Aloha! I’ve been lurking for the last two months since I began TRT. A little bit about me, I’m 6’3", 260 lbs, no medications or prescriptions ever in my life. When I married my wife 6.5 years ago, we stopped using iodized salt. I played sports all through high school and was very active until I graduated from school 6 years ago and began my career. I have very little to no facial hair and to this day only shave 1-2 times a week. I have no body hair other than my armpits and pubes. My wife has always called my scrotum a “coin purse” because she says it’s small, so based on all of that, I believe that I have had low T for my entire life. I look back to high school and college and even though I was putting serious time in the gym and eating right, I could never get big. The only time I was able to gain any size is when i was living in the Dominican Republic and I began taking Anabolex (oral form of Dbol) for approximately six months in my early 20’s. At the time of taking it, I had no idea that it was Dbol and thought it was just a weight gaining supplement.
Now back to my recent experience with the TRT and the clinic. I had been considering getting checked for years. I started talking to a new guy at work that had been on TRT for about 5 years and he finally convinced me to make an appointment. I went to a place called Life Restore in Honolulu and they ran two separate blood panels before I was prescribed T and Anastrazole. Here are the results of my first two draws:
9/5/2017
Total Testosterone: 204 ng/dl (250-1,100)
Free Testosterone: 45.3 pg/mL (35.0-155.0)
AST (SGOT): 22 U/L (14-43)
ALT (SGPT) 30 U/L (12-58)
PSA: 1.1 ng/mL (0-2.5)
Estradiol: <20 pg/mL (0-47)
WBC: 6.5 10(9)/L (3.8-11.2)
RBC: 5.57 10(12)/L (4.4-6.0)
Hemoglobin: 14.7 g/dL (13.4-17.2)
Hematocrit: 46.6% (39.5-49.7)
MCV: 83.7 fL (80-100)
MCH: 26.4 pg (27-33)
MCHC: 31.5 g/dL (32-36)
RDW: 14.3% (11-15)
Platelet Count: 222 10(9)/L (150-450)
9/7/2017
Total Testosterone: 219 ng/dL (250-1100)
Free Testoterone: 45.3 pg/dL (35.0-155.0)
I began TRT on 9/7/2017 before receiving the results of the second lab. I started with 200 mg of Test Cypionate once a week and 1 mg of Anastrazole the day after injection. After three weeks and lots of reading, I knew that I needed to switch to twice a week. I went in and spoke to my doctor and he told me that it sounded like I wasn’t getting enough t-cyp, so he upped my dose to 220 mg a week/once a week. I did that for one more week and went back again and really pushed going to twice a week. Finally, I got what I was looking for and they allowed me to go to twice a week. You may be asking why I just didn’t do that on my own in the first place. Well, the reason is that this clinic only gives you one month of t-cyp at a time and it is already loaded into the syringes. So, on the fourth week, they upped my dose again to 240 mg a week and allowed me to do twice weekly injections of 120 mg each and I split my Anastrazole in two. I have run that for 5 weeks now and am starting to feel much better. Since starting TRT, my mood and energy levels have improved greatly, morning wood is almost ridiculous, I last much much longer with my wife, and my desire to do work is back. I’ve also noticed that I actually want to play and interact with my children now and my desire for social interaction has increased. I’m definitely a happier individual.
As far as vitamins, I began taking a multi-vitamin, Vitamin D, an Iodine supplement, and a selenium supplement. I am also mostly vegetarian and try to be as vegan as possible, but it is hard given where I live and the industry I work in.
Regarding the clinic I go to, it’s not the best and I know that. My doc is a former OBGYN and has switched to being an anti-aging clinic. I live on Oahu and the healthcare system out here is not the best. It is really hard to find a doctor, let alone a good one. I feel like I’m not getting the absolute, best care, but I don’t feel like I’m too far off, so I am sticking with this doctor because he actually listens to me. Just yesterday, when I went to pick up my lab results, I sat down with him and talked about HCG. He said that the only reason he doesn’t prescribe it is because there isn’t a pharmacy in Hawaii that will fill the prescription and it costs $100 for a month supply and takes 7-10 days to get it shipped from the mainland. He told me that if I wanted to start that he had no issues with that and would prescribe it if I wanted it. So far, the only negatives are the weak blood panel that they do and a nurse that told me that there is no need for estrogen in men. He said that we absolutely don’t need it. I have since requested to not be seen by that nurse and only be seen by the doctor.
I just had another panel done last week and got the results back yesterday. Here they are:
11/2/2017
Total Testotersone: 857 ng/dl (250-1100)
Free Testoterone: 245.2 pg/mL (35.0-155.0)
WBC: 7.2 10(9)/L (3.8-11.2)
RBC: 6.2 10(12)/L (4.4-6.0)
Hemoglobin: 16.1 g/dL (13.4-17.2)
Hematocrit: (51.4% (39.5-49.7)
MCV: 82.9 fL (80-100)
MCH: 26.0 pg (27-33)
MCHC: 31.3 g/dL (32-36)
RDW: 14.6% (11-15)
Platelet Count: 250 10(9)/L (150-450)
ALT (SGPT): 29U/L (12-58)
AST (SGOT): 22U/L (14-43)
Estradiol: 24 pg/mL (0-47)
PSA: 1.5 ng/mL (0-2.5)
The last panel was taken on my injection day (Thursday) prior to injecting. This means that I had gone 3.5 days before my blood was drawn.
So now the questions:
I know I’m at 240 mg of t-cyp. and that is considered a lot, but my TT number doesn’t seem to reflect the high amount of t-cyp. Do you guys think that I am at the right amount? I know that it’s not all about the numbers.
My TT number is within range, but my FT number is well above range. What would be the cause of this? Is there anything wrong with that?
My hematocrit levels are high. Is this just due to the fact that I was most likely dehydrated or do I need to donate blood?
Any other comments or suggestions? And yes, I have read most of the stickies, but there’s so much information in there, so I’m sure I didn’t do everything 100% correct and I apologize in advance.