Growing up I was always a pretty scrawny teenager who lifted regularly with my athletic friends. They started to bulk up pretty well, but I didn’t really change much even though we had pretty similar diets and training regimens.
Fed up with my lack of results I hired a personal trainer when I turned 19, and I listened to him when he told me to take a Prohormone cycle (Tren Extreme back when it was legal) while training with him. I stopped taking them immediately after week 3 or 4 when I noticed my sex drive was nonexistent (which scared me as a 19 year old male) and a terrible case of back acne. I used an estrogen blocker, but I didn’t complete the entire PCT (I was OBVIOUSLY a pretty responsible 19 year old). I didn’t make much results in the gym on the pro hormone , and the small results I did make went away quickly after I stopped taking it.
Fast forward to 6 years later. Finally had my testosterone checked by my doctor and it was at 401ng/dL. Pretty low, not too excited about it. I am going through a pretty stressful time in my life. Could this just be simply due to stress lowering, or my mistake of taking a pro hormone at 19 years old and not doing a proper PCT, thus permanently damaging my endocrine system?
the prohormone definitely didn’t do you any good… having said that 401 ng/dl is well within the range of normal… mine was 550 before I started steroids
I doubt you will find a doctor who will be willing to put you on TRT at that level…
could be from stress, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, etc…
Before I started, my test was at 350 ng/dl… while it is relatively low, the “normal” range is between 300 - 1000. Docs usually stick to this, and won’t use TRT unless the numbers are under 300 ng/dl. Unfortunate, but true.
my total test was around the same and i got on trt just fine. If you can find a decent doctor he will understand it’s not all about numbers, more about symptoms. it was the first endocrinologist i went to, so definitely not hard at all.
Thanks for all your responses! If it was the pro hormone that caused this, is there anything I can take to get my natural T producing back to where it should be (such as any PCT drugs), or does it really matter now that I’m 6 years past from taking anything (i.e. should my ass just move on and stop worrying about it)?
[quote]mxdesho wrote:
Thanks for all your responses! If it was the pro hormone that caused this, is there anything I can take to get my natural T producing back to where it should be (such as any PCT drugs), or does it really matter now that I’m 6 years past from taking anything (i.e. should my ass just move on and stop worrying about it)?[/quote]
You should move on. How do you know your natural levels were any higher before the prohormones? Did you have bloodwork done 6 years ago? As others have said, you’re within the normal range right now.
While not impossible, it is highly unlikely that the ph caused this.
Your test levels fluctuate even at different times of the day, let alone in times of stress. Stop worrying about it. Get bloodwork done after the stressful period has passed. Even if there was actual damage done by the ph, there are ways to solve it.
[quote]dt79 wrote:
While not impossible, it is highly unlikely that the ph caused this.
Your test levels fluctuate even at different times of the day, let alone in times of stress. Stop worrying about it. Get bloodwork done after the stressful period has passed. Even if there was actual damage done by the ph, there are ways to solve it.
[/quote]
Sounds good. In what ways could I correct it if the ph caused the damage?
You might want to read the book testosterone i/o. This guys story seems fairly similar to yours and he points out some good tips about increasing your testosterone. The reason I am on this website today is because I am 28 and my test levels are 348 ng/dl. Just like CxTucker stated I was not able to get on TRT and I have been looking for other means to increase my test ever since.
[quote]dt79 wrote:
That would depend on your bloodwork.[/quote]
Such as work detailing FSH, LH, E2 ,Thyroid, Cortisol, etc? I would appreciate an example scenario, so when I get these all checked I will know what to look for, and thus certain ways to solve the problem.
[quote]Manofclay wrote:
You might want to read the book testosterone i/o. This guys story seems fairly similar to yours and he points out some good tips about increasing your testosterone. The reason I am on this website today is because I am 28 and my test levels are 348 ng/dl. Just like CxTucker stated I was not able to get on TRT and I have been looking for other means to increase my test ever since.
Im just going to share my personal exprience with pro hormones. I also tried a pro hormone cycle at the age of 19. While I thought I knew what I was doing, I never fully recovered, and for almost a year i had a hard time getting erections, and had little to no sex drive, or confidence. I got blood work done and was around 540 ng/dl, which is considered within the normal range, but I knew something was off. I did attribute some of the ED issues to stress and performance anxiety, but I felt it was more that i didnt fully recover from the PH cycle. Fed up with feeling like shit all the time, I took the risk and decided to do a test only cycle.
I put a lot of research and time into preparing myself for my cycle; making sure I had absolutely everything I needed before starting, including HCG and proper PCT. I can honestly say it is one of the best decisions Ive ever made. I made a great recovery using the HCG during cycle, and I feel normal again. Im not condoning that you do the same as I did, just sharing my experience. Everyone reacts differently to these hormones, its a risk you have to be willing to take.
[quote]dt79 wrote:
That would depend on your bloodwork.[/quote]
Such as work detailing FSH, LH, E2 ,Thyroid, Cortisol, etc? I would appreciate an example scenario, so when I get these all checked I will know what to look for, and thus certain ways to solve the problem.
You all have been awesome so far.[/quote]
Possible scenerios can range from secondary hypogonadism to simply high prolactin. You would have options such as attempting a hpta restart.
Again, it is very extremely fucking unlikely that the ph and such a short cycle did any long term damage because your body should recover on its own even in the absense of pct, which mostly just EXPEDITES the recovery process.
And again, proving causation would be impossible due to lack of bloodwork prior to using the ph, so constantly thinking about this would be pointless.
So that leaves us with the simpliest and most likely cause: STRESS.
Stop stressing yourself out over this and you’ll be fine.