Hey guys, I am looking for some advice on what road to go down. I went to a clinic this morning to discuss my low T. I was fully expecting to be given a T subq protocol. However, it was recommended that I start with just hcg subq 3x week (im not sure of dosage)
to stimulate the production of testosterone, so I went along with that recommendation and I will be starting next week. The plan is for me to run with this for 3 months and then get my levels taken and see where I am. If I’m not seeing positive results then we can switch to subq T. Does this seem like a good plan, or am I wasting my time? I cannot find a lot of accounts online of people only using hcg and getting results. Can hcg alone raise levels to the high end of normal? Im 170 right now. And if it can, are there long term negative effects of hcg? And if hcg does increase t production to a good level, could I eventually stop and have my testicles remain producing at that level or is it a lifetime commitment like testosterone? Yes, I should have asked these questions while I was at the clinic but was taken a bit off guard and unprepared. FYI - im married and have a vasectomy, so Im not concerned if my walnuts morph to pistachios. Thanks for any advice!
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If you plan to follow that up with a restart using Nolvadex or Clomid, it’s probably a worthwhile experiment. If they just want you on HCG forever, then it’s a stupid waste of time engineered to cost you the most money possible.
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Thanks hardartery, I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case. I see what you’re saying, but if hcg would get me to a good T range, is it OK to be on hcg forever, just like I would be with test if I went that route? I have been looking but can’t find much info online on that.
No one really does that. If the problem is low LH from lack of pituitary function, then you’ll shut down the LH production altogether this way the same as taking test. If it’s a gonad problem, then this won’t really work for you. If you’re shutting down LH anyway, it’s a lot cheaper to just use test, and it’s less finicky than HCG too.
You’re about to undertake TRT without thyroid testing, we see a lot of men with low T and suboptimal or low thyroid function expecting to feel 21 again with optimal T numbers, only this will not happen with those who have suboptimal or low thyroid function.
A high FSH level means the testicles are not functioning correctly, LH is not terrible and Total T is terrible. You may well be on your way to testicular failure because your testicles are responding poorly to simulation.
We see men who have had vasectomies and now have low T months or years down the road.
Did you suffer an injury to your groin area?
This is a fantasy, wishful thinking nothing more. You have a disease that requires treatment for life. I do not expect good results with HCG, your LH is not bad and T status is and so I doubt HCG will get you where you need to be.
I’m surprised HCG was even prescribed.
Thanks so much for the insight. That makes sense. I think I’ll contact them and discuss just going the test route. That’s kind of what i was planning anyways.
Also you have low SHBG and unless low thyroid function is the cause, you will need very frequent injections, daily or EOD with the former being the best chance of success. You will of course want to use 27-29 gauge insulin syringes and inject in the shoulders and quads, these large gauge syringes will cause muscle tissue damage over the years.
Thanks systemlord… I actually just emailed them saying I’d prefer to go with trt. My endo checked me and said my thyroid was good. As far as a groin injury… does a vasectomy count? I had one 10 months ago, and while everything I read says that a vasectomy cannot cause any issues other than sterility…I swear that it caused my symptoms to worsen. I’m 45 and I guess over the past couple of years I felt things slooooooowly being turned down a notch but still in the tolerable range, but I’d say a few months after the vasectomy I noticed a very rapid increase in symptoms so much that I had to do something about it. I was also under anesthesia when I had my procedure done, so not sure if the doc ran into issues or what, but that’s water under the bridge at this point.
My girlfriend and I were discussing HCG monotherapy the other day, and I told her I’m yet to see one positive experience from it.
I could be wrong, but there’s definitely a lack of success stories.
You should post your thyroid results as well. Most docs don’t even test what really needs to be tested and/or isn’t very picky about where you end up inside the “normal” ranges. Some guys here can check it out and confirm that all is good there.
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I’ve heard members say that their endo said thyroid was good and actually it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Endo’s mostly fixate on normal lab ranges which aren’t normal at all.
Sick care definition of normal is suboptimal and symptomatic, that’s because the TSH ranges aren’t normal and doctors still use outdated reference ranges collected from people with hypothyroidism, not healthy people.
The studies are clear, 95% of the population has a TSH <1.5, Free T3 midrange or higher and Reverse T3 <15/dL. Managed healthcare doctors aren’t concerned with low but in-range numbers even though people are symptomatic and instead we are told our levels are normal.
Do not trust your endos word, get the numbers.
I’ve looked at your labs over and over again and cannot for the life of me imagine why a doctor would recommend HCG based on what is right there in black and white. Then I remembered that many doctors are hammers and all patients are nails.
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From your labs seems HCG will not do any good for you without testosterone.
If you’re looking for an analogue, I have similar LH and FSH levels (see labs below) and low testosterone levels. I have been on HCG 1500IU 3x per week for some time now and am yet to see any improvement what so ever. High FSH likely pointing towards testicle issues (primary hypogonadism) for both of us. Good luck
FSH 10.7 (1.5-9.7)
LH 5.3 (1.8-9.2)
Oestradiol <70 pmol/L
TT 16.8 nmol/L (12.0-31.9)
SHBG 54 nmol/L (17-56)
FT 252 pmol/L (260-740)
Hi guys… just want to thank everyone for the guidance and info you took the time to share! I spoke to the clinic and will not be doing hcg mono and instead will be starting 100 mg cypionate next week. 
Hoping for a smooth ride but prepared for a rocky one - I just hope the post honeymoon crash isnt too bad, but I’ll get through it if it is. @jordan50 - just curious why you are still on hcg and haven’t tried T if youVe seen no improvement after a while?
Once weekly injections isn’t expect to show good results with SHBG low, you should break up shots 25mg EOD using 27-29 gauge insulin syringes.
Thanks system. Yeah, I was going to do 50mg e3.5 but will probably bump it up to eod. Still kinda freaking out about that first self pinning. I’'ll probably end up celebrating after 
Good luck man, hope things improve.
I’m waiting for my next endo appointment which is in a few weeks time. Given I’m young, endo wanted to try and recover natty test with HCG before TRT for life. Next step will likely be exogenous test given I’ve had no response to the HCG.
You’ll do fine with the injections man, first few I was nervous and now it’s easy peasy.
Good luck
Yeah the injections aren’t bad but the first one is a bit freaky stabbing your self. You’ll be fine, watch some videos on YouTube if you haven’t already