Past Cycles & Libido Issues at 40

Hello

Need some input in my case before I see the doctor, which I would like to avoid

Age 40 6’2 195 lbs low fat

Always been into sports so I am rather athletic, occasionally periods of couple months when I lift heavy in the gym, but it has never been my priority.

I started doing sarms in my early 30 , usually one strong cycle once a year.

Around age 36 I started noticing problems with libido by the end of the sarm cycle, but it would fix itself within less then four weeks after light clomid or nolva pct ( 4 weeks),
so It did not bother me.

Spring 2020 I did my first testosterone enth cycle 500 mg week split it no two doses, 12 weeks ,
when test kicked in which was about 4 weeks into cycle libido and aggression went crazy high ,
but it only lasted about 3 weeks and then it started crashing so I added AI and it improved, not to the crazy high levels but to the somehow normal levels,
last five weeks of the cycle I started taking HCG which also positively affected libido, after cycle clomid pct 4 weeks and libido tanked gradually.
Cycle ended in May. Next few months libido was quiet shitty but acceptable.

I decided to do another test cycle in January, same thing 500 mg. I had to stop cycle due to getting sick after 4 weeks. I did 3 weeks of clomid pct. After this I felt like shit depression kicked in etc.
I made another approach starting in march, 500 mg test, 13 weeks.
During this cycle I did not notice any spike in libido which to my surprise was quiet shitty considering the fact that I was on 500 test/week, AI did not improve it like before,
I added 500 HCG eod, and again it had definitely positive effect on libido, nothing to write home about but It was certainly better then before.
I ended cycle in may, did 4 weeks pct , libido crashed.

In August I decided to do cycle with just Ostarine (sarm) 10 weeks, while taking it libido was shitty.

After finishing it in October I did strong PCT clomid/nolva together, by the end of that pct I had zero libido and got depressed and almost suicidal from clomid I thing, I don’t intend to touch it again.

I think it all overlapped: my cycles, me hitting 40s, and some problems in my personal life.

Now my libido is weak, it is nothing compared to where it was 2 years ago before I did first cycle.
Other problems that I had during that period was , constant sweating and sleeping problems, I think I slept on average 4 hours a day and my blood pressure was osculating around 150/70.

During those two years my weight was between 205-225 lbs. So now as you can see I lost 25 pounds. I did that intentionally. Also on blood pressure pills. It helped my bp and I finally can sleep 7-8 hours a day.
Generally I feel 10 times better only issue is libido.

And by that I mean I cant keep it up too long because of the lack of sensation. When I get to have sex I get normal reaction even when kissing woman I get erection,
its the lack of that electric sensation, that was always normal , I was always on the kind of premature ejaculation side and was praying to not be so sensitive and last longer,
now its like it turned around, but if sensation is not there I get easily distracted and get anxiety and erection goes to hell. I basically don’t get the same pleasure as before.

Also another problem is that if I manage to luckily come, my refractory period is couple of days, while two years ago I was still able to go few times a night,
I am not trying to be sex machine but once or twice a day would be nice.

This shit is kind of depressing, my relationship fell apart because of that, and it was mostly because I did not feel like a man and lost all the confidence.
When taking steroids we usually think about heart, liver , kidneys, nobody expects to turn into eunuch.

Anyway these my labs results, I did not get free test which I will get after new years and also some others to compare consistency, if you could shed some comment I would appreciate it

TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL, MS 594 Reference Range: 250-1100 ng/dL

FSH 3.3 Range:1.6-8.0 mIU/mL

LH 5.4 Range:1.5-9.3 mIU/mL

INSULIN, FREE (BIOACTIVE) 2.7 Range:1.5-14.9 uIU/mL

CORTISOL, TOTAL 15.4

INSULIN 2.9

PROGESTERONE <0.5 Range: <1.4 ng/mL

TSH 1.95 Range: 0.40-4.50 mIU/L

ESTRADIOL 59 Range: < OR = 39 pg/mL <--------------------------------HIGH

SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULIN 45 Range: 10-50 nmol/L

T3, FREE 4.1 Range: 2.3-4.2 pg/mL

PROLACTIN 10.3 Range: 2.0-18.0 ng/mL

As you can see I don’t have free testosterone result, Estradiol is high, SHBG is on the high side of the range.
Anyways thanks for any suggestions.

Well, you did “cycle” steroids and did the PCT bullshit and now you are off and fucked right? What exactly did you expect to be different? More new threads on here are about people being dumbasses and cycling, than new threads about people actually achieving their goals, haha.

Advice - cruise dose of test for the rest of your life, like you should have done after your first cycle.

Your libido is affected by your mood and feeings of self worth etc. You report “not feeling like a man”. You clearly have been stressed out with all those issues you mention. It’s a feedback loop situation where one negative things promotes more negativity.

The bottom line is, if you are experiencing low self esteem for any reason you won’t be confident and your libido will be affected. Maybe it’s natures way of ensuring the genes of a man who isn’t “winning” in an environment are not passed on.

