How Long after Injecting Do You Feel the Effects?

I started testosterone replacement therapy about 3 months ago after blood test results showing low levels (around 150). The program I am on ships a 2 month supply to my house. I inject the testosterone once per week on a Monday, and 50mg of HCG twice per week on Monday & Thursday.

I would like to know how long it takes after injecting on that Monday to feel the effects. Do you feel it within a few minutes? A few hours? Or does it not work this way and it’s supposed to be constant at this point?

2nd question is they made me go for a follow up blood test after 3 months of starting the program and my testosterone came back as " > 1500" or greater than 1500. I called up the program and they said as long as I’m not feeling any side effects than the dose doesn’t need to be adjusted and my levels can stay like this. Does that sound safe?

hCG is dosed in iu’s
if 1000il/ml and you inject 0.5ml or 50 on an insulin syringe you are injecting 500iu

Please do not scribe dosing in volumes as potency is not always the same.

You should inject T twice a week, subq over upper leg provides smoother levels than IM. Always do labs halfway between injections, time of doctors office visit can simply be wrong.

You have not stated what your weekly T dose is.

With weekly injections, T levels peak then fall. Then your lab results are more determined by lab timing than anything else.

You may have elevated E2 levels blunting effects of TRT and most need low dose anastrozole to modulate E2 levels nearer to E2=22pg/ml - 80 pmol/L

If struggling with libido, or moody/bitching/intolerance - that can be E2.

If energy is low, can be from thyroid/iodine issues, check via oral body temps - see below. This is a very common issue.

Your doctor appears to not be knowledgeable, you need to be.

Labs should be: - at minimum
TT
FT
E2
CBC with hematocrit [HTC]
PSA if >40
prolactin one time if <35


Please read the stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman

  • advice for new guys - need more info about you
  • things that damage your hormones
  • protocol for injections
  • finding a TRT doc

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.

KSman is simply a regular member on this site. Nothing more other than highly active.

I can be a bit abrupt in my replies and recommendations. I have a lot of ground to cover as this forum has become much more active in the last two years. I can’t follow threads that go deep over time. You need to respond to all of my points and requests as soon as possible before you fall off of my radar. The worse problems are guys who ignore issues re thyroid, body temperatures, history of iodized salt. Please do not piss people off saying that lab results are normal, we need lab number and ranges.

The value that you get out of this process and forum depends on your effort and performance. The bulk of your learning is reading/studying the suggested stickies.

It can take many months to get dialed in, the important thing is you need to find the dose that’s right for you. If you’re really above the high end of the range probable need to lower your dose because most get side effects at the higher doses, 1500 ng/dL is not replacement level. For most 3 months is early in treatment and often guys take a year or more to get on the right dose, I’ve been on TRT for almost 6 months and I’ve only just started feeling consistently better and a little more energy.

Where are your labs and where’s you SHBG level? Reason I ask is most feel better injecting twice a week, once per week cause you levels to rise and fall long before your next injection. If your SHBG is under 20 you will probably need to inject M/W/M or EOD. The reason you had a 3 months is to see where you T levels had stabilized, most endo’s check your levels 4-6 weeks into treatment, then 3 months then every 6 months after that.