Long time sufferer with no answers ….

[EnimgaticMan]

Hey everyone. Have read various people talk so nicely about Dr. Mariano so I decided to give this forum a try. I tend to get very long-winded when discussing my problems so bare with me.

I’m a 33 year old male. I stand 5’10 and weigh 174lbs. I eat very clean with mostly fish, turkey, greens, greek yogurt, egg whites, lentils, etc. etc. I work out very hard 3-4 days week via weight training.

Growing up I was always a really skinny kid, very introverted as well with major OCD tendencies. the household I was in was wrought with fighting between my mother and father (particularly over his drinking) so it’s no wonder I was that way. One compulsive behavior I admit to having was excessive-masturbation. It started at an early age too, as early as 6 years old and persisted on into my late teens & early 20’s. We’re talking an average of 2-3 times per day at least. Health issues I can recall during my younger years were major issues with migraine headaches as well as debilitating abdominal cramps that sometimes I would get sent home from school with. Both eventually subsided in my teen years.

In my late teens and early twenties I dealt with a lot of mild depression, anxiety, stress. I became a very average student in college, bouncing around from major to major. It was odd because I was formerly the prodigal son of the family …. but it was like my mind just didn’t work as fluidly as it used to. Lots of brain fog and concentration issues. In my sophomore year I contract mono and was sick with that for like 6 months, but no other documented health issues around that time.

After I graduated college, the job I landed had me working all over the country for 5 weeks at a time. I would work 13 hour days, 6 days a week. I began abusing energy supplements/drinks as well as coffee to keep up. It all came apart when I was on the final leg of a trip up in the Pacific Northwest. I became violently ill ….. massive fever, body aches, fatigue, infection in my mouth. I checked myself into a local hospital where a doctor prescribed me some antibiotics. Took me a few days to feel a little better, I finished up the work and then flew home. After about a months time, the infection was gone and I thought I felt better.

….. Then a myriad of strange symptoms began infesting my life. I was fatigued, bloated, constipated nauseas, achey, numbing sensations in my fingers and toes, over-sensitive to cold/heat, sweating problems, hair shedding, inability to sleep, very anxious, depressed. I felt like a crazy person. I’m sure it didn’t help that once again I was working myself to the bone waiting tables. I began a long journey seeing various general practitioners trying to find answers from 2006-2008. Most of them wanted to force anti-depressants on me. I begged for them to do some complex panels on my thyroid, adrenals, hormones. Most never did. I eventually gave up seeing them altogether.

I got out of the restaurant industry, into a desk job, then eventually my own home business where I work from home. While some of the symptoms got a little bit better when I got away from stressful work environments I have still never been anywhere near my normal self. These days I’m still plagued by the worst energy levels, bloating, puffy face, hair shedding/receding. The hair thing is what recently got me very paranoid again. I kind of dismissed it as it started about 4-5 years ago, but it’s gotten very noticeable now. It looks to be androgenic alopecia.

I should note I was in a serious relationship circa 2005-2009. Not feeling well, depressed and stressed out really had a negative impact. My sex drive was only a fraction of what it used to be and my ex- always took it very personally. The only time I ever had a symptom-less episode of pleasurable sex was when I was drunk. Climaxing has routinely left me feeling so drained and depressed.

So I’ve begun the hunt again …. like an episode of “Cold Case Files” trying to finally crack the case after a new lead. In researching the hair issues, it’s become clear to me I have some sort of problem going on with Testosterone and DHT. I’ve noticed that as my head hair has gotten worse, my body hair has increased. I even get strange hairs at the tops of my ears and other random places. I’ve read that that is caused by excessive DHT. It’s like I’m fighting a hair war on two fronts and both are equally depressing.

The testosterone/DHT issue had me curious because I remember one general pract said that I had what’s called Gilbert’s Syndrome, a supposedly benign condition where my liver creates too much bilirubin. Obviously the liver handles testosterone. It also handles cholestrol and my LDL has been high or above range in all my panels. I was reviewing some of those old panels from 2006-2008 and here are some things that stick out to me:

-My T4 was always at the very bottom of the range. Tests always came up 4.4 to 5.8 (range is 4.5 to 12)
-TSH tested between 2.5 and 3.4
-My Total Testosterone was always between 300-320 (range is 250 to 1100)
-One panel had my Free Testosterone at 11.9 (range 9.3 to 26.5)
-Bilibin count always at the high end or over. Tests came up 130 to 160 (range is .2 to 1.3)
-LDL count consistently at higher end or over. Tests came up 116 to 130 (range is 0 to 99)

Now I’m not a professional, but it seems quite clear to me that lazy general practitioners have pinned me to the bell-curve induced “ranges” instead of treating the fact that I’m at the bottom of the range on those.

I’ve also been curious as to how much damage I’ve done to myself trying to maintain my workout. No matter how tired I’ve been I still try to workout as hard as possible. I always hated how skinny I was and it’s what keeps me working so hard at it. Alas, if I’m having testosterone issues, adrenal issues, etc. … then I can online imagine how much I’m taxing my body.

I just want to be done with this already though. I feel like it’s robbed me of a life for almost a decade. I’m a shell of a person I used to be. My parents think I just don’t try hard enough. My energy levels are never high enough. I never get restful sleep. My mood swings are erratic. My body doesn’t recover quick enough from workouts. It’s just dreadful. I feel like I force myself to get thru the day instead of living it.

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