Skibike wrote:
Well thats just it, as my endo told me, some folks have low T and it is fine for them as thats what they've been producing pretty much the whole life. So its natural.
Yes, and that might be true in my case. I don't have pre-CR numbers, unfortunately.
Skibike wrote:
If you're at say 500 and CR causes your T to drop to 250, you are probably gonna feel it and hence its not natural. But thats even if CR is the cause.
CR itself is not natural. What's natural is eating when there's food in front of you and maturing and having babies as soon as possible, staying alive long enough for the babies to grow up, then dying (in your 40s or 50s). The point of CR is not to be natural in that sense. The subjective experience is great for some, neutral for others, negative for still others. When it's negative, that's where the tough decisions come....
Skibike wrote:
All I've ever seem to have read about low T, is how bad it is for Alz and heart disease.
Yup, unless the low T is caused by CR. We don't have the century-long study yet (and never will with any anti-aging regimen), but after 10-12 years on CR, the human subjects on severe CR -- with low testosterone, low T3, high cortisol, low white blood cell counts -- are healthy as horses. (And then there's the animal data -- "unnatural" biomarkers, but they break longevity records for their species.)
Skibike wrote:
So if CR is the cause, continuing to do it when its disrupting your endocrine homeostasis, and taking testosterone therapy seems counter-productive to me. Thats like taking a statin, so you can eat higher fat.
Agreed. The question for me is whether my not liking how I feel is caused by something else, like CFIDS, or my horrible problems sleeping -- or by CR (via low T, or, for that matter, some other consequence!) But I think the experiment of backing off a bit on CR is worth a try.
But I have to be prepared for the realization that CR might not be for me, which would be depressing, since it's so obviously the most effective anti-dementia option currently available.