New to TRT, water retention

[bdee]

Good morning.
Here is my situation. I started on Test Cyp almost two months ago. This was after a couple of months of having my PCP refer me to a urologist who recommend that I take 100mg of DHEA daily and concentrate on wanting to have sex more when my morning labs had my Test levels came back at 247. I have to find my paperwork, but my vtamin D level was quite low as well. ( My PCP suggested I take 5000 IUs daily of D3, and 50,000 IUs monthly of D2). Anyway this urologist seemed more interested in milking my insurance company for lots of prostate exams rather than address my real concerns.

Anyway after going back to my PCP, she thought his suggestions were inappropriate, and prescribed me 100mg of Test Cyp every two weeks. So I did exactly what she ordered. She wanted me tested ~six weeks later, a week before she saw me again. It just so happened that I took my bloodwork the day before I was due to get another shot (so day 13?) Anyway my test levels came back at 194. (Down?) Anyway, I told my doctor that that sounded about right since I said I felt better for the first week, then like crap the second week. So she doubled my prescription to 200mg every two weeks. I asked if it was okay to split the dose into 100mg a week, and she said it was fine.

I am due to see her again in February, and she wants me to get labs done a week before. She wants to see my test level, my vitamin D level, and a lipid panel.

***** Here is my problem. In the six weeks I was on 100mg every two weeks, I put on six pounds. (my doctor chalked that up to Thanksgiving, fair enough) My wife went to the doctor yesterday, so I jumped back on the scale after she was done, and I put on three more pounds, so I have put on nine pounds in almost two months, and now my 34 inch waist is getting closer to a 36, and my face looks more and more like Santa Claus.

Here may be some other relevant pieces of information. I am 48 years old, 5'7", now 193. I was already on Lopid 600mg/2xdaily, and my doctor doubled my metoprolol up because I had a bit of a jump in BP. ( I took my BP last night, and it is now textbook normal).

I see her again in February, but I could be 10-15 lbs heavier by then if this continues. What should I be doing in the meantime.

 

[daleb]

ask the pcp to perscribe you spiractelnone or eperlone. eperlone is better as long as she knows how to moniter potassium. you sound like me, your body has a tough time breaking down oils. id take up tanning to try to get the vit d up, but it prob wont budge because you have a calcium metabolism issue too. what is your last couple od serum calcium tests? ask the pcp to rule out h.pylori and look into trying hcl to boost your stomach acid.

 

[bdee]

ask the pcp to perscribe you spiractelnone or eperlone. eperlone is better as long as she knows how to moniter potassium. you sound like me, your body has a tough time breaking down oils. id take up tanning to try to get the vit d up, but it prob wont budge because you have a calcium metabolism issue too. what is your last couple od serum calcium tests? ask the pcp to rule out h.pylori and look into trying hcl to boost your stomach acid.

Thanks for the reply. No can do on the two drugs. Looked them both up, and both seem to be classed as a diuretic. When originally diagnosed with hypertension years ago, I was given diuretics, and they made my asthma much worse, so they switched me to a beta-blocker. The thing is, my blood pressure seems to be better(126/78, pulse 72), but I still seem to be putting on water weight. I would have thought they went hand in hand. She put me on a lower dose of Test, she said it was lower, because she was already worried about my triglycerides (Was at 609, now back down to 153)

Wondering if my estrogen is too high.

On the plus side I feel a bit better on the increased dose, not like I was even five years ago, but better, and at least my wife is happier with the changes she's seeing.

 

[3J]

100mg every other week is a horrible dosage to start with.. but its also very low.. there is a possibility of estrogen rise, but i think by the time youre ready for your next shot youre getting a e2 rebound from your test levels being too low

 

[BigSwolenPussy]

Your doctor has no idea what she is talking about. 100mg of TestC every 2 weeks is going to fuck you all up. The half life of Cyp is 8 days. Your blood levels and hormones will be all over the place. You need to either take it every week or stop taking all together. Either way 100mg is probably not enough even if you took it weekly.

