Hi guys!
This is my opening post on this forum, so I will lay out my situation;
Location: UK. Age: 38. Height: 6 foot 5. Waist: 38 inches. Weight: about 117kgs. My muscle tone is improving but generally I am quite flabby all over. I have a big thick beard, but recently my hairline has begun to recede.
For many years (from mid 20s) I have been suffering from the accumulative symptoms of fatigue, low libdo, brain fog and muscle wasting. Added to this I accumulated fat on my belly, my ass and my face until in 2013 I reached 133kg.
I knew there was something not right with my system and to do something so In early 2014 i decided to do something about it. I began training, first cardio; insanity, tabata, and then boxing, but this was in fits and starts throughout the year because I would get fatigued so quickly.
I did some light research on what the causes could be and I identified low-T as a possible cause, so I went to my GP for a check-up. They took my bloods and told me that my Test, Thyroid and liver function were all normal but that I had high cholesterol. I was given no drugs and told to adjust my diet. This was in mid 2013.
At the time I knew very little about what was going on with Doctors and ignorance of hormones. I left the surgery confused, because I was convinced I had low-T.
In early 2015 my friend invited me to join him at the gym. I agreed, and before long I was offered gear. I was initially cautious but because I had continued studying the effects of low-T I was curious. I decided to try it out. For three months, from Feb-May this year, I began taking 2ml Sustanon 250 and 2ml Deca per week.
The effect was almost immediate, after my third shot I felt amazing. The symptoms I had been suffering from for nearly a decade diminished rapidly. It was a great feeling. In addition, I was training three times a week in the gym following the 5x5 Stronglifts routine and began to see rapid gains; my muscle tone was returning and my belly fat was melting away.
However, after the second month, my research into TRT developed and deepened my understanding. I decided to stop taking deca because I knew it had no place in TRT and and upped my dose of Test to 4ml per week, Monday and Friday.
It was around this time, that I found KSmans protocol on injecting, which was a big breakthrough for me and I began to doubt my Test dose and protocol. I decided that I wanted to switch to KSmans protocol and began sourcing Hcg and AI.
I began to realise the importance of blood tests. After my failure with the Doctor I was reluctant to go back there, so began looking for private blood clinics in UK. But the price of the tests put me off.
Then for a reason I still don’t quite understand, I decided to stop taking the Test and came off abruptly. Maybe it was instinctive decision to find out if my new quality of life was just a placebo. Sure enough I crashed hard. My libido simply and completely disappeared along with erections, much more that before I began taking Test. Add to this depression, moods and total apathy … it was a grim two weeks.
I decided to restart the Test but this time I was determined to do it as therapy. I sourced Test Prop, Hcg and AI. About a week about I began KSmans protocol. My QOL has began to improve again, but i’m not quite where I was when I started taking Test in Feb.
I have since read all the stickies and it’s now very obvious to me that I must get bloods done asap. I will try the Doctor first, but if that is unsuccessful I will have to pay for bloods.
So I guess my questions is; would it be best for me to come of TRT and allow my levels to drop then get bloods so that I have a baseline reading or remain on TRT, get bloods done and adjust from there?
I hope this is clear and makes sense.