I’ll try and keep this short. I’m 23 and I’ve been on TRT now for about 2 years. I made some very very dumb choices when I was younger and did several steroid cycles which got me to getting on TRT after testing low. TRT has been generally good to me, but I also struggle with acne from it, dialing in e2, and what really gets worrying is wanting to have children in the future without HMG or other expensive unnatural routes. If I do the restart it would be basically following KSman’s restart protocol sticky.
Here is what happened: I ended my cycle and began my PCT of nolvadex for 6 weeks at 40/40/20/20/10/10 (that’s mg’s ed). I felt absolutely miserable the whole time. Never felt this bad post cycle before. I ended my cycle on 4/14/14 and PCT started 4/28/14. I started to get blood work when I suspected something was wrong. I never had any prior labwork unfortunately… This is my labwork in chronological order. All drawn before noon besides the 2nd one.
5/22/14
Testosterone, Serum 368 [348-1197 ng/dL]
6/16/14
Testosterone, Serum 589 [348-1197 ng/dL]
LH 8.3 [1.7-8.6 mIU/mL]
FSH 6.5 [1.5-12.4 mIU/mL]
Estradiol 64.3 [7.6-42.6 pg/mL]
7/25/14
Testosterone, Serum 406 [348-1197 ng/dL]
LH 5.6 [1.7-8.6 mIU/mL]
FSH 4.6 [1.5-12.4 mIU/mL]
Estradiol 37.9 [7.6-42.6 pg/mL]
8/26/14
Testosterone, Serum 348 [348-1197 ng/dL]
LH 7.8 [1.7-8.6 mIU/mL]
FSH 5.3 [1.5-12.4 mIU/mL]
Estradiol 25.2 [7.6-42.6 pg/mL]
This was my last one. I was so tired of feeling like human crap, no confidence, no sex drive, brain fog, etc… I just couldn’t take it and I found a doctor who prescribed me TRT. I wish I had waited a single month more as my e2 was finally decent to see if my levels would climb back up, but I was simply at the end of my rope. I’d had it. My highest lab of 589 was soon after my PCT ended. That seems kinda meager to me for 21 and after taking a SERM for 6 weeks but maybe I’m wrong. I didn’t feel good then, just a little less crappy.
Other Information: I found out I was hypothyroid during my TRT treatment. I got a 5.8 and 6 a scale of .45 - 4.5 for TSH. I take iodine and NDT now which has brought it down considerably to about 3. Never would’ve known, was always tired yet I run very warm. Odd, but idk. Definite improvement with treating it.
Had sleep problems my whole life since I was a baby. It can take hours to fall asleep some nights, have had sleep paralysis and rare but sometimes trouble breathing during it (scary as hell), and I sleep perfectly during the day. Extremely lucid dreams and fall asleep instantly. I can stay up all night any night though. Must be vampiric lol. Jk.
During from age 14 to probably 17, I had extremely bad depression and depersonalization. I thought it was always due to life events, but it was brutal. Now I’m really wondering if it was more too it. I think some of the brain fog feeling is the same as the depersonalization, but to be fair it was a long time ago, I don’t want to rationalize anything on murky conclusions.
Throughout high school I had a low sex drive because of it and just wasn’t happy most of the time. I got erections, jacked off, and wanted sex at times but never matched my peers sex drives. I always attributed it to self control, being more intelligent or something idk… but now I wonder if it was something else or not.
And in elementary school I got knocked out in a weird accident. My head, right on my eyebrow line, was split open. I could see my skull in the mirror and had to get stiches. I lost my memory of the day at school prior to the accident. Idk if this could at all cause issues in the hormonal system down the line, seems very unlikely, but I just thought I’d include it.
Fairly clean drug and alcohol past. No energy drinks either. Just a brief abuse of cough medicine/liquid for a few months. Pot a couple times.
My thoughts are as follows: do you all think based on this blood work and my “prior symptoms” that it is worth attempting a restart?