Duedue, here's my take on your situation and what I've done being in a similar situation. There's good advice to consider here, but I would strongly recommend you not jump on TRT. Thomas the Rhymer has the best suggestion - you need more testing done to know what's really going on. I did that a few years ago when I felt not like the man I used to be and traced the sources...
Me: early 40s. I don't have an IT job but I am at a computer easily 6-8 hours a day and don't necessarily have to go outside or do much walking in the course of my day. Not super-stressful but it's my own business so things can flare up and calm down depending on the customer I'm working with and seasonal demand. Two years ago I was feeling fairly lethargic, was about 20 lb overweight (not horrible but not great), and not sleeping well. Digestion was bad (runs often) and had acne like a late-teenager. The previous year I was so stressed out (and not taking well enough care of myself) that I developed shingles. Yes, shingles! Didn't know what the hell was happening with these painful blisters / pimples on my chest. That was a major wake-up call and I got my levels tested a few months after I recovered.
My labs:
TSH 2.96 (0.45-4.5 uIU/mL)
Thyroxine (T4) 8.1 (4.5-12.0 ug/dL)
T3 uptake 25 (24-39%)
Free thyroxine index 2.0 (1.2-4.9)
Testosterone, Serum 293 (348-1197 ng/dL) LOW
Free Testosterone (Direct) 9.1 (6.8-21.5 pg/mL)
Thyroxine (T4), direct, free, S 1.13 (0.82-1.77 ng/dL)
DHEA-Sulfate 100.8 (102.6-416.3 ug/dL) LOW
Luteinizing Hormone (LH) 2.8 (1.7-8.6 mIU/mL)
FSH, Serum 4.2 (1.5-12.4 mIU/mL)
Estradiol 16.7 (7.6-42.6 pg/mL)
PSA 2.2 (0.00-4.0 ng/mL)
IGF-1 177 (83-233 ng/mL)
Estradiol, sensitive 16.0 (8.0-35.0 pg/mL)
Triiodothyronine, free, serum 3.2 (2.0-4.4 pg/mL)
other blood work was nominally fine, other than RDW which was 16.1 (nominal 12.3-15.4%). My lipid panel was:
Cholesterol, total 247 (range is largely politicized bullshit, but excess LDL and TriG are bad, units mg/dL)
Triglycerides 90 (0-149 mg/dL)
HDL cholesterol 44 (> 39 mg/dL)
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 18 (5-40 mg/dL)
LDL Cholesterol Cal 185 (0-99 mg/dL) HIGH
Thomas the Rhymer, I appreciate any feedback you may want to offer on these (though they're not current). I believe the wheat, dairy, and sugar were the main dietary culprits in the poor readings.
What I took from the testing and how I felt was the low T and low DHEA supported what I was feeling - sort of tapped out on desire, motivation, and vitality. I *felt* like an early 40's man who was over the hill and I didn't like it. Exact cause may not have been clear but stress, poor sleep, and more frequent-than-ideal dairy and wheat consumption were key contraindications.
What did I do? I was following MikeCF's work both here and on Gorillamindset.com. I liked that he documented results of everything he did, which did include TRT for a period, but he decided to go off it and do natural testosterone enhancement. He mentioned the importance of posture on testosterone and I would stand or walk with my hands over my head or at my hips. Look up the TED talk by Amy Cuddy on body language.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc
I began to research HGH (did some supplementation for a couple months but honestly couldn't say if it was working or mostly placebo). However, I did follow some cool recommendations on improving HGH with diet which you can see here:
http://thebodyw.wwwls8.a2hosted.com/dr-m...naturally/
I focused more on mindful and rhythmic breathing - a great talk and very important, ties in with posture and overall mindset:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRItG9G1rb4
I began to move more, started biking several days a good, did weights but every other day to let myself rest. I felt I was physically exhausted a lot of the time and intuited that heavy lifting wasn't what I really needed. I had to get my body back to a neutral point before I could start to stress it with demanding exercise. Others may differ, but while I loved sports in my teens and mid-20s, I noticed I could injure myself more easily in my 30s and that kept me from working out.
