I'd appreciate opinions on my situation, and whether or not you think i'd regret following this path.
Age:48. Got first blood tests done around age 39, through the nhs. Reason for getting tested at that time being just curiosity as i've been a gym rat since around 20 years old and i wanted to know where i was (i had to give gp all the right buzzwords, ie low libido etc to get tested).
1st result through nhs was 12.7nmol/l
I was told to get second test one month later. I took d-aspartic acid for that month, as it was said to raise testosterone:
2nd result came back 9 nmol (so much for daa)
GP sent me to endo who tested again - result came back around 14 nmol, with a letter in the post from him saying i must be relieved that there's no problem (in retrospect, i'd probably now agree). All these tests so far had shown LH around 3 to 4 i think, so mid range (i don't have the paperwork with me as i'm at work hiding)
Fast forward about a year (2011/12), low dose clomid therapy was getting mentioned a lot on the web as an alternative to trt. Sounded a good idea, so i bought some online, started taking it at 12.5mg eod. After several weeks of this, i went back to the gp, begged for a new blood test. This came back at 21 nmol/l. I was happy, as basically, up to this point i was just chasing numbers. I continued with the clomid untill last year (2018) so continuosly for about 6 years, assuming my testosterone would just stay at 21nmol
Around the end of 2016 i started putting on some unwanted weight, getting a bit of a gut on me, with no change in diet or activity level. I noticed i had less stamina than usual during day to day activities, ie, on holiday going for family walks i would get fatiged and struggle to keep up , which was very unlike me. During 2017 i took the occasional proviron as i'd read it was none suppresive. I enjoyed the effects of this, but after some weeks my joints started playing up, knees felt dry and would lock up when trying to squat down etc. I stopped the proviron. Joint problems continued though, and i kept on the clomid, assuming it was still keeping me at around 21nmol.
In 2018 i saw an advert for Medichecks. I bought a basic testosterone test, got an early morning blood draw:
Result: 11.7nmol.
I retook a couple of weeks later, but with LH etc:
Result: 11.7nmol, LH 8
At this point i dropped the clomid and over the next year took several more tests, including the trt one. I got the following results, all with clomid out of my system:
Aug 2018: T 8.68, LH 4.28
Sept 2018: T 7.86, LH 8.4
Oct 2018: T 8.97, LH 4.72
Feb 2019: T 9.52, LH 4.38
June 2019: T 9.67, LH 4.5
In all the tests where i had a calculated free test result, it's been at the bottom of the range or lower. The last one was 0.215 nmol/l, the others roughly the same.
So now it's October. Symptoms wise, i get all over body aches, especially first thing in the morning. Poor concentration, brain fog, low motivation, Stamina in the gym, it just isn't there. A couple of years ago i without fail trained three times a week, full body workouts, always progressing. I remember during that time taking my kids to Blackpool, there all day, pleasure beach, arcades etc. Left around 10pm, drove back home, in my gym at midnight squatting, bags of energy. Now, i struggle to get through twice weekly workouts, sometimes once, and i couldn't do that now as i described above after a long day out. I'm getting older, i know. But.....is it testosterone related?
I've got myself two years worth of ugl test e at home, and can easily get more. I don't want to bother the nhs again, been there, done that. Every day when i get out of bed, every time i'm at work and find myself leaning against things because i'm tired, and every time i'm in my gym and realise i'm doing half what i did two years ago, i think, "why not?". Would it be a stupid idea to put myself on diy trt? Would i regret it?
Opinions welcomed, thank you in advance.
Age:48. Got first blood tests done around age 39, through the nhs. Reason for getting tested at that time being just curiosity as i've been a gym rat since around 20 years old and i wanted to know where i was (i had to give gp all the right buzzwords, ie low libido etc to get tested).
1st result through nhs was 12.7nmol/l
I was told to get second test one month later. I took d-aspartic acid for that month, as it was said to raise testosterone:
2nd result came back 9 nmol (so much for daa)
GP sent me to endo who tested again - result came back around 14 nmol, with a letter in the post from him saying i must be relieved that there's no problem (in retrospect, i'd probably now agree). All these tests so far had shown LH around 3 to 4 i think, so mid range (i don't have the paperwork with me as i'm at work hiding)
Fast forward about a year (2011/12), low dose clomid therapy was getting mentioned a lot on the web as an alternative to trt. Sounded a good idea, so i bought some online, started taking it at 12.5mg eod. After several weeks of this, i went back to the gp, begged for a new blood test. This came back at 21 nmol/l. I was happy, as basically, up to this point i was just chasing numbers. I continued with the clomid untill last year (2018) so continuosly for about 6 years, assuming my testosterone would just stay at 21nmol
Around the end of 2016 i started putting on some unwanted weight, getting a bit of a gut on me, with no change in diet or activity level. I noticed i had less stamina than usual during day to day activities, ie, on holiday going for family walks i would get fatiged and struggle to keep up , which was very unlike me. During 2017 i took the occasional proviron as i'd read it was none suppresive. I enjoyed the effects of this, but after some weeks my joints started playing up, knees felt dry and would lock up when trying to squat down etc. I stopped the proviron. Joint problems continued though, and i kept on the clomid, assuming it was still keeping me at around 21nmol.
In 2018 i saw an advert for Medichecks. I bought a basic testosterone test, got an early morning blood draw:
Result: 11.7nmol.
I retook a couple of weeks later, but with LH etc:
Result: 11.7nmol, LH 8
At this point i dropped the clomid and over the next year took several more tests, including the trt one. I got the following results, all with clomid out of my system:
Aug 2018: T 8.68, LH 4.28
Sept 2018: T 7.86, LH 8.4
Oct 2018: T 8.97, LH 4.72
Feb 2019: T 9.52, LH 4.38
June 2019: T 9.67, LH 4.5
In all the tests where i had a calculated free test result, it's been at the bottom of the range or lower. The last one was 0.215 nmol/l, the others roughly the same.
So now it's October. Symptoms wise, i get all over body aches, especially first thing in the morning. Poor concentration, brain fog, low motivation, Stamina in the gym, it just isn't there. A couple of years ago i without fail trained three times a week, full body workouts, always progressing. I remember during that time taking my kids to Blackpool, there all day, pleasure beach, arcades etc. Left around 10pm, drove back home, in my gym at midnight squatting, bags of energy. Now, i struggle to get through twice weekly workouts, sometimes once, and i couldn't do that now as i described above after a long day out. I'm getting older, i know. But.....is it testosterone related?
I've got myself two years worth of ugl test e at home, and can easily get more. I don't want to bother the nhs again, been there, done that. Every day when i get out of bed, every time i'm at work and find myself leaning against things because i'm tired, and every time i'm in my gym and realise i'm doing half what i did two years ago, i think, "why not?". Would it be a stupid idea to put myself on diy trt? Would i regret it?
Opinions welcomed, thank you in advance.