Started Clomid 25mg

Hey guys,
I am 23 years old and have been feeling low with little energy for 3 years now. Everyday i am tired, little motivation and it makes everything hard.
For many years i had my GP check my vitamin levels, my thyroid and bunch of other things with no explanation to my low energy levels.

After visiting an endocrinologist, i was told my thyroid was ok and it was impossible that i had low T.

I then visited an urologist, my testosterone came back in the 330 range.
I was quite happy to hear that this could be the reason i am feeling this way.

I do not want to take the chance of being infertile, so recommended by the urologist, i started Clomiphen (clomid) 2 months ago. 25mg daily.
My libido has increased which shows me how low it was before, but my mood and energy is the same.

I am now wondering if i have to wait longer for me to see a change in my mood and energy or if the dosage is too low or that Clomiphene is just not working for me…

Thanks in advance
TheOriginalOne

Do you have current labs showing what the Clomid is (Or is not) doing?

Clomid usually gives you your peak levels within a couple of weeks. Do you have your estrogen under control? Also, 25 mg per day is a lot. You might want to cut the dosage in half. This is for the following reasons:

  • High dosage Clomid could trash your IGF-1 levels, and increase your IGF binding proteins. There are big generic differences at play here; some experience no drop in IGF-1 — others end up below the reference levels

  • Clomid is a mixture of enclomiphene and zuclomiphene. The latter behaves exactly like estrogen in several part of your body, such as your liver, and several parts of your brain. Again, there are genetic differences at play

Enclomiphene might be a better choice if you can get your hands on it. It doesn’t have the estrogenic side effects of Clomid, except for a little bit on your liver.

Whatever option you choose, fertility can almost always be fixed one way or the other.

I can go do them now the doc said or wait till 3 months on clomid. I’m not sure when to do them

I agree I would do 12.5 daily or, 25 every other day

Do the bloods now. 25mg is a nnormal dose, it is absolutely not a high dose - even though other people will tell you that it is. “Enclomiphene” is not an actual drug currently available, and has not undergone testing or approval. Clomid does not behave “Exactly as estrogen”, but it does appear a little like estrogen in some ways. That is not bad in and of itself. The problem with Clomid is that a lot of people do not react well to it, they get bad side effects. It is not a long term drug, and I certainly would not take it for 3 months. If it is raising your levels to where they should be, then you will know that your low levels have a secodary cause and not primary. That’s really all that it’s good for. Get your labs, then decide on what to do long term.

Alot of people with tell you 25 a day is great normal dose. But 25 a day is alot.

25 mg per day is good for PCT, but I wouldn’t recommend it for monotherapy.

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I think Clomiphene monotherapy in general is a horrible idea and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

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You have a few unicorns it works very well for. To most people, it’s not worth the hassle, though.

I tried Clomiphene for a year straight and it didn’t work well for me but brought my labs all within ranges for Total T, Free T, and Estradiol. I tried a 3-4 months on 12.5mg every other day, 3-4 months on 12.5mg every day, and then a dose same as yours (25mg every day) for 3-4 months. The estrogen-like symptoms from Clomid were what made me eventually switch to Testosterone injections after a year of trying. Symptoms included bloating, mood swings, brain-fog, and appetite swings. At lower doses (12.5mg every other day) the symptoms were less but still there, but interestingly my lab values were not that much lower than when i was on the higher Clomiphene dose (25mg/daily).

You can maintain/return fertility on Testosterone injections by the addition of HCG injections. Some include this as part of their normal TRT protocol. I only plan to use when i want to have kids.

Hello guys

Thanks for all the replies. I am kind of mad that the urologist did not explain all of this to me.
Although he was a private practitioner and maybe only after money…
I will do the blood tests now, with what i am reading i want to stop taking clomid but will i feel drawbacks and should I continue taking it until i do my blood tests?

I do feel like my mood is alwaya down since 2 weeks ago… maybe be because of this drug.

Thanks guys

How did you feel when you started trt instead of clomiphen and do you still feel that way now?
How long has it been?

Thanks

Best to be on it for the blood draw to know exactly what it’s doing to you.

I tried clomid eod25. Brought my levels up felt good. After a month started not feeling well.
Seems like a typical story…

Agree with @hardartery, get your bloodwork done first on your existing Clomiphene dose so you at least have a record of what all your numbers look like (I have 3 lab tests over a year of doing Clomid so I have a record to show future doctors if I move cities or anything). If you wanted to, you could even try lower or less frequent Clomiphene dosing to see what happens. Remember that everybody’s body reacts differently and I only posted my personal experience, in which my lab numbers were “perfect” on Clomiphene but my symptoms were not resolved. The goal is to rule out all other factors as the cause of your low testosterone before going on injections (other medical issues, diet, exercise, etc. etc.).

To answer your other question, I do feel better on Testosterone injections than on Clomiphene, but Testosterone injections are not a magic bullet either and there are many moving parts. Many of us are on this forum because we are trying to “dial-in” and solve issues even after years of TRT. My advice would be find a good doctor, make decisions based on lab results, tweak from there based on resolution of symptoms, and don’t rush into things or jump to conclusions based on things you read on the internet. Take your time, rely on science, and ask all the questions you want here. Everyone here is very helpful.

This is because the zuclomiphene citrate has a much longer half-life than the enclomiphene citrate. After a month, the zuc:enc ratio is 15:1. It tends to stabilize at 88:1 after a while for most monotherapy studies.

It’s going to be difficult to get a fair diagnosis from a sick care doc. You have the reference ranges, 264-916, old men usually are at the bottom of the ranges and younger men at the top of the ranges.

So to say your levels are normal for you just because they are in ranges is not fair and short sighted. The 85% percentile of men at your age have a Total T above 500 ng/dL putting you in the minority with rock bottom levels.

I’m going to assume your doc didn’t check the Free T or SHBG levels, only the bound (inert) testosterone.

The fact that your doc prescribed clomid suggests he is aware that your levels are low otherwise there is no reason to waste time with clomid is everything is perfectly fine. Think about it, your doc wouldn’t prescribe clomid to a guy with a Total T at 850, there would be no logical reason to do so.

Clomid is a type of drug that can easily increase testosterone, but the patient doesn’t feel anything which is quite common. There are ways to deal with fertility issues on TRT, ceasing TRT and starting a clomid protocol is one of many ways, adding HCG and FSH injections while remaining on TRT is another.

My blood test is monday
And i i really feel like crap with this medicine
Do you guys think its okay for me to stop it now if my blood test is in 3 days?