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As you guys have probably noticed, I've been periodically absent recently. It used to be that I was simply busy and could only log in one or two times a day, but recently it's been worse. I've been to the doctor, but all that's gotten me is a referral and a bottle of anti-depressants so i thought that since we have one or two people on here with actual medical knowledge and a shitload who know how to efficiently google, maybe I'll post it on here. If for no other reason than an explanation.

It started about two weeks ago. I started getting overwhelmingly tired. Not just yawning every now and again from sleeping late like I typically do, but barely being able to function, about to fall asleep at my desk (which isn't good for the teacher because I snore like a motherfucker) tired.  So I ended up taking six hour naps after my classes are over (11:50 on MWF and 12:50 on TTH), waking up at around six, and going back to bed at ten and sleeping for an additional eight to ten hours depending on the day and I'd still be extremely tired. You can imagine that this interferes majorly with my day, especially since I'm in several clubs and the president of my fraternity's pledge class (If it wasn't a smaller fraternity I'd probably have lost my position). Along witht his came lack of motivation. As I've had a history of clinical depression, naturally my thoughts turned to that first, but I'd stall have good times with my friends in the few hours I was awake and I wouldn't have the same thoughts I've had when I was depressed so it was unlikely.

Because I couldn't find an answer, I went to the local clinic as my primary physician recently passed away and it's free to the families of city employees. Well they took some blood, which is a huge fucking deal for me (long story) and told me to come back a week later. During that week the same symptoms persisted and if anything got worse as far as the motivation goes. Today I went back and the doctor told me that everything seemed normal except for my testosterone levels. I'm currently at a 243 T-count out of a normal 348. He said this wouldn't be a problem and that he'd put me on testosterone... if I wasn't 18. Typically low T only occurs in 30-50 year olds, and I'm half the typical age for it. So he's trying to schedule an appointment at an endocrinologist (if that's how you spell it, I'm sounding it out here) but that takes months so for now I'm taking an extremely low-level antidepressant to perk up my energy and mood. Unfortunately this will take two to three weeks to work but at least it's something.

But the doctor doesn't know if I have it or not. I ahve the aforementioned two symptoms, but no impact to my mood or sex drive. So we don't know for sure.

And that's why i've been gone for a while and not responding to the one game I'm actually in. I simply don't have the energy to keep up with all the posts as well as do my typical duties. So now I'm just waiting to see why such a young a person has low T, or if that's even the case. 

I don't know exactly what's wrong, but it sounds bad. I'm sorry.

Has something like this ever happened in your family? Even as far as great aunts and distant cousins? If its passed down through blood then there will be big differences than if it is only you.

Lol I have no clue :P. I have a shitload of genetic problems but low T has never come up.

That... Sounds pretty fucking bad. Nothing I can really add to this, but I hope this goes well for you :/

Its nearly midnight here but off the top of my head:

Do you have any joint pain at all? You have some of, but defiantly not all, of the symptoms for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. From what you have said above I would doubt it is that as its relatively rare however its an annoying one to diagnose or even really talk about since different people will suffer different symptoms etc. but thats the only thing I can think of for now. If your bloods came back clean that rules out internal infections that were draining your energy as they would have seen a large increase in white blood cell count..

Overall I'm really sorry its been happening to you and I sincerely hope the situation improves for you, I'll have a dig around tomorrow to see if I can find anything more useful.

Nearly midnight?!?! Woah, I thought you lived in the U.S. lol.

Ah, hope everything goes well Bo. 

Hmm...

Off the top of my head I'd say it has something to do with your cortisol level and/or your stress level.

Did you keep a sleep schedule and recently changed it to something else without slowly letting you body get adjusted to it? That could screw with said levels and either produce to much or to little. (Forgot which makes you tired)

Nope, I've kept the same schedule I've had since college started. Stress could have something to do with it, but the main thing the doctor was worried about was the low Testosterone (which does cause lack of energy and motivation)

I had the exact same symptoms for a good three weeks. (Although I'm a female, so low T isn't the issue for me). The blood tests showed that I too have a hormone problem, only with Progesterone---I only bring that up in case its somehow related. Anyway, they weren't able to diagnose me or help me in any way. Eventually, I slowly started getting less sleepy each day and now I'm to the point of having incredible insomnia. Honestly, its possible due to your age your sleep schedule is just off and hopefully in a little while you'll get back on track. It might not be a big deal, so hope for the best :)

Well progesterone is produced in the ovaries and I'm a male, so if that's my problem then I'm afraid I have bigger problems XD

I'm not a doctor, but my father is, and I read a lot about medicine for reasons I'm not sure of-

First off, some anti-depressants make you sleepy, so it may make you even more sleepy. Of course, ask your doctor etc. Some medication lowers testosterone as well. 

