Catching this thing up....

So, I haven't posted in a while. Fell a little off the wagon. Actually, only by my standards, as I have still kept on a pretty solid diet and am working out 5-6 days a week on average (2 BJJ classes and going to the gym).

Started researching more direct medical solutions. I have always felt that I had some hormonal deficiency, but I hate people who blame their fatness on that.  However, it does make sense. Everything from weight gain (and how/where I gain weight) to my lack of facial hair indicates low Testosterone.

So I did a bunch of research and was mildly considering a run to Tijuana, but I don't think I could ever go through with that, at least not without some professional guidance. Since I don't know any steroid users, it was probably not going to happen. Then I made a joke about steroids to my mom, who informed me that she has been on roids for a while. She was taking injections, and now has a pellet inserted under her skin once ever 6 months to regulate her T and estrogen levels.

So I went down and got a blood test. Turns out my total T level was 231, which is so low it qualifies as Hypogonadism (basically your nuts stop working). Any result under 300 is considered Hypogonadism, with a normal/ideal range being from 800 to 1100.  My step-dad scored a 550 or so, so I have half the T of a 62 year old man. My free T (unbonded T) was at 7, and should be at 52 or higher.  My PSA was normal (so I don't have prostate cancer, no surprise).

Here are some of the symptoms of Hypogonadism (from Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge):

Effects of low testosterone in men may include: (not all are present in any single individual)
Word Finding difficulty
Memory Loss
Fatigue
Muscle loss/atrophy
Increasing weight
Glucose intolerance (early diabetes)

I have experienced all of the above in increasing severity for the last several years. Especially the word finding and memory. I have been complaining for a while that my mind is deteriorating at a fairly fast pace. Sometimes I said this as a joke, but it has been really concerning me for a while.

The remaining symptoms (which I don't show much of), are:

Dry Skin Cracking nails
Frequent urination without infection
Getting up at night to urinate
Dementia-like memory loss
Poor sleep secondary to achy muscles
Erectile Dysfunction

So, I went down to Dr. Jackson, who turned out to be an OBGYN, which my mom failed to mention. That's another story.

I got 6 pellets inserted in my hip (more like my love-handles, but whatever). I think my mom got 1, so her description of what the process would be like was a little short of reality. Mine was more like trying to force a few extra things into a trash bag that is already full. There was some pushing and shoving to get all 6 pellets into the small hole she cut into me. They were said to be the size of a grain of rice, but I don't know what rice these people are eating. It was closer to the size of a half inch section of a drinking straw. And six of them. So, about the total size of a #2 pencil chopped up and shoved into me.

Then she stitched me. I wasn't told stitches were involved. In the end, it wasn't all that big of a deal, and it didn't hurt, but compared to what I was told, it was a bit much.

Now I have a big bruised and bandaged hip. I have 1200 mg of T in me, which dissolves over 6 months, for an average of 6.66 mg per day. It's supposed to take a few days to kick in, so I'm waiting to see if I can feel any difference, or if it will be very gradual. At those doses, I'm not expecting miracles, but I'll take whatever help I can get.

To be totally honest, now that I have started down this path, I wouldn't be against more "aggressive" hormone/drug solutions, but still can't stomach any type of surgery. We'll see where this goes.