abnormally low testosterone

[dogglaw]

hey guys, so i recently got some labs done and my t levels were abnormally low... 66. i didn't even know it was possible for them to be this low. i've felt really sluggish, really low energy and foggy, all in spite of being on the protocol and taking pine pollen regularly.
could pine pollen have anything to do with it? i'm so confused. i'm 19 fucking years old. that level is lower than it was before i ever went on the protocol and i'm just shocked. how could my levels be that low? prior to my recent relapse of symptoms i did have energy, i was feeling confident, not anxious, and i had decent libido. but since that time everything has been rough and painful to endure. haven't had libido since. due to high levels of brain fog i have been taking a lot of ashwagandha and rhodiola, but i recall seeing that since they're adaptogens, those are okay to take every day. i do think i fucked up refeeding after my recent fast, as i've been having a lot of food cravings, eating a lot to the point of overeating, and gained a pretty decent amount of weight fast. fat and aromatase converting to estrogen, crashing my t levels? that makes as much sense as anything. but 66? what the fuck.

so i'm just wondering what on earth is up. what could be contributing to that?
any input here is appreciated, i'm pretty shocked. i know that this whole protocol is geared towards naturally improving hormone levels, so i'm wondering what the hell happened/ is going on.

[JoeP26]

hey guys, so i recently got some labs done and my t levels were abnormally low... 66. i didn't even know it was possible for them to be this low. i've felt really sluggish, really low energy and foggy, all in spite of being on the protocol and taking pine pollen regularly.
could pine pollen have anything to do with it? i'm so confused. i'm 19 fucking years old. that level is lower than it was before i ever went on the protocol and i'm just shocked. how could my levels be that low? prior to my recent relapse of symptoms i did have energy, i was feeling confident, not anxious, and i had decent libido. but since that time everything has been rough and painful to endure. haven't had libido since. due to high levels of brain fog i have been taking a lot of ashwagandha and rhodiola, but i recall seeing that since they're adaptogens, those are okay to take every day. i do think i fucked up refeeding after my recent fast, as i've been having a lot of food cravings, eating a lot to the point of overeating, and gained a pretty decent amount of weight fast. fat and aromatase converting to estrogen, crashing my t levels? that makes as much sense as anything. but 66? what the fuck.

so i'm just wondering what on earth is up. what could be contributing to that?
any input here is appreciated, i'm pretty shocked. i know that this whole protocol is geared towards naturally improving hormone levels, so i'm wondering what the hell happened/ is going on.

Are your testes shrunken at all?

[Alchemy]

hey guys, so i recently got some labs done and my t levels were abnormally low... 66. i didn't even know it was possible for them to be this low. i've felt really sluggish, really low energy and foggy, all in spite of being on the protocol and taking pine pollen regularly.
could pine pollen have anything to do with it? i'm so confused. i'm 19 fucking years old. that level is lower than it was before i ever went on the protocol and i'm just shocked. how could my levels be that low? prior to my recent relapse of symptoms i did have energy, i was feeling confident, not anxious, and i had decent libido. but since that time everything has been rough and painful to endure. haven't had libido since. due to high levels of brain fog i have been taking a lot of ashwagandha and rhodiola, but i recall seeing that since they're adaptogens, those are okay to take every day. i do think i fucked up refeeding after my recent fast, as i've been having a lot of food cravings, eating a lot to the point of overeating, and gained a pretty decent amount of weight fast. fat and aromatase converting to estrogen, crashing my t levels? that makes as much sense as anything. but 66? what the fuck.

so i'm just wondering what on earth is up. what could be contributing to that?
any input here is appreciated, i'm pretty shocked. i know that this whole protocol is geared towards naturally improving hormone levels, so i'm wondering what the hell happened/ is going on.

I never heard of someone tests being so low, you sure it was done right through the lab? that's like the testostorone of a 10000 year old man

The only possibilities is that

A} the ashwangaha is crashing you

B) Under incredible stress

C) Eating soy or other estrogenic foods in large consumptions

Don't worry too much, you can get your t back up naturally eating good sourced lean meats, lifting heavy, ensure you have the right vitamins and lowering stress levels.

[dogglaw]

I never heard of someone tests being so low, you sure it was done right through the lab? that's like the testostorone of a 10000 year old man

The only possibilities is that

A} the ashwangaha is crashing you

B) Under incredible stress

C) Eating soy or other estrogenic foods in large consumptions

Don't worry too much, you can get your t back up naturally eating good sourced lean meats, lifting heavy, ensure you have the right vitamins and lowering stress levels.

i've been eating clean for a long time. taking protocol supps with some vitamins, cutting out gluten, limiting dairy. i can't say i've never cheated on diet, but its infrequent. its possible that the time of day i tested skewed the results a bit, but regardless holy shit thats low. i have been extremely stressed out about symptoms lately, and overanalyzing how awful i feel and what supplements i can add to improve my state. i know that the mental part of this thing is hugely important, and i do think i've been lacking on that part of it. i'm stressing myself the fuck out because my relapse in symptoms really rocked my fucking boat. but i'm trying. i do take time out of my day for cold showers and meditation, but it hasn't felt like enough. fuck.

