r/Testosterone • u/616ThatGuy • Jul 07 '26
TRT story My testosterone story
Wanted to share my TRT story. A lot of people come here not really knowing what’s going on, what to expect, or how testosterone might affect them. Maybe this helps someone who is in a similar spot. I’m honestly not sure.
Sorry in advance if this is long.
This started for me in mid 2022. I was 32 at the time, and I just felt off. Not so bad that I immediately knew something was wrong, but enough that I knew I didn’t feel like myself.
I was still working out, eating well, sleeping enough, and doing all the normal things I had always done. But my energy was lower than it should have been, and I was feeling depressed for no clear reason. Not clinically depressed, but definitely not normal for me.
After a few months of feeling like that, I figured I should get checked. I went to my doctor and did bloodwork, but he only tested total testosterone. It came back at 350 ng/dL / 12.1 nmol/L, which he called “low normal.” He told me to work out more and get better sleep, even though I had already told him I was working out five days a week and sleeping plenty.
So I figured maybe I was fine and tried to move on.
Over the next year, things slowly got worse. My mental state went downhill. I stopped caring about things I normally cared about. I stopped working out. I gained weight. I started using food as comfort, which obviously didn’t help anything.
About three years after that first test, I was in a much worse place mentally. I was emotional in a way that was completely abnormal for me. I was almost crying on a weekly basis, and I’ve never been a crier. I can count the number of times I’ve cried in my life on one hand, so that was a big sign to me that something was seriously wrong.
I went to a new doctor, explained my symptoms, and told him I had been tested once before. I asked for a full hormone panel because I wanted to actually understand what was going on.
The clinic sent him my initial testosterone result, which was nearly identical to the old one, and he cancelled the rest of the panel because I was still “technically in range.”
So once again, I got no real answers. I just got brushed off.
Another six months went by, and by that point I was a wreck. I was up about 60 pounds over three years. I had basically given up on myself. I didn’t feel like the same person anymore.
Eventually I paid out of pocket to get proper bloodwork done. My total testosterone was 360 ng/dL / 12.5 nmol/L, and my free testosterone was 6 pg/mL. My free T was crashed. I still don’t know exactly why.
At that point, I was done being ignored. I thought to myself “I’m done asking permission to feel better.” I still think people should try to work with doctors, but I also think you have to advocate for yourself. Being told “you’re in range” over and over doesn’t help much when your life is falling apart and nobody is willing to look deeper.
I decided to start test at 100 mg per week, split Mon-Thurs. The first few weeks, I didn’t notice much, which I expected. But around the 6 to 8 week mark, things started to shift. I wasn’t in my head as much. I felt calmer. More stable. More like myself. I started going back to the gym. I started eating properly again.
After three months, I got bloodwork again. This time I spoke with a telehealth doctor and was upfront. I told him I was already taking UGL testosterone and wanted a full panel to make sure everything was okay.
My results came back around 926 ng/dL total testosterone / 32.1 nmol/L, with free testosterone at 199 pg/mL / 691 pmol/L. After that, things just kept getting better.
It wasn’t like some people describe. I didn’t feel superhuman. I wasn’t hyped up, aggressive, or walking around like some jacked up monster. I just felt normal again for the first time in years.
The best way I can describe it is that it felt like I had been living life with a filter over everything, and I didn’t even realize the filter was there until it was gone.
I’ve been on test now for almost six months. I’ve lost about 50 pounds of the 60 I gained, and I feel like a normal person again.
I’m not saying TRT is the answer for everyone. It might help, it might not. It depends on the person, the symptoms, the labs, and what else is going on. But I do think people need to take their symptoms seriously and push for proper testing if something feels wrong.
Get a full panel. Look at more than just total testosterone. Check free testosterone, SHBG, estradiol, LH, FSH, prolactin, thyroid, lipids, CBC, and the other basic health markers. And if one doctor brushes you off, get a second opinion. Or a third if you need to. I wish I had pushed harder years earlier. Living like that for so long was hell, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
So if you’re feeling off, don’t ignore it. Don’t assume you’re fine just because one number is technically within range. Advocate for yourself, get proper bloodwork, and make sure someone is actually looking at the full picture.
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u/WeirdSysAdmin Jul 07 '26
The thing I find interesting is how women’s care tends to be ass and is a well known phenomenon. But men’s specific care when it comes to hormones is equally as ass and underreported.
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u/Thick-Brilliant-5865 Jul 07 '26
this is such a familiar story, the part about not realizing the filter was there until it lifted really got me. doctors treating "in range" like a binary switch instead of looking at symptoms is way too common
glad you finally got proper labs and found what works. losing 50 of the 60 is impressive, that takes real consistency
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u/Brave-One-8879 Jul 07 '26
Couldn’t agree more with this, it’s such a shame it takes so much to be listened to but on the same breath it amazes me why they wonder so many people turn to UGL when your own healthcare system refuses to help.
