Low Testosterone for 20 year old (noob)?

[jakurtis]

Hi everyone! My name is Kurt, and I want to hear y'all's opinions on my recent health discovery, although I will start with the beginning..

Since I was little, I have always been softer than my five older brothers. I've always been the first to cry and the first to give up; I've never had much fight in me. Of course, everyone is different, I understand that, but I am not gay, I was raised by a "hard-ass" dad, and I was always picked on by my bros. I've always felt like I should be a tougher person, mentally and physically, but I'm not. When junior high rolled around, depression and social anxiety kicked my teeth in. I was almost always sad, and this certainly affected me everyday. When high school came, the depression and anxiety grew. For some odd reason, being around anyone made me EXTREMELY nervous and unable to function, so that only enhanced (or should I say worsened) my depression. I'm not sure if depression caused it or not, but around my sophomore year apathy and fatigue consumed me. I know for sure that apathy made me more depressed because I wanted so badly to care about things. I wanted to be valedictorian, be the captain of the football squad, and a good, Christian person. But it couldn't happen, because I COULDN'T make myself care. I tried so hard, but if I tried too hard, I would become very depressed. If I didn't try hard enough, I would push myself until I fell off the deep end. It was a mess. There were too many days that I called in sick to sleep because I was so tired, apathetic and depressed. My junior year in high school, I told the football coach I wasn't going to play that year. My dad was so angry when he found out, but I just wanted him to understand that I was depressed. The depression was worst of all that year. I was at rock bottom. I stared at the gun behind my bed so many days wanting to end it all. I was so depressed, so sad. Nothing made sense to me. I was going through too much pain and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. There's times I wish I would have ended it all. I felt like there was nothing for me on this planet, that it was pointless for me to be here if I'm just going to be mentally handicapped and unable to reach my true potential. That was also the year that I started seeking medical treatment. I went to many homeopathic doctors who told me about all the problems I had: bad thyroid, very acidic, adrenal fatigue, candida, and much more. I took many natural "remedies," but I never felt better. I've gone from doctor to doctor for the past 5 years now, and I think I'm finally getting somewhere. The man's name is Dr. Frankl, and he specializes in hormonal imbalances. I am now 20 years old, and I have done several blood tests through him. Most of them have come back normal, but my cortisol levels are a little wack and my testosterone is apparently low. I asked him what the normal total testosterone range for a 20-year-old is, and he said "700-800." My results showed 560. Dr. Frankl suggested that I try to raise my testosterone naturally instead of jumping onto the prescription boat, or to at least give it a try. He acted like I'm too young to go straight to meds, although he would leave the decision entirely up to me. I don't know much about testosterone or treatment, and I was hoping any members of this board could help me out with a few questions:

1. Did anyone else with low testosterone experience the symptoms I have?

2. Based on my past and symptoms alone (not including the blood test results), would you suspect low testosterone to be a key contributor to the despicable symptoms of my life.

3. Based on my results from the blood test, would you consider my testosterone to be low?

4. How do you feel about my doc's suggestion? Would you also recommend that (I know y'all aren't my doctors, but I still accept and consider all advice) I try natural first and then go to meds, or just go straight to meds?

Thanks for reading this and giving suggestions, It means a whole lot to me that someone would take time out of their day to help me out.
thanks, Kurt.

[Justin]

Although your total testosterone is lower than what most would call normal for a man your age it's impossible to say if you have low levels without a Free Testosterone reading. Free Testosterone represents your active and usable testosterone. The reading you posted of 560 is your Total, this represents all the testosterone in your body but most of your Total testosterone isn't useable. You need to find out what your Free Testosterone reading is.

Do you have any other symptoms other than depression, low energy and apathy?
Did you ever get your adrenal and thyroid issues under control?

Your doctor is correct, if possible it would be best to get these things under control without meds if possible, but you'll need to answer the above questions if that's going to be possible.