Novaman's TRT Journal- The Journey has begun

novaman said:
Day 18- Not feeling like the Testim is making much of a difference. I'm still tiring early in the day. But I am sleeping better. My balls will ache slightly at different times.
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I'm agreeing with Spunky71's and Apollon's assessment of gels. And most here are of the same opinion, that gels don't work well and that you're probably going to need injections. Gels did very little for me and I suffered for 5 months, before the injections finally made a difference. I hope they work for you, but I doubt it. Doctors want to give you the minimum amount of T, that will fix you, so they start off slow. That's what they are doing to you.

This is just a suggestion, but rather than wait for a 60 day doctor appointment and subsequent blood test, all the while suffering from low T.., consider getting your own blood tests at say 30 days. If there is no improvement or no upward trend, go to the Doc and ask to go to something stronger (injections).
 
^ listen to this guy cause he is right!!
Docs want to give you the most minimal T. If you got a strange one too that looks at your body and draws infrences etc even worse. I've met all these funny types!
I was at 830 TT constant level with 60 mg E3D and GP wanted me to come down to 50 mg E3D so I was closer to 600.
Screw them.
 
Thanks for the suggestion guys. I think I might just do what you all recommended. I want to give this Uro Doc a chance. He was the first guy who was actually open minded about addressing the Low T.
 
novaman said:
Thanks for the suggestion guys. I think I might just do what you all recommended. I want to give this Uro Doc a chance. He was the first guy who was actually open minded about addressing the Low T.
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I hope he's the one. But I've heard about so many disappointing doctor appointments on this forum, I would take the next 45 days and prepare yourself with whatever facts you need. You're going to have a very short time and possibly only one opportunity to get this doctor on your side. Did he discuss what the highest TT numbers he wanted to see? If not this could be a sticking point. I'm not trying to worry you..., I just want you to be prepared.

Lastly - support for TRT. Unfortunately Tetstosterone and crack cocaine go together in many people's minds. Many of my friends think I'm nuts for being on TRT. I tell them Testosterone happens to be a hormone that my body does not make much of and that with injections, I have the same amount in my blood as they do. I tell them, I inject insulin (another hormone), because my body doesn't make enough of it . Some of them get it, some of them don't because they already have their minds made up. Once your wife understands things from this perspective and you get her some solid info, she will come around. She just needs to be willing to open her mind, so she can learn enough to make a fair decision. If you were able to talk her into marrying you, this should be easy. Just kidding! I'm joking.

I wish you the best of luck on this adventure.
 
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Notice that under the heading: Time-Course on the effects of Quality of Life (Almost half way down)

It states that improvements with injections (parenteral) happen from one month to three months.. However with gels improvements occurs after 9 months.. There's something doctors should read!!!

And this article is from the European Journal Of Endocrinology!! It's not bro science. lol
 
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I have been on TRT for a little over a year. I started with AndroGel but switched to AndroForte due to the cost. The gels and creams work fine as far a T is concerned but they also tend to increase DHT more than shots. I like the fact that they mimick the bodies own natural testosterone cycle.
 
pdelta said:
I have been on TRT for a little over a year. I started with AndroGel but switched to AndroForte due to the cost. The gels and creams work fine as far a T is concerned but they also tend to increase DHT more than shots. I like the fact that they mimick the bodies own natural testosterone cycle.
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DHT.... so more hair loss issues? I'm almost 51 and I have lots of hair on my head, almost too much- no thinning at all. Should I be concerned?
 
novaman said:
DHT.... so more hair loss issues? I'm almost 51 and I have lots of hair on my head, almost too much- no thinning at all. Should I be concerned?
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Wash your hair ED. Use nizoral 2 % or any shampoo that washes DHT out of scalp.
I'm not on any a.I. now and my Test is not really high but hair and scalp does get oily.
I wash 2times a day.
 
