The beginning of my TRT journey

TRTesticle

New member
Hey guys,

First post here! Seems like a great forum full of knowledgable, helpful people, and i'm glad to be a part of it.

My stats:

Age: 23
Height: 6ft 1
Weight: 81kgs
Bf%- approximately 12%

Firstly, i know what your initial reaction is. You're so young! What are you doing on TRT! Are you sure you have hypogonadism. Well, unfortunately i do. It's certainly not something i had hoped for, but here's my story.

I, along with many other naive stupid adolescents, used the pro-hormone 'superdrol', for eight weeks at the age of 19. Not that this is an excuse to my own stupidity, but at the time i was told by an older 'gym bro' that "the stuff was legal in America, and its not even steroids", so i took it.

Fast forward a year and i'm depressed, i have no energy, i start having erectile dysfunction, my sex drive is non-existent and i'm anxious. My first thought was not low test (although the thought was lurking somewhere far at the back of my mind), but just general depression as one may expect from growing up. I did plenty of research, and i knew that my symptoms, for the most part, fell within the scope of depression. I saw a counsellor, got put on a couple of different anti depressants, and really saw no results. My confidence remained stunted, which was really troubling for me as i had lived my entire life as very confident (perhaps over confident :p)

Fast forward three years, and i'm really no better. I'm running the risk here of systematically naming every single low T symptom here, but my sense of wellbeing and quality of life were just not good. I am living live as a 23 year old, who feels physically like a 50 year old. I'm withdrawn generally, wondering what the hell is wrong with me.

I went and saw my GP and requested my testosterone levels to be run, as my lurking fear had finally made its way to the forefront of my speculation. The first result came back at 7.1nmol/ml (8.4-27) [203 ng/dl]. The doctor requested another for a month later, which came back at 6.8 nmol/ml (8.4-27) [194 ng.dl].

I did a lot of research and managed to find one of the most esteemed hormone doctors in Australia. He ran all my levels confirmed my diagnosis. I asked him if it was likely that i had crashed my HPA axis, to which he responded 'most probably, and possibly in combination with other factors'.

I have been started on TRT with Primoteston (Testosterone Enanthate) at a dose of 125mg every 5 days. I had my second injection 3 days ago.

The purpose of this post is twofold. Firstly, to begin a thread of my results from TRT treatment, and secondly, to act as a cautionary tale to anyone who is still in their teens considering taking any form of AAS. It's just not worth it!

Feel free to drop some knowledge on me for my situation, as the more i can learn the better. I am quite well researched on the basics, and am very keen to learn more from you all during my journey.

Thanks a lot guys.
 
Welcome! TRT is life changing to those who need it and you sir, need it. Also, love the screen name. Keep us posted on progress.
 
I hate to tell you this your dr should have tried to restart your natural testosterone. At you age there is no reason not to try. HCG and clomid and igf1 for 6 month at a minimum testing ever 30 days. You will be much happier in the long run. If you are interested in a restart protocol sound off. Trust me it will make you life much easier. And you will be able to have children.
 
I hate to tell you this your dr should have tried to restart your natural testosterone. At you age there is no reason not to try. HCG and clomid and igf1 for 6 month at a minimum testing ever 30 days. You will be much happier in the long run. If you are interested in a restart protocol sound off. Trust me it will make you life much easier. And you will be able to have children.

My doctor did suggest this as an alternative, and left it up to me. At the time I was thinking of what would give me the most effective and immediate relief of my symptoms, so I chose replacement (I'm pretty sick of feeling terrible). When I chose replacement, he didn't seem to think that fertility would be a future issue so long as I am fertile now. Is he misguided in thinking this?

I have another appointment with him on the 10th of June where I could certainly discuss this.

Also, I'm actually not sure if he diagnosed me as idiopathic, but again I will ask on the tenth. I assume however that he didn't since he gave me the option of treatments :)
 
UPDATE:

I had my bloods taken at day 14 to see how i was responding to the treatment. I went and saw the doctor a few days later for the results. My levels were WAY too high. I came in at 58 ng/dl (11.5-33) for testosterone, and 158 for Oestrogen (the doctor wanted me between 60-70). As a result, my dose was decreased to 110mg once a week. To bring down my Oestrogen levels, the doctor gave me Arimadex to take 0.5 mg twice a week.

The day after i took the Arimadex i felt FANTASTIC. I woke up with the strongest morning wood that i have in a few years. It was incredible. My mood was great, and i had lasting energy through the whole day. I felt relaxed, but energised and all around very content.

I have continued to feel increased energy and an improved sense of wellbeing, but my sexual improvement seems to have waned off a little bit. My morning wood the last 3 days has been average at best, and i haven't felt an increased sex drive. I'm wondering if this is because my levels are still balancing perhaps? It is also possible that due to the fact i am a law student in exam period, the extra stress has stopped those effects.

If anyone can give me an indication of what they think of the treatment so far and the results, that would be great.

