T Nation

Nipples Hard and Sore 4 Weeks In

T Replacement
#1

Hey everyone. I am freaking out a little. I started 3 weeks ago on 160mg/week divided into 2 doses, along with 400iu HcG 2x week and .125 adex 2x/week.

I feel good but I have a few side effects that concern me.

  1. My right nipple is tender, hard, and sore. This makes me really freak out about getting gyno. Is this normal in the early stages of trt?

  2. High blood pressure. Maybe I’m just nervous about the gyno? But I have been hitting 150/90 at certain points of the day, which is having me freak out.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Is my dose too high? Should I take more adex?

How long does it take for gyno to develop? Should I be worried?

#2

Bloodwork?

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#3

3 weeks in this is normal. Your body is going to take around 6-8 weeks to adjust and stabilize on exogenous test.

Why did you start with so many different compounds? It is generally reccomended to start with Test only and then stabilize. Once that is dialed in (non-symptomatic and good levels on blood work), then add the HCG if you are trying to get your girl pregnant or if you have pain / atrophy of the testicles. The AI should ONLY be added if you have a high BF% and cannot get your serum T levels to optimal without your E2 skyrocketing (confirmed by blood work), and should only be used short term to get you by while you are SERIOUSLY focusing on reducing body fat.

This is the wild hormonal fluctuations that come with starting TRT, and can also happen whenever you change protocols or frequency. It should level out in a few more weeks. To develop gyno, you would have to be symptomatic with very high E2 to Test ratios, and have an abnormally high prolactin. Even then, it would still likely take up to a year under these conditions to develop full on gyno.

The anxiety (and in turn the reason for the elevated BP if these numbers were not your normal before starting) is probably E2 related, and again, should level out in a few weeks. Don’t freak out and start taking the AI in mass quantities…you’ll regret it.

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#4

Wow. Thank you for this response. One follow up question:

You say not to freak out and take a bunch of my AI… are you saying my estrogen and T ratios should level out by themselves within a few weeks? I am about a month or so away from my blood work.

Would you recommend dropping the HCG for a while and maybe even my dose of T?

Again, new to this.

I am 5’10 200lbs about 15% body fat

#5

Yes they will stabilize, but whether or not they stabilize at a “good” level will depend on other factors, like T metabolism, SHBG, and Body Fat %.

I wouldn’t change anything only 3 weeks in. Stick with what you’ve got going until your next blood work, then post those labs when you get them. Make sure they do a full workup, including CBC and lipids, Total Test, Free T, SHBG, E2, and also a full thyroid panel if possible (TSH, T3, T4, Reverse T3)

Is this a “best guess” or was this a measured value?

#6

Ok I will take your advice. But this nipple sensitivity thing is scary!

One more question: Defy wants me to only take .125 adex 2-3x week. If this really sufficient for 160mg of test? I have been reading that some doctors proscribe 1mg in divided doses per 100mg of test. I just don’t want to mess up my body.

Estimated. Def under 20%. I am going to start cutting.

#7

Just to re-iterate…

I would take Defy’s advice.

#8

BF-Male
BF-Male.jpg1157×721 191 KB

This should help if using the “guess-ti-mation” method…

It’s not very reliable though… I would take a few measurements and use the US Navy Body Fat calculator. Seems to be more accurate. Just make sure that the waist measurement is around the belly button area, not where the waistline of your pants is. That’s a very common mistake that leads to an inaccurate measurement.

Example…By those pics, I am 10%-14% BF. By an actual measurement, I’m really around 19.7%.

#9

We would need pre-TRT labs to determine if your protocol is acceptable.

#10

Just about every new guy that starts TRT thinks he has gyno at one point or another. The truth is, we do not see gyno in TRT doses. In 10 years we have never seen anyone develop it from TRT dosages.

Unless you had pubertal gyno, it is nearly impossible for doctor prescribed T dosages to give you gyno.

My nipples do get harder and more sensitive on TRT, but thats not gyno. Gyno is when the bar comes down on your chest and it hurts so bad you cry. Or put your shirt on and just from the shirt touching your nipples you let out a yelp.

Placebo is so strong, we have actually lost clients before because we told them they did not have gyno. They get labs and their E2 is range, but they swear we are wrong and they have gyno and they swear they do.

What happens is you play with your nipples looking for gyno, and they get sore. You feel this fat nodule that has been there forever and you think it is gyno, just because you are now playing with your nipples and you have never done that before so this is new to you.

Live and learn I guess.

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#11

You have no idea how much it meant to read this. I feel a million times better. Thank you!

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#12

I always get transient nipple warmth in the 4th week of any new protocol, it doesn’t occur after 6 weeks.

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