Impotence Support - Will T supplementation help me

Author

Will T supplementation help me

Nick D

2006-04-09, 6:05 pm

Hello everyone,

I lost a testicle (or at least 90% of it) due to a torsion
that was not properly identified (due to the lack of
extreme pain) by my PCP.

Ever since then I have had erectile problems - much less
random and morning erections. And I am substaintailly less
firm when than before, etc..

I have used Cialis and Levitra - both cause me extreme
nasal congestion and heacaches that follow, although I have
only tried levitra once.. I think Levitra may be a better
option for me as it doesn't last as long. Last time I
tried Cialis - 3 days later I still felt horrible.

Anyway - I have a new woman in my life and she is very
"demanding" sexually so I want very much to solve this
problem.

I saw a endo last year and my results were: (33 years old)

Results Reference Interval

TSH in House 1.208 uIU/ML 0.47-5.01
Testosterone FR (RIA)
+TOTAL RAM TESTOTSTERONE
261 ng/dL 241-827

Free Testosterone Dire 12.3 pg/mL 8.7-25.1
Prolactin 5.5 ng/ml (None Listed)

FSH 2.6 miU/ml (None Listed)

LH 5.2 mIU/ml (None Listed)

My endo said "everything is fine" but my T number being
just 20 pts above the value where it becomes officially
classified by "low" - plus the change in my erectile
functioning, suggested otherwise.

He offered to start me on a T patch, but out of concern
that my other testicle could shrink substantially, well I
was concerned enough to just live with it for now (since
there was no one in my life, and I could always use a PDE5
inhibitor if required)

Well - now, someone in my life - and the last time I tried
Cialis, I was in rough shape for days.

FYI - He never put the idea of treatment with HCG "on the
table", basically supplementing T, and that's about it.

So I am curious as to what others think of this situation,
and if by any chance you could offer some advice or ideas?

I'm planning on going back to to the endo soon and would
really like any comments from those of you more experienced
than myself.

Thank you very much.

Nick

bhasf@aol.com

2006-04-10, 1:05 am

I don't think this is due to your having one full testicle. I think
you have secondary hypogonadism. Your T is very low and your LH should
be high but its not. You need another doctor, this guy is nuts. At 33
I'm certain your normal T level should be higher that it is. You sound
like youre already somewhat knowlegeable mentioning HCG. At 33 you
should avoid T replacement if you can because not only will it shrink
your testicle but it will make you essentially sterile lowering your
sperm count significantly. HCG may work for you (it doesnt work for
everyone) but most doctors dont want to fool with it because its a pain
for them. Also they think you must inject it intramuscular but it can
be injected subcutaneous with a very short fine (31 g) insulin needle
that is so fine you can hardly feel it. Depending on why your LH is
not high, clomid may also work for you. It can trick your
hypothalmus/pituitary into sending more LH. Another possibility is you
Estradiol is too high which can not only lower testosterone but also
cause loss of libido (this not that likely in your case unless youre
very overweight but possible)

Also, it is standard for secondary hypogonadism to do an MRI to look
for pituitary adenoma ( usually non malignant small tumors) and empty
sella syndrome amoung other possible pituitary issues. You should
probably also check for hemochromatosis especially if you are of
european white ancestry. This is a simple blood test for iron,
ferritin, TIBC and saturation I think. There is also a genetic test
for it. Hemochromatosis is a genetic condition that causes you to
aborb too much iron. In the last 10 years it has been discovered this
condition is one of the most common genetic disorders with
approximately 1 in 200 people effected. Some hemochromatosis patients
will load iron into their pituitary causing it to fail as yours appears
to be failing.

bhasf@aol.com

2006-04-10, 1:05 am

Forgot to say the fact that you have symptoms is evidence that it is
too low, even though it is barely above the lower range.

Also wanted to say you need to find a doctor who will determine why
your pituitary/hypothalmus is not working so they can determine the
best treatment. There are doctors that will prescribe HCG....I'm on it
now.

