Topics

1

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Keurig K cups

« on: September 07, 2017, 02:48:45 pm »

Was just curious what the forum's view was on using a Keurig coffee maker.  I definitely drink my fair share of coffee during the day, and felt relatively comfortable doing so, as the consensus was that the K cups were BPA free.  But I've come across a few articles which indicate that the cups were now being made of a type of plastic called 'Tritan', and that it could have estrogenic properties.  The Keurig doesn't seem all that appealing now....

Any thoughts?

2

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Varicocles and HCG

« on: January 31, 2017, 03:35:34 pm »

So, the last few weeks have been unpleasant.  I'm pretty damn sure that I have a painful varicocele on the right side. I haven't seen a doc yet to confirm; I've only consulted Dr. Google.  Appointment has been scheduled with Uro.  That being said, I'm wondering two things:
1.  Could HCG cause a varicocele to 'flare up'? 
2.  Is HCG still beneficial if a varicocele is found?

I've never felt a whole lot of benefit from HCG, I'm really only on it to keep the atrophy at bay, and to bring my E2 up.  Interestingly, my scrotum has been very tight as of late.  Painful tight.  Like little boy in frigid water tight.  Could this be caused by the varicocele, HCG, or some other component?  I haven't found any reference as to the potential cause of this on the internet, so here I am!

Thanks in advance.

3

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / CURE: Bananas Dropped My High Blood Pressure

« on: October 19, 2016, 06:51:02 pm »

Just had a conversation about blood pressure with a coworker of mine, and it reminded me of something that happened to me about 15 years ago, and I thought I would share.

For whatever reason, over the course of a year, my BP started rising.  At the worst, my numbers were around 170(ish) over 110(ish) if I remember correctly.  BAD headaches, numbness in my lips, trembling hands, all that...I was pretty freaked out about it.  My doc at the time wanted to put me on BP meds.  I really didn't want that, for two reasons.  I didn't like the idea of taking a pill every day until death, and I wasn't entirely sure I'd remember to anyway.  My doc mentioned that 'For some it's obvious why some have high BP.  Smoking, bad diet, lack of exercise, all that. For others, it doesn't make sense.  Marathon runners can have it, and a 300 pound fella that eats terribly and never exercises doesn't.  It's just luck of the draw, so to speak"  Still he pressed for medication, and still, I refused until I could do some personal research.  That night, I stumbled across an article linking potassium deficiencies to high BP.  So I started eating bananas.  Daily.  And I shit you not, my BP dropped, with ZERO other changes in diet or exercise, to a comfy 120/70, in less than a week.  I have been eating them every day for 15 years, and my BP is rarely measured higher than 125/75. 

I'm not saying that bananas are some form of cure all for folks that have high BP issues, but it MIGHT help someone, hence my sharing.

Cheers everyone.

4

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Training question

« on: October 13, 2016, 04:04:07 pm »

Back story:
I try to hit a weight workout at the gym 3 days a week during lunchtime.  Heavy weights for the most part.  In addition, I try to hit some cardio at least 3 days a week in the form of jogging or biking.  Luckily I have a wife that's also into fitness as much (or more than) I am, and I accompany her to evening PiYo and Body Pump classes each once a week. 

Here's the question:
I've noticed that my gains in the gym have slowed or stopped.  I wonder if the low weight, HIGH rep exercises I'm doing in Body Pump (and to a lesser degree, PiYo) are having a negative impact on my weight training.  Fitness-wise, I try to be as well rounded as I can, incorporating strength and cardio every week, but hell, I don't want the gains I've worked so hard for to slowly diminish.

I'm reevaluating my diet as well, and may be a bit dehydrated,  but I'd like to see if anyone else out there has any data on mixing the two types of workouts.

Thanks in advance y'all!

5

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Sleeping aid recommended by Defy Medical

« on: September 28, 2016, 12:23:34 pm »

During my latest consult with Defy Medical, I mentioned that I was still having issues with deep, uninterrupted sleep.  I have no issues going to sleep, but I wake up several times throughout the night.  Not to urinate or anything like that, but I wake up, look at the clock, and drift back to sleep within a few minutes.  It's infuriating.  After discussing this for a few minutes with the PA, it was recommended that I try a sleep aid called Remtabz.  It seemed to help folks achieve uninterrupted sleep, as well as alleviate some anxiety and stress as well.  It sounds promising, but it has, among other things in it, valerian root, magnesium, and melatonin listed as ingredients.  Interestingly enough, I was just looking at those three supplements just the other day, and reading about some of the possible synergistic qualities of those three ingredients.

