My Benefits From TRT

This is a good idea although I agree most guys that come here are messed up looking to fix things and then when they do they are gone. I found this forum because I was … lol I can’t remember what I was searching for when I found T Nation but any way after reading a lot of post and the sticky post I realized I was not getting the results that I had gotten when I first started TRT it was a wake up call.

So now I am looking at what I am doing and tweaking it. I am getting ahead of my self, I have been on TRT for 16 month’s started at 150 cyp E6D .5 AI EOD for about 3-4 month’s I didn’t notice much at first then about 6 weeks in I started to feel better my mind, my attitude, my motivation, my sex drive, all got better but I had not started to work out yet and had no lb’s loss at all until at 12 weeks in I got in the gym and it felt great!

Everything went into overdrive at that point I was dropping weight like crazy and adding weight to the barbell like crazy! at the 6 month mark Dr. upped me to 200mg E6D still .5 AI EOD next 3 months were great felt great dropped about 60lbs total and went from 48in to 42in waist went from 3xl to 2xl shirts and the wife was running away from me because she couldn’t keep up…

She was smiling as she ran! LOL! Then at the 9 month mark my work got in the way I had to go on the road for 4 1/2 months, no workouts not eating as good but I didn’t gain any weight and only lost a little muscle. I still felt good but not great. Now for the last 3-4 months I have not gotten back into the gym and had some heavy stress issues, my diet went to hell and I put on 12lbs + and I can tell I have lost some muscle and I started feeling like crap, lost the drive, was tired all the time, and can’t get the motivation to get back into the gym.

That’s why I am here now I am looking for answers, one thing I found is my E was 7 very low so I am working on it. I am doing the IR and started dosing my T 2 times a week and hgc EOD dropped to .25 AI EOD. I am hopping to get back to Great! But I will tell this even the way I have been feeling it is 1000% better that pre TRT.

100 Day Update

Overall this has been a huge success although I have some significant learnings over the past 100 days. My results:

Total T: 522 to 1088 (348 to 1197 Scale)
Free T: 7.2 to 17.9 (6.8 to 21.5 Scale)
E2: 20 to 29 (7.6 to 42.6 scale)

Prior to TRT I had significant brain fog/memory issues, Tiered, grumpy, loosing strength and muscle size despite eating well and strong exercise program. Overall started to feel old in the past year. Those issues have completely reversed themselves. Body feels better, recover quicker, need less sleep, rarely tiered and memory is much improved.

I am doing 22mg of CYP and 160IU of HCG EOD SubQ, so far no AI needed.

For the weight lifters and bodybuilders out there who may find this interesting:

Weight up 163 to 174 +11LBS
Bodyfat up 12% to 15% (I actually can control my bodyfat much easier but I am just enjoying being able to eat whatever I want with the faster metabolism a little too much I will diet down soon.

Muscle: of the 11 LBS I put on about 6 is Muscle and 5 is fat based on my bodyfat going up 3%. I could diet down and compete in the next few months and probably do as well as I did in my last show 5 years ago at 39 years old. May not be quite there yet but I am getting close after only 100 days on TRT.

Strength: Getting back to strongest point ever at 44 years old.
Close Grip Bench: From 225x10 to 245x12 and 275x6
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: From 60x10 to 85x10 and 90x6
Incline Dumbbell Press: From 80x10 to 105x10

Overall I seems like the TRT is quickly taking me back to where I was at my peak naturally in size and strength. I have put 1/2 inch on my arms, 3/4 inch on my neck and 1 inch on my legs in the past 100 days.

One lesion learned was that in my case more Cyp was not better. When I moved my dosage from 22 EOD to 30 EOD and my T levels shot up to 1500 and E2 went to 52 and I felt terrible. I expect the issue was the E2 and not the high test but it was pretty rough. I had severe anxiety, it almost felt like if I had to go to work and give a presentation I would have a panic attack. My memory was totally shot and I could not concentrate at all and by blood pressure went up 15 points. I stopped all TRT for 10 days and got back on with a lower dose and I was fine. Maybe if I had an AI and was able to manage my E2 I would have been fine at the higher Test levels but I do not know for sure. If I decide to compete again I may try to get an AI to manage my E2 and take my levels a little higher. For now I feel like I have this dialed in and enjoying just feeling better.

If anyone has a recommendation of the benefits on muscle mass from moving from T levels from 1000 to the 1300-1500 range and the tradeoffs of needing to manage and AI I would be interested in the Pros and Cons experienced.

Good luck on your TRT journey

Hey 2B,

Great to hear your 100 day update! I’ve been out of pocket for a bit but hope to check in more often now. Your gains are very impressive and motivating. I am continuing to gain but not as rapid as before. I still feel stronger than I ever have even at 57+ and I believe that we are both going to reach more optimal levels of T as we continue to experiment and learn more about TRT.

