Hey guys. I'm 35 years old. Almost four years ago I got a physical and requested my testosterone levels be tested. I had never considered that I was low t until a few months prior but in retrospect I thought I could've been low to as early as 26/27 years old. Anyhow at 31 my t came back 351. My doc at the time prescribed me testosterone but I was on the fence about taking it. This past fall my levels were 373 with very little, if any, difference in lifestyle. The particular medical group that is my gp on deal in pellets–which are not affordable for me–so today I visited a more allopathic physician and he's of the school of thought that 200 is low. Much of the literature suggests 300 and some as high as 350. While others suggest that there are too many factors to hardline a number, namely age.

Anyhow, many of the symptoms I'm experiencing now I've been experiencing since my mid/late 20s. Most notably muscle loss/weakness, fatigue, hot flashes, and irregular heartbeat. More recently, I've been experiencing a more significant mental/emotional impact–i.e. depression and mood swings–and significant weight gain. Up until about six months ago my weight was pretty stable at 190-195, even post muscle loss. But now I'm between 215-223. And to be honest it's not very noticeable visually, but I can feel it, and it's definitely not muscle weight.

So aside from the possibility that there can be a normal range based on age, is it possible to have a rapid loss earlier than normal but plateau within the broadest normal range? I've experienced chronic epididymitis since my teens and have read that such a condition can render a testicle 'dead'. So my thought is I have the testosterone production of a single testicle which is 'sufficient' at best but I feel like I can handle a bare minimum workload of life.

And finally, the doc I spoke with today, like I said, is of the school that 200 is low and he thought my symptoms, which he heard a small percentage of, could be equally attributable to cytomegalovirus and drew blood for labs for that. But the little research I've done on that only explain a few of my symptoms. It's possible that I have cytomegalovirus–it seems as though many go undiagnosed–but intuitively I'm low t and I'm ready to finally treat it.