Anyway, the good news is that you can turn this around. A good place to start would be to just take a break from thinking about sex. You don’t want to start associating sex with negativity. Find some goals that you can work towards and achieve quickly. Quick wins. Get back in the gym. Book a vacation. Something to work towards.

I suspect your free T is not the best. Clomid and nolva elevate SHBG and you have been hammering the SERMs by the sounds of it. TRT might be an option for you however you mentioned your libido wasn’t great will on 500mg/week. There could be many reasons for this but one that I would highlight is high prolactin. Your refractory period is an indicator of this. E2 and prolactin often rise together.

Edit -

Just noticed your prolactin looks ok at the minute. It’s still worth keeping an eye on as a blood test is only a snapshot in time. It may well have been high Will you were in cycle.

You have low free T, high e2, and I presume problems/stress in your personal life. I’d be shocked if you had a normal libido with those circumstances. You probably will end up on trt and that will help tremendously. With your numbers it’ll be hard to convince a doctor to treat you. A clinic on the other hand is concerned with only one number and that’s the one that appears on your credit card. Those guys would be more than happy to take your money and hand you a script. It’s worth exploring.

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So hold up… you just finished your last Sarm cycle in October and performed a PCT that likely ended last month? Did I get that right or was that the year before? I guess clarify when was the last time you monkeyed with your hormones?

When were these taken in relation to your last AAS/SARM cycle? I know you can’t go back in time and I’m not trying to be a dick, but with all the stuff you’ve run and the negative effects I’m surprised you didn’t get labs often to see what was going on.

TT looks fine, SHBG is higher likely cos of all the SERMs you’ve been taking, that could explain the high e2 as well. My suggestion would be just give it time, TAKE NOTHING, and let your body return to normal before doing something like TRT

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  1. How long did you wait after the cycles before starting PCT?
  2. How long after PCT are these bloods?
  3. How long after PCT did you feel depressed?

You finished your cycle 2 months ago man.

CNS and libido issues are well documented on all steroid forums. This is a risk a user takes.

This is so incredibly bad for your health. Libido in these circumstances is not present because it doesn’t make sense for you to procreate under these circumstances.

That happens in people with different mental/CNS related disorders.

I would panic, you probably need time and maybe eventually TRT, but first you got to get some things in order. Answer the questions the guys and me asked you and then we can help you better.

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On second look, if your PCT ended more than 6 weeks ago, you recovered pretty well. The issue could just be high E2.

If I understood correctly, it’s not been more than 6 weeks since, so the E2 could be SERM related. In that case, just wait.

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Not sure about the other guys on here, with their age, I’d think most commenters would be younger than you, so they may not have experienced what I’m about to tell you.

Whether you have a history of steroids or not, in your 40’s most guys report a decline in libido. I can’t say its a fact, but I believe its the male equivalent of menopause.
Around 43 my sex drive went from crazy intense, like a teenagers, to something even more intense for about a year, then much reduced, almost overnight. It was like a switch. It was noticeable and it felt like a biological process. No issues with ED at all, ejaculations were less explosive. Instead of wanting sex every day, multiple times, a couple of times a week was my new normal.
I had never taken steroids, but had been looking into it for a while, and had my testosterone checked and it was in the middle range for my age.
I started taking steroids, yes my sex drive increased again, but not to the same level as when I was younger.

Now at 50 doing TRT for 3 years, 1-2 times a week is all I feel like. Its more of a choice rather than an intense drive though. If I do a mini cycle of 250mg/wk my sex drive does increase 3-4 times a week.

On the upside I generally feel calmer, and don’t do as many stupid things in the pursuit of women.

This may not be your issue at the moment. Its rarely talked about, though I had heard of it mentioned only a few times before I experienced it. Either it doesn’t happen to every guy, like going bald(most guys hair thins with age even if they don’t get a bald spot), or its swept under the carpetand not talked about, because they feel embarassed.
I have talked to friends in my age group and they tell me they don’t have the same intense libido as they had when they were younger.

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First of all thank you for all the replies.
Sorry if I don’t answer the questions in order but I ll try to cover everything:

I am not trying to whine I know what I signed up for, waited with it until my mid thirties and I got what I got now I am just trying to get some input an maybe solution from the people who get more experience with the problem that is I guess is not uncommon.

It was Ostarine, so I started pct right after, I finished it in second week of November , I would say its little more then a month. It happened this year you are correct.

Labs were taken few days ago, so they are present state, my plan is to stay clean and monitor the situation, I ll do the labs every month and see which way its going, if no improvement after 6 months , and maybe regress then I ll consider TRT, I realize I am on the wrong side of 40

After test cycles I waited 4 weeks after last shot. With sarms I started pct 2 days after.
Bloods were taken over month after pct.
I felt depressed pretty much second week of pct on. It would be very hard to pinpoint exact period. Though after finishing second test cycle this year my mental state was terrible for months. Even when I started taking sarms, which I ended in beginning of October, then pct after sarm was kind of hell and I felt terrible I started feeling better about couple weeks ago.
I managed to stabilize my bp , and now I can pretty much stop bp pills, I just taper them down, with improvement of bp came normal sleep and I think my general well being started to improve significantly.

