Greetings everybody, it’s been a while. I originally posted here mentioning how clomid wasn’t working for me and that my doctor was changing my clomid dosage. Don’t want to go into a ton of detail but if you’re wondering here is the post.
It probably wasn’t the best idea but around that time I decided to start self administering Test E and dropped the clomid. I also upped my dose of levothyroxine to 112mcg from 88mcg. I found out a friend of mine was going to the clinic I was going to for TRT and he said when they finally gave him Test E it was around $400 a month in expenses which is insane since insurance didn’t cover it (he’s also a bit older than me so I’m not sure if that affected insurance coverage). I was sick of going there and getting what I felt like was the run around all this time from the doctors (they seem all about the money). I understand they probably want to go with injections as a last resort but just changing my clomid dose over and over wasn’t working. My clinic doctor says “it worked for me, i used it until I needed to get on injections it should work for you”. Clomid always worked for the first little while (pretty much just morning wood) then the effects stopped and I felt like crap. Numbers go up, symptoms persist. Spent a few years giving it a try so I’m over it and done hearing “well try this dose!”. I talked to my dad before making this decision and come to find out he went through the same process for a long time and is on TRT which helped him. He had the same symptoms I have and agreed that I should give it a try.
Like I said, probably not the best reasons but I was just ready to take the plunge and get my life back. It’s been 5 or 6 years now. If for some reason it doesn’t work I’ll attempt a restart… and I’m ready to face the consequences if I somehow manage to screw myself up permanently.
Anyways I’ve been on for almost 5 weeks now. Was going to start at 125mg a week but decided on 150mg. I’ve been injecting 77.5mg E3.5D. Not going to use HCG yet because I don’t want to start off with too much just incase I have side effects I can narrow it down easier. May never use it I haven’t decided yet.
Since week 2 I’ve been getting morning erections just about everyday. This is the only change I am fully aware of. Sex drive and general well-being feel a little better but could be placebo. Nothing too significant from either though to make me pinpoint its for sure the T and not just in my head.
I’m going to try to keep this updated every once in a while to track my progress.
Since this quarantine started it screwed up my GP doctors appointment. I had an appointment soon and was going to mention everything to my doctor but of course my appointment is cancelled because they aren’t seeing patients except for special cases. He knows about my clomid prescriptions for the past few years I’ve been getting from the clinic so he knows what I’ve been dealing with but I wanted to notify him of my injections. I wanted to ask for blood work like Test, estrogen, prolactin, etc and also since I increased my levothyroxine dosage and I wanted to talk to him about it and get bloodwork for that. Now I have to wait until the end of June when they rescheduled me which is forever away.
They offered me a facetime appointment with him but I rescheduled instead since they told me they’d keep prescribing my thyroid medicine without an appointment. Should I just try to do a facetime appt if they can get me in and talk to him about everything or wait? Not sure if it would be better to do in person. I don’t know if he has to give me a physical or something. Will he still order me labs even though I’m doing this illegally or is this just dependent on the doctor? Should I just pay out of my pocket and order bloodwork? How long is long enough to consider changing the dose? I’d rather go by how I feel than numbers but I don’t want to do any dose changes too early. I just don’t exactly “feel” it. I’m going to get bloodwork before making any changes but just want an idea. I’ve heard around 6 weeks or so is good to do your first bloodwork but if it can take months to feel the full effects how will I know when to change my dosage?
Given the circumstances, that is better than nothing.
Probably, but you’ll have your history of using illegal medications in your formal medical record. That may be a problem whenever you get around to acquiring life insurance. Also, depending on your relationship with your doctor, he may or may not be comfortable working with you, i.e. prescribing testosterone. It is not unheard of for patients to use doctors as an additional source of testosterone and for labs monitoring general health concerns, while they “supplement” TRT with underground other anabolic steroids or additional testosterone, or both.
I’ve heard from some that their GPs would not prescribe testosterone because it is addictive (they think) and they’ll just keep wanting to take more and more.
That depends on your other options and how comfortable you and your doctor are with the above.
I’d wait for at least six weeks in general. You are not doing anything crazy, so if you are feeling good and happy with the results, I would not be looking to change anything regardless of the numbers.
That is correct. If not feeling any benefits at three months, I would change something. If experiencing unacceptable side effects, then possibly sooner.
I just scheduled a video appointment with my doctor for tomorrow. I’m wondering what the best way to go about the appointment is.
Should just tell him I’m getting it illegally and see if he will help me with bloodwork?
Or should I tell him the clinic I was going to gave me some Test since we tried the clomid for so long with no progress… and with the coronavirus and being laid off I can’t afford to go there any longer and see if he will just prescribe it for me?
You could. How he would respond is impossible for me to say. If it’s me, I don’t think I’d go along with it though I have not been presented with that situation. What I have seen is guys doing it underground and, for whatever reason, wanted to switch. I don’t have a problem with that.
Update: Just got done with my doctor video appointment
I didn’t tell him I started injecting illegally. I told him that the clinic I was going to switched me from clomid to Test. I was expecting him to make me go into detail but he actually didn’t ask too much about it. I told him with everything going on with coronavirus and being laid off I can’t afford to go there anymore and asked if he could get me blood work so it would be covered by insurance. He’s sending me papers for blood work for my test and thyroid. I’m hoping e2 and other panels are on there as well.
He is also referring me to a Urologist that he said he sends many of his patients to. He was mentioning how I can probably get my Test and everything covered by insurance instead of out of pocket.
Needless to say the appointment seems to have gone very well. I’m just hoping this Urologist will have a clue of what he’s doing.
Greetings,
Wow, that sounds like your in a favourable position.
Hope it all works out with the referral and being covered by insurance. Speaking of are you in the US or some other country? How do you have insurance if you got laid off.
