So, all in all, physically, I dont feel too bad. Energy is okay… not much libido, but no ED at all… HUGE complaint is the foggy mind and headache behind the eyes… is that from low estrogen? It’s been 7 days since I’ve taken 1/2mg ai… how long will it take for my levels to rise enough to clear my head?
Decrease your dose to 100 - 125 mg per week if i.m. and split it into 2 to 3 injections per week.
You will get physiological levels which dont fluctuate much and you will also not need the AI.
The T/E2 ratio is determined by your system and unless you dont have a ratio <1.5 there is no need for an AI. Interestingly low T to E2 ratio is correlated to arteriosclerosis and an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events.
Took me about 2 weeks to not feel like major crap and another 2 weeks to feel normal. Some don’t take that long to recover though. Drinking a beer at night for a week helped me recover crashed estrogen much faster the second time.
Really? Beer? That helps estrogen? I dont drink at all, but would be willing to drink a beer here and there to get this cleared up
Yezzir. I recommend coors original in the yellow can. Beer jacks that estrogen up quick.
I dont know that I ever actually “needed” the ai… the clinic put me on it, two weeks into my treatment… like it was just a mandatory part of treatment.
In my experience, yes it’s low estrogen because there is a nerve behind the eyes and when estrogen is suddenly decreased, you get pain on this nerve. Your AI is more than likely the culprit and is a moderate dose at that.
You need to increase injection frequencies and stop the AI or reduce AI dosage down to .125 1-2x per week. Compounding pharmacies go as low as 0.050 anastrozole.
If AI’s are mandatory part of treatment, this means that are in this for profit and be damned about whether or not the patient requires an AI because profit is more important than patient health.
I wonder if an AI would be prescribe to a patient who has estrogen in the single digits pre-treatment, then crushing estrogen into oblivion…
Your clinic is putting everyone on the same cookie cutter protocol expecting good results, not customizing treatment according to the patients needs.
maybe to bring it to a scientific level. the article is free to access
best wishes from an analytical biochemist
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Please, read the entire thing and not cherry pick what suits your narrative. There are two sides and I clearly stated both. Do what you will, but stating ECLIA testing is “wrong” or “for women” is incorrect.
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That is a concern. There should not be a “one size fits all” approach to TRT.
I’ve started my research… trying to find a local Dr who will take more of an individual approach.
Well… since this post, I found a new physician. One who is listening to me. Stopped the ai totally, and I’m feeling much better, although I think the best is yet to come. New labs back today.
What do you think? He’s lowered my dose just a bit… tests were done 48hrs after injection. Still taking 1 shot per week.
Looks pretty good to me for peak numbers. And you’re obviously feeling good so continue on I say
I’m a bit puzzled by the “high” marks on hematocrit and hemoglobin, those are not elevations, however the RBC is elevated.
The Labcorp FT ranges tops out at 26.5 pg/mL, this is the ranges for men in their 20’s.
When were these labs drawn in relation to your injection?
Estrogen seems low to me, since I’m not taking an ai… nut I certainly feel better than before.
48 hours after injection… and today they lowered my dose from .600ml to .550ml
How long have you been off the AI?
Then those are peak levels, your doctors should be concerned with trough levels. Your doctors could actually be creating headache for themselves by checking peak levels instead of trough levels.
Then he has a lot to learn about managing men on TRT.
Off the ai since September.
New Dr says he always tests peak numbers
Well lowering the T dosage will see estrogen decrease and that’s not good, low estrogen is associated with osteoporosis. The healthy range for estrogen is 20-35 pg/mL, I wonder if suppressing estrogen has caused it to remain low.
If your DHEA was low, supplementing it might see an increase in estrogen. There are other ways at increasing estrogen while on TRT, HCG is another option for increasing estrogen if you are unable to do so on TRT in isolation.
That’s concerning… never thought about that.
Think that will come back over some time?