Starting New Dose, Can't Sleep

I have been doing my own trt protocol for the past few years due to not having insurance, and after tons of trial and error, and having really bad high e2 symptoms, I read somewhere to lower my dose until I felt good. Which I ended up on a very low dose of 45mg/week test e. I had my tt checked a couple years ago and it was 600. I felt fine. My energy was decent, sex drive was ok and I slept great. I did notice I felt a little anti social, and I didn’t have the zest for life like I did on a higher dose.

Fast forward to a year ago, I got insurance, and had my rheumatologist (I have lupus) check my test since my bone density was low (which was most likely due to long term use of corticosteroids), and my ft came out really low 3.2pg/ml (6.8-21.5).

So, I am starting all over again with trt. I am starting out with a higher dose of 90mg/week with eod injections. It’s only been a week, but I am having a hard time sleeping. Even my old mix of melatonin and benadryl that I use to use back when I was having a hard time with my trt years ago, isn’t working.

My question is, should I wait 6 weeks to see if my sleep improves, or is my insomnia a sign that my t dose is off, maybe too low?

Don’t use Benadryl to sleep, it can knock you out but you don’t actually get actual recuperative rest. It could be a rush of catecholamines being made since you would actually have some free T now, which ought to go away with time. Are you really sensitive to stimulants?

You have to wait 6 weeks minimum, because this is how long it takes for the half-lives to build up in your system as you will have twice as much testosterone in your body, so until then your levels will be in flux. This is why you can’t sleep.

You’re really shooting in the dark without testing your biomarkers. The SHBG is critical, you can always go to Discount Labs are order your own labs.

I have to take two benadryl every night just to sleep since stopping TRT, it works quite well.

I quit drinking coffee like 6 months ago, since I was having a bout of gastritis, but it never bothered my sleep.

Ok, I just hardly see anyone complaining about losing sleep after starting trt, so I figured it could be my dose.

I am seeing an endo (I can’t find a trt doctor that takes my insurance), and she wants to run labs after 6 weeks. Should I have some done now, or is it too late since I already started?

My sleep improved within the first injection, but that’s injecting daily which forgoes the big fluctuations you get by injecting your doses less frequently.

You’re supposed to get baseline labs before starting TRT, you can’t just prescribe a protocol without knowing your biomarkers. If your SHBG is high, 90mg weekly is likely not going to be enough testosterone.

Does my little blood work help indicate high or low shbg possibly? 600 tt, with 3.2pg/ml free t, on 45mg per week?

The only labs you have are from years ago and weren’t even done at the same time, so I don’t understand how an endo could prescribe you TRT without checking to see where your biomarkers are now so you can form a plan. It seems like this endo prescribed a protocol without any lab testing.

This is doing things ass backwards and now you want us to tell you if this is a good protocol based off labs that are years old. You need to make some other plans because you are being horribly mismanaged.

To date I haven’t found a doctor under my insurance that is good at TRT, you will either have to figure out your entire protocol on your own or locate a private doctor who know how to manage your on TRT. I usually tell people don’t waste time using a doctor under your insurance plan.

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I was just hoping that my labs, what little they are, could hint as to what I should start at to maybe save wasting time on too low of a dose etc. But I decided to just go with the what the sticky recommends, and do 100mg/week.

As far as my endo, she doesn’t seem to know much about trt, but is open to letting me do what I want, and will give me blood work as needed, which seems better than some.

I started TRT 5 days ago and the first two days I had a lot of trouble sleeping. I also felt overstimulated somehow. I inject 20mg daily omnadren taht contains some propinate which is a very fast acting ester. I assume the first days my body was somehow more stimulated and it felt that way, I guess purely because of the new substance.
Yesterday and today Im more calm and feel almost like before TRT
My advice is just wait and take more magnesium before bed.

This gives me hope it will get better, thanks!

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OP I highly recommend you listen to SystemLord’s advice above. Sage advice.