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Home > Archive > Impotence Support > June 2006 > 26 years old, ED and Low T levels
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26 years old, ED and Low T levels
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| julian.chacon.cr@gmail.com 2006-06-04, 8:03 am |
| Hi, I am looking for an advice.
I=B4m 26 years old and suffering with ED since at least 3 years ago. At
the end of february I visited an urologist for the first time. After
looking to my blood analysis, he prescribed me to take 2 Tribulus
Terrestris (20% saponins) pills at day for three months. However after
almost three months I haven=B4t see any major shift, and that worries
me.
I have a healthy diet, drink at least 2 liters of water per day,
exercise three times per week at
the gym. No smoke, drink a beer or two sometimes on weekend, sleep
eight to nine hours daily, and usually wake up in the morning or night
with a soft erection.
>From the test results, it seems to me that my testosterone levels are
quite low (considering my age). I=B4ve talked with my fianc=E9e about
this situation and she has been very supportive.
The results from my blood test are attached below. It worries me to
think that the doctor might had overlook my case and because of my age
just consider it as a lack-of-confidence-situation and prescibed me
something that would act as a placebo; instead of considering other
possibilities.
Any suggestions about what to do next will be welcome. Thanks. (P.D.
sorry for my rough english)
GLICEMIA 84 MG/DL
REFERENCE 70-100 MG/DL
CHOLESTEROL 186 MG/DL
REFERENCE UP TO 200 MG/DL
HDL 33 MG/DL
REFERENCE UP TO 35 MG/DL
LDL 123 MG/DL
REFERENCE LESS THAN 140 MG/DL
TRIGLYCERIDES 148 MG/DL
REFERENCE UP TO 150 MG/DL
TOTAL TESTOSTERONE 13,16 nmol/L
NORMAL FOR MEN:
20-49 YEARS OLD: 9,36-60,1
MEN OVER 50 : 7,35-26,2
FREE TESTOSTERONE 12,0 pg/mL
NORMAL:
PRE-PUBERTY: 1,26 a 5,04
MEN 20 TO 50 : 8,7 a 54,7
MEN OVER 50 : 10,8 a 24,6
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| bhasf@aol.com 2006-06-04, 8:03 am |
| I'm having trouble reading your results:
TOTAL TESTOSTERONE 13,16 nmol/L
NORMAL FOR MEN:
20-49 YEARS OLD: 9,36-60,1
MEN OVER 50 : 7,35-26,2
FREE TESTOSTERONE 12,0 pg/mL
I'm going to assume your Total T is 13 to 16 nmol/L and your Free T is
120 pg/ml. Based on this assumption, I think your doctor realizes your
T levels are low (but not off the scale low) and is trying to bring
them up with the supplement he prescribed. Your free T should be
between 100 and 250 pg/ml. You are in that range but on the low side.
Total T is a little harder to say the correct range because it depends
on many factors including your SHBG level. Free T is the more
important number. But by any measures your T levels are low,
especially for your age. They are on the edge of the normal range
which I'm guessing is why you still have soft nocturnal erections.
The question is why is it low and what can you do about it. You need
to have your LH measured too. It theoretically should be high since
your T level is low. If it is high then you have primary hypogonadism,
where the testes are stimulated by the pituitary with LH to make more T
but they are unable to do it. If the LH is low to normal (most likely
for your age) then you have secondary hypogonadsim, meaning your
pituitary/hypothalmus are not sensing your T level correctly and/or
sending enough LH to tell your testes to make more T.
The type of hypogonadism you have is very important to know so you know
how to treat it correctly. Since you have a fiance and are young you
may want to have children. If so, you dont want to just take T
supplementation because it will shut down your testicles and make you
essentially sterile. Most likely you will need HCG or clomid depending
on what the root cause of the problem is.
If you have secondary hypogonadism ( LH low to normal with low T ) then
you should also follow up with and MRI to rule out pituitary adenoma (
usually a benign small tumor pressing on the pituitary ) and a complete
blood iron check ( including ferritin, TIBC, iron, and transferrin
saturation ) to rule out hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a common
genetic disease mainly effecting european / irish/ english that can
cause the pituitary amoung other organs to load too much iron causing
them to malfunction and in some cases eventually causing cancer.
Otherwise your test results look pretty good except your HDL is pretty
low and Triglycerides pretty high. I suspect eventually you will need
to do something about them. Keep up the exercise and do more if you
can and watch your fat intake since your are borderline there.
I would also suggest checking your thyroid level (TSH). If you are
hypothyroid (high TSH) it can cause low T and high cholesterol levels I
think. Not sure about the cholesterol level there though.
