What to do when deadlift once per week stalls?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I have always been a terrible sleeper, I have 3 kids and a busy life, stressful job, etc. so I've always just chalked it up to that. I'm 38 and recently got my test levels checked and I was at 310 or something like that. Within the "normal" range of 300-1200 according to my doctor. I went to a low-T clinic, met with the doc there, got some additional blood work done and go my free-T checked (5.4) and in short started on 180mg of test-cyp per week. The improvement in my quality of sleep and my general mood over the last few weeks cannot be understated, it's been life changing. But nothing else has changed except increasing my test levels and I'm sleeping harder than I ever have before and my training is benefitting nicely from it.

It's absolutely amazing to me that these fools can continue to ignore the benefits of TRT in their little bullshit medical practices. He thinks 310 is "just fine" because it's numerically within the reference range -- and he doesn't actually know what a "reference range" is. Get a better doctor.

[Schrodinger23]

It's absolutely amazing to me that these fools can continue to ignore the benefits of TRT in their little bullshit medical practices. He thinks 310 is "just fine" because it's numerically within the reference range -- and he doesn't actually know what a "reference range" is. Get a better doctor.

Here’s the issue. Whether or not the doctor thinks that TRT therapy will work or not, the insurance companies won’t cover any treatments unless there are two measurements with the total testosterone less than 300. Doesn’t matter if it 310 for one and 302 for another, they don’t cover it, even if there are symptoms of low test present. Maybe if the symptoms are severe and well documented over years there is some discretion, but not sure.

The good news is that if you are that close there are things that can be done to lower testosterone levels. They want the test done in the morning by 10:00am at the latest. If you alter your circadian rhythm, say spending a couple of weeks sleeping like you are on third shift so that when you test in the morning you body is acting like it is the evening when testosterone levels are lower. I think there are some foods that you might be able to eat large quantities of during that time to further lower it.
If one doesn’t want to game the system then I think generic injections cost only around $50 per month.

[Schrodinger23]

I have always been a terrible sleeper, I have 3 kids and a busy life, stressful job, etc. so I've always just chalked it up to that. I'm 38 and recently got my test levels checked and I was at 310 or something like that. Within the "normal" range of 300-1200 according to my doctor. I went to a low-T clinic, met with the doc there, got some additional blood work done and go my free-T checked (5.4) and in short started on 180mg of test-cyp per week. The improvement in my quality of sleep and my general mood over the last few weeks cannot be understated, it's been life changing. But nothing else has changed except increasing my test levels and I'm sleeping harder than I ever have before and my training is benefitting nicely from it.

I got retested today and kind of hope that I get another measurement in the 300s, as this could be an easy fix to my insomnia that I have had for about 10 years now.

When I did strength training in my 20s I would sleep for 8 to 10 hours straight through for two or three days, after a heavy squat day. Now on a heavy squat day I sleep worse than on other days. My body doesn’t seem to respond to needing sleep like it did before, even when very fatigued. I’ve spent thousands of dollars trying to fix the sleep issue, but nothing seems to work all that well. Laying in bed for 9 hours allows me to get 5 to 7 hours of sleep each night. The worse part is not being tired all the time or being under recovered for training, but being sick all the time as a result of not sleeping well.

[GioFerrante]

What have you tried to improve your sleep quality? Here's a list of things that can help:

- Nasal health - get some Afrin, 1 spray per nostril per night, Claritin D one 12 hour tab per night, clear out your nasal passage with saline solution
- sleep on your side
- Bluelight blocking glasses at night
- Get a chilipad and/or a bedside fan to stay cool at night
- get sunlight during the daytime
- reduce screen and light exposure at night, get lights that are dimmer and put your phone down
- brain.fm
- magnesium before bed and vitamin D in the morning

If none of that helps then you need to invest in a CPAP if you're having apnea issues. If your T is 310 and you feel like shit, you probably need to find a clinic that is not ridiculous.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Here’s the issue. Whether or not the doctor thinks that TRT therapy will work or not, the insurance companies won’t cover any treatments unless there are two measurements with the total testosterone less than 300. Doesn’t matter if it 310 for one and 302 for another, they don’t cover it, even if there are symptoms of low test present. Maybe if the symptoms are severe and well documented over years there is some discretion, but not sure.

