Log: 2014 My experiences - 47 Year old with low Test

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

The following is to document my journey with TRT which started January 31, 2014. I hope his log helps me keep my head screwed on right, document where I am and was, and perhaps provide some help to those of us that are starting to get that suspicion that we are getting old(er). I’ve lurked and browsed here for over a month. I hope to include all the challenges and questions I’ve had and still have about what I am doing here, the impact of low test on the various parts of my life and hopefully my victory over aging! [applause, applause]

Comments, suggestions, trash talking, and the naked truth are all welcome.

The beginning…

47 years old, 5’10, 183#, 34 inch waist,
I have hair on my legs, arms, face, none on back
I carry my fat in the love handles and stomach which has increased of late.
My diet is nothing special. Watch processed foods, fats, sugars.
Alcohol 2-3x week. couple of beers or Captain n diets
Since starting TRT [January 31, 2014], I take OTC supplements ED including:
Daily vitamin, Fish oil (1250mg with EPA/DHA levels of 1000mg), trans-Resveratrol (200mg), Red yeast rice (600mg), Vit D3 (5000iu with heaviest meal), DHEA (25mg), CoQ10 (30mg), and DIM (200mg).
Erections: morning [sometimes], In “bed” [oh please, oh please…mostly yes!]

My temps after a week of checking appear normal and not low and my iodine intake includes meals [salt] and in my daily vit.

I work out 2-4 times per week with cardio 2-3 times per week. (home gym and treadmill)

I looked into TRT after putting on weight, seeing an decrease in libido, lack of enthusiasm for pretty much everything, lack of energy and little increases in the gym. I am married [mostly happily ~ my point of view] and have two grown kids.

I looked for a doctor and settled in on Renewman. I know they are expensive but I will stay with them until I evaluate how much my BCBS POS covers and if they can get my levels evened out [for lack of a better description].

INITIAL LAB RESULTS [January 2014]

Test: 257, range 348-1197 ng/dL
Test,Free: 6.4, range 6.8-21.5 pg/mL
LH: 4.2, range 1.7-8.6 mIU/mL
T3: 3.1, range 2.0-4.4 pg/mL
Estradiol: 6.5, range 7.6-42.6 pg/mL
PSA: 1.2, range 0.0-4.0 ng/mL
DHEA: 138.8 range 71.6-375.4 ug/mL

LAB RESULTS – ANNUAL PHYSICAL [April 2013]
Cholesterol 214 range 100-199 mg/dL
HDL 43 range >39 mg/dL
LDL 139 range 0-99 mg/dL
LDL/HDL ratio 3.2 range 0.0-3.6
Triglycerides 162 range 0-149 mg/dL

** TRT To Date **
I am injecting:

Test Cyp 200mg/cc weekly [100mg E3D or .5cc IM 2x a week]
HCG from a 5000iu vial – 600iu 2x week SQ

** Final Thoughts **

Injected for my 3rd time last night [I pin Friday evening and Tuesday mornings]. Yes - injected. For those thinking of injections - DO IT! I watched countless videos, read up on it to include posts by those scared to death and those that were mocking those brave enough to share they were scared to death. So I did it and it was surprisingly easy. The first time was a bit slow but IT DOES NOT HURT and is NOT difficult.

I’ve been on for a week and can already see/feel a difference. By mid-week I have more energy and believe it or not an actual sex drive. I know, right?!?

I will be monitoring my mood, sleep, libido, strength, general feeling of well-being and energy levels. I will push a cleaner diet and see where it takes me.

I will report on insurance responses/coverage and my doctor/program experiences.

~~whisp - OUT

2

I’ve been on TRT for two weeks now. Physically and mentally I feel great but have had a few developments.

Last week I had a reaction to something I was eating or taking. Nothing serous just a rash and was itchy. My daily vitamins are Fish oil (1250mg with EPA/DHA levels of 1000mg), trans-Resveratrol (200mg), Red yeast rice (600mg), Vit D3 (5000iu with heaviest meal), DHEA (25mg), CoQ10 (30mg), and DIM (200mg). I dropped the DIM, took a couple Benadryl and things returned to normal. I’ve taken everything but the DIM previously with no reaction so I cut it just in case. I’ll reintroduce it next week as a test.

I sent my doc an email yesterday - “dear doc I have sore nipples”. Never thought I’d write that in an email to anyone!! Anyway, my nipples have become increasingly tender so I’m pretty sure my estrogen is catching up with the Test. I got a call back and will have labs scheduled for next week so the doc knows how much of an estrogen blocker to put me on. Looking for that sweet spot. (Surprisingly good customer service). Besides E2 should I ask to have anything else measured specifically?

I’ve also been considering breaking up my injection times to 3x a week. Probably just overthinking things (as always). I’m on 200mg EW and pin Tue and Fri. I thought maybe balancing out the Test spikes may positively affect the nipple issue. Anyway, I’ll leave things be until after labs.

HCG - I’m on HCG and pin the same time as the Test. I left it out of the fridge for 12 hours Tuesday. I know - Rookie Mistake. After researching this in a panic I found everything from “ohh Brah, that sux. Throw it away it’s done” to “no problem, it’s cool”. I decided to keep it, be more careful, and monitor the effectiveness in case that first dude is right. We’ll see.

