I am a 25 year old male that has recently been given a diagnosis of secondary hypothalamic hypogonadism. For roughly the last year I had noticed a diminished sex drive and decided to get my testosterone levels checked. The result was 79.60 L. The normal range is between 270 to 1194. I lift weights 3-4days a week, currently running about 35 miles a week and doing and I do some rowing for cross training. I train often and hard, however I eat, what I thought was, a very well balanced diet. I eat like clockwork, every 2 1/2-3 hours without ever missing a meal. I am not quite sure how body has reached such a deprived state that it is not producing testosterone and is essentially “starving”. Even when I wasn’t training I was lean. Since I’ve started lifting regularly and running over the last few years I have maintained roughly mid 4% bodyfat and I weight around 155 pounds at 6 feet tall. I’m never sick and although I have days where I feel somewhat exhausted my performance hasn’t diminished. The only advice I’ve been given is to workout less. I understand this is necessary to get back to the “normal range” but then where do I go from there? Is anyone else familiar with this or experienced it themselves? Looking for what I need to do to get back to normal and continue training.
How’s your fat intake? Fat is a necessity for testosterone. With 4% bodyfat which IMO is unhealthily low, I’m guessing your caloric intake is pretty strict. Try taking more fat and sleep more. Oh and skip the booze.
I thought my fat intake was good. I had been having fat with 5 out of my 6 meals. The only meal I didn’t have fat in was my post workout. Otherwise, I would have a serving of almonds, peanut butter, olive oil or avocado with every meal. I don’t count calories or restrict myself in that sense, however I eat essentially the same meals everyday. All lean protein, chicken/top round meat…carbs…whole grains(lots of oatmeal and brown rice), some fruit, sweet potatoes, and the above mentioned fats. Also lots of vegetables…mainly broccoli, spinach and asparagus. I eat these things everyday without fail. I rarely drink alcohol.
Over the last week I have upped my fat and carb intake even more. For example, instead of 1 tablespoon of olive oil I have two with lunch etc…I guess I will have to wait and see if it helps.
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more fats. consider peanut butter, banana, whey protein smoothie in the morning or post workout
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cut down or eliminate soy from your diet if possible; soy contains traces of estrogen
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dont listen to the advice “workout less”. if anything, lift more and or just make sure you are doing your squats! lots and lots of squats! not because squat will make you a faster biker or triathlete, but because ‘big lifts’ like squats, bench press, and rows will increase testosterone levels
and 4% bodyfat seems really low. i would work on getting that into a more healthy range.
My co-worker has the same condition. His was probably brought on from lack of physical activity accompanied with large alcohol intake. His numbers were very similar to yours. He is also quite a bit older, 45 years old. His doctor prescribe a testosterone creme that he rubs on his arms every morning. He also went out and hired a personal trainer and started working out on a regular baisis. He has been on this creme for almost a year and has become a strong 45 year. It seems to have corrected his problems, energy level, sex drive, lack of agression(he had become to passive for sales), but it does have some side effects. At times he’s overly aggressive, almost like roid rage. He also was heavy when he started taking the creme and has since become even heavier. He obviously has added a tremendous amount of muscle, but he isn’t losing fat. The fat I thought would start to drop off with all of the workouts he’s been doing, however he does still drink…heavily, and he does very little cardio(he has bad feet???). I guess you might want to check with your doctor about some form of a testosterone boost maybe??? I don’t mean to sound like I know what I’m talking about here because I don’t, this is just second hand info about my co-worker/buddy who has the same thing. Good luck!
Get to an endocrinologist who is comfortable and well versed in dealing with hypogonadism. I’m dealing with a similar issue and I have been fortunate to be working with a great doctor who is also my training partner and therefore has given me a bit more attention than a lot of people would have gotten.
Through his very careful and thorough testing, we’ve found out that I have a pituitary disorder that’s causing my abysmally low testosterone levels. Often times in my situation, these symptoms point to a tumor attached to the pituitary gland. While overwhelmingly benign, I’m probably looking at brain surgery in order to have my situation resolved. Not a minor problem to say the least.
I hope that your situation pans out better than mine, but find a doctor who is willing to go the extra mile and diagnose the CAUSE of your low testosterone levels at such a young age. It’s not a normal situation for guys our age (I’m 28) to have such low levels. Testosterone injections ultimately will help restore you to feeling normal, but if you don’t know the cause of your low levels, testosterone supplementation is just a band aid solution.
