T Nation

Started TRT, Initial Libido Burst Followed by Considerable Drop

#1

Hi all,

Just started TRT 8/24/16, found myself here after years of absolutely no libido which then led to full blown ED. Trt was a last resort for me but now I’m thinking It was a good idea after seeing some quick initial improvements in my libido.

My initial blood test before trt were 435 for testosterone and 21.1 for estradiol. This was me eating a clean diet & lifting 4-5 times a week and about 50 miles of cycling a week as well with some weekend drinking involved. Prior to my heavy weight training my test was around 350-400 in previous tests. I believe that my output has been damaged from my historical usage of SSRI medications for about 10 years.

Anyways 2 weeks in on my treatment of 200mg of cypionate a week with 50 units of HCG twice a week and 1 mg of arimidex once a week and I began to feel a strong desire to have sex and my ability to have an erection increase dramatically at the 14 day mark. This began and soon dropped quickly and I knew from reading so many posts that my e2 was either too high to too low so I had it tested via Private MD Labs. I just recieved my results and my testosterone is at 1111 and my estradiol is at 16.2 via the Roche ECLIA mentodology. From my understanding that is a bit low. I’m pretty lean at 6 ft4 185 lbs and around 10-14% body fat. Trying to decipher whats my next move. I started trt solely for libido purposes and Im thinking I should try to get my estradiol in the 20-30 pg/ml range. I was either thinking about taking .5 mg of arimidex once a week, .25 once a week or none at all. I have heard that many users on this dose dont need an AI and say not too unless you experience high e2 symptoms. I just want to hear from the experienced guys out there about what they would do. Im going to pick a protocol and probably follow it for 3 weeks and retest again, but I just want to get it in line asap. I have taken too much time away from boning to run into anymore snags on my road ahead.

nally a lot of people say that a high e2 symptom is oily skin which I have noticed by my e2 at 16.2 seems to be low, so this symptom seems to be a possibility with lower e2 as well.

Thanks,

Mike

#2

200mg wk is a bit high for long term TRT. Keep an eye on your hemocrit and RBC. Anything over 100mg and my blood gets too thick. Maybe try dialing back to 150mg wk, with no AI. Then retest after 30-60 days. Low E2 can certainly cause ED, but may not affect libido as much. 16 is only slightly low, but everybody’s body reacts differently to hormone levels, which is why there is a normal range in blood testing… I’ve crashed my E2 to 7 before, and the effects were pretty obvious in the bedroom. I have best results from 15-20 E2. Over 25 and I start having slight ED issues with lower sensitivity. I only take 80mg T-cyp wk, and no AI, and my T levels are around 600-900 and E2 around 20. I take few drops of liquid Adex if I feel weird in the bedroom and usually a few days later the hammer is back full speed. My E2 has never tested over 24, but sometimes I feel like it may drift upwards of 25-30, which is why I will take just a few drops of AI occasionally. My personal experience is that if I keep a steady protocol for a month +, my body will adjust, and I perform best with some slight fluctuation in weekly protocol. So I adjust my T dose slightly every few shots to initiate some fluctuation in my hormone levels.

#3

Couple other thoughts.
I perform best in the BR with midrange T, something like 5-600. When mine gets up over 1000 I have more issues for whatever reason. More is not always better, at least for me. Might explain why you saw initial improvement as your T levels started rising, but then became more saturated and the libido effects diminished. I experience something similar when I took higher dosages in the past.

Secondly oily skin is a result of the high T. Backne and oily skin is common for the first several months until your body adjusts to the higher T. It’s like going through puberty again.

#4

You will not hear such guidance here. Sounds like bro-science.

Target is E2=22pg/ml. New AI dose is old AI dose x 16.2/22

Your thyroid is/was a mess.
TSH should be nearer to 1.0.
TSH can be low if you have not been using iodized salt.
TRT can make/restore metabolic rates/damands higher than thyroid function can support.
Check oral body temperatures to eval overall thyroid function.
Outer eyebrows sparse?

See these stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category

  • advice for new guys
  • things that damage your hormones
  • protocol for injections
  • thyroid basics
  • finding a TRT doc

Try injecting T twice a week and taking Arimidex/anastrozole at that time. Go to T cyp only and T levels will be steady. Do labs always halfway between injections. Your T and E2 levels are not steady with weekly injections and AI dose needs to match T levels that should not be changing.

Your labs need to include FT.

Please always post labs in list format with ranges, not buried in prose.

As well as thyroid being a possible weak link, low cortisol can be too. Test AM cortisol and do at 8AM.

The symptoms of low thyroid function are very similar to low-T.

#6

Why should TSH be close to 1.0? I read it on lots of forums but would like to understand why this is?

#7

:eyes::eyes:

#8

Ksman is history. TSH is usually fine under 2 or even 2.5.

Need to look at free t3 free t4 and thyroid antibodies from more than 1 lab

#9

This is how ksman fucked up guys. He actually called bro-science what we now now is good advice

Putting guys on rollercoasters to achieve e2 22 and TSH 1. Telling everyone to go on an ai

Even had a formula to microdose your way to hell

#10

Ya it sure was his recipe and i hate to say it, but some folks cannot admit they are wrong. Maybe why he left. That’s how I found this board and then realized it was false.

Love this board and so glad I found it. Has helped me so much.

#11

me too. first forum ive joined ever.

#12

If your pituitary gland is unhappy with the amount of thyroid hormone in the body, it will increase TSH to encourage more thyroid hormone be produced, if the thyroid is slacking off, TSH will be higher than >2.5.