I was doing 1mL divided into 2 IM injections a week, and my Estradiol was at 49 on trough day. I switched to doing only .5 mL divided twice a week as SubQ body fat (stomach) injections and my Estradiol jumped to 76! Has anyone else had this problem??? I was under the impression that the SubQ injections were supposed to help lower estrogen. Not only am I doing SubQ but I’m doing half the Testosterone dosage. What the heck is going on???
Please don’t describe dosages in volume, but in mgs. 1ml out of 100mg vial is 100mg, 1ml out of a 200mg vial is 200mg. You’re not providing us with much info, like when you started TRT or how long have you been on your current protocol. Was the 76 E2 done on trough day?
So either you’re injecting 50mg twice weekly SQ or 100mg twice weekly SQ. Note that after a dosage change levels will fluctuate for a few weeks until you reach a stable state 6 weeks later.
The more detailed the info you provide, the more detailed the reponse.
Sorry. I started taking Testosterone Cypianate in December. I was doing 100 mg intramuscular injections twice a week. My TT was 1050, FT was 53, and Estradiol 49 on trough day.
In the middle of January I switched to one 100 mg intramuscular injection.
4 weeks ago I switched to 50 mg SubQ injections twice weekly. I haven’t gotten my Total T, or Free T back yet but my Estradiol was 76 on trough day. That is insanely high. Everything I read said that SubQ was supposed to lower estrogen by releasing it more slowly into the system, and by cutting my dose in half from when I first started at 100 2 x a week has me even more baffled.
When I went from 50mg twice weekly to 25mg EOD my estrogen just became a huge problem and got out of control regardless of if I lowered the dosage. Eventually in order to bring down my estrogen to an acceptable level, I got the labs my had a 300 TT.
This goes to show you that everyone is truly different in the way that our bodies react to testosterone and injection frequencies. What I believe is happening when you inject 100mg once weekly, your testosterone and estrogen are allowed to drop during the week before your next scheduled injection.
By injecting more frequently you’re not allowing your levels to drop much and this lack of falling levels means they travel in the other direction, upwards. It could also be that our liver doesn’t clearout our estrogen fast enough, someone with a fast liver clearance of excess estrogen will see super stable levels and more stable estrogen levels.
Someone who metabolizes testosterone at a faster rate will see a huge benefit to injecting more frequently. I don’t believe I metabolizes testosterone very fast, but I certainly excrete it faster. Too bad I don’t get rid of my estrogen as fast.
That’s why I can’t inject EOD. My balance will be between 2.5 and 3.5 days as far as injection frequency to satisfy testosterone excretion and the slow rate at metabolizing estrogen.
Inject T twice a week
Take 0.5mg anastrozole at time of injections, adjusting based on lab results to get near E2=22pg/ml - 80 pmol/L
We do not see patterns of subq increasing E2 levels.
Please read the stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman
- advice for new guys - need more info about you
- things that damage your hormones
- protocol for injections
- finding a TRT doc
Evaluate your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky. Thyroid hormone fT3 is what gets the job done and it regulates mitochondrial activity, the source of ATP which is the universal currency of cellular energy. This is part of the body’s temperature control loop. This can get messed up if you are iodine deficient. In many countries, you need to be using iodized salt. Other countries add iodine to dairy or bread.
KSman is simply a regular member on this site. Nothing more other than highly active.
I can be a bit abrupt in my replies and recommendations. I have a lot of ground to cover as this forum has become much more active in the last two years. I can’t follow threads that go deep over time. You need to respond to all of my points and requests as soon as possible before you fall off of my radar. The worse problems are guys who ignore issues re thyroid, body temperatures, history of iodized salt. Please do not piss people off saying that lab results are normal, we need lab number and ranges.
The value that you get out of this process and forum depends on your effort and performance. The bulk of your learning is reading/studying the suggested stickies.