Little background on me. 21 years old, 5'9" 138lbs. former low level professional cyclist (1 year pro last year, 2 years Cat 2 prior). Trained about 20-25 hours a week during this time.
About half a year ago I started really feeling like shit, couldn't complete my usual intervals, major brain frog, worse than usual insomnia, absolutely no sex drive. Went in to the doc thinking that I had mono, turns out I have very low testosterone. My reading during the first visit was 210 ng/dl, outside of the normal range of >350. (lower than the average 80 year old man). My doctor was very hesitant to put me on anything, given I had been training 20+ hours a week and dieting. That was 6 months ago.
Since then, I have stopped riding almost completely, and taken up running. I had difficulty even running 5mins at first, but slowly built up to around 20mpw now, so hardly "training" at all. Despite going from >20hrs a week of cardio to about 2, my Testosterone has actually dropped, it is now hovering around 200 (tested 3 times since my first). I got an MRI on my pertuitary, and a sperm test, and both came back normal. My doctor is now more concerned, as it doesn't seem like the high level of training was directly causing low T. Thus, he has prescribed me a TRT gel (not sure on the brand, just know its a gel). However, I don't know whether this is a smart thing to do at my age, or ever?
Symptoms:
--I originally came in after seeing my cycling fitness plummet, however, this was towards the end of a relatively successful season, so could have just been overtraining.
--For as long as I can remember, I've had insomnia, rarely getting to sleep in less than 2 hours.
--Also, I've always had a lower than normal sex drive, but for the past 3 or so years it has been literally zero. I was in a great relationship with a hot girl for many years, but ended it a year ago with one of the reasons being that sex was a chore every time, and she wanted it multiple times a day. Since then, I've jerked off maybe once a month, just to make sure it still works. No interest in seeking another girl.
--I've always had a lack of "vigor" if you will. I have always thought I was maybe depressed or something, as I would always rather hang out at home or go for a long ride, rather than socialize, learn stuff, or do anything.
--Emotionally, I've always been basically numb, not sad or anything, just nothing really. Bad shit happens and I don't care, and great stuff happens and I don't care, always content.
--Little side note related to running: My recovery seems to be super shitty. In cycling my recovery seemed OK, as there isn't really muscle soreness. But running really seems to jack me up. Even after 3 or 4 months, running for 30 minutes leaves me sore for days, my muscles just don't seem to bounce back. Also, been trying to lift weights and seeing no improvement, and this also leaves me sore.
All in all, for as long as I can remember I've had low T symptoms, just always thought it was due to my wiring, or depression. never even though about testosterone levels.
My main question, is should I go through with trying the T gel? It's hard to find a reliable opinion. My dr was super hesitant to start me on it, but when asked about side effects/risks he says there are absolutely none. This sounds too good to be true to me. If I start taking it, can I stop and go back to my baseline? Or will it effectively shut down my testosterone? Would love to hear some opinions on what to do.
TLDR: 21 year old with low T symptoms for as long as I can remember. Diagnosed low T (