Nick D

2006-04-10, 11:03 am

bhasf@aol.com wrote in news:1144642008.332182.148610
@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

> I don't think this is due to your having one full testicle. I think

Hi

Thanks for the reply. I have to run to work now so while I did read your
email, I will have to wait till later to fully try to understand /
investigate your comments.

What I did want to get out there - is that this started basically
immediately after my one testicle was damaged by the torsion. (Interesting
within 1-2 days, while I didn't think this was possible, my voice
definitely sounded different, at least to me... My facial hair started
growing significantly slower, etc... All immediately after the torsion)

When I spoke with my endo, I asked him why the other testicle wasn't making
up for the loss in T, his answer was "I don't know". (I asked because it
was my understanding that the body should self-regulate this - if one
testicle had problems, the other would be driven to start producing more T)

Difficult situation is that I believe my endo is quite well respected in
this area - my uro raves about him, and I have seen at least one postivie
comment on him on the internet. Typically this type of praise does have
some foundation in reality. So finding another really good endo locally
might be a challenge.

bhasf@aol.com

2006-04-10, 11:03 am

You are right, your other testicle should make up for it. What should
happen is when your T level drops, due to the lost testicle, your
pituitary/hypohtalmus should sense T is too low and should increase LH.
LH (leutenizing hormone) stimulates the remaining testicle to make
more T. I don't know much about people with one testicle but my guess
is your normal LH range would be higher than that of someone with two
working testicles....again a guess there. This would be a good
question for your endo and at the same time you could ask if he has any
other patients with one working testicle and if their LH is typically
higher. Normal LH range is 1.5-9.3. Yours is right in the middle but
that is wrong because your T is too low so LH should be higher. This
suggests something wrong in with the hypothalmus/pituitary. Most
problems there tend to get worse with time. I would suggest getting
your free Testosterone tested. That is really more important to know.
You would like to have a level between 100 and 250 pg/ml. It would be
virtually impossible for you to attain that with a total T of only 261.
Again, the lab may show a low in the range of 20 (for free T) but
remember those ranges are for all men of all ages. While 20 might be
ok for an 80 year old man, its not going to work for a 33 year old.
All this is based on the fact you are having symptoms. If you had no
symptoms then your doctor could be right about nothing being wrong
although I think most anyone would have symptoms with a T of 261. Do
you know if your symptoms have gotten worse with time since the loss of
the testicle?

HCG as you may know is very similiar to LH and can stimulate the testes
to make T. If you end up on HCG some day be sure to take small doses
more times a week. This is different from what the standard protocol
is for endocrinologists. They tend to give large doses once a week I
think. I take 700 units 3 timies a week myself. How much varies from
person to person. If you take too much HCG at once or over each week
then you risk the lyedig cells in your testicle of eventually becoming
desensitized to HCG and LH and at that point you have to use
testosterone replacement or a combination of both. Taking it 3 times a
week means you probably have to give it to yourself. Thats one reason
you need to use an insulin needle instead of taking it intra muscular,
again most endo's may not realize this works just fine.

My guess is that you may have had a lurking pituitary/hypothalmus
problem that had not become evident until you lost the use of a
testicle. Eventually as you aged you may have had problems anyway if
I'm right. 33 is young to have these problems but maybe if you had
both testicles it would not have surfaced for another 5 years or so.
Hopefully your doctor is not closed minded about all this. At least he
offered T patches even though he said you were ok. Did he tell you it
would atrophy your testicle or how did you know that? If you can't get
anywhere with him then consider finding someone else even if you have
to travel. Your sex life and possible future children are worth it. I
fianlly gave up on the 3 doctors I tried in my area and decided to
drive about 3 hours to see Dr. Eugene Shippen in Shillington PA. (near
Reading). I'm sure you can get things working normally with the right
treatment.