Checking in on day 26. Good news is yesterday and today are the best I've felt in nearly 2 months. Give my energy level a 7 (scale 1-10). After reading over the helpful research results posted a few posts back, I realize that I just need to be patient- right now it appears everything is tracking.
 
pdelta said:
I have been on TRT for a little over a year. I started with AndroGel but switched to AndroForte due to the cost. The gels and creams work fine as far a T is concerned but they also tend to increase DHT more than shots. I like the fact that they mimick the bodies own natural testosterone cycle.
Click to expand...

pdelta,
I don't have any faith in gels, so can I ask you what kind of results do you get in Total Testosterone numbers. My doc says that you cannot measure results on gels or creams. I don't know if he is correct.
 
novaman said:
Checking in on day 26. Good news is yesterday and today are the best I've felt in nearly 2 months. Give my energy level a 7 (scale 1-10). After reading over the helpful research results posted a few posts back, I realize that I just need to be patient- right now it appears everything is tracking.
Click to expand...

Just curious, did I miss something? you've been on TRT for 26 days, but it's the best you've felt in 60 days. Do you mean best you felt in 26 days?

Energy level 7 out of 10 is very, very good at this point on gels. Is "everything else tracking" or are you just having an optimistic day? Might be an idea to give all your symptoms numerical values for improvement to get an overall measurement of improvement. Then look back every few weeks to see if improvement is happening fast enough. It also gives you good info to motivate your doctor, to increase dose (which almost always happens).

I'm a big believer in measurement. A blood test in 4 days will give you a true measurement. not touchy feely emotional measurement. Then you are not guessing. Either your TT is "tracking" or it is not. But hey, that is just me. I have to know if I'm improving. I want hard facts from which I can make hard decisions. Very best of luck on your journey.
 
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halfape211 said:
Just curious, did I miss something? you've been on TRT for 26 days, but it's the best you've felt in 60 days. Do you mean best you felt in 26 days?

Energy level 7 out of 10 is very, very good at this point on gels. Is "everything else tracking" or are you just having an optimistic day? Might be an idea to give all your symptoms numerical values for improvement to get an overall measurement of improvement. Then look back every few weeks to see if improvement is happening fast enough. It also gives you good info to motivate your doctor, to increase dose (which almost always happens).

I'm a big believer in measurement. A blood test in 4 days will give you a true measurement. not touchy feely emotional measurement. Then you are not guessing. Either your TT is "tracking" or it is not. But hey, that is just me. I have to know if I'm improving. I want hard facts from which I can make hard decisions. Very best of luck on your journey.
Click to expand...

I've felt like crap since the second week of July when I came back from a vacation in Europe. At first I attributed it to jet lag but realized it wasn't getting any better. Revisited low T as a possible cause and finally found a Dr willing to work with me.

I plan on getting bloodwork on Wednesday, one month into treatment to see how my numbers look.
 
halfape211 said:
pdelta,
I don't have any faith in gels, so can I ask you what kind of results do you get in Total Testosterone numbers. My doc says that you cannot measure results on gels or creams. I don't know if he is correct.
Click to expand...

After much research, I understand your lack of faith in gels, but on the other hand, there are many who have found great long term success with it. I'm willing to give it an honest try.
 
novaman said:
After much research, I understand your lack of faith in gels, but on the other hand, there are many who have found great long term success with it. I'm willing to give it an honest try.
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I totally respect your decision. And glad to see you are getting the blood test.
 
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So I went and got a blood test at 4 weeks into treatment and here are the results

Serum Testosterone 734 (348-1197 ng/dL)
LH 1.5 (1.7-8.6 mIU/mL)
FSH 3.6 (1.5-12.4 mIU/mL)
Estradiol 17.3 (7.6-42.6 pg/mL)

Hematocrit 43.5 ( 37.5-51.0 %)

So it looks like things are working out!! I guess at this point I need to be patient and let the hormonal balance in my body adjust

Interesting flags from my blood test

Alkaline Phosphatase 37 (39-117 IU/L) This was LOW
Serum Glucose 105 (65-99 mg/DL) This was HIGH I even did a fast for this test.
 
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5 weeks in.

My energy levels are at 7. I'm no longer zombie-like, which is great.
Libido has been good. One note is that since starting on the Testim, I no longer have morning wood- it is now pretty much all night wood.
My balls still ache a bit but it is very low grade
 
novaman said:
5 weeks in.

My energy levels are at 7. I'm no longer zombie-like, which is great.
Libido has been good. One note is that since starting on the Testim, I no longer have morning wood- it is now pretty much all night wood.
My balls still ache a bit but it is very low grade
Click to expand...

Nice! Glad to hear you are doing well. Except for your achy balls. Haha
 
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