I have a pretty physical job, with a lot of movement and some heavy lifting, all while smiling.

This past summer I found myself tiring easily and REALLY struggling to get up the stairs when I got home from work. Slept way too long each night. Additionally, had lost some libido, however when aroused had full/strong erections.

After doing some research, I suspected I may have Lupus, so I went to my GP. Full battery of tests determined that my T level was @ 157.

Started Androgel immediately and my full vim and vigor returned. Libido is now that of a 19 year old (48 now).

After several months on Androgel, my testicles (which had been huge) have shrunken to the size of your average table grape. Additionally, they spend most of their time retracted inside me.

I am mostly unaffected by this, but I am just happy to be feeling like my old self again.

My T level is now over 450, and I love that the Androgel is a topical med.

For the longest time I have been a fantasy player in regard to castration. But I was SERIOUSLY considering a chemical trial to see how it would feel. Well my body sort of did that for me and I felt horrible. Besides the CONSTANT exhaustion ( I even woke up tired), there were dramatic bouts of depression, as well as a near total lack of interest in sex (though talk of castration would get me hard!).

The crazy part is now that I have TRT, I really would like to be castrated, but I am not sure that the Androgel is potent enough to make up for the loss of my testicles. I have read here and elsewhere that TRT renders the testicle useless. Is this true? Have my nuts shut down completely? Will the Androgel be significant enough to supply enough T to replace my nuts or is it already doing that?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

By using Androgel your testicles have atrophied as the feed back loop has been turned off from the amount of testosterone in your system. Depending on how long you have been on HRT the testicles may not recover or be functional again.

If it's been over a year the chance of the testicles being functional again is very small.

The abuse of steroids for bodybuilding has the same effect. The bodybuilders who use so much anabolic steroids find that their testicles shut down and shrink. Then when the bodybuilders stop the steroids, their T levels drop and all sorts of other problems raise their ugly heads. The "image" of a massively muscled man with a giant dick and big balls is merely an image. The steroids give big muscles but do not enlarge the sex equipment.

10 grams of Androgel a day or other kind of TRT will supply all the the T that you need to feel normal. Your testicles have atrophied because they've been rendered useless by TRT. You can't stack up endogen testosterone with exogen testosterone. What ever quantity of supplement you take, it will reduce the quantity of endogen testosterone you may produce. Your balls will go on shrinking to peas size. You may not be sterile yet but your chance to father a child is greatly reduce. After one year of TRT It is almost impossible to return to normal. I am in same situation here. My balls are half the size they used to be 10 y. ago and I don't care about theirs size any more. It'd be cool if I had none.