TRT - Did I make a mistake?

[aseanpal]

Good to hear your progress with TRT. I had been on this whole thing until I stopped 9 months ago, in an attempt to restart my own production. I will one time, make a thread of my experience with TRT.

Be careful about your cortisol level. It will steal your erection even on a high level of testosterone. Estrogen do play a role on ED but judging with your statements regarding poor sleep quality, stress level and pushing the body to the brink for more physical activities at the end of the day, your 24-hour total cortisol most likely is too high.

A blood cortisol on the spot will not give you the whole clinical picture of how much you produce for the whole day. Do you wake up refreshed at 7am? If not, that is a sign of exhaustion. If you get a good night sleep at > 8 to 9 hours, do you get good erections?

I am in the assumption that before you started TRT, you had been suffering from chronic fatigue which blunts your adrenals to steal all of your cholesterol to become cortisol rather that the DHEA to DHEAS which is the precursor of your testosterone. If you search "pregnenolone steal", that will give you an answer.

 

[Olijack]

What do you do for high cortisol? I do match a lot of the symptoms. I really never wake up refreshed which is why I got my T tested. I'll look into a saliva test.

 

[Olijack]

Wow. So I got my bloods. Everything was good as far as liver, cholesterol, hemoglobin.

My total T was 812. Free T was 2.6. My SHGB was 18.

BUT my estrogen was at 51!!! I wonder if this is why I haven't been sleeping well and feeling like my heart is pounding.

He gave me a script for anastrozole (sp?) 1mg a day. I have read that this is too much, should I cut the pills?

He is also putting me on HCG, but I have to come back to get that next week.

 

[Profion9k]

is it possible to test for DHT? If you are stressed or depressed, it could actually convert your testosterone to DHT and thereby support your shedding.

 

[Milton]

Good to hear your progress with TRT. I had been on this whole thing until I stopped 9 months ago, in an attempt to restart my own production. I will one time, make a thread of my experience with TRT.

Be careful about your cortisol level. It will steal your erection even on a high level of testosterone. Estrogen do play a role on ED but judging with your statements regarding poor sleep quality, stress level and pushing the body to the brink for more physical activities at the end of the day, your 24-hour total cortisol most likely is too high.

A blood cortisol on the spot will not give you the whole clinical picture of how much you produce for the whole day. Do you wake up refreshed at 7am? If not, that is a sign of exhaustion. If you get a good night sleep at > 8 to 9 hours, do you get good erections?

I am in the assumption that before you started TRT, you had been suffering from chronic fatigue which blunts your adrenals to steal all of your cholesterol to become cortisol rather that the DHEA to DHEAS which is the precursor of your testosterone. If you search "pregnenolone steal", that will give you an answer.

Let us know when you thread of your experience with TRT. Am interested in getting your POV, thanks for the info.

 

[PrinceDianabol]

Wow. So I got my bloods. Everything was good as far as liver, cholesterol, hemoglobin.

My total T was 812. Free T was 2.6. My SHGB was 18.

BUT my estrogen was at 51!!! I wonder if this is why I haven't been sleeping well and feeling like my heart is pounding.

He gave me a script for anastrozole (sp?) 1mg a day. I have read that this is too much, should I cut the pills?

He is also putting me on HCG, but I have to come back to get that next week.

Congrats on finding an awesome doctor man, there aren't many around. Extremely rare, most of them won't let you touch hCG or AI's. I'd say he's done everything perfectly except for starting with 1mg adex per day. That is most certainly wayyyyyyyy too much. Your e2 will be at zero by the end of a week. Most people on TRT use 0.25mg twice per week. Your dose is 14x larger for comparison.

You're going to have to chat to him about that dose. You can go ahead and do it until your next bloods come back and he see's that it's way too much, but you'll probably suffer during that time. Low e2 really sucks. As does high e2... your's is only slightly elevated but could most definitely be the cause of your heart pounding/anxiety and interfere with sleep.

