Oh no! it's another one of the finasteride guys!

[Jelisej]

Try not too worry too much, if you can help it- regarding testicles let urologist do his part, blood tests will also tell some story- everything else is a speculation, and testicle size is actually very hard to gauge for numbers of reason. Lot of people that think that have small testicles actually have a big one and vice versa.

As for your gland, also no need to worry about it too much- only thing you can really do is to remove it surgically, so losing sleep over it is pointless.

Now, Finasteride is a bastard, and most of problems are because of it- but I think your situation is not as bad, what is best course of action, we'll see- but it will take time, dont try to rush things- and dont even think about prohormones. That is if you want to find a permanent solution.

[entropy]

I wouldn't dream of rushing into anything, much less any form of hormonal manipulation. I agree with you that my situation isn't that bad but it's been a very enlightening and humbling experience. I need to give my body the absolute best conditions it needs to heal. So whilst I'm not worrying exactly, I feel it's paramount to act now and be as informed as I possibly can. I also realise the need to let my mind relax and not dwell on the problem excessively.

Jelisej, I realise why you suggest I avoid any prohormones and I take your advice very seriously. However Androsterone/Epiandrosterone specifically have seemed to help a few of the people who've recovered from this so I'm still going to keep that open as a possible avenue in the distant future and try to learn as much as I can about these two products in the meantime.

Thanks.

[Freepressright]

I wouldn't dream of rushing into anything, much less any form of hormonal manipulation. I agree with you that my situation isn't that bad but it's been a very enlightening and humbling experience. I need to give my body the absolute best conditions it needs to heal. So whilst I'm not worrying exactly, I feel it's paramount to act now and be as informed as I possibly can. I also realise the need to let my mind relax and not dwell on the problem excessively.

Jelisej, I realise why you suggest I avoid any prohormones and I take your advice very seriously. However Androsterone/Epiandrosterone specifically have seemed to help a few of the people who've recovered from this so I'm still going to keep that open as a possible avenue in the distant future and try to learn as much as I can about these two products in the meantime.

Thanks.

Nutritionally, it would not hurt to start addressing this immediately. Vitamin D3 is a good place to start. While D3 is referred to as a vitamin, it is actually a steroid hormone (secosteroid). It has a lot of influence on hormonal production and is very important to your testosterone.

A high-quality tocotrienol supplement like Tococaps or Tocomin Supra Bio helps with things like LH sensitivity.

Although I, for whatever reason do not respond well to high doses of it and have to take a much lower dose, a Trans-Resveratrol supplement might be worth exploring.

And I may catch some flack for this, but I have some study data on it, but I am a big fan of Liftmode brand Tribulus. It is standardized at 90% steroidal saponins. When I take it, I notice a really nice leaning effect, better pumps and my libido increases. It also seems to cause some acne.

Most studies that show tribulus to have negligible impact on testosterone were done with extremely low or unknown standardizations. Most every supplement you'll find is only standardized at 20 to 45 percent. The liftmode is 90. It is available as a raw powder on Amazon.

None of these should be a detriment to any future physician's plan to put you back on track. For now I would steer clear of a DHT prohormone.

[entropy]

Nutritionally, it would not hurt to start addressing this immediately. Vitamin D3 is a good place to start. While D3 is referred to as a vitamin, it is actually a steroid hormone (secosteroid). It has a lot of influence on hormonal production and is very important to your testosterone.

A high-quality tocotrienol supplement like Tococaps or Tocomin Supra Bio helps with things like LH sensitivity.

Although I, for whatever reason do not respond well to high doses of it and have to take a much lower dose, a Trans-Resveratrol supplement might be worth exploring.

And I may catch some flack for this, but I have some study data on it, but I am a big fan of Liftmode brand Tribulus. It is standardized at 90% steroidal saponins. When I take it, I notice a really nice leaning effect, better pumps and my libido increases. It also seems to cause some acne.

