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Lumberg
New member
Hey all. 37 y.o. feeling sluggish. No history of steroid cycles but have done several prohormone cycles in the past. Weight gain, slow metabolism, nagging injuries that don't heal. Libido is OK. Went to doc complaining of symptoms and he did a full metabolic panel and found nothing. Later on I had to get a pre-checkup for some shoulder surgery and said "humor me and test my testosterone please." He did and it came in at 292. Normal according to the lab was 349-1197. He had me come back and gave me a script for androgel. He went ahead and took another test to be sure and it just came back 343.
Anyway I'm on the gel and feel a little better (it's the 1.62% 2 pumps/day).
I'm taking it because I figure it will come in handy for recovering from the surgery but I'm worried about the long term implications. He said as long as we don't boost total test over 1100 my gonads won't stop making their own but I'm not so sure.
Anyway I feel better as far as metabolism and overall feel but not that great.
I'd like to see an endo but I also see reference to "hormone doctor" here. I'd like to check not only test/free test but is there a test for growth hormone? I've seen reference to tests for IGF-1. Is that a proxy for GH? I also am super stressed out and I've seen reference to testing for cortisol. Should I also ask for estrogen? Also would I have to quit the Androgel and stay off it for a while to let my levels go back to baseline before any meaningful tests?
Anyway I generally use my health insurance to look up a specialist and go from there. Is there anything I should be looking out for?
Any advice/thoughts appreciated. I read up a lot on this forum and figured it was time to start my own thread.
Anyway I'm on the gel and feel a little better (it's the 1.62% 2 pumps/day).
I'm taking it because I figure it will come in handy for recovering from the surgery but I'm worried about the long term implications. He said as long as we don't boost total test over 1100 my gonads won't stop making their own but I'm not so sure.
Anyway I feel better as far as metabolism and overall feel but not that great.
I'd like to see an endo but I also see reference to "hormone doctor" here. I'd like to check not only test/free test but is there a test for growth hormone? I've seen reference to tests for IGF-1. Is that a proxy for GH? I also am super stressed out and I've seen reference to testing for cortisol. Should I also ask for estrogen? Also would I have to quit the Androgel and stay off it for a while to let my levels go back to baseline before any meaningful tests?
Anyway I generally use my health insurance to look up a specialist and go from there. Is there anything I should be looking out for?
Any advice/thoughts appreciated. I read up a lot on this forum and figured it was time to start my own thread.
