Intro. New Guy here looking to start TRT.

[Bombadil]

Hi everybody! F'n new guy here. I haven't yet started TrT, but my last full blood work says I'm very low. A little about me first.
Age: 43
Weight: 230 lbs
BF%: 16%
Height: 6'1"
Activity: Lift 3x week (stronger than 90% of gym local gym regulars regardless of age).

I always wondered what my test was. Mentally, I always thought it was high because of my muscle mass, strength, and highly active. Recently, I've noticed I wake up tired, and workout recovery isn't what it's used to. I was able to hit the same body part 2x or 3x a week. It's recently nose-dived. I also have become real moody according to my wife. I just thought it was because I was tired all the time.

So I went to a men's health clinic (Epoch), since they offered free full blood work and initial visit fully covered by my insurance.

To my surprise, my test is way low:
Total test: 185 NG/dl
Free test: 35 NG/dl

Now, this clinic wants to put me on test cyp 200mg/week @ $60 a pop. Yes, I have insurance, but the out of pocket cost is $60 per visit/week. They administer the shot and do not hand out scrips for self-admin. Insurance covers 100% of any blood test, and would cover the cost of a scrip if I can get one.

Is this a normal cost for these men's clinics? I feel that I'm being taken for a ride. The office itself is not what I'm used to. It's all flash, free coffee bar, snacks, HD televisions every where, hot female staff, etc. If so, I cannot afford it. Is there a cheaper solution?

I have a stay-at-home wife who looks after our 2 year old. (yes, I have a 2 year old at 43), so it's a single income family right now. I can't afford a $240/mo payment at this point.

 

[CPTWilly]

I think you will find a lot of good resources here. These guys are very helpful and they should be able to point you in the direction of affordable T.

I empathize with you as an older dad. I am 42 and I have a three year old.

 

[Chiefy]

$60/week is too expensive in my opinion...especially when you consider that there are several other very good national clinics that charge less, and include more for the price (hCG, Arimidex if necessary, bloodwork, etc).

The fact that they require you to come in weekly for your injection is pretty inconvenient, and unnecessary as well. I wouldn't want to be tied to a clinic like that, and I imagine that it would get old for you too.

However, using a clinic is never going to be cheap and convenient. As far as I know, every place that might be covered by insurance will require you to come into their office for injections.

If you're paying out of pocket for treatment, it's unlikely that you'll pay less than $150/month...and probably closer to $200 when all is said and done. But if you're going to be shelling out that kind of money, might as well take your business to a place that gives you more bang for your buck.

 

[Milton]

Welcome please let us know how we can be of assistance.

 

[DucBase]

I think I would try and take those blood test results to my primary care doctor first and see what he has to say. I think the ideal TRT situation is to have your PC doc writing the script for the test. That would be a lot cheaper than the clinics I'm sure.

But if you do end up going with a clinic I would shop around some. Most I've paid is 200/month and that shipped the HCG, Test and AI to my doorstep every 8 weeks. They will probably want you to come in for a while, just to see what kind of dose you will need, but then they should be letting you inject at home.

 

[cybrsage]

Yes, what DucBase said, see if your doctor will refer you to a urologist (if you do not have one already) to see if you can get on TRT.

 

[Bombadil]

Thanks for the input.

My pcp retired in December of last year. The men's clinic actually has a pcp I can go to, but again... it still $60/week.

I've had two visits so far. The first one was free, and covered by insurance. The second visit (talking about the blood results, and where to go form here), the clinic hasn't even submitted it to my insurance yet, and it's been almost a week now. Usually, any visit is submitted to insurance right away, and I get a response back for a claim within 24hrs of the visit.

This is leaving a bad feeling in my gut. I think I will shop around, and try to find a pcp that will scrip me test cyp. Since I've had the blood work done showing really low total and free test, I should be able to forward it to any new pcp.

 

[IMT staff]

If you run into trouble getting on a good TRT program call us.

Good Luck

 

[AverageMan]

I go to a clinc and get scripts for 4 months at a time and self administer cyp shots. Cheap and easy. One visit every 4 months with blood work is around 120. Of course that doesn't cover the cost of the cyp or ai.

 

[daleb]

Call the area pharmacies some time when they are not busy, usually around 10 in the morning. Tell them you moved to the area and are looking for someone to continue treating you for HRT(hormone replacement therapy), and you wanted to know the names of a few doctors who prescribe the most prescriptions of Testosterone Cypionate. Generally speaking Endo's take about a month for an appointment, Urologists about 2 weeks and PCP's about 1-5 days. Many will let you bring your own labwork, which can speed up the process. For insurance to cover the injections you will need two lab tests showing below normal T levels. Also, sometimes insurance will not pay for the 10ml/200mg vial, which is what you want, do not get the 10ml/100mg,1ml/200mg, or the 1ml/100mg vials, if insurance will not cover the 10ml/200mg just pay cash, make sure the pharmacist knows you are paying cash if insurance wont cover it. Good luck.