minor ED, but ignored them. My diet was good and worked out three times a week but, my T was no higher than 200 and I was miserable. The only fix for me, after exhaustive testing with herbs, was Clomid. Fast forward almost four months and I’ve finally exceeded 500, which is still way to low for a 50yo.

What a good diet is is very debatable, that’s one of the issues when one tells you he is on a good diet, a “clean ketogenic diet”, a “whole grains veggies smoothies diet”, a “I eat what I crave diet”. It is the same for exercise, when one is not doing well, most likely has some stress at work or in the family, exercise can very easily put added physical stress on the organism and ruin health. I agree that sleep schedule (circadian rhythm) is important!

I’d say aiming for optimal digestion with decent nutrients intake and make sure you have good sleep is a good start.

Iceman

What is your regimen of Clomid. What mg/day? When did you begin Clomid therapy?

Have you noted hair loss since you began Clomid. The net is full of anecdotal evidence that Clomid is related to hair loss.

I am considering going on Clomid so your opinions are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks

I initially started with 25mg/day but this dosage did noting for me but I stayed on it for a month, as per my doctor. After the month, I went to 50mg/day and I started to see results. My T went from 200 to 400 and less than half of my symptoms were gone, which included insomnia and minor ED. I stayed on 50mg/day until August. I told my doctor that I’d like to double my dosage just to see if all of my other symptoms go away. To my surprise, he agreed.

So, now I am at 100mg/day and I actually feel pretty good. Erections are almost back to what they should look like and they do not deflate after 10 minutes. My wife is happy because I have something that finally resembles a libido, something that was gone for a long time. I can also hold my erections for up to an hour without any issue. Even all my body hair is growing back in, which should have been my first warning sign that something was not right.

The only side effect that I have seen so far is a small amount of visual issues when I started 100mg/day. It’s usually in the morning when I am in a dark room that is dimly lit. I have not felt it was enough to worry about since it only lasts a few seconds and it’s gone. As a 50yo guy, there is no escape from hair loss (on one’s head). My hair keeps getting thinner but I cannot say this has anything to do with the Clomid nor has it thinned out faster since I started Clomid. I still get fatigued where I find myself struggling to stay awake and morning erections are still non-existent (maybe once a week and it’s 50% hard).

Overall, if your doctor is okay with prescribing Clomid, I would recommend trying it and see what happens. From what I read, a lot of men saw good results but I have not found anyone who has been on it for years to see if it keeps working as it should. I think it’s a good alternative before having to move to gels and injections, which completely turn off T production in the testicles and can cause them to shrink to half of their normal size (something I really do not want). Additionally, while on synthetic T you may need other drugs to lower your E2, SHBG and prolactin.

Good luck, I hope it works as well as it has for me.

If you have any other questions or want to know more about my situation, let me know in this thread or a PM.

Iceman

I think it makes sense to open an own thread in order not to occupy Renholders thread.

Feel free to make any comments in this thread. I don’t consider it MY thread. :)

Basically, I just wanted to let people know that lifestyle issues CAN be resolved and what specifically I think helped ME. Also, the fact that these changes or recovery may take TIME.

It seems I forgot to mention that I was on TRT. Maybe I didn’t disclose it since it was mentioned in the threads I linked to. To quickly summarize, I had huge resistance against TRT because I did not want to rely on medications for the rest of my life and also because it felt emasculating to me. But, it was a huge relief when I finally decided to try it since I figured it would cure my problems.

So, it was a huge disappointment when it didn’t help me at all.

PS: My advice with regards to low numbers might not apply to people with REALLY low numbers. Some people do in fact need TRT. But, if you’re just below what’s considered “optimal” (again, take this with a grain of salt) I would try to implement lifestyle changes first if your lifestyle ain’t optimal already.

What were your symptoms that lead you to believe there was something wrong?

I’d love to get my T up to where it was 20 years ago (500+ range). Back then I was always horny, had morning erections and they were solid like a rock… not so much anymore since my T went down. I do understand the emasculation component… believe me I do. It took two years to come to grips that something was wrong and I should do something about it. Talking to my wife didn’t make it feel any better. Although she was understanding and tried to make me feel better, I still felt embarrassed, humiliated and stupid. It was very hard to get over that… and to be honest, I still haven’t and struggle with it on a daily basis. I know it may sound dumb but, in my brainless head, T is a man’s lifeblood and without it you might as well be a woman. You would think at 50yo, I should be able to accept this and move on. Having never spoken to another male about this problem, I’ve had no one to talk to who could relate to what I feel.

Lastly, sorry to carry on so long, did you change your diet, as well?

Working as a carpenter I was always exhausted and thought it was normal. When I quit my job and had time off, I started noticeing that I was still never really recovered. Severe fatigue. Libido issues. Brain fog (not able to focus or concentrate properly). Never satisfied with sleep and falling asleep in the day.

I think you’ll just have to swallow your pride and accept it. If your T is really low and you need medication, be HAPPY that you live in a time where you can actually regain your youth so to speak. It’s not really any different from getting diabetes.

I used to read a lot at Dr Crisler’s forum, so you might check out that one or some other forum on TRT. The guys on these boards are usually very helpful and you’re guaranteed to get some help or suggestions.

EDIT: I now see that you’re already on TRT, so maybe just forget about what I just wrote here :)

I had similar symptoms, too,.

I’ve never heard of Dr. Crisler but I will look him up. I’d love to find a way to get off of TRT. Clomid has been very good so far but there is no way to know how long it will last. I’ve heard people who successfully took it for a year or two but nothing more. I dread having to do injections, they are expensive and a pain.

I have been very good about working out three times a week and eating well since this all started. I was hoping, through various herbal options, a healthy diet and exercise I could beat this.

What were your numbers and did you go on TRT? How long was it before your numbers started to return to normal.

What’s your current routine? Clomid only? Or Clomid and injections?

Do you know if your failure is primary or secondary?

I responded VERY well to only HCG injections. I had low LH levels. Basically, HCG tells your testicles to produce testosterone, so your body produces it itself.

If I were you, I’d consider trying that and maybe try tapering off that. HCG injections are done subcutaneously (zero pain) just half an inch or so into your bellyfat. Every other day. Maybe HCG and Clomid. I don’t recall correctly. Would google it a little. But I tapered off very nicely and I THINK I only used HCG going off TRT.

Even if you would have to need HCG permanently, it’s a very easy form of TRT and you have the benefit of your testicles not shutting down.

I don’t have time to go into my numbers now, but they weren’t VERY low. Around 450 ng/dl, but I had low SHBG. I’ve later learned that 450 might be a very decent number indeed. It’s just the TRT community that keeps hammering that it’s a low, low number. I don’t know what my levels are now. Might want to check them. The only thing I know is that low T wasn’t my problem. At least not my only problem…

Unless your numbers were very low, I bet you could improve a lot with what you’re suggesting.