Author and activist Nelson Vergel’s journey of how he became an advocate for testosterone therapy is a very personal one. As a long-term survivor of HIV, Vergel is adamant that testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) was key in keeping him alive through the early days of the epidemic, before today’s lifesaving antiretroviral treatments had been developed. In the nearly four decades since, he’s dedicated his life to help spread information as well as inspiration.
Vergel has published three books on the subject of TRT: Built To Survive: A Comprehensive Guide to the Medical Use of Anabolic Therapies, Nutrition and Exercise for HIV Positive People, Testosterone: A Man’s Guide, and the newly published Beyond Testosterone: The Illustrated Guide. is truly an encyclopedia of knowledge that will answer any questions or concerns that anyone may have about TRT. And it has pictures!
In addition to his books, Vergel created the online platform excelmale.com, now over 48,000 members strong. Over the last 14 years, it has developed into a wonderful safe space and online community for men and others to share their personal stories and experiences. He also started discountedlabs.com, an online telemedicine service that provides easy and convenient ways to find out your current hormone levels.
We recently had a chance to sit down and chat with Vergel about the new book and a bit of his own story. Here’s what he had to say:
You’ve been very open about your history of how life led you to TRT. Can you tell us a little bit about that journey and how you then parlayed it into your life's work?
The transition from dying to living, basically that's what it was. In the early ’90s, I lived in L.A. and I was losing weight – I’ve been HIV+ for close to 40 years — and back then we were dying of HIV wasting syndrome. So, I got lucky. I met some guys that were into bodybuilding and in a support group and saved my life with information they gave me — basically in the use of testosterone and nandrolone, which is an FDA [approved] product, to increase lean body mass and reverse the wasting syndrome that was killing most of us. Wasting was the number two cause of death for HIV-positive people. The number one was PCP pneumonia. I regained 35 pounds and looked better than ever, and that was in ’92, before ’93, before protease inhibitors and all that.
Because there was so much fear, ignorance, and stigma around HIV at that time, did you feel extra pressure to look “healthy?”
I was working for Shell, so I was in a double closet there…. People were asking me if I was sick at work, so [the TRT] really made a big difference. And obviously I became obsessed with the whole topic of hormones, health, exercise, and nutrition. I went on disability and devoted my life to educating physicians and patients about the use of hormones for HIV wasting back then. And obviously after things got better with the new drugs that we had for HIV, wasting slowly but surely disappeared. But we had other issues, metabolic issues, where hormones could still help. So I worked on that and activism, and trying to get more clinical studies done. And then obviously HIV got better, thank God. Some of us survived, which is a miracle.
So once things improved due to the advancements in HIV treatment, when did you realize how so many others could benefit from TRT?
All of the sudden I got hit with this realization that I accumulated so much information, it was time for me to start giving it away to others — anyone basically with issues, especially testosterone.
It’s great that TRT is more accessible these days via telemedicine and specialized clinics — but on the flip side of that, I think many people are worried about getting something harmful or that isn't legit. Any tips on avoiding scams or acquiring dangerous, non-FDA approved TRT?
In the gyms, some men are getting street products, and mostly because they don't know how to get a prescription or they don't qualify for low testosterone. But now that we have so many products, injectables, creams, gels, pellets, oral…make sure it is a [reputable] brand. Don't buy it from a person at the gym, obviously, because you don't know what it's in the product.
But now, with so many doctors prescribing and many telemedicine companies, that really is what's changed the most. The fact that you can access a prescription through your computer or your cell phone, which was really improved dramatically and actually expanded by COVID. I know that's probably the worst thing that's ever happened to the world in general when it comes to disease, but we got one good thing out of COVID, was that it pushed the whole world into telemedicine because people were home. And now telemedicine is here to stay. It's just not something that we're doing because we cannot get out of the house.
After nearly four decades, what keeps you passionate about providing resources and information about TRT?
I'm 65 will probably be doing this until I die, educating people. I just want people to know there's resources.
Beyond Testosterone: The Illustrated Guide is now available at most major booksellers.
