I’m a 31 year old male. Been suffering with low libido and poor erection quality for the past decade. Have tried Cialis, Viagara, various herbs, etc. At times they have helped, but more than often disappointing. Wondering if I should seek out TRT under the supervision of a doctor. My bloodtests are below - would appreciate any insight you might have.
Your T levels are in lower range . Plz post all values with standard units. You should get Free T also tested. But is sure your bioavailale T is in lower range. Thyroid seems to be okay. @KSman
It seems to be normal, but I guess it just seems strange that my bioavailable T is so much lower:
Bioavailable T: 4.2 nmol/L (1.6 - 13.2).
I have an appointment at an anti-aging clinic on Wednesday and I am hoping they have some suggestions. My primary focus is to really get my libido and erection quality back. I have done everything in my power to increase my test naturally including sleeping for 7-8 hours, diet high in healthy saturated fats, heavy compound lifting. Have even bought underwear that helps to keep my testicles cool. Unfortunately, the low libido and poor erections persist and I don’t understand why.
Evaluate your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky. Thyroid hormone fT3 is what gets the job done and it regulates mitochondrial activity, the source of ATP which is the universal currency of cellular energy. This is part of the body’s temperature control loop. This can get messed up if you are iodine deficient. In many countries, you need to be using iodized salt. Other countries add iodine to dairy or bread.
Just a quick update - I ended up seeing an anti-aging doc who agreed my bioavailable test levels were extremely low for a 31 year old. He is running a few additional tests but said he will likely start me off on HCG to initially test out. If there is no response, then we will proceed to TRT.
I have been prescribed 100 mg testosterone cypionate weekly. My doc advised me to inject ~14 mg daily. I’m also on 250 IUs of HCG 2x a week (Monday and Thursday).
The main things I’ve been experiencing so far are:
Lessened anxiety
Subtle energy uptick
More aggression in the gym
Very very subtle improvement in libido and erection quality
The category I’m most concerned about improving is libido. Have been struggling with this for years so really hoping this is a turning point. I guess my question is when do you think I can really start to feel a significant impact from the treatment? My doctor said I should give it at least 6 weeks. I’ve heard from other it took 2 to 3 months. Others have said they felt it within days. Should I be concerned that I don’t feel significant improvement 15 days in?
Everyone responds different which is why you’ll hear a bit of everything. Personally I felt great for the first couples weeks and for the last couple months I’ve been back to my pre-trt condition. That’s not entirely true, it’s better than it was but still far from normal. I wouldn’t be concerned if you’re not feeling a significant difference after a couple weeks, as long as you’re seeing slight improvements keep with the protocol and re-test bloodwork every 6-8 weeks and adjust as necessary, these things take time and going overboard out of the gate can cause as more issues if you’re not careful.
Started 1st injection
Test: 14mg / day
HCG: 250 units twice a week
Labs on May 25:
Estradiol: 248 pmol / L (range <159)
Bioavailable Test: 16.4 nmol/L (range 1.6 – 13.2)
On May 29:
Reduced the test dosage to 12mg / day
Started the Super Miraforte (2 caps in the am; 2 before bed)
June 15
Estradiol: 225 pmol / L (range <159)
Bioavailable Test: 22.6 nmol/L (range 1.6 – 13.2)
My doc prescribed Arimidex and told me to take 0.25mg 2x / week. I asked him if I should also be reducing my test dosage but he is away on vacation for a week. In the meantime, do you guys think I should drop it down to like 10 mg / day.
Not feeling any benefits whatsoever right now…I’m guessing because of the high estrogen levels.
Dont drop the dose at all. 100 mg a week is fine from all the reading I’ve done on this site and others.
You feel like shit because a high amount of that testosterone is aromatizing into e2.
The right thing to do would be to stay on 100 mg cyp weekly and figure out your arimidex sweet spot.
Also you dont need to inject daily its a hassle. Just follow Ksmans protocol and split into 2 x 50 mg doses 3.5 days apart. For example monday morn, thurs night. Take 0.5 mg arimidex at time of injections. And see how you go from there.
Maybe even listen to doc and take 0.25 mg twice so the next labs will show him that it isnt enough and he will bump your dose up
@KSman will have to answer that one. The only thing I can think of is that your SHBG is superlow so your bio T is very high…
It would help if doctor tested shbg and total test.
Also how do you dose 14 mg per day. That would be less than 0.1 ml from a standard 200 mg/1 ml cyp vial… are you sure you havent been injecting too much
Its strange, so someone with more knowledge will have to put their two cents in.
From all the numbers Ive read on here most guys get to 800-1000 ng/dl total test from 100 mg cyp per week and then get top of the range free test once e2 is adjusted. So I dont know why yours is so far out of range.
Also your e2 is extremely high which generally takes away from bio t/free t…
Just wait for Ksman to throw his 2 cents in.
There are some TRT clinics in the states who prescribe 200 mg cyp per week under the notion that the spike doesnt matter aslong as the low days by the end of the week are still high in test before the next shot.
Dr rand mclain does this. 200 mg cyp once per week with 1 mg arimidex eod but I know this protocol is frowned upon here.