Thinking of Quitting TRT, Need Advice

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

I’ve been on TRT for around 9 months and am thinking of quitting for fertility and sexual function reasons.

I initially decided to reach out to a TRT clinic and get checked out because I noticed that I was loosing strength in the gym (despite working out religiously), had low energy and felt my libido beginning to wane, which at 34 years old, had me concerned. Went and got the blood check and the clinic confirmed that my levels were low and put me on 175mg week test-c (divided into 2 doses sub q), and 250iu HCG per week. I started getting a lot of water retention, some ED and loss of sensation downstairs after a couple of months and follow up labs showed I was above reference range on total an free T and high on E2, so I decided to lower my dose to 120mg a week.

After lowering my dose, the water retention has gone away, and my ED issues have resolved, but I still have a lack of sensation in my dick and even though I get horny, I find that sex and orgasms are not nearly as pleasurable as pre TRT. Just getting to the point of orgasm takes a lot of effort and focus and when I do reach climax, its very meh (this was never the case pre TRT).

On the plus side, TRT has improved my mood, energy and focus (and I’m making progress in the gym again, which is nice), but the sexual side effects I’m dealing with make me feel like its not worth it. Also, I worry that the clinic I’m with rushed putting me on TRT, as they did minimum labs before saying - “Yep, you have very low free T and definitely need TRT”. I’m hoping someone here can have a look at my initial labs and let me know what you think?

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Another issue I’m dealing with is my provider has stopped supplying HCG, and replaced it with gonadorelin, and since I’ve switched over, I’ve noticed a lot of atrophy and my boys constantly ache. I dont think this new med is working for me at all, and it has me very concerned about my fertility long term (wife and I want to try for another kid in the not too distant future).

All of these issues makes me feel like the cons are outweighing the pros of TRT and currently, I’m thinking of attempting a restart to see if I can get back to my pre-TRT (or maybe better) numbers. What do you guys think? It that possible after 9 months of TRT?

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2

I recently quit TRT after taking it for 5 years, it only took 1-2 months for me to get back to pre TRT levels. From what I’ve heard from other people there’s almost no chance your T won’t go back up.

3

Thanks for the reply. When you came off, did you use a PCT? How do you feel now, compared to when you were on TRT? Has quality of life suffered much?

Also, I’ve heard some horror stories of depression and generally feeling awful for a long time after coming off, did you experience this, and if so, how long did you feel like crap for?

Thanks!

4

Can you try daily cialis for a few weeks? May restore penile function. There are studies.
And increase sensation.

Are you on ai?
And any supplements?

5

I’ve actually experimented with this in the past taking 5-10mg ED for a few weeks. It definitely helped with erection quality (when it goes up it stays up), but the sensation was still low and orgasms were still difficult to achieve and very weak once reached. It’s to the point that sometimes I feel like I’m simply a dildo for my wife LOL- she enjoys it plenty, but for me it’s a bummer.

As far as supplements, I take fish oil, turmeric, arginine, zinc and a b complex. I occasionally take a very small dose of AI (like 0.25mg) when I feel high E2 symptoms (sensitive nipples, weak erections in the AM).

6

I had that too. Hard to get up to cause the sensation was not there.

I tried hcg, ai. Stopped both and everything came back. Only complaint I got is low volume , but that could be my fault. I ejaculate 2x a day most of the time.

7

How often you take ai. I would stop taking ai completely. I did what you did thinking everything was high e2. It put me on a rollercoaster maybe I had 1 day a week I could feel dick.

I would also stop zinc, tumeric. That’s could fluctuate your e2.

So stop ai,zinc, tumeric,hcg, and just testosterone.

I take 140 divided in 2. Thats it.
I would also start 5 mg daily cialis. It’s super cheap get a script and go to pharmacy and use goodrx

I would also stop arginine. Then when u restore dick, introduce one at a time.

If you taking dhea or preg stop that too.

Reassess after 4 -6weeks.