 

[daleb]

a lot of docs are starting ppl at 50mg per week. she increased it to 100mg and i bet she will increase it again. to me she sounds overly cautious but prob best thing a guy could hope for from a doc not from an antiageing clinic

 

[SugarMouth]

I would find another doctor number one. This is a lifetime commitment so it matters you have a competent doctor to assist in the transition.

If you are only getting 100mg a week at least split that up into 50mgx2/week. I feel that is still too low but one shot a week is a roller coaster. It's very likely you will end up closer to 160mg/week or 80mgx2/week.

As for the water retention I had that for the first 3 months or so when I started TRT. It came off as time went on. I might be retaining a bit more water now than without TRT but nothing like I had when I first started.

 

[bdee]

I would find another doctor number one. This is a lifetime commitment so it matters you have a competent doctor to assist in the transition.

If you are only getting 100mg a week at least split that up into 50mgx2/week. I feel that is still too low but one shot a week is a roller coaster. It's very likely you will end up closer to 160mg/week or 80mgx2/week.

As for the water retention I had that for the first 3 months or so when I started TRT. It came off as time went on. I might be retaining a bit more water now than without TRT but nothing like I had when I first started.

Well, I really like this doctor. She is willling to work with me, and is open to reasoned arguments. So, I'll stick with her. At least she is better than the urologist who suggested low testosterone was a matter of mind over matter.

I am think right now I am going to split my 100mg a week into two shots. She did talk about the possibility of going up to 300mg every two weeks, but wanted to see what doubling it did for my levels first. She was concerned about my cholesterol and BP if I went too high. She also was fine with splitting up my doses to avoid the fluctuations. So I bought some 27g needles. I was also told that doing the shots into my belly fat instead of the muscle would help even things out and might prevent it from being converted to estrogen. That true?

And what about an anti-estrogen? Would that help with water retention/ blood pressure/ cholesterol?

 

[IMT staff]

So she prescribed you 100mg every two weeks and wants you to take 5,000 IU HCG daily but you really like your doctor?

Is she hot? Or did I miss something?

 

[bdee]

She started me on 100mg of Test Cyp every two weeks. When my first labs came back at 194, she doubled it, and is okay with splitting up my doses to avoid major fluctuations. She has talked about going higher but wants to see my labs at the end of January. I am on 5000 IUs of D3, not HcG. She has weigh my lab results against my pre-existing hypertension and high cholesterol. She has warned that going up too high too fast can have serious health consequences.

You may know more about this than she does, she's a general practitioner, not a specialist, and she has to treat more than just one condition.

But I am starting to see the potential of a serious side effect, and wanted some other thoughts that i can take to her and get her opinion. But i am going to ask her to test my estrogen.

 

[Slhardee]

I highly doubt your estrogen is elevated at that low of a dose. I think you're right in sticking with this doctor, as she is working with you in a smart way. She might not know everything about TRT, but with your imput and the knowledge you will learn from here hopefully you can steer her in the right direction.

Your body is adjusting to the testosterone dose and it takes as stated above approximately three months for the saturation process to be into full effect. I'm surprised if you are holding that much water though, because of your low dose. It is possible however, because of the Metroprol you are on. From experience, that stuff is bad news. I was put on it for a short time when I was misdiagnosed with a heart condition. That stuff will not let your heart rate get above a certain range and is counterproductive to any type of high level physical activity or peak optimal performance. I would get off that garbage if it is possible. Many doctors prescribe it when their patients don't really need it. Again I am biased but I know there's other meds you could possibly take that will work better with your TRT.

Definitely take bi-weekly shots of whatever your dose, and you will probably see better results as you get dialed in. Good luck!

 

[bdee]

I highly doubt your estrogen is elevated at that low of a dose. I think you're right in sticking with this doctor, as she is working with you in a smart way. She might not know everything about TRT, but with your imput and the knowledge you will learn from here hopefully you can steer her in the right direction.