I recently (a year ago) came across Art de Vany's comments on Mark's Daily Apple. I don't have direct links, but Art is a big fan of natural exercise, compound movements like jumping, climbing, etc. It's more about playing than just working out cause honestly just doing gym stuff bores the hell out of me. I did some tennis, some running, some biking, took a social dance class (salsa) which also put me in touch with more women, and I had fun! I shifted my mood which was the #1 factor that was depressing me. I also paid serious attention to supplementation and eliminating foods that would harm my body. I looked at the synergy of supps like vitamin D3 & K2, adding in powerful anti-oxidants, getting regular CMT-level massage (1 hour about once a week), getting my feet on bare earth / grass (where safe to not step in dog shit) or to use a grounding strap when I slept for better regulation of natural inflammatory response.
I've given up coffee entirely (took a while, but I weaned myself off my 1-cup-a-day to none). I don't need coffee and I felt it was also screwing with my recovery and sleep patterns. I don't drink much alcohol, maybe a half glass of wine or beer every week. I was juicing and REALLY felt the beets were turning up my libido (can overdo it and get kidney stones if you're not careful so keep that in mind). I definitely knew the heavy cream in my coffee or cheese was affecting my digestion, and wheat was the worst offender. Watch 'Wheat: the UNhealthy whole grain' by Dr. William Davis.
The struggle with dairy took a while but I finally decided to drop it entirely. It took a month but I swear just that one change helped me drop maybe 8-10 lb! Digestion was VASTLY improved (another level of improvement over when I dropped wheat/gluten). I'm a blood type O and enough anecdotal evidence exists to support the 'blood type diets.' I thrive on meat, seafood, rice, some vegetables, some fruits. Also if you have any indigestion look into FODMAPS (don't recall what abbreviation means) but essentially certain substances can cause high gas production due to fermentation in the intestines. Some fibrous fruits / veggies and things like onion and garlic are FODMAPS. A few important other changes were to really do a 'mindset shift' on getting to sleep earlier, 'Go to sleep early and Thrive!' where at the beginning I had tell myself 'Stay up late and DIE!' Both mantra or mottos had their place, when I had to kick myself in the ass and no happy platitudes would do it.
I have to send a big shout out to the 'zinc made me a better man' thread which is a wealth of information. I know when I do either 3 capsules of ZMA (zinc magnesium vitamin B6) before bed, and/or an L-Opti-zinc (30mg, IIRC) with my late morning/early afternoon first meal, I feel really vigorous and vital. In fact, I sometimes have to relieve the tension during the day. While my loads were more liquid and weak during my verified low-T period, they are more what I expect. Not intending TMI, but I both feel and see a difference. Having 50 or 100% more vitality than I do right now would be really distracting. I'm no super-stud but I'm very happy I didn't do TRT, and have focused on correcting any underlying stressful behaviors and then adding the substances my body needs to be a vital man. Oh, and staying away from estrogenic compounds (Roosh started a thread on this) including refusing most printed receipts or asking them to be emailed if I need them (or can snap a pic with my phone). I guard what I put in my body and that also includes injections that would ostensibly help but would make me dependent on them.
I haven't had my levels tested again but I feel like I did in my late 20s/early 30s. I dropped about 15 lb, with very mild weight training and fairly regularly daily 30-45 min walks. I also styled my hair more like I had in my 20s (medium length, longer) and keep shaved most of the time so I look/feel younger as I want to attract women of legal dating age. I've gotten more attention and am going to be moving in a few months to a southern state where there are more women I'll be able to date/engage with (am in Kommifornia right now).
While I could certainly get more jacked, I figure I'd rather not start a habit that I'd need to maintain for however many decades I might have on this planet.
Major thanks to all on this forum who have helped guide me - without RVF I wouldn't feel as positive and good about myself and my life as I do.
![[Image: never-letyour-friends-skip-torso-day-16664437.png]](https://pics.onsizzle.com/never-letyour-friends-skip-torso-day-16664437.png)
