To check where your levels sit, this is the optimal time to be checking labs. Often 4-6 weeks is too early to gain a true steady state. Things settle between 6-8 weeks.
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I’m by no means an expert but 8 weeks seems to be a fairly typical minimum time period to make an assessment.
Everyone seems to be so different with all of this. I’ve always looked at everything as a general guide to follow, but nothing is etched in stone. I’ve had almost zero side effects from T, just a little bit of weird emotional stuff if my E goes a bit high. Some guys just look at a bottle of T and get gyno.
If you haven’t read this article, take a look. Gives a good overview of the basics of TRT.
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I’d suggest to stop relying on Apple Watch sleep monitoring :
Poorly documented, heavily relying on Resting Heart Rate : I got many instances of false sleep stages while I was wide awake because my resting heart rate is low…
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I question all of these sleep trackers. I have a Biostrap and some nights it seems like nonsense. Some days I wake up feeling like crap and it says I slept OK (for me) and vice versa. “Oh, my band said I didn’t sleep great? Well I guess I’m supposed to feel crappy today.” I think that happens for me sometimes.
I bought a Fitbit and am going to run a comparison for a week or so. Deep sleep amount is what matters to me mostly as it always seems low per my band, but most trackers don’t seem to be very accurate on this, especially differentiating true deep sleep vs REM.
I may trash all of it. Sometimes it’s just too much data and all I really need to know is - do I feel good or not today? I don’t need a band to tell me that.
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I have noticed my Apple Watch would register me sleeping when I swear I was awake during that time frame.
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Absolutely! I guess it uses data from HR sensor, accelerometer, microphone to infer sleeping stage… That’s why laying still in a quiet place and being relaxed, near usual sleeping time is falsely considered sleeping.
No accurate data as far as I know about Apple’s algorithm or model (not surprising), but the accuracy is very far from that of a sleep clinic.
The same applies for Apple’s ECG with one single miserable derivation…
It’s mostly accurate though, 80% to be exact.
I’ll keep 8 weeks in mind as a target.
Well written guide! Thank you for sharing!
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I may try 150mg weekly, split into two 75mg doses. I’ll be happy to dial it up or down from there if needed. I feel like 150mg is a lot more reasonable than starting at 200mg right away.
Did first one last night. Didn’t realize the mental game that is played with self-injection. The injection itself was painless but boy the buildup and anticipation are mental struggles to push through. Next one will be a breeze in comparison, but that first one was something mentally. 