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| Ironically I justed posted something with a similar situation as yours. I'm
29 years old and haven't much sexual desire since 17. I used to have a lot
before 16. I'm basically a hermit, so it doesn't bother me too much.
Do you suffer from chronic fatigue? Panic attacks? High blood pressure?
You may be oxygen deprived during sleep, so you may want to have a sleep
test done.
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| julian.chacon.cr@gmail.com 2006-06-04, 8:03 am |
| Hi, thanks for your very complete answer.
My blood analysis results for free testosterone and total testosterone
are 12,0 pg/mL and 13,16 nmol/L respectively (copied directly from the
paper with the lab results; the same can be said for the range
references).
After reading your reply, I checked on the Medical Encyclopedia
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/...icle/001195.htm) for
hypogonadism, however, among the symptons enlisted there for this
condition are decreased beard and body hair, fortunately that is not my
case, I have abundant body hair.
Nevertheless I am curious about my LH level and will mention it to my
urologist on my next appointment.
Thanks againg for your taking your time and knowledge to reply this
post.
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| julian.chacon.cr@gmail.com 2006-06-04, 8:03 am |
| Hi asdf.
As a matter of fact, except for my DE I feel quite well.
I do not suffer of chronic fatigue nor panic attacks nor high blood
pressure. I do sleep well at night.
But thanks for sharing your experience.
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| bhasf@aol.com 2006-06-04, 8:03 am |
| No probelm. I have received help from others on this board and am
happy to contribute. The decreased body hair is not always present.
In my case I suffered for years with no treatment and had no noticeable
loss of body hair.....just low libido and ocassional ED. Keep in mind
your T levels are close to a normal level but since you are having
symptoms I think they are too low for you. Unfortunately because you
are in or close to the normal range your doctor may not be willing to
treat you agressively. If your problem is in fact low testosterone it
will most likely get worse as you age. I mistakenly thought you had
low libido too but now I don't see that in your post. If its just ED
that can have many other causes but the T levels at the low end of
normal are certainly suspicious. Best of Luck
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| I heard sometimes accidents cause impotence. Maybe like getting kicked in
the crotch during a fight.
I just remembered that used to feel some sort of pain around my testicles
years ago (around 14-15 years old). I'd sometimes feel this pain when
moving around. That pain has dissappeared completely, along with my sexual
desire.
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| lobsterboy_2002@yahoo.es 2006-06-04, 8:03 am |
| Hi Julian
I=B4m 28 and I=B4ve suffered low sex drive for the last 4 years. A year
ago I had my T levels checked and I scored 12,52 n/mol. Being a poor
yet in the normal range result, I didn=B4t go to the urologist, since I
tought he probably won=B4t take my case seriously. That might be your
case.
I did some research, and found out about Tribulus. I took one brand
that had 40% of saponins (the minimum effective according to several
sources) for 3 month with no visible effects. However, I think that was
due to the bad quality of the brand I chose, and not a proper dosage.
I=B4m not surprised that the brand your doc recomended doesen=B4t work,
20% saponins is really low. None of the Tribulus brands I know has less
than 40%.
I=B4ve read that Tribulus works much better if combined with a suplement
called ZMA. You can find plenty of info about them in
www.bodybuilding.com.
However, before I try tribulus again, I=B4m gonna try a suplement called
Maca, which is said to improve a lot the sex drive.=20
Hope that helps.
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| julian.chacon.cr@gmail.com 2006-06-04, 8:06 am |
| I visited the urologist this week. He checked the results that I
previously posted here and suggested me to change the tribulus
terrestris with 20% saponins to a another brand with 70% saponins.
After taking two pills for three months I should have a blood analysis
to check my FSH, LH and prolactin as well as the free and total
testosterone. He thinks that more saponins are going to help me
increase the T levels up to half the normal range... I hope so, but do
not feel that confident.
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| Lobsterboy 2006-06-04, 8:06 am |
| 70% Saponins?. Which brand is that?. I=B4ve never seen one that had more
than 45%.
Hope you get better.
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| julian.chacon.cr@gmail.com 2006-06-04, 8:06 am |
| > 70% Saponins?. Which brand is that?. I=B4ve never seen one that had more
> than 45%.
This tribulus brand name is MRM and the product name is Tribuplex 750,
I got it at a body building store that my urologist recommend me. There
is another product in the same website that contains 45% saponins,
however the urologist said the more saponins the best...
This is the website for this product:
http://www.mrm-usa.com/proddetail.p...1011-0&cat=3D25
I hope it can help you.
>=20
> Hope you get better.
Thanks.
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