8

My doctor did not want to prescribe me any HCG or something else, turns out it wasn’t necessary. I basically quit cold turkey.
For the first month I didn’t feel much change but then I had a week where I was unable to focus on things and I was very tired, I’m assuming that was the withdrawal period. It definitely wasn’t that bad. Now I feel pretty decent, I don’t feel much worse than when I was on TRT, I am more tired though.

9

Yeah, I haven’t had HCG for a couple of weeks due to my provider switching to Gonadorelin (which seems to be doing fuck-all as my boys are now half the size they were on HCG and I have a dull ache in my balls all the time now). AI dosing is very infrequent for me and only used when necessary- I’ve experimented not using any AI for a few weeks and didn’t seem to do anything positive, only changes were I gained 10 lbs of water weight, weaker erections and itchy nipples.

10

Thanks for the feedback. I’m thinking of giving it a go, as I feel like I wasnt in bad shape to begin with, just had some mild but nagging symptoms (and it really sucked working out consistently but gradually getting weaker!). I also think the clinic I went to was very quick to put me on TRT without looking any further than my T numbers.

11

Do you have any labs while on trt?

12

Thanks for the reply. My AI dosing is very infrequent and I only take a small dose (0.25mg) when I feel high E2 symptoms (weak morning wood, itchy nipples). I did try going completely off AI for a couple months and I blew up like a water balloon (gained 10 lbs of water weight and looked like shit).

I may try your recommendation of cutting out all supplements for a period as a final attempt of making this TRT thing work. It would be great to enjoy all the benefits I’m getting from TRT (better energy, mood and focus) without the downsides (to me, pleasurable sex it a big deal)- If I could achieve that, I wouldn’t mind pinning test for life.

13

Your labs don’t seem to have an E2 result in them. How do you know the E2 is high? The water retention is temporary if you leave it alone and just adjust to the hormone levels, taking the AI just resets the adjustment clock. There are major problems with your protocol, being honest. You should never make more than one change at a time. You cannot start 3 new meds at the same time, it is impossible to separate where any given effect is coming from.
Were these labs PRE-TRT, or now? If they were from before you started, then yes they rushed things.

14

Yeah, here are my last labs while on TRT:

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I’ve since lowered my dosage (from 175mg weekly to 120mg weekly) and added small infrequent dosing of AI, as I felt both test and E2 were too high and I was having some serious water retention issues and my blood pressure and heart rate were elevated. Interestingly, the Dr. I spoke with to discuss these lab results said my numbers were perfect (even though I felt far from perfect at the time). Since lowering dosage and adding small infrequent AI, I lost the water weight and blood pressure and heart rate have returned to normal.

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Yes, the labs in my OP were pre TRT. I just posted my follow up labs 3 months after starting TRT- at this point I was only taking test and HCG. After seeing these labs I lowered my test dosage and started adding 0.25 adex when I felt needed (based on E2 symptoms e.g. itchy nipples and weak morning wood).

16

Some men get ED with higher E2 levels. That’s likely why as you drop your dose, your ED issues resolve.

My opinion.

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Also, after starting TRT and doing more research and looking at others labs, I’ve noticed that my LH and FSH are pretty high compared to most others getting on TRT. This makes me further believe that maybe I didnt need TRT to begin with and the clinic I visited rushed putting me on T.

Any one with experience reviewing lab results mind looking over my labs posted and giving their thoughts?

Thanks in advance guys! Really appreciate all of the responses and feedback thus far!

18

Dropping the dose was sufficient, adding an AI is too many changes at once. E2 as a cause for weak morning wood is, well, not. Relax. Your numbers were not terrible, but your LH and FSH were really high to be only producing that test level. The minimum after a change is 6 weeks to wee where you are at. An occasional dose of AI kind of makes that impossible as it totally throws off you adjustment.

19

Yeah, I noticed this as well and dropping my dose definitely helped (I feel better all around after lowering my dosage). Problem is I get great wood now, but little sensation and crummy orgasms (this has been going on since I started TRT).

20

They did, but that’s not why. The really high numbers on those tests would indicate that your boys aren’t working right and require a lot of stimulation to halfway function. That would mean you may be on the road to primary hypogonadism, and almost everyone is secondary.

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