Sam's TRT Experience

Greetings,

Age: 33

Symptoms: sexually cannot last as long, erections have been weak for a while (early 20s erections were a 10/10, mid to late 20s slowly faded to 6/10, past 3 years 5/10) and orgasms in the past 6ish months have been very non-orgasmic.
Recovery is horrible, doing a training session with half the volume or intensity as 10 years ago makes me come down with a cold or sore throat. Small soft tissue issues are just persistent. Just now discovered BPC. I do not have the budget it for it now with these uncertain times. But it definitely has my interest in it. And it works out since I was going to run the test for a couple months to see how I react to it before adding BPC or any other peptide.

I have worked the 3rd shift for the past 15 years. My circadian rhythm is not the best. A year ago I went on holiday vacation for 5 weeks in Nepal and India. The little dull aches were all gone by the 3rd week there. Was it the water, the air, the food, the sunshine? Not sure, but it was something, albeit anecdotal. After I got back stateside, changed my job, and work hours to be less stressful and to be able to sleep at night. Made other personal changes to family life. But those dull aches did not stay away for long. Is it that I live in the city and grass-fed and organic is just not feasible? Not sure.
So I decided to pull the trigger on TRT, at the very least I’ll run it and see how it goes for 6-12 months. I went with that online (tele-medicine) clinic in Florida. As I’ve read up more and more on the forums I realized that the initial test panel was not as through as I would have liked.
But I realized that after having already started with them and after having received my medication 2 weeks ago. I was prescribed their typical protocol of 200mg testosterone cypinoate once per week, but at my request the AI was not mixed in with the test.
I was told to do 200 test once a week, hcg 500iu twice a week, and anatrozole twice a week.

Just ordered my owns labs a day ago and will post the results as soon as I get them. The initial start up test panel that was done with the Florida clinic is from a different laboratory. So not sure if it is worth posting.

So far from what I’ve read or picked up on, I’m leaning towards 50mg test twice a week or 3 times a week or even every other day for a total of around 100mg a week rather than the 200mg. Not sure about the AI or hcg. If that will be needed if taking more frequent dosing or not
.
But I am a noob and have nowhere close to the experience or knowledge of the members on this forum. Definitely looking for any and all input, will be much grateful.

Stay Strong

100mg tends to be too low for most. I would start at 150/week, split into 3 shots, no HCG, no AI. Get that balanced and then potentially add in HCG if needed. I feel better with HCG, but many don’t, so I would not start with it. Stick with just T at the same dose for at least 8 weeks.

Many are good with 1-2 injections/week, but I find negative symptoms go away completely with slightly smaller injections.

When I quit using an AI, I found that a higher test dose (200mg plus) worked better for me, but dose is very individual.

Keep in mind that the real benefits take AT LEAST 6-8 weeks, and with sexual function, it could be several months, so don’t get impatient.

Good luck!

I 2nd this advice. Although, I think 2x/week injections are worth trying when starting out. Lot of people do good on them and it saves you another 50 injections a year.

Anyway, pick a number of injections 2-7 a week you’re good to commit with, then stick with it 8-12 weeks. 150mg starting out, then increase by 20-50mg for another 8-12 weeks until you feel great. This determines the free-T you need to feel good. If feeling fluctuations/non-consistent feeling, increase injections in the week.

Greetings,

Thank you for the suggestion.

Can I ask why no HCG? Would not the HCG help with more testosterone production? So I wouldn’t need as much testosterone cypionate?
From what I understand the AI is there to combat the aromatization of high test levels, which is more likely to occur with higher doses (also the less frequent a shot the higher the dose.)
So if I have more frequent shots, then I’m more likely to have a more stable concentration and less likely to have higher peaks and troughs?

You stating that when you quit the AI and increased the test dose, that it worked better for you, the test dose spread out more frequently?

Yes, I definitely am not expecting miracles overnight, just to be able to rehab my lingering issues to be able to attack the weights hard for once, been pussyfooting the the weights for a while, so as not to aggravate the previous issues. But it would be nice to throw some weight around instead of putting it down. If I could do pull ups again, I’ll take that as a win.

Stay Strong

Greetings,

Thanks for the input.

It seems like based on the 2 suggestions so far, that I want to settle on 3x a week for now.
And yes I’m definitely planning on just running the test protocol for about 8-10 weeks before I even think about training (hard.) So there shouldn’t be a difference from my starting lab panel and the follow-up in 10ish weeks because of variables. Like from not exercising to exercising.

Stay Strong

20200409_115436

No reason to wait to train hard, IMO. Those benefits happen pretty quick. The first thing I noticed, within a couple weeks was mental clarity and motivation for the gym. Don’t be crazy an get yourself hurt, but definitely don’t wait.

I like HCG and feel better with it, but many have a hard time dialing in when they start with HCG and many don’t feel well with it. So, I would recommend starting with just Test until and if you have sides that call for HCG. As for the AI, what I’m learning is that aromatization / E2 only really matters if your free T is too low. I felt good with the AI, but I feel amazing without it.

Greetings,

I doubt there is much you can go off of based on my current lab panel what was posted or if its even visible. And also the fact that I have yet to see how I react to it.
But your suggestions are definitely solidifying my beliefs of starting on just test either 3x week or EOD.

Stay Strong

Greetings,

First off apologizes for the multiple post for the labs.

Hoping for some feedback.

I feel as though, my thyroid panel could have been more through, but I’m still reading threads and logs and picking up information, so water under the bridge I suppose.
In the meantime should I be taking morning temperatures and some other biofeedback for my thyroid?

I have yet to start my TRT protocol.

Stay strong