It really isn’t a big deal. I pin EOD, and it probably takes a total of 10 minutes a week. You get over the injection thing pretty quickly. First one though I was pretty nervous.
A lot of guys make it seem like being on TRT is like being superman or something. I think I have a bit more energy (but still feel tired a lot). It didn’t help with ADHD symptoms (something I was hoping for). The big difference for me is body composition. I’d say it is worth it, but it wasn’t as big of an impact as I thought.
There is a lot of it in the US. I met a guy yesterday that I would never guess was taking gear. He was kinda big, but pretty fat too, in his 50s. We got talking about lifting, and he told me he takes some gear. I asked a bit more, and the guy was taking Test and Tren. He also went out for a smoke, and was telling me his BP was always high. I was thinking this is the type of guy who is very likely to have a heart attack in the next couple years.
I guess my point of that, is that a lot of gear users don’t have the look of someone on gear. I believe over here it probably is like 3% of men, and like 10-20% of guys that are regulars at the gym. I have had a guy that looked like he had been lifting for 6 months ask me if I could get him caber.
And then inside this section there is (1) abusive “HRT/TOT/MCC/permacruise/NRT/super man mode/TCT+” (everything on the menu since they actually have a menu) and (2) in-network standard of care TRT - 400-600 mean TT ng/dl. The former gets you some decent Gainz; the latter not so much assuming you are doing everything else correctly. Well then there is the (3) rare in-network men’s clinic guy who will take you up to 1000 ng/dl TT trough that still does care about you but lets you have a little more leash.
I think this comes down to the individual. Is 1,000 ng/dL average TT abuse, some would say so, but I am comfortable with it.
Like readalot (and the supreme court) said, you know it when you see it. I’ve seen it plenty, and have encouraged change in behavior (actually successfully). A gym buddy of mine cruised on 300 Test, and 700 EQ a week for years (he told me for blasting he just took a vial of Test E 250 a week, and added in other stuff on top), never got blood work or medical screenings (this guy performs minor surgeries on himself, because he hates doctors). After talking with him, I couldn’t get him to go to the doctor or get blood work, but he is down to 400 mg/wk of Test, and doesn’t plan on blasting anymore. He is still abusing, but it’s an improvement. Harm reduction. I knew that convincing him to do TRT doses wasn’t going to happen, but I thought there was a chance he would buy into 400 mg/wk and being able to keep his gains. He looks about the same on the current protocol.
That reminds me, there’s another huge inequity between the US and other parts of the world…access to legal Rx AAS (assured potency and purity) for those with the money.
With FDA coming after compounded androgens (with NASEM stamp of approval) the funny part is in the not too distant future you won’t be able to get your hands on compounded Test but you will still be able to get compounded stanozolol, oxandrolone, and nandrolone (at least in Phase 1 of the crackdown).
Having lived through 7 decades we have come a long ways. I recall when no one had low testosterone. No one complained about low T. No one got treatment for low T.
Now it seems half the male population has low T. I have heard it said that more (%) men have low T now, than the 1960’s and ‘70’s. Is this more awareness driven or actual testosterone drop?
Perhaps it can simply be observed via the near-total feminization of most men (joking, kind of).
It does raise a good point though - perhaps TT% hasn’t lowered and simply the ability to observe these metrics has improved enough to display this as a trend.
I would say primarily awareness but partially a decline. The TRT guys love to refer to a specific study that shows generational decline in TT amongst men. Fairly significant decline too. IMO its a flawed study. I will see if I can find it or link you up to the debate over this when I have time.
Keep in mind too, obesity is rampant. Way more so than it was over two decades ago. The average large male tshirt from the 70s/80s is now akin to a small. Obesity plays a large role in reduced TT numbers.
It’s awareness driven, potential and decline driven.
When you went to the doctor 30 years ago feeling like shit, the doctor would have given you an SSRI. If you are going now, they’ll look at testosterone levels and may find levels 2 standard deviations lower than “normal”.
When you went to the doctor 30 years ago feeling like shit, no doctor would have told you you can feel like you’re 20 again. Now some are selling that idea and this idea can also be found online easily.
When testosterone levels in the general population decline on average by 5% in a decade, look how the bell curve moves and how many people now find themselves below the reference range compared to before. It easily doubles or triples patient numbers every decade in this scenario.
Addendum point 3: testosterone levels in men in nmol/L.
Graph shows the baseline of the example above. 2.2% of the population would be classified as low T.
Graph shows the state after a decade. 3.4% would be classified as low T. That’s 54% more patients in a decade. Do it again and see what happens, it will at first grow near exponentially.
This has been on my mind lately as well. Started AAS at 26 and did a lot of shots in my quads with 21-23g needles. I have two large sections of scar tissue in both legs now, really bothers me. So I use 25-27g needles in delts for TRT and I don’t have any tissue build up yet, but I’m concerned it’s going to be a problem down the road
Is the mean change from 18.0 to 17.1 a decade later, the same men 10 years later?
Or the same age men from two different decades?
How was the standard deviation of “5” determined?That seems highly convenient from measured data. Like too nice to be true.
Or, might you have been demonstrating how a shift in the mean of a normal distribution curve affects percentage at any particular Z-score on a flexed specification of low T value.
Sad part is ladies will really be affected as they will lose access to compounded T cream.