Most studies that show tribulus to have negligible impact on testosterone were done with extremely low or unknown standardizations. Most every supplement you'll find is only standardized at 20 to 45 percent. The liftmode is 90. It is available as a raw powder on Amazon.

None of these should be a detriment to any future physician's plan to put you back on track. For now I would steer clear of a DHT prohormone.

Great reply, FPR. I've started on 5000iu a day of Vit d3 and I've also been taking Jarrows Tocosorb in the mornings, I think I'll try a different brand when the bottle runs out though.
As for tribulus, I have some standardised at 45% steroidal soponins but I'm quite apprehensive about taking anything along those lines until I can lose a bit more of my body fat.

To give you an idea of the quality of medical care in my country, I've had to ask a friend to pull all of my bloodwork from my notes at the hospital as my GP refuses to allow me access to my bloodwork. It's disgusting and depressing. As of now I've been attempting to find a private doctor/endo/etc who's familiar with the situation but I've had very little success even finding a Doctor who's willing to acknowledge it's a possibility so far.

Again, you've all got a solemn promise from me that I'll be leaving the DHT prohormones very much alone until the distant future.

Thanks!

[Freepressright]

Great reply, FPR. I've started on 5000iu a day of Vit d3 and I've also been taking Jarrows Tocosorb in the mornings, I think I'll try a different brand when the bottle runs out though.
As for tribulus, I have some standardised at 45% steroidal soponins but I'm quite apprehensive about taking anything along those lines until I can lose a bit more of my body fat.

To give you an idea of the quality of medical care in my country, I've had to ask a friend to pull all of my bloodwork from my notes at the hospital as my GP refuses to allow me access to my bloodwork. It's disgusting and depressing. As of now I've been attempting to find a private doctor/endo/etc who's familiar with the situation but I've had very little success even finding a Doctor who's willing to acknowledge it's a possibility so far.

Again, you've all got a solemn promise from me that I'll be leaving the DHT prohormones very much alone until the distant future.

Thanks!

The tribulus may actually be of benefit to you in your weight loss efforts and a great compliment to your Tocosorb. The belief is that potent standardizations stimulate LH production. Others believe it has an impact upon DHEA, which has a direct impact upon your adrenal gland. Hopefully that will ease your apprehensions about it.

As for your quest to find a better doc, I wish you the best of luck. That's total bullshit that he won't divulge the results of YOUR bloodwork.

[entropy]

The tribulus may actually be of benefit to you in your weight loss efforts and a great compliment to your Tocosorb. The belief is that potent standardizations stimulate LH production. Others believe it has an impact upon DHEA, which has a direct impact upon your adrenal gland. Hopefully that will ease your apprehensions about it.

As for your quest to find a better doc, I wish you the best of luck. That's total bullshit that he won't divulge the results of YOUR bloodwork.

I think I'll investigate the tribulus further. Cd recommends cycling a whole host of supplements that have a direct/indirect effect on T and trib is one of them.

Thanks for the luck in regards to a Doctor, I'm going to need it. I'll post up my bloodwork later on, I haven't seen it myself yet but I have 3-4 sets of bloods in the past two months. I don't think they're all that comprehensive though, which is a shame.

Thanks bro, I appreciate it.

[entropy]

Bloodwork is in and it's a little bit interesting. Not what I was expecting. I've had four sets of bloodwork since 5th of september so I'll post ranges, then values in chronological order. 05/09, 09/09, 29/09, 16/10.

Bone Profile.