Oh and honestly I would focus on dialing in e2 & TT first before worrying about cortisol or DHEA, pregnenelone etc. They can come after, e2 is almost definitely your main problem now and needs attention first. hCG will also increase levels of DHEA & pregnenelone anyhow so you will be getting more of those purely through adding hCG. Keep in mind hCG might increase your e2 a tiny bit as well.

Hope this helps

 

[Olijack]

Things have been going real good, hence the lack of updates. Jut took my 6 week bloods so we'll see where my e2 is at. I decided to only do .25 twice a week and told him that.

My last bloods had me at 780 TT two days before my next weekly shot. So my doc bumped me up to 250mg per week. Said he'd like me a little higher.

Also this doc is turning out fantastic, he gave me the script for estrogen control, I'm now on hcg for my nuts, and he also said next visit we will do a precautionary blood let. Can't remember the medical term.

I'm feeling good, no crash before the next shot - for me it must be a smooth decline because I don't feel noticeably worse later in the week, I only notice I'm way more productive the first few days after my shot. I also still look forward to shot day. Unfortunately my doc really wants me dialed in so he's still giving me pre filled syringes for everything. I'd like to move to twice per week pins.

 

[halfwit]

Things have been going real good, hence the lack of updates. Jut took my 6 week bloods so we'll see where my e2 is at. I decided to only do .25 twice a week and told him that.

My last bloods had me at 780 TT two days before my next weekly shot. So my doc bumped me up to 250mg per week. Said he'd like me a little higher.

Also this doc is turning out fantastic, he gave me the script for estrogen control, I'm now on hcg for my nuts, and he also said next visit we will do a precautionary blood let. Can't remember the medical term.

I'm feeling good, no crash before the next shot - for me it must be a smooth decline because I don't feel noticeably worse later in the week, I only notice I'm way more productive the first few days after my shot. I also still look forward to shot day. Unfortunately my doc really wants me dialed in so he's still giving me pre filled syringes for everything. I'd like to move to twice per week pins.

That's such a tough call. You seem to have an AMAZING doctor, but the inability to draw and keep your own vial does concern me. Do you get a script for the testosterone that you then bring the vial back to him? If not, I question his true motives as by law he's supposed to have YOUR medication that's under YOUR name completely separate from anyone else's. This prevents fraudulent use of DEA tracking, which is intended to prevent abuse.

I'd just mention that it bothers you, and that you're more than capable of doing this on your own. If he has a trust issue, remind him that your blood tests cannot be faked, and would easily show if there were any shenanigans going on.

Also, I'd honestly just donate at the Red Cross instead of allowing him to prescribe you therapeutic phlebotomies. The former is free, helps others, and doesn't go on your medical record. The latter is an office visit, may defer you from some opportunities in the future (they have to use a dx code to get paid - which may be incorrect, like polycythemia vera) as they DO go in your permanent medical file.

Otherwise, I could only wish that others had such a high level of care. It's not often I read about docs that prescribe the whole package without being a cash service.

My .02c

 

[Olijack]

Thanks halfwit, yeah I was thinking it seems a little sketchy. I go back in 2 weeks so I'm going to push for doing it all on my own instead of pre loaded needles.

I'd also like to move to twice a week injections. Lately I've noticed that on about day 6 I start feeling like 'do I really want to do this for the rest of my life?' Then later on during injection day I'm like oh yeah, I feel great.

Also, I didn't realize it until I went home but my mom was like 'dude, you're getting buff!' So I pulled out some pictures from last year and it's night and day. It's crazy because I can't say I'm lifting any harder just my usual progressive overload. It is easier to have the motivation to go to the gym. But before TRT through sheer will power I lifted hard and consistent for years and was still skinny fat. My diet was good. I didn't get how people would say, yeah you can get that Ryan gosling crazy stupid love build in 6 months when I had been at it for years. Now I understand.

 

[halfwit]

Yeah, I wasn't happy until I went to E3.5D injects myself. Funny how changes can occur, rewarding hard work, once hormones are actually at proper levels.