Has anyone A) ever used Remtabz, or B) used those three compounds simultaneously for sleep?  And if so, how did it work for you?  Any sides?  Personally, I have a concern regarding the valerian root...

Thanks in advance, and I apologize for the long post.

6

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Defy Medical Review

« on: June 15, 2016, 07:00:31 pm »

After relying on my urologist for my TRT protocol for years, I had become less than enthusiastic about his approach to TRT.  My lab requests for Estradiol, DHEA, Free Test, etc, were often met with "Why would you want to have those checked?"  SMH  Anyway, I decided to give Defy Medical a go.  Damned sorry I waited so long! 

For me, the entire process was painless.  The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and spent as much time as I needed on the phone to ensure I understood how everything worked prior to committing.  There was no lost paperwork, or other logistical problems at all. 

My initial consult was with Dr. Saya went very well.  I had several questions prepared prior to the consult, but as it turns out, I only really needed to ask one or two, as he answered just about everything during the process of reviewing my labs.  Obviously very knowledgeable, but never once did I get the old 'holier than thou' BS that some doctors have.
We went over my lab work first, then talked about tweaks to my protocol.  Once our consult was complete, his staff called me a short time later to confirm prescriptions, and I received them a few days later. 

Honestly, one of the reasons I held back from defy was the lack of face to face time.  But hell, I had more one on one time with Dr. Saya than I had ever had with my urologist.

Long story short, it was a very positive process, and the new protocol seems to be ironing the little wrinkles in my protocol out. 

7

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Upcoming Appt with labs

« on: May 23, 2016, 04:38:54 pm »

In preparation for my upcoming appointment with Defy Medical, I had the attached labs performed.  I've been on TRT for over 5 years now, and feel MUCH better than I did than before I started.  Just not feeling myself lately.  Other than my estradiol being a bit on the lowish side, and my cholesterol numbers being out of whack, I don't see anything that jumps out at me.  In the interest of giving Dr. Saya all the necessary tools to generate a protocol for me, I'm wondering if there are any labs I should have performed, prior to my appointment.  Prolactin, cortisol, preg, etc...

Current symptoms:
Libido spiked for 45 days or so after switching back to IM from SubQ, but now it's very hit and miss.  Mostly miss.  I don't have an issue with ED, just the desire to play, so to speak.
Apathy, and lack of enthusiasm.
Emotional.  Can't talk about my kids when they were younger without the tears trying to fall.  Same goes with videos of kittens, or sappy songs....Okay, I may be exaggerating, but not by much!
No gains or drive in the gym.
Joint pain (although, this feels more like tendon issues???)
Significant testicular atrophy

Lifestyle:

Low fat, low carb, high protein for the most part
Daily alcohol content.  Not a ton, but still daily
Very active.  Gym 3/4 days a week.  1 or two cardio events weekly.  Low body fat

Current protocol is 14 mg Test Cyp EOD.  No AI.  I'm thinking that some HCG might bring my E2 up a bit, and help with the atrophy, but I'll see what Dr. Saya says.

Anyway, I just want to give the Dr. Saya enough information to work with on during the first consultation.

Anything stand out to anyone, or have any lab suggestions?

Labs  - http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/lestat210/library/Labs
(trying the photobucket thing out, so if it doesn't work, please let me know)

8

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Low Fat Low Carb Soup That Melts Off My Belly Fat

« on: May 11, 2016, 03:27:35 pm »

Strange subject line, I know, but ...

So, my wife makes this soup.  It's amazing.  Really.  What she does is this.  She boils a roast (or chicken), and once it's completely cooked, she lets it sit on the stove until it comes to room temperature.  Then she covers it, and puts it in the fridge overnight.  Then she pulls it out in the morning, and all the fat has risen and solidified on top.  She discards all of the solidified fat, and rinses excess fats away from the meat itself.  The puts it all back on the stove, and starts to reheat it, putting in all kinds of vegetables.  Carrots, celery, black beans, quinoa,  whatever.  She also hits it with a ton of peppers (jalepenos and cerrano), and loads it up with a bit of cayenne to boot.  Then seasons it with a bit of this and that.  Tumeric, thyme, garlic, etc...  Once it's been going all day, she freezes portions of this in airtight glass bowls, and I have a wonderful, spicy soup I can take to work for the next week or so.  It's cheap, filling and very tasty. 

