Hi,
I have been diabetic for 43 yrs (now 50) and well controlled along the way. However as an avid weight trainer I was always interested in my performance in the gym, so started to monitor many blood markers over time. What I noticed was that I always had high normal level of SHBG which will ultimately result in a lower amount of free testosterone in the body. More recently I noticed that was suffering from fatigue a lot, brain fog, lack of drive, loss of libido, and some ED. Got my levels checked again and the same result, high SHBG and low free testosterone. So I decided to speak and expert in male hormones and they said yes we see that quite often in type 1 diabetics and yes we have a number of type 1 diabetics on TRT. I was surprised, no one has every mentioned low T as a side effect of being a type 1 to me. I had for the last few years suffered from low mood, even falling into depression. This was treated with SSRIs which did help a bit, but caused other effects etc. I'm surprised about this whole thing, and wondered if anyone else had any comments on low T and type 1 diabetics using TRT? I've now been offered TRT by a clinic, but this is big step/commitment and I want to understand if I'm alone on this. From what I read TRT actually improves insulin resistance so expect my HBA1c to drop from >7% to 5.x% which along is a huge improve to my longevity and health alone not to mention all the other benefits. There are some risks of course like increased red blood cell count, which is solved by private giving of blood etc.
I have been diabetic for 43 yrs (now 50) and well controlled along the way. However as an avid weight trainer I was always interested in my performance in the gym, so started to monitor many blood markers over time. What I noticed was that I always had high normal level of SHBG which will ultimately result in a lower amount of free testosterone in the body. More recently I noticed that was suffering from fatigue a lot, brain fog, lack of drive, loss of libido, and some ED. Got my levels checked again and the same result, high SHBG and low free testosterone. So I decided to speak and expert in male hormones and they said yes we see that quite often in type 1 diabetics and yes we have a number of type 1 diabetics on TRT. I was surprised, no one has every mentioned low T as a side effect of being a type 1 to me. I had for the last few years suffered from low mood, even falling into depression. This was treated with SSRIs which did help a bit, but caused other effects etc. I'm surprised about this whole thing, and wondered if anyone else had any comments on low T and type 1 diabetics using TRT? I've now been offered TRT by a clinic, but this is big step/commitment and I want to understand if I'm alone on this. From what I read TRT actually improves insulin resistance so expect my HBA1c to drop from >7% to 5.x% which along is a huge improve to my longevity and health alone not to mention all the other benefits. There are some risks of course like increased red blood cell count, which is solved by private giving of blood etc.
