stevensmith
Member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2012
- Messages
- 37
I was 17 years old when I became overwhelmed with a horrible case of secondary hypogonadism, or low testosterone. I also had insomnia and general fatigue and malaise throughout the day. Every day was a struggle and getting through 9 hours of classes day in and day out was hell. I became a social recluse. I didn't want to talk to anybody, and my embarrassment with hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, and low libido, made it even worse. So attached to my male ego, I didn't want to tell anybody the truth. But I was hurting inside. I was alone and felt that nobody could help me. After 6 months of depression and feeling like I was not fully attached to my body (I seemed to lose feeling and awareness of the world around me by being immersed in my illness), I finally broke down in tears to my mother and told her everything.
She took me to several doctors, but all of them pushed me away because they thought I was "too young to have these problems." After I saw 3 MD's, I went to a urologist and had my testosterone levels checked. Yup, I was extremely deficient in testosterone. My levels measured that of an 80 year old man. Over the course of several months, they consistently measured in the 212-240 ng/dl range. At 17 years old, they should have been close to 1000 ng/dl!!! My urologist told me to come back in a year and that if my levels didn't improve, he would put me on TRT. Testosterone replacement therapy at 17 years old? And for the rest of my life? Nope, that picture didn't seem right to me. How could I go from being a completely healthy 17 year old, happy, horny, and energetic teen, to feeling like a piece of ***t everyday with no will to fight back, no longer any interest in sports, no virility, and no sex drive or function?
The turning point for me was when I became very angry that not even professionals could help me, and I decided that I was on my own in my journey back to health. As a result, I grew a strong will to succeed and overcome adversity.
Jump ahead four years, I am now 21 years old (almost 22) and have finally defeated my arch nemesis (hypogonadism). It took me four years to do it, but I did it. However to get here, I suffered many pitfalls. I followed many diet gurus, and in some instances, actually went backwards in my journey back to health.
Over the course of the last 4 years, I....
- spent nearly $2000 on supplements in any attempt to correct my illness. I would try anything and everything, as long as it promised me a full recovery, or even a temporary escape.
- tried dangerous therapies, such as a shot of intramuscular triptorelin, which probably wasn't even the real thing.
- tried zinc and copper electrotherapy on my testicles
-tried ozone therapy
- went on a "standard" low carb paleo diet for 2 years, then a low carb raw meat paleo diet for 1.5 years (which 6 months of this time was a ketogenic, all-meat diet).
With all of the money and time I spent, nothing worked, and I had mixed results all the way through each experiment. For example, sometimes my testosterone would raise all the way up to 500, and then a few months later, it went down to 300. Libido and sexual function improved, but was also incredibly sporadic and unpredictable, and my insomnia barely got better, with marginal results at best. Though I would get mixed results with everything I tried, I always kept my strong will to succeed, which was instilled in me when I first became outraged with the way the current medical system is, turning away 17 year-olds with real problems. I always kept faith, and faith that I would beat my enemy.
Then it finally happened. I picked up a book by Broda Barnes called "Hypothyroidism; the Unsuspected Illness." I was astonished how so many health conditions were remedied by fixing the thyroid and metabolism. I began studying physiology and its relationship with the endocrine system, and how food could change the direction of the endocrine system to favor a positive or negative outcome, depending on which food was consumed. I also studied circadian rythms and other lifestyle factors that correlated with a healthy endocrine system.
On one chance afternoon, I came across a man by the name of Stepan Stastny. He was eating like 300-400g of carbs per day, which at the time I thought was totally crazy... I was still following the low carb dogma of sisson, lustig, kresser, vonderplanitz, carl lanore, etc, etc....
However, while I ignorantly argued my viewpoints with Stepan, I couldn't help but realize that this guy was the picture of health. His testosterone was at great levels (not always associated with good health, but still a possible indicator), his vitality was apparent, and his attitude was admirable. Stepan, along with Danny Roddy also had hypogonadism at one point in their lives, and overcame it in the same fashion (following Ray Peat). One day when I was arguing with Stepan and wondering why my low carb diet wasn't working, he told me to shut the F**k up and eat some carbs, and get a boner!!! Not many people may respond well to this kind of behavior, but I responded well to it. He also directed me to the works of Ray Peat, who I later realized followed Barnes' work. After following the Stastny and Peat way of eating, I made a complete recovery in about 5 months time. Because I was able to help my thyroid come back to normal, and subsequently normalize my steroid hormones, my hypogonadism was defeated, and my testosterone was restored.
I now enjoy all of the benefits of a fully fertile and virile male. I no longer have insomnia because not only do I get enough sleep (8-10hrs) every night, but my quality of sleep is also better, due to the fact that since my thyroid is good, my nerves are able to fully relax. This can be seen in a achilles reflex test. If your nerves are slow to relax, chances are, your thyroid is bad, and you probably have poor sleep.
After all of these years dealing with this issue, I gained a lot of knowledge and wisdom. In my studies, I realized that sleep is probably one of the most important things to consider if you have endocrine problems. A full nights rest can restore your thyroid hormone (T3) to normal levels, and of course, you can't have a full nights rest, of quality restorative sleep without a good thyroid. So in a sense, the system works in a positive feedback mechanism and is regulatory in an upwards or downwards fashion. In other words, if the thyroid is good, then your sleep quality will be good, and because of the good quality sleep, your thyroid hormone will be restored, resulting in a good thyroid, and then the process starts all over again. What else besides a good nights rest dictates whether your thyroid is good or not? Proper nutrition, which supports a good thyroid. Duh!!!