Here's what makes it interesting.  I usually eat two bowls of this a day.  One for lunch, and one for dinner, with a salad.  Now, I don't know if its the lack of fat in my soup, or the peppers, or some synergistic effect between the two, but damn, when I eat this, my belly fat FLIES off of me.  Now, I'm naturally pretty lean, and have always had a fairly fast metabolism, but really, this blows me away!  Seriously, if I start to put on a few pounds (or 5), this never fails to get it gone.  Usually within the week that I eat it.  Now, I don't necessarily eat it for the fat loss, it's more because I really enjoy this hearty, spicy soup, but it damn sure gets the stubborn stuff off.

Anyway, I know this doesn't really fit anywhere, but I wanted to share.

Cheers! 

9

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Recent labs. Thoughts?

« on: May 10, 2016, 02:53:57 pm »

Had some labs run in prep for an upcoming doc visit. 

Sypmtoms:
Lack of motivation, libido (very hit and miss), lack of energy/results in the gym, and very emotional (tearing up at 'the happy parts of a movie', that kind of crap).  I was expecting high E2.  Nope...

Total T - 758 ng/dL
Free T - 15.9 pg/mL
Dihydrotestosterone - 68 ng/dL
T4, Free, Direct - 1.39 ng/dL
DHEA-Sulphate - 252.7 ug/dL
TSH - 0.674 uIU/mL
Estradiol (sensitive) - 17.9

Bilirubin was high @ 1.7 mg/dL (range 0-1.2), as was Anion Gap @ 15

Cholesterol continues to plague me, but it's getting better.

Anyway, it looks like, while my E2 isn't DRASTICALLY low, it may be.  This isn't the first test I've run with 'lowish' E2.

My current protocol is 28 mg of testosterone cypionate EOD, shallow IM.  I eat well, and am pretty active.  3 days in the gym and 1-2 cardio events a week.

Thoughts fellas?

*EDIT  I forgot to mention that my labs were drawn on the third day after my last injection.  In other words, I was a day late, according to my normal injection schedule.

10

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Shaking muscles during workout

« on: April 25, 2016, 02:47:39 pm »

Okay, so I've got a quick question for you workout guru's out there.  Nothing pressing, just curious.

When I workout, my muscles shake as though I'm at failure, but I'm nowhere even close to it.  For example, my first exercise when I work chest is to do flat bench dumbbell presses.  After a warm up set, I grab some 75's and start the first of 3 sets, 10-12 reps.  Usually, at the end of the 3rd set, I'm pretty spent.  But from the moment I have the dumbbells in my hands on the first set, my arms are noticeably shaking.  I don't feel weak or anything, but anyone watching me would think I'm at failure.  Same goes for if I pick my girl up in my arms, like you were holding a baby to rock her to sleep.  As soon as she's in my arms, they shake.  I can hold her like that for while, but it's unnerving to her to have it feel like my arms are about to give out.

I've been working dumbbells for over a year now, and the weight doesn't seem like it's too much or anything, so I'm a little confused.

Anyway, anyone else experience this?  Or know what could be the cause?

Thanks!

11

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Better cognitive function and deeper sleep due to Sam-E?

« on: March 11, 2016, 04:57:13 pm »

Wanted to share. 

My wife had, before I met her been on a daily dose of Sam-E, and had been for some time.  For whatever reason, she stopped taking it after we met.  Fast forward several years, and she's dealing with a bit of anxiety (child and work issues).  She's menopausal, and I was looking for some 'natural' remedies that might help her with her anxiety and lack of sleep.  Came across a few threads regarding Sam-E.  It's a bit expensive, but I figured she could try this, and see if it helps her.  Then, after reading about some of the other things it could help with, I decided to do a test with it myself. 

Now, it might be some form of placebo effect (hope not), but damn, I take one on the way to work on an empty stomach (I drive an hour to work each way...sigh), and by the time I get there, my mind is clear, and functioning on all 8 cylinders.  I feel more motivated, and, well, clear headed!  I take another right before lunch, and I'm good all day.  And the sleep?  I still wake up a few times occasionally, but the last two nights, I've slept from about 9:30 to 5:00.  STRAIGHT!  That hasn't happened it YEARS!  I wake up feeling pretty damn good. 

And the wife?  Sleeps better than I do now.  And her libido has, um, spiked.  Significantly.  Possible anti depressant effects causing her to sleep better (she used to wake at night worrying about this or that)?

Again, we've only been on this for about  10 days, but i'm going to continue with this for a while longer in order to rule out placebo.  Nothing else in my protocol has changed...

