Whilst I was not entirely convinced on the science behind hair mineral analysis it was interesting to note that it highlighted both adrenal and thyroid issues even though I did not have an apparent symptoms.
That led me to Genova Diagnostics which conveniently enough is located a few miles away from me. They specialise in very detailed medical tests which make the NHS look like 19th century never mind 20th century. I had to test for thyroid function, male hormones, adrenal function as well as a urine test for the thyroid.
Less than a week later I had my results and to a degree am still mentally suffering from the results which showed the following:
Whilst it is true that at that time I did not have any of the stereotypical symptoms (fatigue, weight gain, brain fog etc) my antibodies were certainly high enough to cause damage to my thyroid. Of course I should have concentrated on the positive side that I had found there was something amiss and that I might be able to improve my fertility but instead looked only at the negative side- the symptoms and what might happen in the future.
Unfortunately that was the exact route I took but is not surprising considering I have always been a worrier. Within a couple of weeks I had withdrawn into my shell and spent virtually all my time staring blankly at a screen to see the seemingly endless list of symptoms.
At the same time I visited a private urologist to discuss my results and see if there was anything physically with me down below. He conceded that it was almost impossible to improve your fertility as it was such an unknown entity and then proceeded to examine me (joy). That soon to to worry as he informed me that he had found some lumps where you do not want them but he suspected they were just benign cysts and there for no apparent reason. Apparently 20% of men have them so I was once again in the minority but he wanted to perform an ultra sound scan just to be sure and another semen analysis (double joy). At the same time he referred me to his colleague who was an endocrinologist to look at the thyroid results.
This was originally scheduled through the NHS (6 week wait) but it took me precisely two days to crack due to anxiety and book a private test. Three days and £495 later I was standing in a grotty basement toilet looking at a crappy 70's style soft porn magazine and trying to jizz into a tiny test tube. For the record this is neither fun or easy but had to be done. 2 hours later I was lying on a table watching an ultrasound of my nuts while a guy tried to pinpoint the lumps. The only positive side was that he also thought that they were just cysts as opposed to cancerous but let's just say it was a very worrying time. My partner was also away at the time which didn't exactly help the situation.
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