Thank you Ray Peat, Stepan Stastny, and Danny Roddy.... I salute you...
She took me to several doctors, but all of them pushed me away because they thought I was "too young to have these problems." After I saw 3 MD's, I went to a urologist and had my testosterone levels checked. Yup, I was extremely deficient in testosterone. My levels measured that of an 80 year old man. Over the course of several months, they consistently measured in the 212-240 ng/dl range. At 17 years old, they should have been close to 1000 ng/dl!!! My urologist told me to come back in a year and that if my levels didn't improve, he would put me on TRT. Testosterone replacement therapy at 17 years old? And for the rest of my life? Nope, that picture didn't seem right to me. How could I go from being a completely healthy 17 year old, happy, horny, and energetic teen, to feeling like a piece of ***t everyday with no will to fight back, no longer any interest in sports, no virility, and no sex drive or function?
The turning point for me was when I became very angry that not even professionals could help me, and I decided that I was on my own in my journey back to health. As a result, I grew a strong will to succeed and overcome adversity.
Jump ahead four years, I am now 21 years old (almost 22) and have finally defeated my arch nemesis (hypogonadism). It took me four years to do it, but I did it. However to get here, I suffered many pitfalls. I followed many diet gurus, and in some instances, actually went backwards in my journey back to health.
Over the course of the last 4 years, I....
- spent nearly $2000 on supplements in any attempt to correct my illness. I would try anything and everything, as long as it promised me a full recovery, or even a temporary escape.
- tried dangerous therapies, such as a shot of intramuscular triptorelin, which probably wasn't even the real thing.
- tried zinc and copper electrotherapy on my testicles
-tried ozone therapy
- went on a "standard" low carb paleo diet for 2 years, then a low carb raw meat paleo diet for 1.5 years (which 6 months of this time was a ketogenic, all-meat diet).
With all of the money and time I spent, nothing worked, and I had mixed results all the way through each experiment. For example, sometimes my testosterone would raise all the way up to 500, and then a few months later, it went down to 300. Libido and sexual function improved, but was also incredibly sporadic and unpredictable, and my insomnia barely got better, with marginal results at best. Though I would get mixed results with everything I tried, I always kept my strong will to succeed, which was instilled in me when I first became outraged with the way the current medical system is, turning away 17 year-olds with real problems. I always kept faith, and faith that I would beat my enemy.
Then it finally happened. I picked up a book by Broda Barnes called "Hypothyroidism; the Unsuspected Illness." I was astonished how so many health conditions were remedied by fixing the thyroid and metabolism. I began studying physiology and its relationship with the endocrine system, and how food could change the direction of the endocrine system to favor a positive or negative outcome, depending on which food was consumed. I also studied circadian rythms and other lifestyle factors that correlated with a healthy endocrine system.
On one chance afternoon, I came across a man by the name of Stepan Stastny. He was eating like 300-400g of carbs per day, which at the time I thought was totally crazy... I was still following the low carb dogma of sisson, lustig, kresser, vonderplanitz, carl lanore, etc, etc....
However, while I ignorantly argued my viewpoints with Stepan, I couldn't help but realize that this guy was the picture of health. His testosterone was at great levels (not always associated with good health, but still a possible indicator), his vitality was apparent, and his attitude was admirable. Stepan, along with Danny Roddy also had hypogonadism at one point in their lives, and overcame it in the same fashion (following Ray Peat). One day when I was arguing with Stepan and wondering why my low carb diet wasn't working, he told me to shut the F**k up and eat some carbs, and get a boner!!! Not many people may respond well to this kind of behavior, but I responded well to it. He also directed me to the works of Ray Peat, who I later realized followed Barnes' work. After following the Stastny and Peat way of eating, I made a complete recovery in about 5 months time. Because I was able to help my thyroid come back to normal, and subsequently normalize my steroid hormones, my hypogonadism was defeated, and my testosterone was restored.
I now enjoy all of the benefits of a fully fertile and virile male. I no longer have insomnia because not only do I get enough sleep (8-10hrs) every night, but my quality of sleep is also better, due to the fact that since my thyroid is good, my nerves are able to fully relax. This can be seen in a achilles reflex test. If your nerves are slow to relax, chances are, your thyroid is bad, and you probably have poor sleep.
After all of these years dealing with this issue, I gained a lot of knowledge and wisdom. In my studies, I realized that sleep is probably one of the most important things to consider if you have endocrine problems. A full nights rest can restore your thyroid hormone (T3) to normal levels, and of course, you can't have a full nights rest, of quality restorative sleep without a good thyroid. So in a sense, the system works in a positive feedback mechanism and is regulatory in an upwards or downwards fashion. In other words, if the thyroid is good, then your sleep quality will be good, and because of the good quality sleep, your thyroid hormone will be restored, resulting in a good thyroid, and then the process starts all over again. What else besides a good nights rest dictates whether your thyroid is good or not? Proper nutrition, which supports a good thyroid. Duh!!!
Thank you Ray Peat, Stepan Stastny, and Danny Roddy.... I salute you...