I got my bloods done last week after 4 weeks on testosterone gel (androgel).
I have started on half the daily recommended about, so only doing one pump of gel. This = 20mg testosterone.
I feel much better on the testosterone BUT my bloods show an actual overall lower free testosterone compared to no supplementation. The big change is oestrogen has dropped.
Result one = July on one pump, result 2 = january and clean
FSH 8.9 and 11.8
LH 6.09 and 7
Oestradiol 59.6 and 93.4
Testosterone 16.6 and 18.4
Free T calc 0.251 and 0.278
Prolactin 257 and 263
SHBG 54.1 and 54.3
After the bloods i increased to 2 pumps per day BUT after 3 days i started to get a discomfortable feeling in the heart area. So i have dropped back to one pump per day.
Has anyone experienced an issue with the heart and T replacement. My blood pressure has lowered about 10 points since T replacement started. It is now 120/60. It used to be 128/68 approx at rest.
I have no issues when exercising, but i was getting a pain across the left side of the pectorals area when swimming las weekend. It was a bit weird. I do have a weak left shoulder which i think has been caused by a lower testosterone level, so maybe this was pain coming down from the shoulder.
Seriously doubt that little amount of testosterone affected your heart.
So, for starters, you are not getting 20 mg a day from one pump. It may have 20 mg in it, but you only get somewhere around 3-5 mg at best from that. You are almost certainly causing shutdown while giving yourself less than enough to even replace what you were making. If you get heart trouble from it, it’s a reaction to having even lower test.
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I do know how much i am getting and you can see one pump is actually dropping the levels from before treatment BUT i feel better. If you look you can see the oestrogen has dropped a lot though.
So your saying when i go to 2 pumps this is having a MORE suppressive effect and so i get the heart issue ?
Its a tough one to work out and i just don’t feel like taking so much testosterone if it gives me this negative effect.
I need to see the doc to ask what he thinks, but thought i would post here for extra feedback.
Be careful what you chose to believe from doctors, most say some of the most outlandish comments that boggles the mind.
Two pumps is giving you between 6 and 10 mg per day. Still not enough to get you where you need to be, honestly. You need both Test and estradiol to function correctly, including the heart. You will get a very mild boost initially, and then you shut down and feel worse than before. Usually arouf the 3 week mark. It may have more to do with when you shutdown than with that mild difference in dose.
Ok so i have been good on one pump, with no high spots. I just noticed i started to feel better. I had been like this for 5 weeks approx. Then i get tested and it shows my numbers above.
T is a touch lower, shbg unchanged, total T is actually a tiny bit lower (androgen index score) but oestrogen has dropped a bit. So this is the only significant change. My stimulating hormones LH and FSH were still firing strongly.
I have tried 2 pumps this morning and will see how i get on.
No issues yesterday with 2 pumps.
I will do 2 again today.
Still doing ok on 2 pumps. No issues with the heart.
I have also tried upping the T4 from 125 to 150 per day. I think this is positive as well.
I wonder if more testosterone = a higher need for T4 ?
One thing i have noticed on testosterone recently concerns going to the toilet for a no2. I no longer have a softer crap, but it is harder. Much more like when i was a young person. I notice my 5 y/o hardly has any soft waste with her no2’s, it is always hard and so there is not a lot of waste on the paper. Tiny observation and i wonder if the body is now better at processing food and waste.