Diagnosed With Hypogonadism: Testopel Or Bio Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy?

In Dec, my total testosterone was 220, free around 4. In January, I tested again as a double check and it was 167. I also learned my vitamin D was very low (22). I started the injections, and then moved to Androgel 1.65.

I visited an Endocrinologist in May who confirmed I had Hypogonadism, but no true source could be identified. I also visited a urologist in late July who does Testopel, and he confirmed he could do it for me. Said he would start with 14 pellets. My insurance will cover the procedure, and will cover 80% of the cost of each pellet. The urologist charges $100 / per pellet, so my total cost would be $20 X 14 pellets = $280 + $35 copay = $315.

What I didn't like about the urologist was his matter of fact approach: you have Low T, you need to treat it. No interest in looking at the entire picture, eg - DHEA, HCG, Zinc, Vitamin D, Estrogen, etc. I want to find someone that can help ensure I am not suboptimizing my body by only trying to fix one area without looking at the bigger picture.

Since the cost of Testopel is not that bad with my insurance, I could go ahead while I search for another doctor. I have read about some of the bio identical doctors who on their website claim to look at the bigger picture, and Suzanne Somers apparently has had quite a bit of success with them. But I have not found anyone in Southeastern Va that I could trust. One has a website that asks for your SSN to be included in a questionnaire but they use a non-secure website (not HTTPS), and communicate through an AOL email address (people really still use that????!!!)

Has anyone done any real comparison of both, or even tried both? Any ideas or insight greatly appreciated.

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Bioidenticals are actually not proven to work, though some people have had good results with them. Since the practitioners and the products aren't regulated, it's really a crap shoot.

You'd likely be better of with the Testopel, to ensure that you're using something that can really resolve your problem.

Does anyone else have any advice to offer?

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