Living with Testosterone Deficiency

Hi,

I’m 25 years old and have a relatively active lifestyle. I work in consulting and sit around a lot of the day, but try to make up for the sedentary nature of my work by hitting the gym and playing sports with friends in the evenings and on weekends.

Now, about two years ago, I started seeing a psychologist because I was feeling generally unhappy, low energy, poor concentration, unconnected with life (family, friends, work). Two years later, I’ve tried a number of different anti-depressant type drugs with almost no effect. Specifically, I’ve tried Prozac and Lexapro in the SSRI class, Wellbutrin in the DNRI class, Effexor in the SNRI class, and I’ve also tried Ritalin and Dexedrine from the “stimulant” class (these stimulant drugs are normally used for people with ADHD).

I’ve spent a great deal of time researching depression and my symptoms and one possibility for why I feel this way is low testosterone I asked my doc about this possibility and we had my total T checked. The test came back with 387 ng/ml, which is in the low-normal range.

I hear it’s very rare that somebody my age would have low testosterone but it seems pretty feasible to me. My sex drive has always been pretty low ever since puberty, I never get spontaneous erections anymore, and I have never had a wet dream in my life.

Also, I got hit in the crotch with a soccer ball when i was 19 which caused me to develop chronic epididymitis which no longer really bothers me, but I think some scar tissue formed over the year-long course of condition. (The reason this may be relevant is that testicular trauma/infection can lead to fertility and testosterone production problems, i read.)

Lately, my body temperature has been really high as well–it’s almost as if I have hot flashes in the late morning through early evening. My primary care physician also thinks I may have something called fibromyaligia, which is generalized muscle pain and discomfort. I also have lower-back pain from a herniated disc and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Kind of a lot of stuff to be wrong with a 25-year-old, I think.

Can anybody opine as to whether it’s just depression or if it’s a testosterone issue?

Thanks.