I am seeing more and more forum posts with people in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties asking about how early is too early to go on permanent HRT. They ask the same questions I’ve asked, including “Am I too young for HRT?” and “What are my other options?”.
The sad thing is that nobody has any answers for them, including myself. I am 33 now. I was on TRT when I was 32. I have secondary hypogonadism. I am not currently taking testosterone replacement because I’m trying all other options first. I’ve tried HCG. I’ve tried natural testosterone boosters like tribulus. I’ve tried cutting off all estrogen using Arimidex. Nothing has worked so far. I am facing the daunting idea of spending 3/4 of my lifetime on permanent testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).
The bodybuilding forums are full of people saying they don’t see the problem with it. They think we should all just go on HRT for life and not worry about it. But nobody has done any real long-term (30-40 years) studies on the effects of hormone replacement in men. And being an American citizen, there is the whole healthcare thing to worry about. What if I can’t get healthcare because of it? What if healthcare is too expensive for me to afford because of it? What if I lose my healthcare and suddenly can’t get my testosterone?
I also worry about the psychological effects of knowing that I’m dependent on some drug for my “manhood”. I feel like a skinny, depressed little girlyman right now because I haven’t been on my HRT is several months. It sucks. I’m depressed. My bones hurt. I’ve lost ALL of my muscle. I have no motivation, no sex drive, no energy… my memory is terrible and I’m starting to slack at work, which could have its own consequences. I tell my wife it would be like her being on her period for months straight. So when I go back on HRT I’ll remember how bad this has been for me, and it will make me paranoid that I’ll lose my prescription some day, or for some reason I won’t be able to get testosterone.
If I was 55 or older it wouldn’t be as bad. I wouldn’t be facing TRT for a longer period than I’ve even been alive so far. I would have already had children or will be too old to have them anyway.
Are you young and facing a lifetime of TRT? Are you under 35 and are being told by doctors that you should take testosterone for hormone replacement therapy for the rest of your life? Are you over 40 and have been taking testosterone non-stop for more than 20 years? I want to hear from you. A LOT of people in my situation want to hear from you. Please share in the comments below. How young is too young for TRT?
I am 27 and my endo wants to put me on Testim gel. I want to try HCG first but it’s not covered by my insurance. I hate the thought of relying on a drug for the rest of my life for many of the same reasons you mentioned and also because it’s going to be really expensive.
I too would like to hear from anyone who has been “ON” steroids / TRT for more than a decade straight.
It sucks, but I’m glad I found this blog and know that I’m not alone.
I just compare it to a diabetic and their need for insulin. You may not like the idea of having to take it every day for the rest of your life, but it is better than feeling like crap.
As far as your medical history goes, who cares, it could be much worse.
Your scrip running out? You can always pay cash with a anti-aging clinic. If you want it and need it, you can get it.
Denial is not the answer whatever your age.
Take your meds friend, feel better, live better!
Good luck.
Bill
I feel for you and your wife. You mention you have no sex drive. How does your wife feel about this? Im married for almost 27 years to a man who Im convinced was hypogonadal since his early 20’s. After many years of the heartbreak of almost constant sexual rejection. I grew to think something was seriously wrong with ME. Was I ugly, unattractive, bad at sex? It was weird that a guy in his early 20’s only wanted sex once every week or two and always on a Sunday morning first thing (he needed two weekend days of sleep to function i now realize). he just thought he was wired this way so refused to consider that he had a problem. You are ahead of the game in that you are willing to accept this. I got him to go get his hormones tested. He was extremely low. I married him knowing he was low drive, but thought it was psychological at first and that it would get better when we married. It didnt. We managed to have 3 kids but only because I had to tell him exactly when I was fertile. He could muster up enough libido to keep me from leaving. Barely. Then as he hit late 40’s it dropped off the charts. The natural testosterone decline that men experience was very noticable since there wasnt that much to begin with. Low testosterone also affects many other aspects of your health. It wasnt until my husband was literally sleeping 10-12 hours a night PLUS a 2-3 hour nap whenever he was off from work, did he relent to be checked. I had suspected low T 15-20 years ago, but he was so touchy about sex it was almost a taboo topic of discussion I didnt dare bring it up for years. Not until i showed him articles on how it was affecting his fatigue did he get help.