I understand that It may also be the case with me, cycles might have just triggered the process to happen little bit more early. Also happened pretty much over course of few weeks.I hope I still got few more years out of me though.
.

I initially posted this in TRT forum, mods moved it to pharma, I consider the suggestions of going on TRT though I would like to hold on with that decision for at least few more years, if it is not possible than I ll do what I have to

Thanks again for all the replies, I guess I will not do anything and monitor which way its going.
I ll post my labs that I ll do in January.
I intend to get Test total and free, SBGH, e2, thyroid, and prolactine, anything else you think I should check?

Also my T3 is top of the range, should I be concerned about that?

I believe that long term steroid users get this sooner. But yea, i also tought that his decline in libido might just be NORMAL.
Not everyone wants to fuck all the time, and sometimes there are periods in life when we do and when we dont.
Simmilar how women go from “meh” to wanting it all the time after their 30s.

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I gathered that, but I meant how long in relation to your last cycle of anything. 3 weeks? 6 weeks?

So herein lies the rub. You have not given yourself any appreciable time to recover. Give yourself 3-6 months of NOTHING. Don’t stress the libido etc and see if it comes back on its own. Thats what I would do. If at 6 months you are still struggling… TRT time after some labs of course.

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Nice, you did it right. That’s very good. Explains also why your numbers look good. Feeling depressed during PCT is often just a side effect of the SERMs and the drop in sex hormones. It normally resolves a few weeks- months after PCT.

Also, i don’t think I have to tell you that your SARM cycles were useless and counterproductive and I’m not surprised you only got side effects out of it.

If sleep and well-being are on the rise while your hormonal profile looks really good for 40 yo and 4 weeks after PCT, then just give it time. You are on the right track, stop trying to rush and fix, you have to be patient and trust the process at this point. That’s a thing a steroid user has to have. Trust in the process. If you don’t stress yourself about it and give it 3-6 months then I bet you are back to normal, if not then we’ll consider TRT.

Great advice @blshaw as usual

Thank you very much , I really appreciate your input.
I just got my last lab results that I had to wait longest for, as expected my total estrogen is high.
ESTROGEN, TOTAL, SERUM 259.2 Reference Range: 60-190 pg/mL

I ll stick to the advise and monitor the situation for six months, I ll post updates and we’ll see where its going.
Hopefully it will go down on its own.

Thanks again for help.

Hate to give you the bad news, but total estrogens is pretty pointless for guys to get. You probably meant to have just estradiol (e2) checked, since that’s the one that usually worries us

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It’s been mentioned. But men at your age are likely to begin experiencing this, to some degree regardless.

It’s also been mentioned, and I can attest to this being 2 months away from 45, and 18 years on the gas…long term users tend to see this happen, to varying degrees, earlier. Even with exo test, and bloods that have no smoking gun signal, it appears to be something that is more common in that group. I know it’s simply anecdotal, but holds some weight through experience and observation.

Patience is even more necessary at this age when trying to resolve an issue. Accept the reality, make a plan, stick to it, and don’t fall for the psychological traps you can set for yourself.

Yup being old sucks, only upside is: its winter and its easier to hibernate, often doing nothing and waiting is the hardest thing, I ll wait until May probably, if nothing then start messing with trt. I don’t know if its good or bad but I read here some horror stories of people in their 20s being shut down for months or years, up until last 2 years I did not even know what it meant, I honestly could have even skipped PCT which I did before and other than probably little effect on my gains it had no effect on my libido. Human body is mysterious thing indeed.

Hi I just got my new bloods done
Could you share your input?

TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL, MS Result: 485 ReferenceRange: 250-1100 ng/dL

TESTOSTERONE, FREE Result: 71.3 Reference Range: 35.0-155.0 pg/mL

DIHYDROTESTOSTERONE, LC/MS/MS Result: 52 Reference Range: 12-65 ng/dL

ESTRADIOL,ULTRASENSITIVE, LC/MS Result: 28 Reference Range: < OR = 29 pg/mL

PROLACTIN Result: 8.5 Reference Range: 2.0-18.0 ng/mL

SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULIN Result: 44 Reference Range: 10-50 nmol/L

I am 41 , As you can see my test total is going down by quiet lot
594 → 485
Estradiol this time ultrasensitive test is down within the range but one the top,so my aromatization is still high I guess
SHBG is top of the range.
I dont know how to interpret DHT and free testosterone with these ranges. So any input is appreciated.

To be honest I still feel quiet shitty its almost 3-4 months and everyday I think more and more about trt, especially that test is going the wrong way, just wanna listen to some people who have more experience first to not make stupid mistakes.
What would you suggest, and how does my free test look like because I m not quiet sure how to interpret these results?

Thank you for any help

sorry to be annoying but maybe anybody has some opinion after my last labs?