Question.  Any of y'all had these kind of successes with Sam-E?  I haven't been able to find any real dangers to it at the dosage we take (400 mg daily, split in two doses), but was curious if y'all had.

Cheers!

12

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Drinking, sleeping and heart rate

« on: March 01, 2016, 01:41:33 pm »

Just food for thought:

For Christmas, my wife bought me a Samsung smart watch.  Pretty cool little device.  As I have to be connected to my job 24 hours a day, this helps to keep me 'in the loop', so to speak.  Anyway, it's also got a heart rate monitor in it, and I use it frequently for exercise, and more recently for recording heart rate when I sleep.  I generally have a sleeping heart rate of between 48 and 55 beats per minute.

So last night, we decide to go to the movies at one of those theaters where they have food and drinks.  I had some VERY unhealthy grub, and a few margaritas.  Got home, and we had a few more drinks before bed.  Now we all know that drinking never leads to a good nights sleep, and as expected, I slept like absolute crap.  Woke up several times, hot then cold, agitated, you name it.  Decided to take a look at the data from my heart rate last night.  And there it was.  Not a measurement taken that was under 72!!  It ranged from 72 to about 80 throughout the night. Hell, my resting rate as I sit here and type this is 63.  I can only attribute this to the high fat content of the food I ate, and the more than normal number of drinks I had before bed.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Cheers!

13

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Free weights VS Hammer Strength question

« on: February 11, 2016, 09:10:58 pm »

At risk of starting a nasty debate regarding free weights vs weight/cable machines, I have a quick question.

I generally try to mix it up at the gym, utilizing free weights, dumbbells, and machines.  Keep the body guessing, so to speak.  I realize that utilizing my isolating muscles is the best thing, but if I am wanting to go heavy, and don't have a spotter (I never do), the only way that I've found to do it is by using Hammer Strength machines.

Here's my question:  How much of a difference in weight lifted is there?  I had 255 on an incline Hammer Strength the other day, and while it was tough, I could have put more on there.  Now, I KNOW I can't incline that much on an incline bench with free weights, but that got me thinking about what I COULD lift. 

Anyone know if there's a ratio for those machines?  I couldn't find one, and was curious if any of y'all smart folks had looked into this already.

Cheers!

14

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / Tight Scrotum

« on: January 12, 2016, 06:34:00 pm »

So, since I've been on TRT, I've noticed that the boys have definitely atrophied.  I knew that was going to happen, and am not overly concerned with it.  But what I am concerned with, is the condition on my scrotum.  VERY tight.  Like 3 year old boy kind of tight.  lol  It seems like my boys are getting pulled up so far, that they try to enter a space to either side of my johnson when I'm having intimate relations, if you get my meaning.  It's like my boys always think the outside temperature is below freezing or something.  Granted, there are times, albeit infrequently, where everything hangs as it should, but for the most part, not so much.

Is this typical for any of you fellas?

One side note.  My body temp is what I would consider very low.  I've checked on 3 different thermometers, and have never had a reading throughout the day over 97.1.  I just checked it after a workout and lunch, and it indicated 96.8.  I wonder if that's what's going on.  My body is recognizing that my temp is low, so it tightens the scrotum to keep the boys warm?  I'm currently on a waiting list for a local thyroid doc that looks beyond the simple TSH number, so we'll see if that's the culprit.

15

Testosterone, Hormones and General Men's Health / 30 minute lunch workout

« on: January 08, 2016, 07:01:27 pm »

I have very limited time at the gym during the day.  Factoring in the drive time to the gym, changing, cleaning up and dressing afterwards, I get about 30 minutes or so during my lunch break.  I try to work out M W F with weights.  I run a weekly 5k with my wife on Tuesday, and take off Thursday.  Then we just sort of play on the weekends.  Hiking, biking, whatever.

What I'm looking for is a 'new', effective routine for strength.  I try to change my workouts up every so often (muscle confusion theory), but I'm getting burned out on my current regimen.

Here's what I do:
Monday: Chest and Shoulders
Wednesday: Legs and Abs
Friday: Lats/Back and arms

I super set everything (opposing muscle groups), with very little break time (40-60 seconds) in between sets, in an effort to maximize time in the gym.

I feel like I'm "plateuing", and getting stagnant.  I should mention that I'm not trying to be huge or anything.  Just strong and fit.  I'm just under 6 feet tall, and weigh 190 with maybe 14% BF.  But it seems like my gains have all but slowed considerably, and my endurance seems to be declining a bit.

Any suggestions?  Thoughts on super setting?