The happy ending is he started testosterone therapy and was somewhat improved using topical bioidentical cream. When the doctor switched him to pellets (12 @ 100 mg) WOW!!!! he sleeps almost normally now and I finally have a sex life with my husband. Honeymoon after 27 years! Its been 71 days now and weve only skipped a day here and there 🙂 some days its 2 or 3 times. We’re both eccstatic! Hes no longer constantly angry, irritable at the least provocation, and developed a sense of empathy as well. Yes, low T is like a menopausal or pre-menstrual woman…ALL THE TIME.
Maybe your wife is ok with it now, but it will wear on her through the years. i finally snapped as I started to hit the beginnings of menopause and developed some issues myself. i felt I lost out on my youth and wasted my sexuality (Im very high drive). Thankfully BHRT has brought back my response ( I had the evil combo of increased libido with decreased ability to orgasm) and his got his libido and is actually finally experiencing what its like to be a man in many other ways as well. He was a bit depressed that he had to be on hormones the rest of his life but the one thing he says is he REGRETS not learning about this sooner.
Best of luck to you.
WOW Barb, thank you for sharing such a personal story. I’m glad that you and your husband are experiencing a new / renewed passion. My wife is 6 months pregnant right now but I’m hoping that with TRT we’ll be able to get on track with that in the next year. Our problem is that she doesn’t have much of a sex drive either so it’s double-difficult in that way. Of course, it helps because she’s not being rejected when my libido is off. Let’s hope we can find a way to improve her drive as mine improves so we both stay on the same level for years to come.
In a way you both are fortunate. I recall telling myself when I married that in “20 years it probably wont matter” but it did. This said, if she’s pregnant she could be experiencing hormonal loss of libido. It can go either way during pregnancy. For me, it made mine higher go figure. Women can have hormonal imbalances that affect libido at younger ages even in their 30’s. I also suspect that as yours improves, hers just may rise as well. Women sometimes need their partners to perk their interest up. Remember, there’s nothing wrong with a low libido if you are both happy with that. Its when the two partner’s levels are vastly different that causes issues. The sad thing is over time it nearly destroyed my marriage. More important is the negative health risks associated with low testosterone. Diabetes, heart problems, anemia … etc.
Libido is important if there is a huge mismatch. Im still healing my hurts, it would have been great to have spent my 20’s and 30’s enjoying this and not need hormones myself to help, the feeling of my lost youth lingers, but its getting better every day. Not too many 50 year olds that have been with the same partner for 31 years are enjoying what we are now. In the end the primary dr was no help, but a bioidentical hormone specialist was amazing in sorting out the multiple issues my husband has- all with correlations to low T. IBS, hypothyroid, excessive fatigue, low muscle mass, anemia, psoriasis.
Again, best of luck to you!
My name is Greg, I am 31 and was just put on permanent TRT. I have secondary hypogonadism due to a prolactinoma (prolactin secreting pituitary tumor.) For the record, prolactin is the hormone that is responsible for breastfeeding in women. Also, I have hypothyroidism and am on hormone replacement. My last recorded test. level was 20. YES. 20…aka the level of a pre-pubertal boy. (My highest ever recorded was in the low 200s.) My endo told me that my body has never experienced a normal level of testosterone, and I am *THRILLED* to finally have an endo (my 4th) willing to prescribe it to me (evidently due to my age)…for a problem I have had since “puberty.” I am not concerned about having children, as I’ve also been told that my testes never fully developed, hence, not able to produce sperm anyway.
