I am Ivo, year of production - 1982. I had a good life until september 2013, when the doctor found a mixed tumor (seminom/non seminom) in my right testicle. So you know what happened after that - my right friend was removed and as a bonus I got 2x BEPs. Since then my testosterone was more or less low, but not always under normal.
It was between 3 and 4 ng/ml. But in the last 3 years (because of the age probably) it was very, very low, but my urologist did not prescribe me TRT. And I had all the symptoms for very low testosterone - mood swings, low libido, bad erection, hot flushes, I was constantly tired and need a lot of sleep. At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 it was so low (between 1,5 and 2,5 ng/ml) that the urologist finally decided to start a TRT.
I started with Testogel (The pump) at 05.02.2020 and had to use 3 pumps a day. After some days I could see some light improvements - I slept better, had better sexual drive and so on, but it was not perfect. Testo was at 2,95 ng/ml at the beginning of march.
Than in the middle of march (so around 6 weeks after the start of Testogel) I had to start also with Terbinafine, because of a fungus on my big toenail. At the same time also the corona virus started its way around the world and since the middle of march I am working in home office and not really going out.
Around 4 weeks later (middle of April) my low testosterone symptoms started to come back and are getting worse since then. 3 weeks ago (10.05.2020) I have been to my urologist, who took blood and my testosterone was at 2,4 ng/ml. He decided to go to 4 pumps a day, but it is not getting better. From day to day it is getting worse. So 4 days ago I started to put 5 pumps, but no there is no improvement at all. I felt like this, when my testo was below 2 ng/ml. Bad moods, no stress resistance, no sexual drive.
I called him and we will meet in the middle of July and I also asked him to prescribe me sachets instead of the pump.
Now I do not know what to do until the middle of July. Do I have to go to 6 pumps, which is quite a lot?
Does anyone here has experience with Terbinafine and Testogel (I think it is not a common combination)? Is it the terbinafine causing the problem, or is it the stress of staying the whole day at home? The problem with terbinafine is, that it is not good to stop it for a test and even If I stop it, it will takes some weeks to go out of my body.
Thank you for your time and sorry for my english, but I am a native bulgarian, living in Germany, so I do not have a lot of praxis in English
Don`t worry about your English as it is really good!
Also me myself are on Testogel 50mg (5g) Sachets (one sachet a day) and it works for me, however my lowest Testo level was only 6nmol/L. I know what you feel as me myself was having low moods, bad sleep, low sex drive and couldn`t concentrate on anything and even for me took about 8 months of "fight" with doctors to be put on Testogel.
Also I believe an answer to your question should be given only by a doctor.And i say this because Testosterone replacement therapy is an amazing thing, but if you over do it, it can have some serious consequences. Therefore i would suggest you speaking to your doctor on the phone again and ask him square if you are allowed to go to 6 pumps? He knows your medical records and he knows the risks associated with going for the 6th "level".
I am sorry I couldn`t really help you, but please please try to reach out to your doctor again and again untill you have some concerns! Don`t let them brush you off, cause if you don`t complain they think you are ok! And in this situation you can`t really do medical decisions for yourself.
I do not use the terbinafine for more than 3 weeks now - so it seems that terbinafine is not the reason. I asked my doctor to prescribe me the sachets instead of the pump and he did it, but what really surprised me - he told me to use 1 sachet a day and until now I had 4 pumps (5 because of my decision) and it was very low and now I am getting 1 sachet a day. I called him and he told me to take 1 for now and I have to check my bloods in 3 weeks and after that we will decide. I was not so bad in math in the school and 1 sachet is only 50mg and 4 pumps were 80 mg, so something is going wrong with his math I think.