Thanks in advance.
 
Give it time. Took months and months to get my trt even close to balanced. Even then, different people feel best at different levels. Some like their estrogen on the low end and some like it well above the 'max'

On top of that all, takes time for the body to equilibrate to the new hormone levels. Be patient, keep a log.
 
Damn dude, this story is eerily similar. Except I never took superdrol but somehow managed to crash my system anyway. I had about the same results as you, and I'm in Melbourne Australia but haven't been able to find any endo who wants to work with me. So I'm on 100mg test E weekly, under my own prescription.
 
I'd imagine you went something like this...

- Start TRT and feel great
- Estrogen climbed fast
- Started Arimidex at a higher dose than needed, while also lowering T dose
- Next day feel fine, but estrogen continued to drop past sweet spot

Its tough to say what you need since you adjusted two things... T dose and added an AI. With your new T dose, you likely don't need 1mg of Arimidex a week. I don't know what the right answer is, but I'd try something more like .25 on day of injection or day after. If he would let you split to two 50mg shots a week, self administered - you might not even need an AI.

And yes, you will lose fertility if you don't start HCG. There aren't really many exceptions to that rule. Some lose it slower than others, but it will diminish.
 
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Yeah that's what I was thinking pretty much. I might drop the dose of arimadex a little as suggested. I know it's pretty strong stuff. The doctor said to me that he will treat me for increasing fertility when the time comes that I need to be fertile, and he has had 100% success with doing so with other patients. The doctor said unless I want to have huge nuts for cosmetic reasons HCG is uncessar. With that said, I don't think he'd be opposed to prescribing it and I wouldn't be opposed to taking it. I actually read a study from 2005 with men on TRT who stopped and were monitored for fertility (without drugs). The study found that within 24 months, 100% had returned to normal. Perhaps I mis read the study, or there are other factors/newer studies that you are aware of and I have missed. -any ideas on that? Thanks for your help mate :)
 
Yeah that's what I was thinking pretty much. I might drop the dose of arimadex a little as suggested. I know it's pretty strong stuff. The doctor said to me that he will treat me for increasing fertility when the time comes that I need to be fertile, and he has had 100% success with doing so with other patients. The doctor said unless I want to have huge nuts for cosmetic reasons HCG is uncessar. With that said, I don't think he'd be opposed to prescribing it and I wouldn't be opposed to taking it. I actually read a study from 2005 with men on TRT who stopped and were monitored for fertility (without drugs). The study found that within 24 months, 100% had returned to normal. Perhaps I mis read the study, or there are other factors/newer studies that you are aware of and I have missed. -any ideas on that? Thanks for your help mate :)

I am no fertility expert, but have read a good deal around here and other places. As I understand it, most guys can regain their fertility, especially if they were fertile to begin with. I had myself tested before starting TRT and got some baseline numbers. A lot of guys don't, forget the entire reason they were on TRT to begin with might have been testicle malfunction, then blame TRT for fertility issues.

If you were good before, you can likely achieve those numbers again. Maybe. Some argue it gets harder and harder over time.

I believe, as would my Dr, other Drs, and most guys around the forums, that HCG offers many benefits outside of just fertility. Some call it "sense of wellbeing", others report increased libido, mood, energy, etc. Outside of your balls shrivling up into nothing, it just doesn't feel the same. I know myself, and others have reported, better sex when on HCG. I added HCG to protocol after 8 months of TRT and it worked perfectly.

The best starting protocol for most guys is 100mg testosterone, split twice a week as 50mg shot (every 3.5 days), 250iu HCG on T injection days, and AI as needed. I opt for daily lower dose HCG. Regardless of the approach, its a good idea to think about adding HCG.

-Jim
 
Hey all,

Just wanted to confirm something. If my Oestradiol levels were 158 pmol/l on my last blood test, and the doctors says i should be aiming to be between 60 and 70, what dosage of arimadex would you recommend? I have lowered my test injection amount, and increased the frequency. The doctor has also said i should take 0/5mg of arimadex twice a week to bring my E levels down. Is this too much? I feel like i hit a sweet spot, and then it kept going down past that sweet spot. I am supposed to take another .5 mg today, and im questioning whether to even take it, or whether to just take 0.25 mg.

Your responses would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!!
 
Patience and bloodwork. That's why this takes so friggin long. Make the adjustments, wait a month or two, bloodwork, repeat.

How much AI works for you may not be the same as me. Or otgers. Genetics plays a big role in estrogen formation.

My TRT found 1mg/wk AI was not enough. Others are fine with 0.5mg/wk
 
You should do a restart. My friend was like you and came back with 600s ng/dl.

What he did is 1500 IU hCG M-W-F 2 weeks and then 12.5 mg clomid 45 days.
 
I'll be following this thread as I posted a situation Similiar to yours earlier today. I may borrowing some of the suggested info.
Thanks
 
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