I’m 34, been on trt for about 6 months, I take 200 mg of test cypinate once a week. I don’t take anything else, I wasn’t prescribed anything else. I have had labs drawn once after I started but don’t know where I am currently. My issues are this, while my strength has went up quite a bit, I have noticed my legs swell much more than normal, I have developed very painful tendonitis in my elbows and knees and cannot shake it. I’ve stretched the fuck out of them, took time off, took glucosamine and chondriton, sp. No other issues that I can tell. Moods good, sex drive is adequate, energy is good. I’m going to make an appt asap to get the facts on my labs and find out wtf I can do about my joints. Thanks for anyone to take the time to comment.
We can’t diagnose your cause without labs only guess. Joint pain is typically associated with low E2 but yours is likely high without an AI. At 200mg/week you are probably way above normal levels of test. There is some research out there that shows too much test weakening collagen synthesis and thereby causing joint pain. Get labs done - TT, Free T, E2 at a minimum. There is no need to test FSH/LH anymore. I would also get a CBC w/lipids to see if the high T has negatively impacted your RBC, hematocrit, and cholesterol.
Thank you blshaw, I’ll take your advice and get that info.
With T and good genetics, muscle strength can gain rapidly. Muscles attach to or stress connective tissues that are not vascular and connective tissue can lag muscle strength easily by ~year. Connective tissue can be injured, torn or broken. You problem may be simply this. Yes, you can break your body.
We cannot go further without labs. Not having labs in 6 months is wrong.
200mg/week T is also mostly wrong and you may have high E2 from FT–>E2.
You should self-inject T twice a week and take anastrozole as needed with each injection to manage near E2=22pg/ml.
Please read the stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman
- advice for new guys - need more info about you
- things that damage your hormones
- protocol for injections
- finding a TRT doc
Evaluate your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky. Thyroid hormone fT3 is what gets the job done and it regulates mitochondrial activity, the source of ATP which is the universal currency of cellular energy. This is part of the body’s temperature control loop. This can get messed up if you are iodine deficient. In many countries, you need to be using iodized salt. Other countries add iodine to dairy or bread.
KSman is simply a regular member on this site. Nothing more other than highly active.
I can be a bit abrupt in my replies and recommendations. I have a lot of ground to cover as this forum has become much more active in the last two years. I can’t follow threads that go deep over time. You need to respond to all of my points and requests as soon as possible before you fall off of my radar. The worse problems are guys who ignore issues re thyroid, body temperatures, history of iodized salt. Please do not piss people off saying that lab results are normal, we need lab number and ranges.
The value that you get out of this process and forum depends on your effort and performance. The bulk of your learning is reading/studying the suggested stickies.