In the past, I have been able to have sex, but it has never been fulfilling. I was always so self-conscious, and it was ALWAYS work to orgasm. In fact, it was the reason my most recent relationship failed. I felt like I was a failure–a feeling that has never left me. After so many years of depression, being mistaken for a woman (over the phone and in person), and medical misguidance–I have many emotional scars.
I just went in to my doctor’s office 2 days ago for my first 200mg injection of testosterone cypionate (the only form my insurance will cover), and I am so emotional right now because of the impact that this is going to have on my life. I have grown up resigned to the fact that I was always going to be the “girly fat kid.” Now I feel like I have a shot (no pun intended) at actually having a fulfilling life. And I thank God that I’ve found others online who have struggled with similar issues.
I am interested in hearing from anyone about how long I now need to wait to start seeing the effects? Will I grow more facial hair? Will my voice lower any more than it did during puberty? Yesterday, I had a severe dizzy spell, but I don’t know if it was from the test. or thryroid hormone…
Well, that’s my story, for what it’s worth. Best of luck to you all, and thanks for reading.
Gregory,
If everyone else’s experience, including mine, is any indication – you’re in for a brighter future. I’m not sure about voice and facial hair since I’ve had normal testosterone most of my life and all through puberty. My levels didn’t start to decline until I was in my late 20’s – early 30’s. But I’ve looked at some videos on YouTube of people showing you how to inject, and a lot of them seem to be from the trans-gender crowd. Not that this is where you fit into, but I bring it up because it is quite clear that some of them have gone from no facial hair and high voices to full beards and deeper voices within a year or less. I think if your testosterone is really that low (20’s ??!!!) then you can expect to see some more noticeable androgenic effects from the testosterone than the typical andropause guy does.
It is amazing all the different circumstances people have that requires them to take testosterone. I had some MRIs done to look at my pituitary to rule out a adenoma, but luckily there was nothing there. I also have hypothyroidism (after having my thyroid removed because it had tumors that turned out to be benign) but have less experience with that since I’ve only been on those meds for a few weeks now. I am a little pissed that my thyroid was removed for nothing, but I guess it’s better safe than sorry.
Good luck and keep us posted!
Thanks TRT Man for your blog of your personal journey. I am 37 and have been dealing with t-levels between 150-170 for the last 6 months (secondary hypogonadism). I’ve been experiencing very low energy, the inability to focus, and a lot of other symptoms you mention. I never thought my sex drive was affected as I was content to have sex twice a week, by my wife of 12 years recently told me she has always wondered why I did not want more. Looking back I think I have had low t-levels for some time, but a good amount of personal stress over the last 3-5 years has put me much at much lower levels.
I am meeting with my endo again, as well as with my primary doctor and my chiropractor this week so that I can decide what plan I will go with. I am desperate for help at this point and need to get on a plan asap. I am skeptical about a more alternative approach (which my chiropractor will suggest), but I want to get different opinions before going on shots for the rest of my life. I am a bit nervous about the rest of my life on TRT, but I honestly think that is what I will go with.
For what it is worth, I have an in-law who is a body builder and has been on steroids for about 20 years. He started around 20 years old. He has the normal long-term effects of no sperm count, and his body no longer produces its own testosterone and he is extremely low if he goes off his shots. Other than that, no other long-term effects, and he feels great.
Thanks again…
Scott thank you for sharing your story and for including the anecdote about your in-law. I think with how new, taboo and misunderstood TRT is in the medical community it is useful for us to look to the bodybuilding world for strategy and reassurance sometimes. I wouldn’t want to take what some of those guys take (Over 1,000 mg Per week plus other compounds !!!) but they’ve had 50 good years to figure out how to keep side effects low and synergistically use different substances. You can also see plenty of examples these days of long-time steroid abusers (not users, but abusers) who are alive and healthy as old men. Just look at Arnold!
Good luck with your treatment. You’ll be feeling better soon.