For Men - Low T Treatment

ntaylorut

I have been on testosterone replacement my whole life. For the last 8 yrs or so I have been on Androgel and it has been working pretty well. That was what I was on when I decided to take control of my weight. From Jan 1st, 2011 through Feb 11th, 2013 I lost a total of 79lbs. When i went to the doctor on Feb 11th, I found out that my insurance stopped carrying Androgel and I had to go with another product, Axiron. from the day I started on that medicine until last Monday, April 22nd I had gained 19lbs. I didn't change anything for the worse and actually started working out harder and lowing my calories because I was gaining weight. On April 22nd, I went to my family doctor because of an infection and she gave me a steroid to go along with the antibiotic. In a week of taking that and sticking with my normal healthy routine, I lost 9 lbs. I have now been off of the steroid for almost 3 days and have gained 4lbs back.

I am certain it is the Axiron but I can't get an appointment with my specialist for 3 more weeks. I could have gained another 20lbs by then. I am thinking of just dealing with the low testosterone and not taking it.

Has anyone men have a history with this? Are there any over the counter things that I can get at GNC or somewhere to work the same way that steroid did. I am not going back to being fat even if other things suffer.

Thanks in advance

iAMsmiling

I feel for your situation. Hope you can resolve it.
My levels are at the low edge of normal, but I haven't supplemented, yet.

I can only add that I seriously doubt anything you can get at GNC is going to make a difference. They make all sorts of claims.

Could you get a phone call in to your doctor's nurse or PA? Maybe they can give you some advice over the phone until the appointment.

XXXMinnieXXX

Bumping to try and get you an answer. I have a MFP friend who has just gone on it so clicked on the link for him. Hope you get some help with it. That's a lot to gain in a short time.

Zara

AwesomeMoJo

I realize I am not a man..but my father has had this similar issue for a long time and my ex-bf has the issue as well.

Both of them have used Androgel. My dad still uses it,..and most recently found out there is a generic version of Androgel (you may want to cehck into if your insurance covers that instead?)

MY ex-bf did not have sucess with Androgel and moved to Testim (lost 11lbs in the last 4 weeks) now and is more effective for him. Not sure if your insurance company would cover Testim since it is a brand name and newer than Androgel...

On the website for Testim there are also coupons for patients who are new to Testim http://www.testim.com/Patient_info.aspx

I realize this doesn't help your short term goal here of not being able to see your doc for a few weeks but might be able to help finanically once you do get to see him, if you think Testim is a good fit for you.


My dad also changed his diet to include some foods that have ben found to assist with testosterone levels:
More garlic (he loves it anyway)
WHOLE Milk instead of Skim Milk
Anything that has magnesium (the green leafy veggies..spinach, broccoli, kale) also Almonds among lots of others, as that promotes increased testosterone production as well...

I am hoping this information serves you well. Again, I realize I am not a man but did this reasearch for both my dad and ex-bf to assist them with better health and testosterone levels....

SeaJenni

Do you have a wife or girlfriend? If so, what does she say? I have a friend who complains like she's personally being attacked that her husband's T levels have dropped. End. Of. The. World. Everybody has to stop and tell her he's awful and she is suffering. Then another girlfriend whose husband was a juicer in college and now he acts erratic and takes the GNC testosterone. Nobody likes him. He's overreactive and all over the place. Yet another whose husband went from 100mph to 5mph and she's enjoying the break. Judge how it changes your moods, your energy levels, your disposition, and how that affects the people you're around most.

Also, high testosterone levels should decrease your waistline, not cause weight gain. So that's weird.

ntaylorut

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I never thought of the diet thing for testosterone, just foods for raising metabolism. I will also look into the other brands. As far as the last post, I have a Wife and we have 2 small kids, to tell you the truth, after 10 yrs of marriage I think she is enjoying the lower levels. I am not but deep down I think she is.