Good day all-

My wife and I are trying to conceive. After 8 months, we still have not been successful, so have started some testing. It has been found that my number were the following:

Sperm concentration: 16 million per mL
Free testosterone: 24
Total teststerone: 172

Lutenizing hormone: 1.0
FSH: 2.6

Thyroid stimulating hormone: 3.6
I don't have T3 or T4 or reverse T3. Maybe next round of tests.

A little background: I'm 32. I've been following a low carb paleoesque diet since January. I've cut my weight down to about 190, and my body fat percentage to around 17-18%. I do a sprint session for 30 minutes once per week, and then do a basic core weight lifting session one to two times per week. I try to supplement exercise throughout the week with random situps and pushups. Otherwise, I'm fairly active, going for a walk everyday, and working in the yard quite a bit. I also work for an ambulance, so there is a physical aspect to that job (constant walking, carrying equipment, carrying patients).

Diet-wise, I'd say I eat in the 50-100g carbs per day, with about 60% of my diet consisting of fat, and the rest with protein. I would say I have a "cheat meal" two to three times per week, but even that might only be a scoop of rice or a slice of pizza. Otherwise, I keep it pretty clean with minimal processed foods, nearly no alcohol (a beer or glass of wine maybe twice per month), and I've even cut back my coffee consumption from 2-3 cups per day, down to 1-2 cups per week.

In case its relevant:
Total cholesterol: 214 (pre-paleo/primal: 140)
HDL: 61 (pre-paleo/primal: 39)
LDL: 140 (pre-paleo/primal: 114)
Trigs: 77 (pre-paleo/primal: 200)

Sorry, the post got a little bit long winded. Any thoughts on anything, especially regarding my low hormones? By the way, my doctor is referring me to an endocrinologist, just waiting on setting up that appointment.

Thanks in advance!

Your TSH is pretty high, which means your thyroid is rather low. You might want to look into that: http://stopthethyroidmadness.com (most docs, endos too are bad about treating borderline hypo).

About the only exercise, I know that appears to improve testosterone levels is heavy, deep, low rep squats. I have read several reports stating squats can improve T-levels, but never a good explanation of why.

You have already done the most important thing and talked to your doctor. Make sure when you talk to the endocrinologist that you listen very closely and ask about all the ramifications of testosterone injections, if he suggests them.

I took the injections for a short while and they provided a much-needed boost to my system. I stopped taking them after I lost a little more weight and my testosterone levels never dropped again. My doctor suspects my fat level was causing an over production of estrogen leading to decreased testosterone levels.

A possible cofounding factor: have you had your Vitamin D levels checked? Low D is significantly correlated with low testosterone. Both men and women should have an adequate level of D in the body before trying to conceive.