Posted on Jun 2, 2023
Testosterone Replacement Therapy May Be for You
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My name is Dustin McClure and I’m originally from Oklahoma but now reside in Virginia. I am married with four children and two stepchildren. I served 15 years in the U.S. Army as both an enlisted and officer service-member with numerous job duties such as Military Police, Military Police Investigator, Infantry, Psychological Operations, and a Special Operations Instructor. In the service, I was very fit maxing out the physical fitness test on the extended scale (old APFT), ran five miles in under 30 minutes, completed the 12-mile ruck march in under a 1 hour and 30 minutes, and broke the Guinness World Record for the “Fastest 5 Kilometers with a 40-pound pack” in a time of 20 minutes and 6 seconds.
Post service, I was not the same Dustin I had been while in the Army. My symptoms included fatigue, lack of concentration, lack of motivation & drive, exacerbation of mental health illnesses and lack of sex drive. The three main symptoms were fatigue, no sex drive, and lack of reliable erections. These symptoms wrecked my relationships, and my sexual confidence was in the gutters. I struggled silently for years before finally discussing my symptoms with my veteran cousin and my brother, and both suggested it might be low testosterone and to check out their local clinic. I was too ashamed and embarrassed at first to discuss this topic with anyone as I felt emasculated, including my ex-wife! This all culminated with my suicide attempt in 2016 but my ex-wife called EMS in time and I was saved physically but mentally, I still struggled until I went to my doc. He drew some labs and boom…low testosterone. Brothers, you are not alone and there is absolutely no reason for embarrassment or shame as low testosterone is a part of our lives as much as tats, booze, and PTSD.
I went to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center urologist and started the process of requesting help for low testosterone. The VA was very helpful educationally and offered a lot of data confirming that low testosterone can cause all the symptoms above but also depression, triggered PTSD incidents, and over all a decline in your mental health. These symptoms wrecked my life and enhanced my PTSD which severely negatively affected my TBI, Autism, ADHD, and my memory. While the VA did not ultimately approve my TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) treatment, they did provide Cialis to help with soft to no erections and zero sex drive and mental health treatment until I could figure out how to alleviate my struggles.
Other than the VA, my TRT journey has been very smooth and often I am informing potential TRT candidates to be patient. This is in-fact a journey and as such takes time, communication with your doctor, and patience. Remember, your body didn’t turn to shit overnight, no sir, in fact it took a long ass time, so conversely it will take roughly 6-8 weeks just to see the beginning effects of your treatment. I have now been on treatment for three years and balanced out with very minimal/micro adjustments to my script. To date, all my low testosterone symptoms listed above have dissipated. I have more energy to play with my two six-year-olds, staying fit, my sexual prowess has returned with sex daily, and my mental status is the best it's ever been! I have no complaints whatsoever and highly recommend to all men feeling any of these symptoms that you take the time to research TRT as a whole and decide where you should get services.
Recommendations moving forward, if you're seeking help and get VA care, it’s a no brainer to contact your primary care physician at the VA and ask about your options.
If you want to enroll in VA Healthcare, click here: https://rly.pt/VHAEnroll1
If you don’t have VA care or want another option, I had a good experience with a private provider called Hone.
If you are interested in Hone Health and TRT, click here: https://rly.pt/HoneHealth
Best of Luck…RLTW!
Post service, I was not the same Dustin I had been while in the Army. My symptoms included fatigue, lack of concentration, lack of motivation & drive, exacerbation of mental health illnesses and lack of sex drive. The three main symptoms were fatigue, no sex drive, and lack of reliable erections. These symptoms wrecked my relationships, and my sexual confidence was in the gutters. I struggled silently for years before finally discussing my symptoms with my veteran cousin and my brother, and both suggested it might be low testosterone and to check out their local clinic. I was too ashamed and embarrassed at first to discuss this topic with anyone as I felt emasculated, including my ex-wife! This all culminated with my suicide attempt in 2016 but my ex-wife called EMS in time and I was saved physically but mentally, I still struggled until I went to my doc. He drew some labs and boom…low testosterone. Brothers, you are not alone and there is absolutely no reason for embarrassment or shame as low testosterone is a part of our lives as much as tats, booze, and PTSD.
I went to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center urologist and started the process of requesting help for low testosterone. The VA was very helpful educationally and offered a lot of data confirming that low testosterone can cause all the symptoms above but also depression, triggered PTSD incidents, and over all a decline in your mental health. These symptoms wrecked my life and enhanced my PTSD which severely negatively affected my TBI, Autism, ADHD, and my memory. While the VA did not ultimately approve my TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) treatment, they did provide Cialis to help with soft to no erections and zero sex drive and mental health treatment until I could figure out how to alleviate my struggles.
