radar (imported) wrote: Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:13 pm So that's the "normal" range now? Seems to me they keep lowering it. A little history: When I first began pursuing this issue with my endocrinologist, my T count was 265, and he was willing to prescribe. But the insurance company wouldn't pay for the supplements because the low boundary of "normal" was then defined by them as 250 ng/dl.

It then fell to 220, and for a brief period I was using a low dose of Androgel, and it helped some, bringing the count up to about 330, but that only really served to help lessen the depression. My doctor wouldn't prescribe a higher dose I believe because he was terribly afraid of exacerbating any latent prostate cancer I might have, this despite PSA readings in the 0.2 range. For him to prescribe the stuff I had to get examined by my urologist every 6 months.

Then I changed jobs, and the new insurance company wouldn't pay for it until it dropped below their "normal" boundary of 200. When I next got a T check, it had dropped to 165, and the rest of it I've already told. What bothers me about all of this is that it seems the insurance companies are engaged in a program of continually lowering the limit at which they will pay for the supplement. Given their continued willingness to pay for women's post menopausal estrogen supplements, this strikes me as sex discrimination, done in this case partly to control costs and partly because of the bad press constantly given to steroids, and because they figure men won't protest as much.

For whatever reason, it seems to me that the medical establishment is refusing to consider either side of the testosterone issue. They treat men who seek castration as a way of reducing libido as mental defectives, and they treat men who would like to regain their lost libido and energy via testosterone supplements as inconsequential.

I will seek out another endocrinologist, though, and make an appointment. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to pre-screen these people to make sure they don't reject supplementation out of hand? I've found that they aren't always forthcoming when asked directly over the phone. They usually wait until they've milked you for at least one office visit fee before saying "no".