Hopefully you don't have a pituitary tumor (Doubt you do though) since that causes low testosterone at any age. Same as mumps, which may (low chance) affect the testicals.

I'll read more about it, Hope everything goes well.

Note: I'm NOT a licensed physician.

Here are some good articles:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/238742-what-are-the-causes-of-low-testosterone-in-younger-men/

http://blog.americanlongevitycenter.com/low-testosterone-in-young-men/

http://www.tandurust.com/endocrine-system/low-testosterone-young-men.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/440332-why-do-i-always-feel-tired-and-weak/

Hey Bo, I'd be uncomfortable speaking to anything I have no idea about lol, but first off - that sucks, I hope you find out what's up and that it's easily fixed.  Obviously, don't take this as any sort of medical advice, but I personally have had problems with antidepressants - lexapro and citalopram - in that I simply can't stand them.  It seems they just bog me down mentally, like some sort of come-down pill that urges me to stare blankly at the walls.  If that wasn't enough, they did nothing for my depression, and so it is for me... maybe you've had better experiences?

As an alternative (which I happened to stumble upon by accident), I found these diet/exercise pills loaded with caffeine, "ephedra extra (seeds and leaves)," and other junk on Amazon and they had what felt like the exact opposite effect.  Mind was clear, mood significantly elevated, drive and focus were up.... they were pretty freakin amazing. haha  Bad if you have heart problems though, because it increases your heart rate but lowers your blood pressure, they can cause fatigue and dizziness, all kindsa nasty stuff (usually a bad idea to take more than one).  Wouldn't do a thing for your T levels, but this is just my kinda way around depression and fatigue in the past, and boy did it work for me. lol

As far as T levels go, and everything else for that matter haha, I'd probably trust a doctor to determine what's best.. wouldn't wanna go screwin' anything up lol.  But there's of course all kinds of stuff on the interwebs about X raises your T levels.. I'm not sure how legit most of their claims are, though a bit a research helps, but you could also find something for that.  However, since your aim is to get at the root of the problem, I don't think any of that is for you. haha 

Luckily it's a very low-strength antidepressant they put me on since it'll take forever to work. It also allows me to drop it on a dime without any consequences if that ever does happen.  

I do trust the clinic doctor a bit more than other doctors (even my physician before he died) simply because he's not paid per appointment but he's payed by the hour. It's a city clinic for the families of city employees so we don't pay to go there, and they just get paid per hour. It's typically a thing doctors do on the side to get more money. Since hes not paid per appointment or by any drug companies I don't really think he'd put any of us on a drug just because of a drug rep

It's interesting that you bring up medication. I'm currently taking three pills every morning, except on weekends.

800 mg Ibuprofen for my feet (anything less won't help the amount of pain my ankles put out). I take them as little as possible since I prefer not having holes in my stomach.

Pills that are high in sulfur (Not sure in the mg, but they're only slightly smaller than the 800 mg) for my acne, and

Very small pills for my allergies.

And now I have an additional antidepressant. I'll definately bring that up on my next appointment.

Yeah, my dad always warned me about Motrin/ibuprofen. (Same reasons, holes in my stomach would be terrible)

Idk what I'm taking, it's a generic perscription pill. Not Benadryll and I've been taking it for months, so no previous drowsiness

Hmm. You say it started two weeks ago? Did you start taking any new meds/pills in the past month?

No, all my normal meds.

Nevermind, hope it gets better :(

While I'm not a physician, cannibis sativa is amazing for pain and it treats depression very well. So if it's depression thats two birds with one stones.

Lol not something I wanna try when focusing on my classes. My roomate already "takes" enough for the both of us anyway XD

Do you feel faint or just tired? if you do feel faint (and I know because my 7th grade math teacher described such problems) one of his arteries was fucked up, and he's a pretty athletic guy, and one of my substitute teachers had a similar problem. You don't need to be a mcdonalds-snarfing bag of lard to have your heart dealt a crap deal.

Tired, like crashing for half a day tired. I'm honestly surprised I haven't missed a class yet.

According to cracked's "X number of things your body does all the time that can destroy you" you might have some type of cancer, or FuckedifIknowloidosis, and should have it checked.

Hey, is this still a problem? (Also - have you considered mono? New friend of mine had it last year, it sounds like the above...)

I sort of remembered something like this in a Discover Magazine article I once read, but now that I look at it I don't think its related. Feel better.

http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/01-are-b-cells-to-blame-for-chronic-fatigue-syndrome#.Ulo-gNK-qhk