Serum adjusted Calcium (2.15 - 2.55) mmol/L - 2.23 (09/09), 2.12* (29/09) 2.25 (16/10)
Serum Albumin (35 - 52) g/L - 51 (09/09), 49 (29/09), 49 (16/10)
Serum Alkaline Phosphatase iu/L - 89 (09/09), 78 (29/09), 87 (16/10)
Serum Calcium (2.15 - 2.55) mmol/L - 2.45 (09/09), 2.30 (29/09), 2.43 (16/10)
Serum Globulin (18 - 36) g/L - 21 (09/09), 18 (29/09), 21 (16/10)
Serum Phosphate (0.81 - 1.45) mmol/L - 0.90 (09/09), 1.23 (29/09), 1.48* (16/10)
Serum total Protein (66 - 87) g/L - 71 (09/09), 67 (29/09), 70 (16/10)
Serum Urea (1.7 - 8.3) mmol/L - 2.2 (09/09), 3.1 (29/09), 2.6 (16/10)

C- Reactive Protein (S)
Serum C-reactive Protein (0-5) mg/L - <0.3 (09/09), <0.3 (29/09)

Creatine Kinase (Serum)
Serum Creatine Kinase (0-190) iu/L - 37 (09/09), 68 (16/10)

Electrolytes and Creatinine
Serum Creatinine (62 - 106) umol/L - 66 (09/09), 73 (29/09), 70 (16/10)
Serum Potassium (3.2 - 5.1) mmol/L - 3.9 (09/09), 4.1 (29/09), 4.4 (16/10)
Serum Sodium (136 - 145) mmol/L - 141 (09/09), 141 (29/09), 142 (16/10)

ESR (0 - 15) mm/hr - 2 (09/09), 2 (29/09), 5 (16/10)

Full Blood Count
Hb (135 - 180) g/L - 180 (05/09), 182* (09/09), 170 (29/09), 176 (16/10)
HCT (0.4 - 0.54) - 0.518 (05/09), 0.528 (09/09), 0.503 (29/09), 0.513 (16/10)
MCH (27 - 32) pg - 31.5 (05/09), 31.7 (09/09), 31.4 (29/09), 31.2 (16/10)
MCHC (310 - 360) g/L - 347 (05/09), 345 (09/09), 338 (29/09), 343 (16/10)
MCV (76 - 100) fL - 90.7 (05/09), 92.0 (09/09), 92.8 (29/09), 91.0 (16/10)
PLT (150 - 450) 10'9/L - 322 (05/09), 308 (09/09), 241 (29/09), 286 (16/10)
RBC (4.5 - 6.5) 10'12/L - 5.71 (05/09), 5.74 (09/09), 5.42 (29/09), 5.64 (16/10)
WBC (4 - 11) 10'9/L - 21.9* (05/09), 12.4* (09/09), 12.1* (29/09), 11.7* (16/10)

Liver Function Tests
Serum ALT (0 - 41) iu/L - 12 (09/09), 14 (29/09), 14 (16/10).
Serum Total Bilirubin (0 - 21) umol/L - 9 (09/09), 7 (29/09), 5 (16/10)

S Protein Electrophoresis
Serum Immunoglobulin A (0.7 - 4) g/L - 1.5 (09/09)
Serum Immunoglobulin G (7 - 16) g/L - 6.0* (09/09)
Serum Immunoglobulin M (0.4 - 2.3) g/L - 0.3* (09/09)

Serum Free Testosterone
Serum Albumin (35 - 52) gL - 47 (05/05) rest of the values up in the bone profile
Serum Free Testosterone (243 - 571) pmol/L - 395 (05/05), 395 (16/10)
Serum SHBG (18 - 54) nmol/L - 29 (05/05), 38 (16/10)
Serum Total Testosterone (11.4 - 27.9) nmol/L - 18.3 (05/05), 21.3 (16/10)

Thyroid Function Tests.
Serum Free Thyroxine (12 - 22) pmol/L - 21.2 (05/05)
Serum TSH (0.3 - 4.2) mu/L - 1.26 (05/05)

Sorry for the unpleasant wall of text. Needless to say, I'm insanely pissed off with my doctor right now, I was told I had a slightly elevated WBC... Now I find that at one point it's been double the normal range. Interesting. I can't make sense of a lot of it, would be great for one of you guys to weigh in if you get some free time.

Thanks.