Looking for some advise. I have been on TRT for 9 years, without issue. I changed my protocol of twice weekly dose of 100mg per dose S/T, Anastrozole 1mg, M/W/F to splitting the 200mg per week into e3d injections of ~60mg to get rid of the peaks and valleys I was experiencing. I did not adjust my AI schedule and confused my symptoms with high e2 (very sensitive to E) So I took an extra Anastrozole and went into anxiety hell, skipped right pass all my normal symptoms. Got my blood work done May 22rd / got the results back May 27th
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULIN = 8 Range: 10-50
Testosterone Free = 448.6 Range 46 - 224
Testosterone Total = 1145 Range 250 - 1100
Testosterone Bioavailable = 863 Range 110 – 575
Estradiol, Ultrasensitive LC/MC = 9 Range: < OR = 29
Stopped taking the AI and kept on with my injections, and the anxiety subsided, I would be ok I just added 50mg of zinc E3D to help keep things in line. After a a week Anxiety up and down dry skin, no libido, brain fog, very sleepy but can’t sleep, anxiety can’t eat not hungry, Stopped the zinc, lowered my injections to 40mg E3D, and still anxiety so bad I could not work, sleep, or anything just pace. 24 hours after my injection the anxiety would be devastating. Looking at the numbers from my test I can only guess that with a gap that large between TEST and E was causing me to feel like this. I stopped on June 20th, I added DHEA 50mg / Pregnenolone100mg (Compounded Capsule) per day (HCG Gives me horrible acne) cause I read that it will bring E2 levels up. My TRT Dr is out of the office on holiday till next week, and I have a trip planned for work but there is no way I can sit on a plane in this state. How long till my E levels come up?
You just have to wait it out and it will come up in some weeks time. It takes time to bring back crashed E2 levels, and crashed E2 is notorious for making people feel like shit. The general consensus with most people now is that an AI is not necessary, and sometimes even harmful, if its ever used it is ideal to use the lowest effective dose possible to bring E2 back down for a hyper aromatiser and get back off asap. Also doing more frequencies of injections with lower doses helps to prevent conversion to estrogen. On the flip side if someone was trying to bump estrogen higher then larger less frequent doses would do that quicker, however changing your protocol also resets your system for a six week period, which nullifies the point of that anyways. This is all from my research and understanding. I am not a doctor so none of this is medical advice of course.
Anastrozole has a 2-3 day half-life. It shouldn’t take more than 2 weeks to have E2 at a reasonable number, probably less. You should have cut back on the AI with the split dosing, if anything. Pregnenolone is not estradiol. Stop taking extra things. Take your dose of Test on schedule. Don’t take anything else. Wait.
What do you mean, precisely, by saying that you are very sensitive to E2?
@hardartery
When my E2 levels get on the higher side, I experience the nasty sides that come with it very quickly. If I take my dose of Test as scheduled the anxiety is debilatating to a point of can’t function, just lately it has come down to a reasonable level, and my last shot was 7 days ago @ 40mg and that created a anxiety nightmare. I planned on resuming my test when the anxiety goes away. Cyp has a 1/2 life of something like 8 days, so on day 9 I was thinking if I felt ok I would add like 20mg or something small.
@hardartery The last time I took an AI was May 28th, and the last time I took zinc was like June 12th, so I am guessing that they are all out of my system
Your bio available T and Free T levels are way over the high end, probably would be feeling great if E2 wasn’t so low. Your E2 is extremely low because you took an AI which will make you feel like shit no matter how high your T is, it tanks your estradiol. How is your muscle mass and physique though?
You’ve been on TRT for 9 years and you have yet to be truly optimized, Free T is double the ranges, no wonder you need an AI. Your protocol is all wrong given your super low SHBG, my SHBG isn’t quite that low and even I do remarkably better on a daily protocol which is what most low SHBG men should be doing.
How about you get off this AI induced E2 rollercoaster and inject daily and maybe you don’t need the AI. You levels will be very steady and even estrogen will be lower and controlled.
Right now Free T is in excess and so to is E2, Free T->E2, can’t have one without the other, so lower your Free T and E2 will come down.
Jesus man, Why in the hell did you mess with a protocol that was working for 9 years?
You want some advice go back to that protocol and stop messing around.
He stated he was experiencing peaks and valleys, which would mean 9 years of peaks and valleys. This poor guy’s never been optimized and his protocol was terrible.
His best chance of getting optimized is injecting daily, it might even allow an increase in SHBG which he really needs badly.
. I thought that you were saying that you took that last dose with the shot, I didn’t get that you were that far from it. Crashed E2 can really suck for some guys. Go back to what you were doing if it was working. 100 mg twice a week is perfectly fine, many guys inject twice a week - including me. Do that again, wait on the AI a little longer, your E2 can take a while to recover. You MAY want to consider a slightly lower dose, but honestly I would just go back to what you were doing and ignore all the “optimized” advice. Do what works for YOU.
Right now muscle mass is like flat, I am 5"6" 191 Pounds about 13% body fat, have a 30" waist and a 48" chest. Not getting any pumps or anything when I workout just kinda flat.
I adjusted because I would feel like crap the 2nd, and 3rd day after my injection and I was reading up on TRT and it was mentioned that EOD or E3D would be better. I was just trying to improve
I have the exact same SHBG level as you do, I found my sweet spot to be around 40-50mg EOD (it’s different for everyone) , but I probably don’t aromatize as heavily and my bodyfat is a bit lower.
If you crashed your estrogen the quickest and most efficient way (I personally found) is to take 10mg of pure dianabol. Gets my estrogen right back up to normal levels.
What ester are you on? Could you possibly get your hands on some Sustanon? Sustanon for me as a low SHBG guy is perfect, I can inject twice a week and not feel any peaks/valleys (though I don’t because Im a high converter to test)