I am a noob when it comes to this, so please be nice. I went to a local clinic in Canada that put me on HCG monotherapy. I just finished 6 weeks of 1,500IU 3x week (4,500 IU total per week) along with .25mg x2 week (0.5mg total) of anastrozole a week for a month but then went down to .125mg x2 week after feeling low e2 sides. I don’t feel great on this and want to get back to my baseline before reevaluating and potentially starting TRT. I don’t have a ton of trust in my clinic so am coming here before my next appointment in a few days.
Will I need a PCT after 6 weeks on HCG? I have a feeling the doctor is just going to tell me to stop cold turkey, which I am fine with but want to make sure I am doing this the right way.
Edit 2/27 - Bloods and journal - 33 year old male
Sept 6, 2022: Baseline
FSH - Result 9.9 IU/L Reference Range (Units) 1.0-18.0 (IU/L) Abnorm
Luteinizing Hormone (LH) - Result 4.1 IU/L Reference Range (Units) 1.0-9.0 (IU/L)
Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEA-S) - Result 4.0 umol/L Reference Range (Units) 2.2-13.0 (umol/L)
Albumin - Result 40 g/L Reference Range (Units) 30-45 (g/L)
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin - Result 29 nmol/L Reference Range (Units) 10-55 (nmol/L)
Testosterone, Total - Result 13.0 nmol/L (375 ng/dL) Reference Range (Units) 8.0-35.0 (nmol/L)
Testosterone Free - Result 294 pmol/L (or 80 pg/mL) Reference Range (Units) 175-700 (pmol/L)
Estradiol - Result 69 pmol/L (or 19 pg/mL) Reference Range (Units) 0-160 (pmol/L)
After reviewing my results, the Dr. put me on 25mg of Clomid every day for 7 days. I felt amazing during this time and have been chasing the feeling since. October 4th is the day after I finished my last Clomid pill.
October 4, 2022
FSH - Result 24.5 IU/L Reference Range (Units) 1.0-18.0 (IU/L)
Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Result 17.7 IU/L Reference Range (Units) 1.0-9.0 (IU/L)
Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEA-S) - Result 6.4 umol/L Reference Range (Units) 4.3-13.4 (umol/L)
Albumin - Result 43 g/L Reference Range (Units) 30-45 (g/L)
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin - Result 41 nmol/L Reference Range (Units) 10-55 (nmol/L)
Testosterone, Total - Result 29.9 nmol/L (862 ng/dL) Reference Range (Units) 8.0-35.0 (nmol/L)
Testosterone Free - Result 612 pmol/L (or 166 pg/mL) Reference Range (Units) 175-700 (pmol/L)
Estradiol Result - 191 pmol/L (or 52 pg/mL) Reference Range (Units) 0-160 (pmol/L)
Moved to 25mg of Clomid (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday) in addition to 200mg of diindolylmethane (DIM) taken daily. Two weeks under this new protocol my libido tanked. No more morning wood, 0 thoughts about sex, no urge to masturbate. Surprisingly, this was never a big issue prior to starting the first round of Clomid and it freaked me out a bit. I stopped cold turkey and waited for my next set of results below.
Between the tests in October and Jan, my libido and erection quality slightly improved. Still not at baseline levels though.
Jan 5, 2023
Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEA-S) Result 6.4 umol/L Reference Range (Units) 4.3-13.4 (umol/L)
Albumin Result 41 g/L Reference Range (Units) 30-45 (g/L)
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin - Result 33 nmol/L Reference Range (Units) 10-55 (nmol/L)
Testosterone, Total - Result 11.1 nmol/L (or 320 ng/dL) Reference Range (Units) 8.0-35.0 (nmol/L)
Testosterone Free - Result 225 pmol/L (or 61 pg/mL) Reference Range (Units) 175-700 (pmol/L)
Estradiol - Result 72 pmol/L (or 20 pg/mL) Reference Range (Units) 0-160 (pmol/L)
Started taking 1,500 IUs 3x week (4,500 IU total weekly) along with .25mg anastrozole/Arimidex 2x week (.5mg total). After 4 weeks of this, I wasn’t feeling much better. Joints were a bit achy, dry lips and did not have the same libido or erection quality as I did in September 2022. I thought that the AI might be too high so for the last two weeks have moved to .125mg of anastrozole 2x week (0.25mg total).
Feb 27, 2023
Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEA-S) - Result 8.5 umol/L Reference Range (Units) 4.3-13.4 (umol/L)
Prolactin - Result 7 ug/L Reference Range (Units) 4-15 (ug/L)
Albumin - Result 39 g/L Reference Range (Units) 30-45 (g/L)
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin - Result 32 nmol/L Reference Range (Units) 10-55 (nmol/L) Abnormality
Testosterone, Total - Result 21.7 nmol/L (or 625 ng/dL) Reference Range (Units) 8.0-35.0 (nmol/L)
Testosterone Free - Result 510 pmol/L (or 138 pg/mL) Reference Range (Units) 175-700 (pmol/L)
Estradiol - Result- 127 pmol/L (or 35 pg/mL) Reference Range (Units) 0-160 (pmol/L)
