Yours Truly and Dr. Bedecs
Finding a good doctor to work with can be challenging for people, finding a doctor who is both competent and willing to assist people with their hormones is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. Make that a haystack the size of Jupiter…Ok, a slight exaggeration but for many who have spent years, if not decades, of their life looking for such a doctor, that’s exactly how it feels for them. I have spent much of my professional life attempting to assist people in understanding this topic and directing them as best I could to the resources they needed, via my articles, videos, etc, often fighting an uphill battle against ignorance and dogma. Enter stage left, Dr. Michael Bedecs of Age Management Center.
Through a mutual friend who recommended we meet, I met with Dr. Bedecs to have an extensive battery of blood tests performed –similar but more extensive to an article I wrote on blood tests and their important HERE – and discuss my results. Obviously, I’m not your average patient and it takes a lot to impress me, but Dr. Bedecs was obviously in that very small group of medical doctors I have interacted who truly “gets it,” is very well informed, and clearly has his patients well-being in mind as his primary focus. His was the most extensive physical I have ever had and we spent a good hour or so following up on my results.
He has offices in ME and FL and gets my highest recommendation if you’re looking for a doctor to help you optimize your hormones (e.g., TRT/HRT, etc) and general health & well being. If you have been following my articles in the various publications or via BrinkZone.com for any length of time, you know that without optimal hormones, you’ll never feel nor be at your peak health or performance. Mood, strength, body comp, libido, general health, and so forth, all directly related to your hormones in on way or another. His web site can be found HERE. Feel free to tell his office Will Brink sent you.
NOTE: Better news yet, we are working on doing some direct collaboration out of his FL office, so stay tuned for further developments!
Will Brink is the owner of the Brinkzone Blog. Will has over 30 years experience as a respected author, columnist and consultant, to the supplement, fitness, bodybuilding, and weight loss industry and has been extensively published. Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.
His often ground breaking articles can be found in publications such as Lets Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life Extension Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen, Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter For Doctors.
He’s also been published in peer reviewed journals.
Will is the author of the popular e-books, both accompanied by private members forum access , Bodybuilding Revealed & Fat Loss Revealed.
You can also buy Will’s other books on Amazon, Apple iBook, and Barnes and Noble.
Will,
Do you have any recommendations for someone in Washington State? Perhaps Dr. Bedecs could recommend someone.
Thanks!
Darrell Tew
Off the top of my head, I don’t. You could contact Dr. Bedec’s office and perhaps he has a referral, or search sites linked in the “10 politically incorrect tips for modern men” article which is a TRT/HRT focused site.
Will,
When it came out, I read your old article referenced above. At the time I thought (and still do) the is was very forthright, including your own blood lab results.
It’s been a while since you wrote it. In that regard:
1) Has your testosterone dropped since then?
2) Are you now on TRT?
With gratitude and respect,
Jim, a 49-year-old considering TRT
Glad you enjoyed the article linked on understanding blood work Jim. Don’t take this the wrong way/personally, but I’d prefer not to discuss personal med topics on a public web site. Best thing to do, is get a full panel done by a competent doc and take it from there in terms of possible TRT. I believe Dr. Bedecs does a short free initial consult. Most docs either don’t test properly (usually just Total T) and or have little clinical experience with TRT/HRT. Getting off on the right foot is key in my view.
I had a hormone test recently and here’s one of the results that were found: TESTOSTERONE TOTAL BY EIA 326 300-720 (ng/dL). I was told my levels were good, even GREAT for my age group (65 years old). Is there any point to increasing those levels, artificially?
As you can see for yourself, you’re on the very low end of the “normal” range of TT. No other tests like free T or E2? TT tells only a small part of the overall picture. If you are not experiencing symptoms of low T, then your numbers don’t indicate a medical necessity for TRT per se, but you would likely experience a general improvement in various areas if you did. See Monica M extensive articles and mine here also.
Hi:
Finding a good Hormone replacement Dr is impossible in a small town. There aren’t any. The nearest clinic is 150 miles away. There are no websites that rate these clinics, so you can’t tell which ones are ripoffs.
I had a Nurse Practitioner who I managed to bully into raising my TRT to 2Ml every 4 weeks. Her initial prescription was for 1Ml once a month injected in my butt at the Dr’s office. I’d add a LOL if this prescription wasn’t so ridiculous.
I got lucky and found Dr. Chrisler’s video on self-administering the shots subcutaneously. I now inject .25Ml twice a week. An Endocrinologist tested me a year ago and my test came back at 756 total T.
He suggested I lower my dose, and I quit seeing him. I’m 70, so 756 is a very safe figure, so why would he want to lower it.
When my Nurse practitioner left, I asked the replacement Dr, to test my freeT, and estradiol as well as testing how my T3 level is, (I’m also on Levothyroxine). Both of these tests should be done at least once a year, to see what your current levels are.
I don’t know if the Dr. didn’t listen, or was just pissed that a patient would tell him what tests to perform. I got the results back He tested my PSA which is checked by my urologist twice a year and my TSH. Both of those are useless for my needs.
Fortunately, he promptly quit, so now I’m trying to find someone who has the faintest idea what he’s doing.
If Dr. Bedecs knows of any websites that recommend Hormone replacement Dr.s or if he can recommend someone near Roswell NM, please let me know.
Thanks.
Sounds like you’re doing great own your own. Even in a major metro area finding docs who really understand male HRT is a challenge. And it’s not just about T. Progesterone, DHEA, HCG are also common factors ignored. You can get your own blood tests in many states – the Life Extension Foundation offers a prescription for a very thorough panel. Use those results and get your meds on line from overseas pharmacies. I got two years worth of T for around $300. Way less than what the docs charge for it and I inject myself along with HCG which is a necessity with T.
If that’s working for you Steve, all good. However, I don’t recommend people self diagnose and
then administer those hormones. Two, I wouldn’t trust most of what I were to get over seas
and Canadian pharmacies and such require a script. Two, they are controlled substances in the
US so laws broken, possibly a felony, depending on states, etc. Might seem minor, but a loss
of a job, etc, etc can be the results of it, and yes, it’s happened to people. The US laws are
not logical on this matter to be sure, but I don’t recommend nor condone telling people to
break them, in addition to my other issues raised above. Per my articles linked, reading blood
is not terribly difficult, interpreting the results accurately does require a sci/med background and
knowledge.
Hi Will, I understand completely what you are saying. What forced me to educate myself and take control of my own heath issues was the lack of knowledge in the professional community (I have consulted the appropriate doctors) and the lack of affordable access to anti-aging medicine (isn’t covered by health insurance). Yes, it takes a lot of time to educate oneself on the appropriate protocols and search out reliable suppliers. And we all do our own cost/benefit analysis every day regarding what laws we are going to observe or ignore. But I do understand that you must advise caution in your position as a business owner and the nature of advice given in this forum, You do a great job and I highly value your advice as a pioneer in health and fitness. Respectfully, Steve
Thanx Steve. I’m glad you took my comments in the spirit they were intended.