The day the last post, “I started hormones and gained 20 pounds,… , went live, I was contacted by a potential male client. Little did I know, his situation was nearly identical to the woman from the previous article.
He had been getting testosterone pellets for several months and wanted an alternative. He was due for his next round of implants and I asked him if he had any testosterone levels from his current therapy.
His most recent testosterone level was about three months ago, just before his most recent pellet implants. When he emailed me his test results, I could see the blatant malpractice going on in this clinic.
His testosterone level was 1 1/2 times the high range of normal according to the lab results. ANY doctor, ANY practitioner, ANYone with ANY knowledge of medicine or hormones what-so-ever would not have done what this clinic did…gave him more testosterone. You read that right. His testosterone was high, so they gave him more testosterone!!!!
These “hormone clinics” are under more and more scrutiny from state medical boards and other government agencies. I am fully supportive of the medical industry pushing the envelope and trying new and innovative therapies. But giving someone with high hormone levels more hormones? This is like giving a diabetic a candy bar when their blood sugar is high. It is malpractice and any “clinic” that does this should be shut down.
I took him on as a client and we will work together to bring him back with as little discomfort and damage as possible.
His estrogen was also high because our body converts testosterone into estrogen. If you have more testosterone, us guys will convert that into estrogen, giving us high estrogen as well. Did this “clinic” do anything about his high estrogen? Of course not. He was prescribed anastrazole. Anastrazole blocks the aromatase enzyme responsible for this conversion. This once-a-week pill will bring his estrogen back to normal male levels.
Because his hormones were so unbalanced, he was having difficulty achieving and maintaining an erection. To help in this area, he was prescribed my own compounded erectile dysfunction medication. These are dissolved under the tongue and work in about 10-15 minutes.
Since he was on testosterone alone for so long, he reported to me that his testicles appeared to have shrunken in size. This can happen over time if the therapy is not done correctly. Of course it wasn’t done correctly, he went to a franchise “clinic.” When a man is given testosterone at a high level, the signal from the brain to the testicles is stopped. This signal “tells” the testicles to produce testosterone. Like anything else in our body, it’s a “use it or lose it” situation and they will atrophy. HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, mimics the signal from the brain to the testicles “telling” them to make testosterone. When the testicles begin working again, the size and function will return. This patient was given HCG and told to begin as soon as possible with the proper dosing therapy.
(for more info on HCG, click HERE)
There was no real advantage to get a testosterone level at this point, it is high. Why waste money on a test when I know the answer for the next couple of months anyway? I certainly will not be giving him testosterone, I don’t need a test. What we need to do is wait. Wait for his body to use the excessive amount of testosterone flowing through his body.
Unfortunately, when hormones are this high, our body will “upregulate.” Upregulate is the medical term for the body adjusting to the high levels. It means the body is making more receptor sites on the cells to accept this testosterone. How these franchise “clinics” keep their clients “addicted” to the hormones is by causing the body to upregulate.
When the body is so highly upregulated, you will feel like your hormones are low when they are in the normal range. If you are not given these mega doses of hormones, you begin to feel worse than when you began the therapy. This is how they keep you coming in, you feel terrible without the overdosing.
I hope you can tell by the tone of this article, that I am not a fan of hormone “clinics.” I’ve been around them for years. I’ve handled their former patients for years. I’ve seen when they have done to people for too long.
Hormones are individualized. Hormones are powerful. Hormones have to be treated with respect. Before you get any hormone therapy, from me or anyone else, be sure your prescriber knows what he or she is doing.
my test level is 385 and my free range is 30 . im a 48 yr old male in decent shape 5’9″ 190 lbs. feeling sluggish < belly fat, and i think im going senile sometimes. am i a canidate for TRT
If 30 is your free testosterone level, that is quite low. You could certainly benefit from supplementation.
Sounds like me!