22 Year Old Considering TRT After Steroid Abuse

I know, maybe I will have to do this on my own. I think I have enough knowledge about running TRT (not so much on thyroid replacement), after reading all the articles someone could find on the internet about exogenous testosterone and reading all the threads here in t nation for about two years.

I really want to thank you @systemlord for your time. I will be updating when something changes, wether I begin TRT and thyroid replacement by myself or go to a new dr

I will like to add that when I was 18, my free t3 was at the very top range and my tsh was 0.48 in a range of 0.36 - 6.0”UI/mL so something obviously changed

I am also thinking on doing some bloodwork to see if this was caused by something like an autoimmune and if there is no cause I will assume that it is either idiopathic or was caused by anabolic steroid use because, if I remember correctly, steroids can lower thyroid output

I just got back some bloodwork that I did recently to check my thyroid again and see if the problem continues. These are the results:

T4 total: 7.02 Range 5.1 - 11.2”g/dL

T4 free: 0.99 Range 0.73 - 1.55ng/dL

TSH: 1.06 Range 0.4 - 4.0”UI/mL

T3 total: 80.92 Range 59 - 155ng/dL

T3 free: 2.71 Range 2.0 - 4.0pg/mL

So, what do you think guys?

Btw, on May 31 I will be consulting with a new endocrinologist and hope that he is willing to prescribe TRT. I have waited a very long time without using exogenous testosterone, hoping that I would recover naturally but at this time I have lost all hope and now I am looking forward to get on TRT and finally deal with the consequences that steroids had on me.

One last thing, in my country we don’t have test cyp, we can only get Test enanthate, test undecanoate (nebido which I didn’t like last time) and androgel. What are your thoughts on Test e vs androgel for trt?

You’re welcome.

Go for Test e, no go for androgel. Free T3 is barely midrange. I would optimize thyroid after being on TRT for awhile.

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Enanthate. It is essentially the same as Cypionate and they are interchangeable. Some countries have one, some have the other, some have both.

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Thanks guys, I will update on may 31 because that’s when I have the consult with the new doc

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Hello guys, today I had a consult with a new Dr and he told me that I probably needed TRT because of 2 reasons, one is that my free test is low and the other one is that my brain probably got used to the high levels of androgens from using anabolic steroids.

I just began Test e at 125 mg/week divided into two injections of 62.5mg per week

Sounds like a solid plan.

Hey guys, so it’s been a around a week since I started TRT. One of the first things I am starting to notice are energy levels, I am not crashing after 3pm anymore. Also, I think that libido is slowly improving but I believe from what I have read, that it truly starts to kick in around week 3 and plateaus at the 6 week mark.

Right now I am not taking any anti estrogen because so far I haven’t experienced any bloating, red face or nipple sensitivity. My Dr also recommended that I didn’t use HCG right now because I am too young and there could be desensitisation to HCG down the road, so I am saving it for the time I want to get fertile in the future years.

I was wondering two things this week, do you guys think that I will have to backfill DHEA and pregnenolone at some point? and also, this is a silly question but I was wondering if TRT offers the same skin benefits as HGH and keeps your skin looking young and free of wrinkles?

That is individual.

Not unless you’re real special. If you bloat, I guess that would stretch out some wrinkles


Thanks, I will be updating any new changes I notice from TRT in the next days/weeks

Hello guys. So it’s been around 17-18 days since I began TRT with 125mg/week divided into two 62.5mg injections a week. I am not taking any AI or HCG right now. So, the first week I noticed a huge increase in energy and libido. My memory was better, my concentration also improved and mood was awesome. All these started to decline a little bit (even though they are better than before I started). Where I can really notice this decline is in libido, I feel like I am almost back to pre TRT. I know 18 days it’s too soon to make a decision on changing dosages or adding compounds like an AI, so I will wait until I am around 5-6 weeks in to get some bloodwork and see how things are going. Until now, I haven’t noticed any estrogenic side effects like bloated face, nipple sensitivity, acne or mood swings.

I have three theories as to why effects have decreased:

  • Estrogen may have increased a little bit
  • It’s too soon for the effects to be stable
  • Suppression of HPTA may have decreased testosterone

What I mean in the third point is that, I had some testosterone in me before TRT because I wasn’t completely hypogonadal. So when I had my first injections, I increased my testosterone from baseline giving me higher testosterone levels. So now that it’s been two weeks, my HPTA is probably shut down and I don’t have that extra testosterone that I had in me the first days.

So based on my next labs and symptoms in around 4 weeks I will be deciding if something needs to be changed or added into my TRT protocol.

Also, I have a question. Should I take the labs before my next test e shot? for example, I am injecting AM Mondays and Thursday. Should I go for bloodwork on Thursday before my shot?

Thanks to all of you guys, this was just an update of how things are going.

Labs on day of shot, before shot. 2 weeks is about right for shutdown. Ride it out.

Perfect, I will post labs when I get them and see if I need to use an AI to control estrogen or increase TRT dose a little bit.

When you started TRT your had your natural production and the injectable T, now that you are mostly shutdown you are left with only the injectable T which is still building up on your system.

Alright, so I am going to be taking note of the changes I experience in the next few weeks, then take labs and make changes if necessary. I will be updating in the next days/weeks about how am i doing. I want to make this thread as documented as possible so other people can learn about how steroids can change your brain chemistry and even if you recover your natural levels of testosterone, you may still need replacement because the brain got used to higher androgen levels.

Any update bro?