Best of luck.
I am also starting a log of my own. Would appreciate you dropping by.
I am in the US. I have insurance because my parents own a business so I get insurance through their company. Pretty lucky when it comes to that otherwise I’d be in a tough spot right now.
Just got my bloodwork back on 150mg test e a week split between 2 doses of 75mg. It’s been about 6 weeks.
These tests are the trough. Was right before my next shot.
Test total: 988 high (250-827)
SHBG: 22 (10-50)
Test free: 216 (46-224)
Test bio: 444 (110-575)
I’m also on 110mcg levothyroxine per day
TSH: 1.97 (0.40-4.50)
My doctor didnt do e2 or any other bloods. I’m going to a urologist soon. That’s all he wanted to give me because he thinks it’s all I needed. Since he was working with me I didnt want to try and tell him I needed other bloods too. Figured I’d wait til I see the urologist he referred me to.
I’ve been feeling okay with slight improvements across the board. Nothing too dramatic. Should I just keep at this protocol I’m at currently and give it another month?
After another month should I have a pretty good idea of how I’ll be feeling with this protocol? Since the changes arent too noticeable (besides morning wood almost everyday) I’m considering upping my dose. But I don’t want to jump the gun when I could feel perfect in another month.
Just got done with my video call urologist appointment. If you scroll up you can see what my numbers were on 150mg per week.
I told him I was on 125mg per week. I was hoping he would tell me to up my dose since my symptoms have slightly improved but not that much. Then I would be prescribed what I’m taking now. Looking back I should have just told him I was taking 150mg per week but I was overthinking the situation so much since I’ve been getting it illegally lol… He said a lot of people have the same experience on clomid (good numbers, crappy feeling) and that they usually switch to injections. I told him I’ve been getting morning wood almost everyday and that I’ve had slight increases across the board with energy, feelings, etc. He said we need to look at symptoms more than numbers… then proceeds to say I should take 100mg per week since the extra 25mg is prob not doing much but raising my numbers. He prescribed me 100mg enthanate per week. He told me how to self inject (which I’ve already been doing but he doesn’t know that) and is giving me a script for 6 months which is being mailed to my house since it was cheaper to get it from a Texas pharmacy than my local pharmacy.
He said in 6 months they will check my Test, E, etc. to see if I need a dosage change.
I thought it was weird he told me to not worry about the numbers but more about my symptoms then told me to decrease my dose. TBH not exactly sure if I should listen to his advice but I’m thinking I’ll stay at 150mg per week. If the vial I get in the mail won’t cover that dose for the script length I’ll just use what I’ve been getting for the time needed.
I’m just glad it’s being officially prescribed to me so now I can legally have it on me incase I travel or something.
If I were to do a dosage change in a couple of weeks, should I go up or down? Considering I havent had much improvements it seems I should go up. But apparently some people dont do well with higher numbers. What are the signs I should be looking for on whether to lower or increase the dose?
Messaged my doctor to hopefully get some T3 free, T4 free, TPO antibodies, and T3 reverse labs. Probably won’t hear back until Monday but I don’t see why he wouldn’t order them for me. I want to see if I have hashimoto’s or if something else could be wrong with my thyroid. I haven’t felt much from the 88mcg levo to 112mcg levothyroxine increase I did. I’ve always been a light sleeper and have had iffy sleep but I’m beginning to think my thyroid needs more tuning.
The past few days I’ve been feeling kind of crappy but idk why. TRT hasn’t improved my energy much or anything else besides very slight libido and morning wood but for the past few days they have felt worse. Today after being up for 9 hours I felt extremely fatigued like I needed to nap but I pushed through so I can hopefully get a good nights sleep. Hoping it’s just my body still adjusting to TRT though it’s been about 9 weeks.
This is the response I got today from my doctor after asking for T3/T4 free, TPO antibodies, reverse T3, Vit D, and cortisol labs.
““Smart money” would say that you absolutely have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis as the cause of your hypothyroidism. However, there is no evidence that T3 would make any significant difference in health, energy, etc. If your T4 is in the normal range and your TSH is in the normal range then the rest are generally not addressed.”
He didn’t even address the fact I asked about Vit D and cortisol tests either. I also asked for a sleep study and he asked me a bunch of questions and said unless I fit the criteria it will be hard for insurance to cover it. So I’ll have to see what he says about that.
Soooo how should I go about this. Look for a new doctor? I really don’t understand why he wouldn’t still order me labs even if he believed it wasn’t an issue. I pay for insurance for a reason.
Looks like I’ll be calling some tomorrow. Any advice on how to maybe find a better one? I was just going to go on my insurance website and find ones that take my insurance then google search their names to look for reviews. Otherwise not too sure what to do
I have Hashimoto’s and have seen a dozen of mainstream Endos and across several different states. They all say the same thing. TSH and FT4 are the only ones that matter. Ive also found this to be true, for me, but I know it’s not true for everyone. I also have not been able to get rid of my fatigue, no matter what thyroid drugs or TRT protocol I try.
If you want to go down the path of trying different protocols and medications, you’ll more than likely need to pay out of pocket. If you need helping finding a doctor, email me in my profile, I know a couple that will work with you over the phone.
Yikes so even with proper thyroid meds and TRT your fatigue and other symptoms still havent resolved? Do you have any idea of what it could be or are you just as lost as I am?
Pretty much just fatigue. A lot of symptoms resolved with TRT, proper thyroid dose, and quitting caffeine. Unfortunately fatigue is not one of them. I just feel burned out all the time. I get waves of energy, but not constant energy for productivity or even enough to be engaged in a conversation for very long. I’ve been like that my whole life though. So maybe it’s more than just hormones. I wish I knew!