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more fats. consider peanut butter, banana, whey protein smoothie in the morning or post workout
-
cut down or eliminate soy from your diet if possible; soy contains traces of estrogen
-
dont listen to the advice “workout less”. if anything, lift more and or just make sure you are doing your squats! lots and lots of squats! not because squat will make you a faster biker or triathlete, but because ‘big lifts’ like squats, bench press, and rows will increase testosterone levels
and 4% bodyfat seems really low. i would work on getting that into a more healthy range.
I was thinking along the same lines as lifting more. My lifting already consists of solely the “big lifts”: power cleans, snatch high pulls, front/back squat, deadlift, bench press, push press, barbell row, pullups etc… I’m going to cut my mileage in half for now as well and just continue to eat more.
The “workout less” advice is only valid if you’re not getting enough rest. Lifting weights promotes growth hormones and testosterone production during post workout rest times. However, if you’re confident that you’re getting enough rest, then the workout less advice is rather invalid.
Get to an endocrinologist who is comfortable and well versed in dealing with hypogonadism. I’m dealing with a similar issue and I have been fortunate to be working with a great doctor who is also my training partner and therefore has given me a bit more attention than a lot of people would have gotten.
Through his very careful and thorough testing, we’ve found out that I have a pituitary disorder that’s causing my abysmally low testosterone levels. Often times in my situation, these symptoms point to a tumor attached to the pituitary gland. While overwhelmingly benign, I’m probably looking at brain surgery in order to have my situation resolved. Not a minor problem to say the least.
I hope that your situation pans out better than mine, but find a doctor who is willing to go the extra mile and diagnose the CAUSE of your low testosterone levels at such a young age. It’s not a normal situation for guys our age (I’m 28) to have such low levels. Testosterone injections ultimately will help restore you to feeling normal, but if you don’t know the cause of your low levels, testosterone supplementation is just a band aid solution.
You touched on my main concern. I am still awaiting some results of my complete pituitary blood tests and I also have an MRI this week to rule out a pituitary tumor. My proclactin levels have already come back normal so that is why they are leaning more towards exercise/diet as the cause. However, my major concern is that the endocrinologist will tell me it’s do to exercise etc… but nothing specific and how exactly do I fix it and prevent it from happening again? I also agree with the testosterone replacement as being a band-aid, which is what I forsee the doctor trying to do. I’m trying to find a good sport nutritionist or something along those lines that might be able to help me fix the problem. Thanks for the response.
It is unusual that you are 25 with a T level of 79. I’m assuming that you meant 79ng/dL. Low T or hypogonadism happens in 2 ways. The first, primary hypogonadism, is a decrease in T production from the Leydig cells of the testes, this is usually genetic in nature, or because of some sort of trauma. The other type, which is much more common, is called secondary hypogonadism, or hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, which it sounds like what you have. There are several factors that can cause this:
T production starts in the brain when the pituitary gland secretes GnRH(gonadatropin releasing hormone), which signals the hypothalamus to secrete the gonadatropins, LH (lutenizing hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), these two hormones then trigger T production from the testes. This is a negative feedback loop to maintain normal T levels in the body of roughly 300-1100 ng/dL, like you said. One way that this could be disrupted is from something going on in the brain, or a disorder of the hypothalamus or pit gland. These include: tumors, granulomas, cranial trauma, etc. Elevated prolactin levels may also cause 2ndary hypog. Prolactin levels may inhibit LH, FSH, Testosterone, and spermatogenisis(sperm production). This may also be something that your endocrinologist may check for.
The most common cause of low T is insulin resistance and diabetes, or an increase in adipose tissue (which sounds like is NOT the case with you.) Increased fat mass causes an increase in the metabolites of testosterone, DHT and estradiol, which act like T in this feedback loop, and tell the hypothalamic-pituitary axis that there is enough T and to slow the secretion of LH and FSH, thus keeping T levels below normal.
It is unlikely that you will be able to get your T level back to normal without treatment, from what you’ve stated thus far. There are several safe treatment options for Low T that you could consider. Your doctor will due some baseline testing to rule out elevated PSA levels or enlarged prostate, as well as breast cancer, if these are all normal than T replacement therapy may be your best option.
Please PM me if you have any other questions
Good luck,
H