Low T?

Very curious about others experience, so thought I would ask.

I have a feeling I suffer from low testosterone. It is not in my sex drive or erections though. However, from reading about how hormones affect fat loss, how your body stores fat, etc, I suspect that testosterone may be an issue with me.

I’m 34. I’m overweight. A few years ago I was in my ideal weight range but still had a lot of fat on my back and hips. Now I have the hardest time losing fat no matter how clean I eat. I did lose some this year (around 8% with another 8% to go at least) but I felt like I had to kill myself both nutritionally and physically to make it happen. I do find myself tired more often, harder to recover from workouts, foggy at times, etc. I’ve read these were all signs of low T.

The only reason why I think I may not have it is due to my libido. My sex drive is still fairly high. I could probably stand sex every day, and sometimes multiple times a day. My erections are better since starting PE as well. I’m curious to know if low T would slow down gains from PE as well.

So for others who experienced low T, what were your main symptoms? Did it affect your PE gains?

So, the first thing I would say is to get blood work done. You may or may not have Low T. You may just have high estrogen levels. One important thing to consider with low testosterone is if you have Low T, what else could the symptoms if not Low T ,the reason why you have symptoms, and how to correct it. You may have a thyroid issue, vitamin d deficiency, choline deficiency, too much stress, not enough sleep.. The list is huge. Diet plays a huge part, and you should be recording everything you eat every day for the next week.

You need to figure out if it makes more sense to have it done by your doctor, or to have it done through some outside source. A lot of people use Order Lab Tests Online - Full Panel Blood Tests - Private MD Labs to get blood panels done because it’s less expensive than their insurance. If a doctor asks why you did it this way, I’m sure you can just tell them that it was more expensive. If you go with privatemdlabs, check retailmenot or groupon or something. I know they have discounts once in a while.

The basic things you should have checked are:
-Estradiol
-Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH)
-Complete Blood Count (CBC)
-Luteinizing Hormone (LH)
-Testosterone (Total)
-Comprehensive Metabolic Profile
(If you’re planning on using privatemdlabs, all of the above are listed under the Female Hormone Testing and will save you quite a bit of money versus using the male hormone panel)
-Thyroid TSH with Free T4 and Free T3
-Lipid Panel

Some other important things you may want to look at:
-Haematology (I spelled that correctly)
-Electrolytes and LFT’s
-HDL/LDL/VLDL ratio and triglycerides
-Iron
-Cortisol
-Insulin and Glucose
—1
-HGH
-GHRP’s
-Myostatin
-Vitamin D

Be prepared to do this more than once. Your hormones will fluctuate all over the place throughout the day. Your body is all kinds of interesting. I thought I may have had a testosterone issue recently. I was having a hard time losing weight, my lifts were suffering, and I wasn’t recovering from the gym as quickly as I used to. My test levels are actually higher than the mean for my age bracket. Turns out, my estrogen levels are high. I have no idea why. It may be a fluke, my hormones may just have been spiking wildly that day at that time, or it may actually be an issue. I don’t know, I’m waiting for results from a second test.

The point is, get the blood work so you know what the deal is. Then, you can start trying different things to see what works for you. I know I said it before, but your diet is crucial. If you want help, I’ll help you. You just have to follow these instructions:

-Write down every single thing that you put in your mouth
-Track those calories - you need to put stuff on a scale and get accurate estimates
-Track those macros. How much fat, protein, carbohydrates? (If you’re on a low fat diet, that may be a reason for low T. Fat is a big part of Testosterone.)
-Write down what times you’re having your meals and snacks.

- VERY IMPORTANT *I want you to avoid looking up your TDEE until Friday because I don’t want you to low ball your numbers.*

I had to look this up. I’ve actually run this number multiple times in the past to figure out expenditure. I’m fairly well versed in figuring out macros, but right now I’m not on a set diet. Looking more towards 2015 to go full clean eating, but want to get an idea of what could be ailing me.

I’ll look up the lab you suggested. And I’ve a APN I trust warn me that some of what I am experiencing could be thyroid. I’m curious though: I thought high Estrogen usually resulted in low Testosterone (inversely proportionate). You said you had high T and high E. How did you solve the high E problem (just diet, diet + hormones, diet + supplementation, etc)?

Thanks for the feedback!

I don’t really know what’s going on yet. I’m waiting to hear back on my last estrogen test. I know that excess testosterone converts to estrogen, so that could be the issue. The symptoms for high estrogen appear to be similar to low test. However, I have high test, so I’m very confused.

I have been having difficulty sleeping for most of my life, I get tired often (likely from terrible sleep), recovery from exercise or getting hurt is longer now that I’m older, and my body composition remains unchanged without intense cardio and diet manipulation. I have to work way harder than I used to in order to lose weight.

I’ll keep you posted if you report back on your diet. My honest belief is that you are eating more calories than you think you are.

Taking 30mg zinc citrate capsule every night fixed my low T and brought it back to normal as well as my friend who I never told about it until he admitted his test results came back low. Most bodybuilders or weightlifters are zinc deficient because we deplete our stores by working out. I take it at night before bed on an empty stomach.