[Alchemy]

i've been eating clean for a long time. taking protocol supps with some vitamins, cutting out gluten, limiting dairy. i can't say i've never cheated on diet, but its infrequent. its possible that the time of day i tested skewed the results a bit, but regardless holy shit thats low. i have been extremely stressed out about symptoms lately, and overanalyzing how awful i feel and what supplements i can add to improve my state. i know that the mental part of this thing is hugely important, and i do think i've been lacking on that part of it. i'm stressing myself the fuck out because my relapse in symptoms really rocked my fucking boat. but i'm trying. i do take time out of my day for cold showers and meditation, but it hasn't felt like enough. fuck.

Yeah the stress is a killer, it will raise cortisol which will plummet testosterone and halt progress which then equals feeling like shit.

It's easier said then done but you got to find ways to relax yourself, maybe do some stretching or yoga that helps for the body to relax and your mind follows suit. I was in a similar state last week freaking out, and was plagued with endless negative thoughts about this whole entire situation which is frustrating. I suffer chronic anhedonia/depression and I managed to lessen it considerably and raise my mood by focusing on relaxation and not over thinking about it

[RickTheRuler]

Stress is super underrated in all this. I’ve been at this for long time, almost 2 years.. I vividly remember having horrible digestion at the time .. after being a hermit cause of the condition, I finally mustered up the will to go out with my buddies.it was the first time I was Social with pfs. I needed it, cause it made me relax & feel like everything’s gonna be okay..& literally that night I used the bathroom and digestion was perfect.. I was relieved from all that pressure and tension I was putting on myself.. same thing happens sexually.

You’ll be surprised at how much your symptoms improve when you are truly relaxed. That’s why a lot of people recommend to get on the protocol and just stop thinking about PFS.. stop analyzing your body so much and your minute to minute sensations etc.. it goes a long way. A lot of PFS is walking around with this higher baseline of stress and anxiety.. some of it is chemical, but some of it is us putting it on ourselves..your body does not function well in that high cortisol state. It sure as hell does not get erections & libido spikes in that state as well.


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[Maxout777]

What scale/range is that on, and what unit is the 66? So many different ranges out there without that information I can barely tell if it's super low or just low.

Other than that, you stated you did a "recent fast" - how recent? This can fuck with blood tests. Additionally, don't take ashwaganda everyday. It's not intended to be done this way.

[barbaar]

Ashwaganda fucks me up. I've tried it a few times and it turned me into a zombie for almost a full week each time.

[dogglaw]

What scale/range is that on, and what unit is the 66? So many different ranges out there without that information I can barely tell if it's super low or just low.

Other than that, you stated you did a "recent fast" - how recent? This can fuck with blood tests. Additionally, don't take ashwaganda everyday. It's not intended to be done this way.

standard american scale, doc said normal range is 300 - 1000. something has to be up. putting a bunch of stress on myself definitely had to have contributed something, but thats such a strange number. got retested today with other hormones included. i know this place isn't about symptom management, but rather holistically healing your body, but if the test shows that low again i can't say it wouldn't be really concerning. we'll see. i've stopped taking ashwagandha everyday, and my current supplementary protocol is this:

pine pollen 2 full spoons
protocol herb
200 mg caffeine on class days
l tyrosine
l theanine
vitamin d
niacinamide
probiotic

i'm also still paleo, still cold showers, meditating, and hitting the gym when i feel up to it. also, i did a 5 day water fast 2-3 weeks ago if that means anything for bloods. what do you think?

small thing - i recall reading your thread and you saying that you took l glutamine for gut health. how much of a help is it? i just want to make sure i'm being thorough in taking care of my body.

[Cdsnuts]

hey guys, so i recently got some labs done and my t levels were abnormally low... 66. i didn't even know it was possible for them to be this low. i've felt really sluggish, really low energy and foggy, all in spite of being on the protocol and taking pine pollen regularly.
could pine pollen have anything to do with it? i'm so confused. i'm 19 fucking years old. that level is lower than it was before i ever went on the protocol and i'm just shocked. how could my levels be that low? prior to my recent relapse of symptoms i did have energy, i was feeling confident, not anxious, and i had decent libido. but since that time everything has been rough and painful to endure. haven't had libido since. due to high levels of brain fog i have been taking a lot of ashwagandha and rhodiola, but i recall seeing that since they're adaptogens, those are okay to take every day. i do think i fucked up refeeding after my recent fast, as i've been having a lot of food cravings, eating a lot to the point of overeating, and gained a pretty decent amount of weight fast. fat and aromatase converting to estrogen, crashing my t levels? that makes as much sense as anything. but 66? what the fuck.

so i'm just wondering what on earth is up. what could be contributing to that?
any input here is appreciated, i'm pretty shocked. i know that this whole protocol is geared towards naturally improving hormone levels, so i'm wondering what the hell happened/ is going on.

