Male health

[Summerdaze805]

I am 69 years old. Back in 2012, I was place on unmonitored TRT for 12 months, (6 month injections, 6 months Androgel) by my pcp, to help me gain weight. My testes began to atrophy, so I ask to see a specialist (endocrinologist), and he said my pcp errored in placing me on trt without proper testing, and he stopped my trt cold.. I told him I was concerned about testicular atrophy, and fertility, and I asked him if clomid could help me, and he said nothing could be done. He just gave me Cialis, for a sexual dysfunction I did not have, and told me to enjoy myself. Shortly after stopping trt, my entire body began to hurt, and i felt like I was dying. I felt like this for 9 months. Because of this my testes continued to atrophy for 13 years, reaching a critical stage in October 2024 (50% testis volume loss). My testicular atrophy finally stopped in August 2025, and an increase in testis volume began, for about 4 months and then testis recovery stalled. Has any one used hcg, and or Enclomiphene to reverse testicular atrophy? I don't know who to trust. Right now, I have no libido, an d experience ejaclatory anhedonia. I have no drive for anything, just existing. I feel like I will not survive this devastation.

[ElbowRoom]

Get a new doctor. If your testes were that atrophied and continued after stopping TRT then you needed it. What were your testosterone numbers?

I had been on TRT for years, I went to an endocrinologist for thyroid issues and he told me “Testosterone is not a life saving therapy, so you should come off of it.” I fired him and found a better doctor. Some docs for whatever reason have a mental block about testosterone.

[Martin6469]

Agree with ElbowRoom. It's well-known that low testosterone causes depression. You need to immediately see an endocrinologist, preferably one who is interested in male sex hormones. He/she will get you a skull MRI to check for a brain tumor, because although rare, a tumor pressing on the hypothalamus or pituitary can cause low testosterone.

Testicle size loss is inevitable with TRT. Those of us needing TRT have to accept it. They don't actually atrophy - they simply get smaller because the Leydig cells, which ordinarily produce testosterone, don't have anything to do anymore, and they are absorbed. My testicles have shrunken to about half the size they used to be, and that's been their new size now for many years. Don't mess with medicines sold to reverse loss of size; it can't be done and you might screw up something. (If you ask any woman, she'll say that women don't care about testicle size; they're only interested in penises.)

You have serious depression - keep in touch here or PM me.

[Bearskin777]

Elbowroom and Martin said it: find the right doc soon. I think hCG has promise. I've been on/off TRT for 10 years. I self-stopped because of the testicular shrinkage, but got fat and lethargic and depressed right away, lost 90% of my sex drive, and I still had the micro-nuts to show for it. They used to be huge and I really miss them. Whatever, water under the bridge, then vs now. (I'll also throw in that because of an unnecessary TURP, I have orgasms but I haven't ejaculated in 6 years.) My previous Uro put me on Clomid but it did absolutely NOTHING, so my GP got me back on TRT. Fast-forward my new Uro put me on hCG after our first consult early August, and between that and pumping my sack, I definitely feel different down there already. Not sure if my balls are actually resizing or if I'm just surrounding them with lymphatic fluid from the pumping. but it sure as hell LOOKS like I have my balls back and I have that weight down there I'd been missing, so cosmetically and psychologically, I'm happy with the results. I also pump with a heating pad on the cylinder so it all hangs super low these days so it looks like it used to. Uro told me a side effect of hCG was that it might make me horny AF (his words) and he was right. It is expensive and insurance rarely covers it, and it has to be refrigerated, but it's an easy shot in the belly with a tiny needle. And as my husband said "it probably can't hurt at this point." (Under correct supervision, of course.)

Losing that essential maleness can feel devastating, but this can be fixed. You aren't alone. Keep in touch with all of us. Feel free to message.