Your body is adjusting to the testosterone dose and it takes as stated above approximately three months for the saturation process to be into full effect. I'm surprised if you are holding that much water though, because of your low dose. It is possible however, because of the Metroprol you are on. From experience, that stuff is bad news. I was put on it for a short time when I was misdiagnosed with a heart condition. That stuff will not let your heart rate get above a certain range and is counterproductive to any type of high level physical activity or peak optimal performance. I would get off that garbage if it is possible. Many doctors prescribe it when their patients don't really need it. Again I am biased but I know there's other meds you could possibly take that will work better with your TRT.

Definitely take bi-weekly shots of whatever your dose, and you will probably see better results as you get dialed in. Good luck!

Thanks for that. I will look up alternatives to metaprolol for trt, and see what she thinks. It makes sense. One of my exercises was to take dumbells and walk up and down the stairs. I was up to 80 lbs up and down 10 flights of stairs, and my heart rate would come back down after about a minute. After she upped my dose of metaprolol, I did six flights, and I was exhausted and my heart rate wasn't coming back down even within five minutes. Makes sense if my heart can't get above a certain rate.

 

[Slhardee]

Like I said, I am biased, but I can tell you this.. When I was on that med, I literally felt like I was going to die. I felt terrible all day long even when I was not exercising.

 

[SugarMouth]

You may know more about this than she does, she's a general practitioner, not a specialist, and she has to treat more than just one condition.

TRT really is a specialized deal. I would not feel comfortable working with a doctor that put me on 100mg shot once every two weeks. That shows me the doctor really does not have experience with TRT and you are her experiment. I think the more you research TRT the more you will realize this.

 

[bdee]

Fair enough. My other option was a urologist who believed TRT was a matter of mind over matter, and for a Testosterone level of 247, he recommended 100mg of DHEA, and a vitamin supplement called FolGuard (which contains B-6, B-12, and Folic Acid). For a lack of libido, he suggested concentrating on wanting to have sex and maybe look at magazines.... in front of my wife. And he was the only one on the preferred provider list that didn't have abysmal reviews.

So, I'd love to know other people's experiences, were you able to go straight to a specialist, get them to prescribe you a high level dose immediately, or did you have to go through an anti-aging clinic who'll give you whatever you ask for?

I have to wonder how many people needed to ramp up to the dose that ultimately worked for them. How many were prescribed AIs prior to showing any symptoms?

 

[SugarMouth]

Fair enough. My other option was a urologist who believed TRT was a matter of mind over matter, and for a Testosterone level of 247, he recommended 100mg of DHEA, and a vitamin supplement called FolGuard (which contains B-6, B-12, and Folic Acid). For a lack of libido, he suggested concentrating on wanting to have sex and maybe look at magazines.... in front of my wife. And he was the only one on the preferred provider list that didn't have abysmal reviews.

So, I'd love to know other people's experiences, were you able to go straight to a specialist, get them to prescribe you a high level dose immediately, or did you have to go through an anti-aging clinic who'll give you whatever you ask for?

I have to wonder how many people needed to ramp up to the dose that ultimately worked for them. How many were prescribed AIs prior to showing any symptoms?

I went straight to an "anti-aging" doctor that was recommended to me. I wanted to cut the BS with general practice. Having said that my doctor is very conservative and definitely wont give me anything I ask for. He is interested in the best way to achieve positive results with the least medication possible.

Having said that he preferred I inject 3 times a week and explained to me why this was beneficial. I had to ask him if two was OK as this is a lifetime commitment and 3 was quite a bit. He is very thorough in what we do and why we do it. Everything is explained. Now, I am cash paying so I have the ability to be picky and go to who provides the best service. To me it's worth it.

 

[bdee]

Lost three pounds. But I have also started on .25ml e3.5d subq, so that might be helping as well.

 

[Slhardee]

Are you taking the same meds? Did you get updated bloodwork?

 

[bdee]

Same meds, just decided to switch from 200mg eow to 100 mg pw, then later decided to go 2x a week, then went subQ. Each switch has improved things for the better.

 

[appleton111]

Did you get updated bloodwork?