How long have you been on the protocol and how strict were you maintaining?

[dogglaw]

How long have you been on the protocol and how strict were you maintaining?

i’ve been on the protocol since june. juice feasted for a week then. pretty strict on protocol over summer, got back to school, kept it up and started to feel pretty damn good a lot of the time october - november.

i did have a rough patch where i wasnt really able to work out, ran out of pine pollen and probiotics, had family stress, and diet was so so. after i drank on new years which i obviously regret, i felt like i crashed again.

i then fasted for 5 days a few weeks back. i honestly didnt feel like i got much out of the fast and refeed which damaged my morale a bit. i’ve had some cheats on diet in this recent rough patch, though it isn’t frequent. i do recognize that in my body’s vulnerable state i need to do better than that. i also think my stress has been through the roof which is definitely contributing.

but i’m still on the protocol. i haven’t stopped taking the herbs, supplements, taking cold showers, giving a shit about what i eat, hitting the gym, and meditating. i’m just still shaken up right now and its been pretty dark again. i hate that i’m struggling to talk to people again and don’t feel healthy enough to pursue my goals. im anxious as fuck and ive been really hard on myself in spite of whats in my own best interest. i want to get better but im feeling really low these days. this relapse has definitely given me some sort of traumatic reaction, and im trying to overcome it but struggling.

my bad if this is too much information right now. i’ve got to express that what you do for people is the most valuable, pure thing. myself and other people dealing with shit like this just have to keep moving forward.

[Ratchet]

Hey,

Keep moving forward. It sounds like you’re doing everything right, so you will heal. And the better news is: if you’re doing something wrong (and you know if you are), then you have your solution (stop doing what you shouldn’t be). Otherwise, this is a test of faith. I’m a fucking atheist, and there are many days that I want to break down and pray to the powers that be.

I would bet that what you and I are dealing with (re: my thread) is completely stress induced, or at least significantly exacerbated by.

Here’s a new tool for you. Anytime you feel anxious or like you’re about to break down, pause. Acknowledge it. Remove yourself from that thought. Then return to your breath and whatever you’re doing. That’s your meditation now; That’s you removing yourself from your thoughts and being present; that’s your mental bicep curl. You might have to do this 15x in 30 minutes. Doesn’t matter. The more reps you do of this, the better you will be able to combat your anxiety and your downswings. There will be days when you will revert right back to the thoughts that you thought you had already put to rest. Don’t let that deter you. The only way to devour a whale like this is one bite at a time, or some shit like that.

I wish I was good at taking my own advice. I wouldn’t be on this forum so frequently or looking for reassurance regarding every feeing, thought, and side effect I experience. But, I suck at self validation, and I pay a lot of money to my therapist to tell me that. I am in the same boat as you rn, and so are a lot of the guys on this forum. We’ll call ourselves PFS grads class of 2020. Better days really are on their way.

[dogglaw]

Hey,

Keep moving forward. It sounds like you’re doing everything right, so you will heal. And the better news is: if you’re doing something wrong (and you know if you are), then you have your solution (stop doing what you shouldn’t be). Otherwise, this is a test of faith. I’m a fucking atheist, and there are many days that I want to break down and pray to the powers that be.

I would bet that what you and I are dealing with (re: my thread) is completely stress induced, or at least significantly exacerbated by.

Here’s a new tool for you. Anytime you feel anxious or like you’re about to break down, pause. Acknowledge it. Remove yourself from that thought. Then return to your breath and whatever you’re doing. That’s your meditation now; That’s you removing yourself from your thoughts and being present; that’s your mental bicep curl. You might have to do this 15x in 30 minutes. Doesn’t matter. The more reps you do of this, the better you will be able to combat your anxiety and your downswings. There will be days when you will revert right back to the thoughts that you thought you had already put to rest. Don’t let that deter you. The only way to devour a whale like this is one bite at a time, or some shit like that.

I wish I was good at taking my own advice. I wouldn’t be on this forum so frequently or looking for reassurance regarding every feeing, thought, and side effect I experience. But, I suck at self validation, and I pay a lot of money to my therapist to tell me that. I am in the same boat as you rn, and so are a lot of the guys on this forum. We’ll call ourselves PFS grads class of 2020. Better days really are on their way.

thanks man, i appreciate that a ton. i'm with you on the difficulty taking your own advice thing. you've got to extend some damn kindness to yourself when you're going through some shit like this. keep on keepin on with this thing. you got this.

[dogglaw]

alright so my second set of bloods came in. t is still low but not nearly to the same extent, 220. i can look at this and recognize that i've got to work to do to improve it, but not fucking panic. i know labs are far from everything, but this is a small relief. cortisol is also high, at 22, but i can't say i'm surprised there. gotta keep taking care of myself and doing things right. things will improve with time.

[Zerolibido]

Bitch you gotta dingbat mimickinwg protocol!??!!?