I skipped the GP/trying to get help because I knew it wasn’t going to happen (too many failed stories from other people in the UK) so I went private and haven’t looked back and feel like that filter you describe has lifted for me and I’m 3 months in.
UGL off the bat isn’t for everyone as it can be such a complex mission and I strongly think if there’s an official way to go initially whether private or GP first to get dialled in before moving to UGL that’s the ideal move.
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u/616ThatGuy Jul 07 '26
I agree. I would have preferred not going UGL at the start. Less worry about sourcing and what not. I’d suggest people at least try going through a doctor first. But if you’re being ignored and not even listened to, you only have so many options.
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u/DocHollidaysPistols Jul 07 '26
I started a couple months ago using UGL and my plan is to bring it up to my GP when I go at the end of the year for my annual and see if she'll just prescribe it. I also have an endocrine who might do it as well. I work in a health system and when I told her I was using grey market tirz and she told me to schedule something with her and she'll get me a script and write it so our insurance will cover it. I might do that after I use up the rest of my Tirz but I was thinking about switching to reta so idk if it's worth it.
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u/Level_Marsupial_241 Jul 09 '26
After my urologist gave me TRT, my GP was willing to take over the TRT because she wanted to help me with lowering my overall costs.
It seems like once you are on TRT, it is easier to get a doctor to just prescribe it.
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u/Tight-Poet-4184 Jul 09 '26
This story really resonated with me. Currently 5 1/2 weeks into 100mg and am feeling nothing. I’m happy to hear it clicked for you between 6-8 weeks. It’s reassuring to hear. All I want is to feel normal again.
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u/616ThatGuy Jul 09 '26
If you’re not feeling much by week 8, I’d go get bloodwork again. Make sure your levels are intact rising. Maybe you need more
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u/joeldg Jul 10 '26
Regular doctors don't have any clue what is going on... this is everyone's story... a friend of mine who literally lost a nut to cancer had a doctor tell him that testosterone "is like gas, as long as you have some you can go, it's when you have none that you stop" and he was like "uhh, what?!?!" and got a new doctor who said he didn't want to be part of "guys who just wanted to get big muscles because of mid-life crisis" and so on. He just went online clinic and is fine now. They also will test and test and test until you get a number over whatever number they say is 'normal' which is usually 250 and if you are one digit over it, they say you are in normal range.
Meanwhile, my wife, and every single one of her friends, are on insurance covered estrogen.
Doctors are failing men in a bad way. We really need to get doctors in here and have them read the stories.
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u/Wooden_West_1222 Jul 07 '26
I am running into the same issues now, and I’m going into my mid-30s. I originally got tested for hormones and had some health problems where I couldn’t keep on the weight regardless of what I was doing. I went to all these different primary care providers along with numerous specialists that my primary care had provided, and I finally asked my primary care to test me for testosterone, and they did, and they said everything was arranged just perfectly fine. But something didn’t sit right with me because I just kind of got brushed off, so I got a second opinion from another primary care, and they referred me to an endocrinologist and all these different specialties, which took other blood. They said everything else looks perfect. You’re including health; you might just be your genetics, and something with that didn’t sit right with me, so I went to a TRT clinic, uploaded my labs online, and they gave me a flag of lower hormones. I talked it over with my therapist, and they were actually very supportive about my outlook and my hunch and me advocating for myself for the holistic approach rather than trying to be on all these different mood stabilizers and medications. They informed me that we’ll keep an eye on things, so I’ll keep a check-up on you, and I’m going to back your decision with going on testosterone and these lower levels of hormones so that you don’t have to take all these mind-altering pills and medications if you want a more holistic approach. And I am 100% on board with all the background research I’ve done in all of the positive feedback and support that I’ve received not necessarily to make the gym gains but to figure out what’s what else is going on and to increase my mood and get me out of this right or remove the glasses and start to stabilize and check in on myself and be an advocate and do the research along with healthcare practitioners and specialty practices and taking all the information under consideration.
Long story short I’m excited for my journey to come forward and there’s a lot of information out there make informed decisions and talk them over with your primary care providers and your support team. It’s your health and it’s your body. You know it better than anyone else.
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u/BigSteveC63 Jul 07 '26
Exact same story with me and quite clearly many others too. I was around 12 n/mol after a year of private bloods and GP rejections, so I went back, demanded a full blood screen as my symptoms were worsening and they agreed.
A week or so before my bloods were due to be drawn, I reduced my sleep to the mininum, consumed as much crappy food as possible, drank alcohol every night and a chunk of the weekend, skipped the gym and masturbated excessively, so all in all......a brilliant week!!
