T Nation

So I Am For The First Time Concerned

T Replacement
#1

I have been on trt for 5 years and have had the usual ups and downs. I have not be very good about focused protocol call unfortunately. I feel as thou i am going thou a pretty serious Crash of some kind. I am pretty strong minded but can fight only so much Imbalance. I have a scheduled blood work for Monday. Than 2 weeks before panel comes back. Not sure if my E2 is low high or if it’s something completely different. Of course it’s useless to speculate without labs.

My question is Dose anyone have a trick or two to riding out crushes of different kinds? THANKS :pray:

#2

Brother you should tell us what your taking. Your symptoms and history. Previous blood work. Whatever you can tell us.

If your on ai and having low e2 then drop the ai. As @NH_Watts says “writings on the wall”.

I can tell you that the trt doctors and leaders in the industry are all saying ai are harming men. Long term and high doses.

Blocking e2 harms bone health, heart health, brain and so much more.

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#3

No ever been on e blocker. I have taken the only test for the past 5 years. I was Humming along for a good 2 years at 175mg ever 7 days. Than took for time off to clean system now I understand the difference between cycles/gear and trt.

Now on 100mg every 5 days. Started out Again 6 weeks ago eod 20mg didn’t feel the light switch come on so jumped up to the 100mg every 5th day.

NEVER have I had any difficulty wanting to workout. I am sad and brother unless I am a hurry kid in Yemen I SHOULD NOT BE SAD. Just can’t engage with wanting to do anything THATS FREAKING WEIRD FOR ME.

I am 45 years old no kids. I am married to playing games(golf swimming Crossfit etc… and for to seat on the coach is concerning to say the least. My weather is 70 degrees and 5 mins for the beach. Something is not right!!!

#4

I think you have to wait for the blood results. Otherwise it is hard to say what you should or shouldn’t do. What types of issues did you experience since being on TRT? You said you had some ups and downs? Anything specific?

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#5

golfbear you might just be experiencing a little depression
Your TRT protocol might not even be a part of it.
If you are taking 100mg every 5-7 days that should not require an AI (eblocker)

Have you ever tested your thyroid. Tired thyroid is pretty big thing. TSH does not really tell you the story of your thyroid.

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#6

You were in a much larger dose years ago and then dropped when you came back? Sounds like your body is in shock from stoping then not giving it enough to operate. I would never drop by 50 mg unlesss it was a serious issue. If I was at 150 and wanted to lower , then I might go to 140 and wait several weeks. Less effect. But going from 150 to 100 would probably shock the system.

Honestly I would just go back to my old dose and stabalize. Then I would start dropping the dose by a tiny bit as stated above.

I know the feeling you have. It’s low T. That’s my life … I’m maybe 10% more energetic but not there yet either. I have been going through hell weeks left and right … coming out of a bad week is a god send. Blood test this week . Can’t wait for the blood results… you need to do the same.

Why would you come off trt after 5 years dude? There’s no need. Your body craves testasterone natrually. There’s no cleansing process. Taking t out is hell and hurts you… there is zero benefit to it.

Hang in there man.

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#7

Probably that during your time off (not a good idea) your HPTAxis may have come back online and you are now experiencing its shutdown again. It happens around week 6. But are you saying that for the last 6 weeks you’ve felt the same? Like you were ok before you started T again and then once you started the symptoms took hold? Do you have any bloodwork for us to look at? How is your sleep? How is your diet? How is your fitness?

#8

Bloodwork Monday

Felt bad off of t that’s why went back on

60/40 on diet to the side clean/dirty I don’t eat red meat

At least 40 mins of heart heath cardio 4-6 days a week

Sleep is off and on but overall not great

#9

Bloodwork Monday

Felt bad off of t that’s why went back on

60/40 on diet to the side clean/dirty I don’t eat red meat

At least 40 mins of heart heath cardio 4-6 days a week

Sleep is off and on but overall not great

#10

Nothing from previous during previous protocol?

Yeah TRT isn’t meant to cycle. You stay on for life.

Why? Do you have a genetic mutation of the APO E4 gene? Just curious.

A lot of studies over the last 5 years have found weight training to be more beneficial for the heart than cardio. Doing both may yield the greatest benefits.

This will fuck up everything. Do you have sleep apnea? Do you snore? Improving your quality of sleep will go a long way to improving your entire life including hormone profiles.

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#11

Right on. Cardio, especially steady state, in the absence of weight training (and even in the presence of weight training if cardio is done in excess) raises cortisol levels, which in turn will alter the ability to sleep well.

#12

what routines or programs do you guys usually recommend for weightlifting?

#13

Older age you want to do both. It will keep the bones and cns kicking. Without weights you get all flimsy and soft. Because no T. We don’t have that problem do we haha

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#14

If you’ve never done lifting, or if it’s been a while, I would recommend starting with a 3 day split. Light to moderate weight with sets / reps in the 3-5 / 8-12 range. Run this for 4 - 6 weeks and then go from there.

Something like

Monday Chest and Triceps
Flat Bench
Incline Bench
Machine Bench or DB Flys
Rope Pressdown
Tricep Kickbacks
Skull Crusher or OH Tricep Extentions

Wednesday Back and Biceps
Seated Row
Upright Barbell Row
Lat Pulldown
Ez Bar Curl
Alternating Stabding DB Curl
Isolation / Concentration Curls

Friday Legs Shoulders Abs
Squat
Leg Extensions
Leg Press
Leg Curl
Calf Raises
Superset Standing Lateral Raise / Front Raise
Crunches
Planks

You could do a 20min cardio session on each of these days after lifting. Try to focus on HIIT.

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#15

You could also just do a fully body 3 days a week . Push pull excersises. I prefer these vs doing different body parts. Mostly stranding excersises or balance endurance type work. First week always sucks but with t you’ll recover super fast. I can’t believe it but I did some crazy work at the gym yesterday and I barely feel it today. Love this stuff.

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#16

wow mate thanks a lot! i also heard that hitting muscle groups once a week is not recommended?

#17

yeah i also heard about 5/3/1 beginners. full body

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#18

You’re welcome!

Don’t know where you read that, but if you hit them hard enough it’s fine.

Don’t go into full fledge body building mode here right now man. Ease into and let your body adjust. You can destroy it later.

#19

Yah don’t do what I did. I went back and killed myself.: I had to sit out for 8 days because I was so soar … I couldn’t walk for days… I was like an old man with a cane.

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