I use 30 gauge insulin needles. They are marked in 2’s. 8mg is easy enough but 9mg would be tough to swing.
Have you started the scrotal cream btw?
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Yup last night. Much much easier. Cheap to. 40$
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Do you have a log started at all? I’d be really interested in seeing how it works for you. Did you say you never had your SHBG tested?
No haven’t tested shbg yet. I do have a log. I like the cream I don’t feel like my estrogen is moving much. It helps allot with sex health as well. Take it 4 hours before sex and bam perfect timing. I think it’s because with cream it peaks 2 hours after application and then the dht kicks in 1-3 hours after.
Side note : My doc and I believe the reason Testasterone is not very effective (it’s been 2+ months) is due to the thyroid. He keeps saying thyroid thyroid l… I get it wednesday so once that starts I’ll probably feel the T working. Until then I get a little energy and feel a bit better than when I had low t. Not normal yet. I’ll be able to give a better review of the cream when that happens brother!
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Update: 2 weeks on 8mg ED, subQ.
I feel pretty good. Libido is perfect and so is arousal. No anxiety to speak of and no depression. Mood is the positive and future oriented.
Still trying to deal with the exercise intolerance. If I can get that figured out I’ll be golden. I’ll try a “light” workout tomorrow and see how my body reacts. I might just have to stick to bodyweight stuff for now. My body has been hating lifting lately.
I wish I could figure out a way to raise test without spiking E2 but I guess if I’m feeling fine I won’t touch anything. Every doctor I talk to says my levels should be higher. PhysioLojik strongly suggested lowering carbs in an effort to stabilize insulin levels and that SHBG levels are largely dictated by insulin. I’ll be working on lowering carbs.
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Great news.
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Your levels have dropped do to daily injections, your levels will become elevated again in 4 weeks.
Yes, this is correct, but I’ve had this problem for a while now. Doesn’t have much to do with the dosage change.
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Whenever I change dosages, I see gym performance fall off a cliff.
Around 4 weeks now on 8mg ED injections. I’ve been feeling really well-balanced. Libido and arousal are ideal, energy is steady all day, motivation for all my interests is back, no anxiety/depression/intrusive thoughts. I’m really only lacking the exercise tolerance portion of what TRT should be providing. It’s possible my dose is too low at 56mg a week. However, I’m not changing anything at the moment since I’m feeling well in every other area.
I’m cutting calories right now and it’s interesting. I realized I’ve never done any sort of caloric deficit phase since starting TRT. Before TRT I would look like I’ve never looked in the direction of a gym when I was in a caloric deficit. For the last 14 days I’ve looked pumped when just laying around, even my wife had commented on it. It’s doubly interesting because I can barely handle even a light workout at the moment, but my body seems primed to maintain the muscle I do have while shedding fat.
Man glad your feeling good. This excessive tolerance is just odd… if your going to worry about shbg, then make sure you add boron and the other supplements suggested with it.
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I’m not worried about shbg anymore per se. As physiolojik pointed out, shbg swings so wildly in one day that basing a regimen around it is silly. It does seem though that I react badly to the E2 that comes with higher doses than what I’m on right now. That being said, I’m not touching a thing when it comes to my protocol, been through too much in the past year to want to fiddle around at the moment.
@anon10035199 hey man, didn’t you say in the beginning you started really low on your dosage due to adrenaline spikes? 50mg a week or something?
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Yes. and I slowly worked myself up.
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Have you ever had any E2-related sides?
When I first started TRT, I THOUGHT I did.
Only recently now that I have been at a higher TRT dose have I actually felt the symptoms of higher e2. Transient usually, lower libido, harder to orgasm, the ON feeling is just not as good.
I also noticed some slight increase in anxiety lately, I have issues with PTSD already but im wondering if maybe the e2 being slightly high drove those occurrences a little more than usual.
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PTSD is horrible, complicates any kind of treatment I’m sure. In my experience high E2 made me depressed and did increase my general anxiety as well.
I do trust physiolojik’s expertise when it comes to anything hormone related and what he says about SHBG being an almost pointless marker as far as dosing goes. I just don’t know why I react so badly to higher doses. The depression I had due to my E2 getting to just 45 was messed up. It could be my ratio of E2 to Test was off but idk. In 2017 my test/E2 ratio was 947/47 and I was not depressed, had panic symptoms after shots, but only after 7 months on TRT.
I want to do what you did and increase my dose very slowly over he course of a year but it seems that my E2 would just climb and make life miserable again.
How do you know its the e2 doing it?
What is your protocol right now? I know guys with LOWER shbg tend to have more issues with e2.
There was a forum where a guy had very similar issues to yours. He measured his adrenaline and it was high.
When I was FIRST going through all of it, I am almost 100% sure it was adrenal issues. I had a near fall on my mountain bike and I had a SURGE or adrenaline and the top of both kidneys were in discomfort, this lasted a few weeks. Was waking up at 3am, could not go back to sleep.
It eventually passed. I would say it was 60% in my head, and I was making the symptoms worse by worrying.
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I really don’t know if it’s the E2 doing it but my symptoms during my last episode pointed to that (drenching night sweats, water retention, couldn’t pee more than 2-3 times a day despite drinking my usual gallon of water, fatigue, depression, irritability, bloating).
My protocol is 8mg ED and I do have lower shbg. I haven’t had anxiety or depression for a while now so that seems better.
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Week 5 at 8mg subQ ED:
Pretty good week. Stable mood, low anxiety and depressed feelings, energy is stable throughout the day with a couple unusual crashes here and there in the afternoon. Libido is high and I get aroused when the need arises. Sleep is going well and I get through the night uninterrupted. The exercise intolerance I’ve been experiencing seemed a lot better this week and I was able to get through my workouts without feeling like I was going to die. We’ll see if everything holds up this upcoming week. Still cutting right now and I’ve lost about 4lbs.
I spoke with Dr. Saya at Defy Medical and I have to say my faith has been restored. He explained in detail all of the biochemical processes I inquired about and didn’t hesistate on any questions I presented, I can tell he lives and breathes this stuff. His advice was conservative and he couldn’t care less about lab numbers as long as I was feeling well. I asked him about losing fat and how it affects aromatase. He explained that since I’m already fairly lean I shouldn’t expect a significant drop-off in aromatase activity with additional fat loss, unfortunately.
So pretty much the only minimal concern I have is a distinct lack of morning or nighttime wood. This morning was the first time I’ve had morning wood in weeks (TMI I know). I did tell Dr. Saya about this and he said it was something to keep an eye on.