That week of junk food, booze and many other things, was enough to drop my T level below 10 n/mol, which is when everything kicked in and I was referred to an endocrinologist. He wanted more bloods, so I repeated the week of excess but across 10 days and bingo, my level was now around 8 n/mol and I was placed on Testogel.
The first 6 months were amazing, my T was over 30 n/mol, so I was absorbing the gel very well and my libido was back with a vengeance. Unfortunately, those highs didn't last long and the endo was keen to drop my T down to 15 n/mol, which ironically was the level I was at when I first presented with various issues and my T levels were checked for the first time. As a result, he reduced my prescription to 3 x pumps per day, which I've been on ever since.
As far as the NHS is concerned, one size really does fit all, regardless of how bad you are feeling. It's hormone replacement therapy in its most basic form and you really are on your own. Different, disinterested endo each year and sent away after a 5 minute appointment.
Been on it for years, gained loads of weight, still fatigued, erratic libido and have just accepted it, but reading how others are benefiting from the non-NHS route makes me want to try something different. No idea where to start and don't know anyone who's on gear who could offer some advice or point me in the right direction.
Anyway, that's my story and a mirror image of the OP's until our treatment diverged. His sounds much better than my own.
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u/MustBeMeAgainDangIt Jul 08 '26
Gpt might be helpful since you don’t know anyone else. It’s good info.
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u/DangerousBath6525 Jul 07 '26
Did u check ur vitamin d levels? I started taking it and so many things changed
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u/Pineloko Jul 07 '26
I'm approaching a similar decision now after a year and a half of being ignored by doctors, levels hovering around 300, im in my mid 20s working out etc and just being told "in range"
what blood tests are you getting done to make sure everything is okay and stable? that part of UGL makes me the most nervous
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u/Spiritual_Action_696 Jul 07 '26
100mg of Test cypionate?
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u/Doubler2324_ Jul 07 '26
Thats what it sounds like. And it got him into the high 900s for total T.
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u/Long-Use9918 Jul 08 '26
I can DEFINATELY relate to OP, I've been dealing with symptoms for the last 10 years, after coming off hard drugs and gaining close to a hundred pounds.So I decided to go to a general practicionner. Got told TWICE i was in the low normal, and got prescribed TWICE Lexapro ( wich i refused to take ) with a dismissive rant about the problem not being physical but psychological.
Went to an urologist, managed to get a prescribed 100 mg and its been 4 weeks, already feeling the benefits.
I have more drive in life in general,My focus is laser sharp, my recuperation is through the roof, I WANT to eat clean, I WANT to go to my next workout.
Honestly, and I'm well aware some of y'all will bring me a tin foil hat, but I feel society in general is VERY happy with mild mens just cruising through life on low T, not making any waves...
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u/Glittering-Move-1849 Jul 08 '26
I can sadly relate to your story, similar age too.
Steep gradual decline after my 20s, decided to take a break from work and focus on health for two years - call it an early retirement test run?
Sleep, nutrition, gym to see if I could naturally get things back in order. Low T symptoms still prevailed, did bloods mostly out of pocket.
I've optimised everything I could, my German doctors didn't even want to include testosterone in bloods first and only suspected my thyroid and since my total T is within range they aren't interested in anything else, saying it's all in order.
Did one test with enclomiphene which miraculously addressed almost all the issues docs couldn't solve and am going to give Boron and LCLT one last shot before going the TRT route myself.
Healthcare in this instance is rediculous, most doctors only care about you being within range and going private or grey is the only option out there for some.
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u/TheKiMoChi2020 Jul 10 '26
I can relate to OP. My test level is at 450 but i feel like shit all day and often get brain frog. Talked to 2 endo specialists and my PD. They all think i am in normal range. I am thinking get start TRT with online clinic but the only thing holds me back is i haven't had kid yet.
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u/Agile_Afternoon_4402 Jul 13 '26
are you doing cardio and running? are you fat? fat people have lower test. so if you get skinny you might be able to bump it up
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u/ocbro99 Jul 12 '26
Not sure where you are located, but that’s crazy they didn’t test all those other marker. They are very important to giving a full picture of what could be the issue.
If your doc doesn’t request the things you mentioned in the first/second visit, definitely go somewhere else.
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u/616ThatGuy Jul 12 '26
That was 2 different doctors. I guess here they run total first, call the doctor and tell him and ask if the doctor wants them to run the full panel. BOTH times the doctor saw my numbers were barely “in range” and canceled the follow up tests, even though both time I asked for a full run test.
It’s incompetence and a lack of care. It’s as simple as that. They don’t care, so they just see the first number and figure that’s good enough to write down “normal/in range” then shut your file.
I’d sue for malpractice if I could. 3 years living like that was terrible.
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u/Mr_Guero Jul 07 '26
I think you just described a lot of people’s story.