Well I tried it and gave everything a good shot. I have to say the positive effects I got from any of these methods were not worth the cost or hassle associated with it all.
Symptoms:
Male, 5’11 - 205LBS. I used to lift weights 3-5x a week and was horny all the time. Now my energy levels are barely there to even want to go to the gym and crush a workout. For the last two years or so I’ve had all the symptoms of low T. Stress, moody, no more morning wood, trouble concentrating, brain fog, lower libido, a random bald spot on my scalp, trouble sleeping, tired all the time, fat gain around the belly. I’ve had more anxiety and just haven’t felt like myself for a while.
My diet is semi clean. I’m not a perfect eater but I’m also not going to McDonalds every day. I’d say I average between 2300-2900 cals a day of mixed variety. Alcohol use is non-existent.
Everything else in the labs was in the normal range. So no it wasn’t my thyroid, Vitamin D, or some other issue.
March 2019 (First Labs Prior to any treatments):
E2 - 33
Total T - 575
Free T - 78
Bioavailable - 168
SHBG - 33
Serum - 4.7
June 2019 (On .5MG Anastrozole per week):
E2 - 17
Total T - 769
Free T - 126
Bioavailable - 260
SHBG - 29
Serum - 4.5
November 2019 (Off Anastrozole - Very Similar To March)
E2 - 34
Total T - 560
Free T - 75
Bioavailable - 154
SHBG - 34
Serum - 4.5
March 2020 (350iu x 3 per week HCG + 1MG Anastrozole)
E2 - 6
Total T - 645
Free T - 110
Bioavailable - 231
SHBG - 26
Serum - 4.6
At this point I said well I’m not really getting any symptom relief - lets try TRT and see what happens.
TRT 100MG 2x per week - .5MG anastrozole starting dose.
June 2020 (3 months later)
E2 - 15
Total T - 747
Free T - 128
Bioavailable - 268
SHBG - 27
Serum - 4.6
DHT - 61
At this point I was feeling semi better. Still no morning wood, libido in the tank, my gym workouts I did feel stronger and noticed recovery was faster, but that was about the only positive. We upped my dose.
160MG 2x per week, 600iu 2x HCG per week, and no more AI.
September 2020 (4 Months Later)
E2 - 27
Total T - 793
Free T - 154
Bioavailable - 310.6
SHBG - 26
Serum - 4.4
DHT - 84
After this period I really noticed my hair was thinning on my scalp. My libido still wasn’t great, morning wood wasn’t back, and overall I can only say I felt maybe 20-25% better than I did when this whole journey started.
I decided to stop everything cold turkey. I took 10,000IU of HCG over the course of a month after I stopped TRT with my last injection being November 14th.
January 2021 Post TRT Labs
E2 - 31
Total T - 445
Free T - 82
Bioavailable - 164
SHBG - 22
Serum - 4.4
DHT - 38
I can say I don’t feel that much different than when I was on T. Really the only thing I’ve noticed is my gym performance is slightly down. It was a fun journey but I don’t think taking more T and having higher DHT was a plausible solution. I plan on re-checking my labs after some lifestyle choices (recently broke up with a long term relationship that was stressful) and reporting back.