Totally confused...

[Rush2⃣1⃣1⃣2⃣]

Hi guys. Newbe here. I am a 37 year old male suffering from severe exhaustion (usually half way through the morning into early afternoon), depression, anxiety, foggy head, trouble thinking clearly, sleeping 7-8 hours and feeling like it was 10 minutes and have to work five times harder to building muscle tissue. I work out often, but am not a jacked up gym addict. My weight fluctuates quite a bit. I am now 164lbs and 5' 10". Back in the day I was diagnosed with ADD and put on meds. I took myself off them in my mid 20's. I have a swimmers chest of sorts, which is in my family. That all being said, a few years ago I started doing research thinking it was thyroid or testosterone. Tests on the thyroid were in range and testosterone came back at 576 which was normal (5 years ago). So here I am today, still suffering, if not worse from fatigue and the rest of the issues above. Without doing blood work my doctor proscribed me Androgel in the lowest dose and told me to take 1/2 a dose.

To tell you the truth... I am a bit scared. Not sure if it will make the depression and anxiety worse. Then again, if I don't try it might not help.

Any thoughts about my situation? Thanks again in advance for any advice!

[Justin]

Welcome to the forum.

Your testosterone reading 5 years ago, while it wasn't terrible, it was a little on the low side of normal. However, without a free testosterone reading it's hard to say what your situation really was. But, there's a good chance both readings are lower now. No, it's not guaranteed to be significant but the odds are it's probably lower since levels do naturally decline as we age.

Regarding the Androgel, testosterone itself is not going to make depression or anxiety worse, it does not have that affect. Depression is a very common symptom of low testosterone, whereas higher or optimal levels of testosterone are associated with a general sense of wellbeing. As for the Androgel itself, it will work for some men and for many others it's hit or miss. Injectable testosterone is the most effective with a nearly 100% success rate. My point, if Androgel doesn't do the trick, and I don't just mean Androgel, I'm referring to transdermal (topical) testosterones in general, don't give up.

Last, your doctor not measuring your levels is a big red flag. You want to find a doctor that keeps up with your testosterone levels, free and total and estrogen levels. Without a balance of these two, regardless of the testosterone, reaching an optimal state will be a shot in the dark. You also want a doctor that monitors hematocrit, hemoglobin and red blood cell count. You don't want your blood getting too thick. PSA test 1-2 times a year (part of regular blood work) is also important.

[Rush2⃣1⃣1⃣2⃣]

Thank you for your quick response. I actually contacted my doctor to get some more input on my blood levels. He did a few workups since 2007. I misspoke a bit and realized there were two readings.

One was back in 2007 where the total was 421 with 61 free. The one last year was 576 with 92 free which confuses me even more. Got to love hormones!

Thanks for the feedback by the way about Androgel. Much appreciated.