I am on TRT (150mg per week), and have been experiencing depression, so I got my E2 levels checked, and it turns out that the level is too high (59).
So my doctor prescribed me Arimidex, and I am taking 1.5mg per week, so I break it up into .5mg Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday.
I’ve only been on it a little over a week, but when should I start feeling less depressed? Like how long does it take to start working?
it depends. For me 1.5mg a week did nothing. For others, they see an immediate improvement, and others take a month or more to see the benefits. So it all depends on your unique genetic code. If you don’t see a change after two weeks you may want to talk with your doctor about slowly increasing your dose up to 1mg a day, but be careful not to push too far past the sweet spot (if you can find it). I did that and low E2 is just as much fun as high E2. It takes a while to dial in on the best dosage.
plus there is always the chance that something else could be causing your depression like low vitamin D, cortisol, Thyroid, ferritin, dhea, pregnenelone, etc. If any of those are off, your HRT may not be as effective as it should be.
I was seeing a MD that wanted to truly help, but was at his limit. We drove my T up (as well as E) and I started to feel as though I was being weighed down. We started ADX 1mg a day. I felt better for a few days and boom, back at rock bottom. I switched MD’s and I am doing .5 of ADX every other day and am feeling pretty good. Its been about 2 weeks.
My E responded to climb without ADX, but probably bottomed out with too much ADX. 0.5mg every other day might be the ticket foe ME, not you. We are all different. 2 weeks time.
Agreed. The adex can and will start bring down that elevated E2 within days however, thats no guarantee that the depression symptoms will correspond in the same time frame.
Just get lab orders from your doctor and get it tested when you feel “great” and when you feel “awful”…then you can compare E2 levels.
Many report significant results in 10-14 days; if they are normal responders. Over-responders can crash within a few days. It has been a while, what can you report?
I still have a lack of interest in activities I would normally be interested in. Perhaps I am an “under-responder”? Additionally I feel tired more often then usually.
I am currently taking 1.5 mg per week, divided into Tuesday/Sunday/Thursday and 150mg of Test per week.
What would you recommend me trying?
I didn’t feel anything on it for about a month, and then everything suddenly got better (better erections, morning wood, etc.). Even when you get your levels steady, it takes a while for everything to repair itself at a cellular level. Its a very tough, fine tuning process.
Also you can’t discount the possibility that you are feeling like shit from other things as well, and the E2 was just part of the equation (Vit D, Vit B-12, adrenals, thyroid, etc.).
I’d say give it 6 weeks and retest and see what your levels are. If you are in the 22 range, then look at other possible causes.