Sooooo, an update. I’ve been doing 175mg split into daily injections(25mg a day) for roughly 10 weeks. I added back in some exemestane. Roughly 1/4 of a 25 mg pill(They’re hard to cut up) twice a week. I think I’ve hit the sweet spot! I was good already but libido was the only thing that needed improvement. Libido got better on daily injections(used to do 2x week) and now it has become really good with a little added exemestane. It was never terrible but it just wasn’t awesome like it was on testosterone pellets. It’s getting to that awesome place again now.
I get blood work for my next Dr. appointment soon so I’ll see where the E2 is at that point. I really don’t care where the E2 is because I’m feeling good. Just curious to know.
My most recent blood work came back. Everything looks pretty good except for my IGF-1 is low.
I’m on 200 mg per week of cypionate split into daily injections. I also used exemestane (25mg per week split in two) for 6 weeks which dropped my estradiol to 15 which I didn’t like. Achy joints and no libido. I think I’m going to stick with half a pill per week (12.5mg).
I had a feeling my E2 was getting low. I kind of shot past the sweet spot so I’m going to cut back on the exemestane. I was taking 25mg a week. I’ll cut that in half to see what it does. I’ll check blood again in 6-8 weeks.
The LDL I don’t really worry about. Should I? I had high triglycerides but I’ve got those back to normal and my good cholesterol is really good.
Personally I am not too worried about cholesterol. Some docs will want to put you on a statin if you are over 200. Some research shows higher cholesterol, 250 is actually better than being too low, under 150. I have been as high as 254 but my HDL was quite high, 85 so I wasn’t too concerned. I don’t belong to the lower is better camp. Some docs like LDL under 100 and most under 130. Just because I am not concerned about being over 200 doesn’t mean 300 or 400 is ok. LDL near 200 looks to be getting up there.
Your dose is simply too high. You could feel better by dosing some cocaine every day too but that doesn’t make it good for you. That high of T and DHT is likely to lead to problems in the future. Keep an eye on that PSA. You should also follow up on your TSH with an endo. Its far too high.
I have my appointment in a few weeks to go over everything. My doc is very good and thorough on tons of bloodwork that he makes me get each time.
I saw the TSH high but my T3 and T4 are in range.
What makes you think the dose is too high? My hematocrit and hemoglobin are never high. My BP is fine. PSA is always super low. No other sign or symptoms of anything bad at this dosage. My hair is thinning but that runs in my family.
Umm… did you not see your own labs? DHT twice the top range. Free T twice the top range. Total T well over range. That not something you want to do long term.
I see the numbers being out of range but what’s the harm? If I was seeing side effects or other key markers of health being effected, I’d be in agreement with you. I’m just curious if I ran this forever, what would happen? I’ve been running high numbers like this for over two years and I can’t see anything wrong.
I too have low IGF-1, but not as low as yours. I take MK-677 to bring it up, but need labs for IGF-1 to confirm it is working. Research shows it is pretty effective if your goal is to go from low normal to high normal for example. It isn’t going to be like running GH though.
These are probably the most important. I would also look at your kidney labs to ensure the kidneys are handling it well.
I also am running 200 mg/wk, but I admit I am dosing high for performance reasons and blast and cruise (low blast amounts). I don’t think I’ll end up running this high of TRT forever, and I am not going to blast forever. I just get worried about left ventricle hypertrophy, ejection fraction, etc…
I’ll probably move to 150 - 175mg/wk in a couple years. I feel good and BP and bloods are good on 200 mg/wk, just makes me a bit nervous.
A google search on the cardiac risks should suffice. Labs won’t necessary reflect many of those issues either. BPH and other prostate issues are another but monitoring PSA should help.
Only it’s not a steroid cycle which would likely have to be close to double that, minimum. It may be too high a TRT dose, which is different from individual to individual as are the potential risks/sides, but it’s not going to get you anything extra in the gym over a typical TRT dosage either…at least on it’s own.
You’re right it isnt a steroid cycle, it is a pemanent steroid protocol.
The benefit you get in the gym, is directly proportional to the amount of testosterone you are on. This dose is abuse of testosterone and it is not a theraputic replacement dose.
……but what’s wrong with it? I hear “abuse” and “cycle”, etc, but what is the “Bad” part of my dosage? Like for instance, if you do this long term, X, Y, Z will happen.
My doctor checks my blood work thoroughly twice a year. I get 11 vials of blood taken for my extensive bloodwork every 6 months. He’s one of the best in the field and he says I’m perfectly fine at these levels.
I feel great and I’m in the best shape of my life. My wife is on testosterone pellets( well, a pellet. She gets one pellet ever 4 months or so) and people comments on how young we look for our age. We’ve been on testosterone like this for 5+ years now and things seem to be working pretty good for us. I started on the pellets and that used to jack my total T up to close to 2,000 so 1,440 on my latest bloodwork doesn’t seem that bad to me
I think I answered that along with @mnben87. Your bloodwork is not going to show what its doing to your heart in the long term. My main concerns with all other blood work markers being ok would be cardiac and prostate (PSA checks can mostly monitor this).
@highpull look at this guys lipids. Generally speaking LDL of 190 and a total of near 300 could be indicative of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.
HDL/LDL ratios also pertain significance, I can link an ample body of data indicative that OP’s lipids pose as independent risk factors (elevated risk of atherosclerosis/CHD)
