Nuanced Test Issues - Late LP wanting to compete

[SelfMadeSoul]

Hey Dr. F. I'm an older guy (40/M/6'1"/208) and I feel that I'm reaching the late LP stage on some of my lifts (Sq: 300x5, DL: 375x5, BP: 195x5, Press: 130x5). About a day or two after every great lifting session, I feel almost all of the usual symptoms of Low T pretty hard. Mental fuzziness, blurry vision, sluggishness, temperamental, etc. I would consider getting my T checked, but I also want to compete in one or both USAPL meets coming up near me in 2017 (Atlanta area). My goals for competing are pretty modest, this is more of a bucket list kind of thing (for now).

My big concern is that there might be lingering health issues from having occasional low T. Am I screwing up my current or future health by not getting this addressed for a few months? Do I need to compete and then get it tested (and possibly get on TRT if needed?)

Thanks!

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

SMS,

Thanks for the message, but to be clear you are NOT "older" at 40 years old. I don't think that those symptoms are sensitive or specific enough to be low testosterone related, particularly the blurry vision. Additionally, without a testosterone measurement, there's no real discussion to be had here about your testosterone levels you know?

Finally- and this is just a general statement for the board, INCREASING YOUR TESTOSTERONE LEVEL WITHIN NORMAL RANGE IS EXTREMELY UNLIKELY TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE. Said another way, if your testosterone level is 300 vs 700, there is no difference in recovery or performance for a male.

[SelfMadeSoul]

Awesome, thanks Dr. F! I'm going to get a measurement to be sure, but if its not as high of an impact, I'll leave it alone to be able to compete.