I will be traveling for a week in March and am trying to figure out how I will handle my mid week injection. I am looking at some type of travel case but am examining other options; i.e. skipping a dose, dosing early, etc. I will be with a group of friends and producing a syringe and meds at the TSA screening is REALLY not an option.

Physically after two weeks I feel great. I have a positive gym outlook and shoveling the snow we just had (three hours moving a foot or more two days in a row) was no problem. No sore muscles in the morning. I can, however, feel the effects of the estrogen. Nothing big but it’s there. I am sleeping better and I feel more “awake” or clear-headed. As far as labido goes, yes, I am in fact 22 years old again. (Applause, yes thank you). No complaints here. (A special thank you from the wife) I hope this continues.

Finally, I submitted my paperwork to the insurance company for reimbursement. Hopefully BCBS picks up all or a large portion of the bill.

Updates next week with labs.

Whisp ~~ OUT

3

Welcome Whisp…your writing style cracks me up.
A sense of humor is often the best medicine for anything.

Looks like you are on the right track, cept the sensitive nipples.
You started with very low e2, and I thought you may be one of the
lucky few that don’t need an AI.

The problem is that your T dose is too high.
Healthy young males produce between 5-11mg of T per day.
At 47, you are now injecting what amounts to 28mg per day.
If you cut back to 100mg per week you may be able to get by
without an AI. Ai use is ok, and necessary for most, but it presents
it’s own set of problems and side effects, if you can do TRT without it,
everything will go smoother for you.

At this point, go ahead and get the AI from RM, but don’t tell them
that you are, or thinking of lowering your T dose. Just keep the RX for
200mg/wk, and use 100mg/wk, that way you can build up some reserve should
you want to run a blast cycle down the road.

4

Thanks PKNY. I appreciate the advice and have adjusted my test dosage.

I had my labs done last Tuesday and they reflected what I suspected about my E2.

INITIAL LAB RESULTS / FOLLOW-UP
[January 2014] / (February 2014)

Test: 257, range 348-1197 ng/dL…1500
Test,Free: 6.4, range 6.8-21.5 pg/mL…50
T3: 3.1, range 2.0-4.4 pg/mL …3.8
Estradiol: 6.5, range 7.6-42.6 pg/mL…56.4

Hematocrit … 43
Cholesterol…222

So the bad news is that my estrogen is out of control, my nipples are sore, I’m grumpy and have low energy, erections are a crap shoot and my clinic is taking their time getting me a script for an estrogen blocker. I think that if I could sit and have good cry and maybe buy some new shoes I’d feel so much better…what???

So here is the plan. Cut my test to 100mg per week. Continue the HcG. Carefully incorporate the AI. I plan to start this at very low levels and monitor my overall physical well being. Hopefully the people at RM can get off their asses and get things moving. (Did I say I was grumpy?)

As far as insurance goes, I submitted everything over 2 weeks ago to BCBS. Friday in an email they claimed not to have received the package so I will fax everything to the contact there today.

The good news? The work in the gym when paired with the test feels like its making a difference. Even though my head isn’t quite right I am forcing myself to push through. I am lifting heavier weights and hopefully will see a difference. Can’t wait to see the impact after I reign in the estrogen.

I’m off to the gym and then a run. I will NOT allow myself to sit on my ass today cursing RM and generally being dead weight!

5

Surprise, surprise Renewman has not gotten back to me reference a prescription for an AI related to my most recent blood work. I seem to remember somewhere in my readings that KSman demanded that we take responsibility for our own health, so… my bottle of Anastrozole (1mg x 30ml) arrived in the mail today. [applause!!]

After reading up on dosage, I will be taking .25ml EOD. I have a cc/ml oral syringe for the measurement. Seems pretty easy. [I know and this is what’s freaking me out…

I hope to impact my E2 levels [56.4 at last measurement] quickly.

~~ Whisp OUT

6

I need some advice.

With my elevated E2 I have the normal associated issues/problems. The Doc wants to reduce my T injections from 200mg to 150mg per week [injecting 2x per week] to solve the E2 problem – no AI.

I have already reduced my injections to 100mg per week and am taking .25ml of Anastrozole EOD [only on my 2nd dose of the AI - no improvements yet].

Questions/Options: Should I:

drop the AI once my symptoms subside and continue with the 100mg a week?
continue with the current AI and 100mg protocol?
drop the AI once my symptoms subside and slowly increase my test to the prescribed 150mg in an attempt to find that level where the E2 begins to kick in.

I’d appreciate any opinions or personal experiences with this.
7

I received my package and adjusted prescription. I will be doing 150mg weekly in two doses. I will also continue to take .25 of Anastrozole EOD and monitor how I feel. I need it to get established in my system before messing with the dosage/timing.

As for HcG, I read the Dr Crisler site and have decided to break up my test and HcG day. I think this may reduce a portion of the test spike.

The Anastrozole was amazing. In 3-4 days my nipples were much better and my moods started to even out. I’m not quite “right” but getting there.

As for my BCBS insurance, they kicked back my package for coding of the DR visit so I’ll have to resubmit it.

Whisp ~~ OUT