Dr. Neal Rouzier, a doc in California, likes his patients T levels to be around 1,000 - 1,500. Mine were 1,146 on my last labs and I feel great! I did start back with a low dose of Ai but I am an over-responder so I have to watch it…my E2 was down to 6. You can get the research chemical very easy and very cheap…

Question: On your dumbbell presses are your numbers the total of both dumbbells or are you lifting two 90’s and two 105’s? Also, your bench is quite impressive…I know guys much younger than you that can’t come close to that.

Keep up the good work and thanks for keeping us posted…you are a great source of motivation to a lot of us!

EZ,

Thanks for the note. Funny - yes that is 105lb dumbell in each hand. I did not quote a flat barbell bench number as I rarely bench anymore, but I expect it is between 335 - 350. Do you have any conserns in using an AI without an RX? I am going to ask my Dr. for the RX first but I expect the answer to be no as he will not think I need to take my levels higher and I can do without an AI at the levels I am at. How do you dose your AI? What were the sides you had when your levels get to high or low? I mentioned the really bad sides I got from an E2 of 52 above - not fun, but I have no idea how low E2 would impact me.

2B,

I really would not have even known that my E2 was that low if I hadn’t gotten the lab work done. No real side effects that I noticed. After getting it back up a few points I still feel great and stronger than ever. My workouts have been fun and guys like you motivate me to keep pushing myself. My bench is over 300 now and I’m using 90’s on my incline…I’ve got a ways to go to catch up with you but us old guys move a little slower…

Lot’s of people on this site are using the research chemicals without any negative sides. I ordered some even though I had a script just because it is so much cheaper. Just start with a low dose and see how you respond… The obvious benefit is that less of your T is aromatasing into estrogen so your T levels stay higher and are available for use elsewhere.

At this point I’m not afraid to experiment and I realize that it will take a couple of years to get everything dialed in and even then I’m sure that we will have to be prepared to make adjustments. I feel like new things are coming and that doctors will be more open minded as they get more information and hopefully we are on the cutting edge of a new era in men’s health.

Only read the first few posts…
Something for you guys to consider… I don’t know why everyone heads towards injectables…
The orals are much safer these days and don’t cause shut down of the pituitary gland… No nuts shriveling up…
They bypass the liver and the test is absorbed via the gut if I have that right so much much safer option than the orals of old…

I been on for 2 years now. I don’t use HCG or AI’s and I feel like a million dollars…
Getting good gains in my weights and starting to lose weight…
I started on 7 x 40mg of andriol testocaps… I have slowly dialed that back until Im only on 2 caps per day and have found no change so have decided to stick with just 2 caps per day…
Still good strength gains. Still losing weight, and still feeling good despite a lot of sites saying that 2 wouldn’t be enough.

The only negatives I see with the orals is the stupid food coloring they put in it… WTF they would put nasty food coloring in it is beyond me… The food coloring is called sunset yellow. Its’ derived from petroleum and is a possible carcinogen… Pisses me off… Take out the food coloring and I would be on this stuff for life…

So other than the food coloring I think this is a brilliant option.

This is a great thread. Thanks for starting it.

I have been on TRT for about 15 years, following an accident. I have no production of my own (except the minute amount in adrenals). Used shots years ago, then went to topicals. Currently using compounded topical cream. Trying to get the TT and FT higher. SHBG is too high right now, probably due to high fiber diet. E2 is being well controlled (8pg/ml on ultrasensitive test where range is less than 29). I was on 100mg per day with the following results:

TT 450 (250 - 1000)
E2 8 (<29) ultrasenstive assay
FT 27 (35 - 155)
SHBG 82 (10 - 60)

After this test, I have increased to 125mg/day. Will test again in about a month. Using compounded topical chrysin to control the E2. Used to be in the 60’s. Came down right away when I started Chrysin. I realize it is a bit low right now, but I don’t want to back off on the chrysin until I get the testosterone where I want it. Hopefully, as I edge up the T, the SHBG will come down.

[quote]2Bstronger wrote:
Guys, this forum is great and helping tons of people, but we need one thread that has some good news. Where is the the information on the positive benefits of TRT. Where is the “I feel 10 years younger”, “put on 2” on my arms", “energy level like I had in my 20’s”, " I reclaimed the physique I had"…

There has to be alot of guys like me who used this forum to get educated, find a good doctor and are going to hopefully start off right and move from low T to high end of the range. We are looking to hear from the veterans who are using the right protocol and how they have benefited from TRT and any helpful advice. - thanks - lets see some good posts…

I am getting my last set of labs back next week and I am going to get started. I hope I have some great news to post on this thread in a few months.[/quote]

2B,

Thanks for the great thread and info, can you tell me which TRT Dr in Ohio you are using. I am dying to find a TRT friendly Dr. I’m 12 years younger than you and my T level is 200 points lower than where you started. I can’t send a PM, but was hoping you could poing me in the right direction. I’m in Ohio as well.

I am new here, is there anywhere to find a list of TRT friendly PCP/Endo’s?