Here's the bad news: sometimes you have to pay for important things yourself.

[Peter Tschantz]

check GoodRX. 12 vials of Test Cyp (12 weeks for me) around me was $40-50 with the GoodRX coupon. I went back to my doc planning on just paying for it and F the insurance company.

[Schrodinger23]

What have you tried to improve your sleep quality? Here's a list of things that can help:

- Nasal health - get some Afrin, 1 spray per nostril per night, Claritin D one 12 hour tab per night, clear out your nasal passage with saline solution
- sleep on your side
- Bluelight blocking glasses at night
- Get a chilipad and/or a bedside fan to stay cool at night
- get sunlight during the daytime
- reduce screen and light exposure at night, get lights that are dimmer and put your phone down
- brain.fm
- magnesium before bed and vitamin D in the morning

If none of that helps then you need to invest in a CPAP if you're having apnea issues. If your T is 310 and you feel like shit, you probably need to find a clinic that is not ridiculous.

I’ve seen two different sleep doctors with MDs, one of which also specializes in with ear, nose and throat. Worked with two different behavior psychologists that specialized in sleep disorders, where I worked though all the things you suggested and more. Tried yoga for relaxation for a year and a half. Have done two sleep studies. Had a balloon sinuplasty performed to see if opening up things in the sinuses would help.

Currently the best help I get is from 0.9 mg of melatonin each night, magnesium supplement, taking 20mg of glycine throughout the day and using magnolia extract before bed. Each only gives modest help, but I’ll take anything I can get.

The therapists said anxiety is probably a contributor. Tried Paxil and it did help but didn’t like the fact that it just about makes you impotent. Long term there is an increased risk for dementia, which I didn’t want to fool around with either. Tried Wellbutrin, but didn’t work that great for sleep and sexual disfunction improved but didn’t go away. CBD oil is what I'm currently using to help a bit with anxiety but, not give the sexual disfunctions.

At this point I think I’ve exhausted all there is other that maybe low testosterone. That would be nice if it was the root cause of things and I could stop taking all of this other shit to only get a slight improvement.

[Mark Rippetoe]

At this point I think I’ve exhausted all there is other that maybe low testosterone. That would be nice if it was the root cause of things and I could stop taking all of this other shit to only get a slight improvement.

Why would this be relegated to your last option?

[Schrodinger23]

Why would this be relegated to your last option?

I read in 2019 that low testosterone could cause sleep issues, after I had already tried all of this other stuff, so I had it tested. The test results were sent to my general practitioner, who said that my levels were in the normal range. I didn’t give it another thought, since I thought they knew what they were talking about.

It wasn’t until you brought it up in this thread that I looked at the numbers myself. The only reason I’m somewhat familiar with problems with low testosterone now is because of your recent podcast with the doctors from Tennessee, which I passed along to a friend who has really low numbers. He has been struggling with osteoporosis and other issues and can’t get the insurance company to pay for treatments, and I’ve been pushing him to just get treatments to see if they help. It is ironic that I too may have low testosterone. We will see when the test comes back, which I will be sure to look at the numbers myself this time. I’m hoping that they do come back low, so that I have another possible option to fix my sleep issues.

[GioFerrante]

The therapists said anxiety is probably a contributor. Tried Paxil and it did help but didn’t like the fact that it just about makes you impotent. Long term there is an increased risk for dementia, which I didn’t want to fool around with either. Tried Wellbutrin, but didn’t work that great for sleep and sexual disfunction improved but didn’t go away. CBD oil is what I'm currently using to help a bit with anxiety but, not give the sexual disfunctions.

At this point I think I’ve exhausted all there is other that maybe low testosterone. That would be nice if it was the root cause of things and I could stop taking all of this other shit to only get a slight improvement.

Perhaps consider CBT and work on the anxiety. Though I'd suspect low T like Rip. Look up a clinic that actually is in the business of prescribing, they're few and far between unfortunately.