Other than the VA, my TRT journey has been very smooth and often I am informing potential TRT candidates to be patient. This is in-fact a journey and as such takes time, communication with your doctor, and patience. Remember, your body didn’t turn to shit overnight, no sir, in fact it took a long ass time, so conversely it will take roughly 6-8 weeks just to see the beginning effects of your treatment. I have now been on treatment for three years and balanced out with very minimal/micro adjustments to my script. To date, all my low testosterone symptoms listed above have dissipated. I have more energy to play with my two six-year-olds, staying fit, my sexual prowess has returned with sex daily, and my mental status is the best it's ever been! I have no complaints whatsoever and highly recommend to all men feeling any of these symptoms that you take the time to research TRT as a whole and decide where you should get services.
Recommendations moving forward, if you're seeking help and get VA care, it’s a no brainer to contact your primary care physician at the VA and ask about your options.
If you want to enroll in VA Healthcare, click here: https://rly.pt/VHAEnroll1
If you don’t have VA care or want another option, I had a good experience with a private provider called Hone.
If you are interested in Hone Health and TRT, click here: https://rly.pt/HoneHealth
Best of Luck…RLTW!
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 7
I will tellyou this. I had all the same symptoms and it sucked. I went to my on base regular tricare doctor several years back and they did the tests and it was low but "within standards." Pissed me off so I just lived with until last summer. I went and had it tested again and it was non existent almost. I
told them (didn't ask) to refer/send me to a urologist and when he walked in he introduced himself and said so, when do you want to start your injections? He told me that it should have never gotten that low. He also told me that testosterone is kind of like gas in a car tank. The needle doesn't drop to fast on the fuel guage till you get to about a quarter of a tank then it jut falls off. So last fall I started 1ml of testosterone every two weeks. I feel 100% different now. I give it to myself (my nurse daughter showed me how) and I get refills on base at the pharmacy. To easy. Don't wait. Go get it checked and I promise you will feel much better.
Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Trent Klug MSgt John McGowan Cpl Vic Burk Sgt (Join to see) CWO4 Terrence Clark CPL Douglas Chrysler SGT Jim Arnold MSgt James Parker LTC Stephen F. SGT Steve McFarland SGT Mark Anderson SMSgt Lawrence McCarter CMSgt (Join to see) SPC Gary C. COL Randall C. Sgt (Join to see) LTC David Brown SFC John Davis
told them (didn't ask) to refer/send me to a urologist and when he walked in he introduced himself and said so, when do you want to start your injections? He told me that it should have never gotten that low. He also told me that testosterone is kind of like gas in a car tank. The needle doesn't drop to fast on the fuel guage till you get to about a quarter of a tank then it jut falls off. So last fall I started 1ml of testosterone every two weeks. I feel 100% different now. I give it to myself (my nurse daughter showed me how) and I get refills on base at the pharmacy. To easy. Don't wait. Go get it checked and I promise you will feel much better.
Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Trent Klug MSgt John McGowan Cpl Vic Burk Sgt (Join to see) CWO4 Terrence Clark CPL Douglas Chrysler SGT Jim Arnold MSgt James Parker LTC Stephen F. SGT Steve McFarland SGT Mark Anderson SMSgt Lawrence McCarter CMSgt (Join to see) SPC Gary C. COL Randall C. Sgt (Join to see) LTC David Brown SFC John Davis
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
I Solved My Problem.
Saw A Doctor, Discussed The Problem,Made An Appointment
And HAD That Vasectomy I'd Heard So Much About....
Now We Do It "Free-Style".... Videos, $37.50
Saw A Doctor, Discussed The Problem,Made An Appointment
And HAD That Vasectomy I'd Heard So Much About....
Now We Do It "Free-Style".... Videos, $37.50
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MSgt (Join to see)
Thank you for this insightful story! I believe my husband is suffering from the same thing but is too ashamed and prideful to see a doctor or talk about it. I will send him this post to encourage him to see his doctor. Sir, I honestly believe that more men would be able to discuss their health issues if more of them were like you, not afraid to openly discuss your issues and the help you sought to remedy it. Thank you for sharing and for helping others to see that it is not a problem to share things like this with people you trust and with your doctor.
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AB (Join to see)
It's useful for my blossom word game: https://blossomword-game.com so great
Blossom Word Game is a daily 12-word game with required letters. Let's blossom with the longest answers and no time limit to get colorful pangrams!
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CPT Dustin McClure
Yes sir anytime! I believe there are a lot of men in this situation who don’t know where to turn. At least now more Veterans know where to get help and some of the symptoms. RLTW
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