Firstly thanks for all the advice a few months back when I started TRT. Did 4 weeks and bottled it when my chest started swelling.
I’m thinking of coming back to this as having been off for about 3 months I can feel I’m back to my ‘normal’ test levels- but back to my problems with fatigue and brain fog etc.
I’m going to do a full set of bloods including thyroid in a few days and get a picture before my decision.
Anyway-
I wanted to ask… what’s the longest anyone in here has been on TRT. I’m not 40 yet and worried about the longevity side of it?
Will post bloods in a few days and hopefully get some advice again before starting a protocol.
Off for bloods this morning- had crippling anxiety and fatigue again for weeks!
Doing full thyroid and hormone panels.
Out of interest- those of you who are clued up- roughly what proportion of peoples protocols consist only of testosterone? I.e no ai, no hcg, no serm etc etc.
Just looking at the cost side of things and if it’s just test then it’s relatively cheap- start throwing other compounds in and it starts to spiral!
Just get on testosterone and enjoy your new life. Most people start with the other crap, feel less than ideal, eventually drop it and feel great on T only.
Otherwise healthy 40 year old, here, three weeks into what looks to be boilerplate TRT (200 mg Test Cyp once weekly, .5mg anastrozole 24 hours after injection, 500 IU HCG days four and six.)
I’m already cutting AI out of my protocol. I’m not too impressed with how I feel the night after HCG injections, either. I don’t have much experience, yet, but my vote is to start with just Test and then add the other stuff if necessary down the road.
So I’m starting a new thread as I’ve now got bloods and am going to jab tonight. Advice and encouragement as I settle into this (for the 2nd time) would be amazing.
Thanks everyone for your support last time!
So- I’ve done another round of bloods and its the same story as last 4 times I’ve done bloods all.in the last 18 months or so…High SHBG making free test in the low normal and I have classic symptoms.
Fatigue
Brain Fog
Anxiety
Low libido
Laying down chest fat - I never carried any there when I was in my 20s!
TSH 2.36 ref 0.27-4.2
Free T3 5.11 ref 3.1-6.8
Free Thyroxine 18.8 ref 12-22
Thyroglobulin antibidoes 13.4 ref less than 115
Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies less than 9. Ref less than 34.
My doctor has prescribed Test E IM
He’s suggesting a starting point of using a 250mg ampule split into 2 injections across 2 weeks so 125mg per week.
As I’ve got to split the vial and draw it all I’m thinking I might draw it into 3 syringes and inject every 4.5 days. So that’s 250mg every 13.5 days so the same amount but higher injection frequency. Makes sense to me as the half.life of Test E is 4.5 days so going a week between injections doesnt sit right in my head.
It’s taken a while of feeling shit and this latest round of bloods plus one “bottled it” start after 4 weeks to get to this point but I’m jumping in with my head fully behind it this time! I struggled with the idea of shutting down a healthy HPT axis but nothing I do seems to bring my SHBG down and have the above symptoms!
Thanks in advance for any encouragement advice or support given as I start this journey again!
The protocol could work… better than injecting once a week. However, my guess is once you’re dialed in you’ll be taking more than this amount. Start here and see where it takes you.
Do you have any other labs? CBC/CMP?
What is your diet like? Drink alcohol?
There may be an underlying issue(s) and TRT may work initially, but may stop working in the not too distant future. How are your bowel movements? Taken antibiotics in the past?
Yeh- that’s why I was saying go with every 4.5 days.
I know it’s not as frequent as twice weekly but trying to draw from 250mg 1ml vial into 4 syringes just isn’t going to work- 3 seems a logical alternative.
I think this is just fine as a place to start. Almost everyone will make some adjustments as they go along. Don’t sweat it, do your injections and go live your life. Have fun.
I am a perfect example, I started TRT with a broken diet with absolutely no vitamin C, which led to an iron deficiency and it just stumbled out of control form there…
You could get an empty vial and transfer it, then draw as needed.
Hadn’t considered that- not sure where to start with buying sterilised vials etc. Hoping to keep this as faff free as possible and it’s another reason I was hoping 4.5 day intervals- it’s a touch more manageable with a hectic schedule.
Don’t start trying to troubleshoot before you’ve started. You don’t know exactly where you’re going to end up. Don’t worry about antibiotics or other stuff. If you’re diet is off work on tightening that up, but don’t sweat it too much. It’s a long road, there will be many ajustments or even wholesale corrections as you go, doesn’t mean you were wrong before, it just means it’s not right for you now.
I’d probably just preload the syringes, get it done and over with so when it’s time to inject you can just grab and go without waiting to draw it out. You run a greater risk of contamination everytime you move it.
Don’t worry about the ‘estrogen out of range’ nonsense that some people will try to make you be afraid of, like the boogeyman. It’s sheer, utter nonsense.
Focus on finding a dose that makes you feel better. Try the protocol you brought up and give it 8 weeks. Later on you can try a bit more or a bit less and figure out if you feel better or worse. Forget about the numbers. They will only complicate your life. Find where YOU feel best.
Once you feel your best, you’ll feel confident enough to realize being afraid of estrogen is like being afraid of the monster under your bed. Some of the ‘men’ here are more like scared children.
I don’t think it’ll matter any in the long run, it might help getting closer to your stable levels a bit faster, a couple weeks, but others will argue it’ll just cause issues. I wouldn’t fight you either way.