Testosterone replacement - an update
For those who didn't catch the beginning of this a few months ago....
In short, without knowing it, I was having almost all the symptoms of low testosterone. Many of them are vague and not so different than just getting older, but the thing that was really killing me was a terrible need to sleep just constantly. I didn't have insomnia...I was getting plenty of sleep, but I just wanted to sleep ALL THE TIME. Libido was pretty bad, and the list goes on. Pretty much google the list, and that was me. Thing was...I didn't know the list, but my GP referred me to a urologist when we started talking about the sleep and a couple things. Sure enough, I tested quite low for testosterone and it was recommended I try TRT (testosterone replacement therapy). I had all the requisite tests and was a good candidate.
Over the course of a few months and adjustments to dosages (4 "pumps" now, for anyone who cares), things seem to have stabilized. My affect is a lot better and I am getting along with normal amounts of sleep. I haven't been able to shed the pounds that came on in the months prior to starting treatment, but I have arrested the trend. Athletically, I am doing better than before I started treatment, though I tend to think this is just because I'm able to train more easily when I'm not so tired. I am NOT faster/stronger/etc than I was 5 years ago, but I'm more or less where I was 1-2 years ago.
However, as everyone knows, testosterone is a banned substance under drug testing. For me, getting my life back is a reasonable trade. I was pretty consistently top 10% in my IM-branded races and made 70.3 champs one year, but I would have had to have a really lucky day to make Kona. In theory, you can get a TUE (therapeutic use exemption), but I have been told by many people that they basically aren't giving them out for testosterone.
My tests now put me at the low end of normal for testosterone level, and for the first time in ages, my anemia is also into the "barely normal" range instead of the marginally anemic range. (There is supposed to be a correlation between the two.) It is my guess, which the doctor agrees with, that my chronic anemia is probably related to chronically low testosterone, but that something happened to me and my T levels went down to where I was showing clinical symptoms. (I have never grown much of a beard, chest hair, muscles...anything very "male") The one bummer of the treatment as far as I'm concerned is that I am now shaving more often.
Bottom line is that the therapy is working for me. But officially I am a "cheat" if I race. My personal compromise on this is to race only in events with no "qualifying" stakes and to be up front with race directors.
I did my first race recently, and sent the RD my test results in advance, along with an explanation. The RD let me race and everything went fine. To be fair, it was a local race with whom I am already known.
Next year, I am hoping to get back on the "half" bandwagon, and there are some races in the midwest that are independents (or at least not IM brand).
I am not certain about my future with full IM. Right now I am being very supportive of my daughter's activities, which would make full IM training pretty hard anyway. She is just starting her junior year in HS now, though, so in a couple years, she'll be that much more independent...and she gets her drivers license tomorrow, which means I don't have to take her to all kinds of things. (She is a swimmer/triathlete.) Of course, my instincts are "in 2019, i'm in the 55+ age group" but that's not cool for me to think about any more.
Anyway, I hope someone else out there finds this note helpful. I know I'm not the only ENer on TRT, just given the numbers, but at least my story has been successful.
Comments
WOOT WOOT for health and wellness!
Thanks for sharing. You are an example of real life people making decisions and compromises about sport, lifestyle, quality of life, etc.
What he ^^^^^ Said
William,
Good to hear that you have improved your situation, other than shaving frequency, but that's a reasonable trade off. As for the races you've always been up front here and with your notification to race directors. Perhaps in the future you could get some type of exemption for IM races. Even if you remove yourself from contention it would be nice if you did not have to DQ yourself so that perhaps down the line you could qualify for a legacy spot.
Semenya is a really interesting case, and there just isn't an easy answer. I think we all would agree if we think about it that the point of having a women's competition is to have a "protected class", i.e., that "men" could really be called "coed". Without getting into the politics of gender too hard, it's almost like you have to have an arbitrary definition of gender for sport that differs from that for law or general society. I had thought that Semenya had been taking testosterone-suppressing drugs, at least for a while...which is kind of awful, too.