Hi all. Have used this forum for info before, but thought I'd make a log here to document my attempt at restarting natural production. Will use nmol/L and mmol/L measurements here for total/free testosterone in the format of total/free. To convert to ng/dl, multiply these numbers by 28.85 for total and .2885 for free. and Some background info:
- 27 years old
- live in Canada
- started TRT august 2021
- bloods showed 16.8/380, only 1 draw. Draw was taken after a day of minor drinking and not great sleep so who knows what I was really at. I had bloodwork done at a local lab when I was 18 (so 2015 ish) but I lost the results, so for curiosity sake I am going to try to track that stuff down. No clue if it still exists or not.
- TRT was prescribed by my family Dr, which from my understanding is rare in Canada, especially given my age and numbers.
- doses ranged from 100-150 mg/week, +- 250 iu/hcg per day. Been off hcg since january, just on 125/week of test C injected EOD.
Why am i coming off? There a few reasons. The first is that I don't think I needed it. I can honestly say I don't think I ever noticed a difference. I felt the same natural as I did on 100mg/week solo (15/450) which felt the same as 150mg/week + hcg (30-32/900-100) which felt the same as 125 + hcg (24/700) which felt the same as 125 solo (20/550). The second is that I am an avid weightlifter, and am reasonably close to some of my long term goals. I would like to do them naturally. The third is that injecting is a PITA.
My last injection of 36mg test C was on thursday May 2nd. Today (saturday May 4th) i started "PCT". PCT plan is as follows:
Day 1-40: 500 IU HCG daily (pharma urinary hcg, rHCG is not available in Canada as far as I am aware)
Day 41: Blood work round 1
Day 42 (optional, not sure if I am doing this yet) - 100mcg triptorelin
Day 42 on: 12.5mg Enclomiphene daily
From day 70 (4 weeks on enclo) on I will get blood work every 4 weeks or so, and adjust the enclo dose accordingly. Plan is to run it for a minimum of 8 weeks, hopefully at 12.5mg daily for 4 and 6.25mg (or 12.5mg EOD) for another 4. Will run longer, or shorter, or adjust dose if needed.
I also plan on using a handful of supplements during this journey. I am writing this 48 hours into a fast (more or less cutting until day 35 or so to lean out and allow me to stuff my face while being lean during the real PCT) so I am not taking anything currently (gonna try to fast for a week or so but may give up), but it will be as follows:
- Taurine: 3-5 g per day (testicular antioxidant, dirt cheap, tasteless Taurine Recovers Testicular Steroidogenesis and Spermatogenesis in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats - PubMed The role of taurine in male reproduction: Physiology, pathology and toxicology)
- Grapeseed extract: 400 mg 95% per day (minor AI, good antioxidant, also dirt cheap, good for other stuff like BP, lipids, insulin sensitivity, anti cancer etc Grape Seed Extract benefits, dosage, and side effects)
- NAC: 1200 mg 2-3 times per day while on HCG (Leydig cell protection N-acetylcysteine counteracts oxidative stress and prevents hCG-induced apoptosis in rat Leydig cells through down regulation of caspase-8 and JNK - PubMed)
- Molecularly distilled cod liver oil: 1/2 TBSP per day (retinol seems important for the testicles and I do not eat many eggs/organ meats, vitamin D is good, omega 3 is good)
Will check in intermittently to note my mood etc and will follow up with my blood work results. I am confident I will recover just fine because there isn't a lot of evidence that guys on steroids/TRT don't recover, and the body is fairly resilient. However if I don't, I am fine hopping back on. Just want to coming off a shot, and every passing day makes it a little more unlikely that I'll be successful.
- 27 years old
- live in Canada
- started TRT august 2021
- bloods showed 16.8/380, only 1 draw. Draw was taken after a day of minor drinking and not great sleep so who knows what I was really at. I had bloodwork done at a local lab when I was 18 (so 2015 ish) but I lost the results, so for curiosity sake I am going to try to track that stuff down. No clue if it still exists or not.
- TRT was prescribed by my family Dr, which from my understanding is rare in Canada, especially given my age and numbers.
- doses ranged from 100-150 mg/week, +- 250 iu/hcg per day. Been off hcg since january, just on 125/week of test C injected EOD.
Why am i coming off? There a few reasons. The first is that I don't think I needed it. I can honestly say I don't think I ever noticed a difference. I felt the same natural as I did on 100mg/week solo (15/450) which felt the same as 150mg/week + hcg (30-32/900-100) which felt the same as 125 + hcg (24/700) which felt the same as 125 solo (20/550). The second is that I am an avid weightlifter, and am reasonably close to some of my long term goals. I would like to do them naturally. The third is that injecting is a PITA.
My last injection of 36mg test C was on thursday May 2nd. Today (saturday May 4th) i started "PCT". PCT plan is as follows:
Day 1-40: 500 IU HCG daily (pharma urinary hcg, rHCG is not available in Canada as far as I am aware)
Day 41: Blood work round 1
Day 42 (optional, not sure if I am doing this yet) - 100mcg triptorelin
Day 42 on: 12.5mg Enclomiphene daily
From day 70 (4 weeks on enclo) on I will get blood work every 4 weeks or so, and adjust the enclo dose accordingly. Plan is to run it for a minimum of 8 weeks, hopefully at 12.5mg daily for 4 and 6.25mg (or 12.5mg EOD) for another 4. Will run longer, or shorter, or adjust dose if needed.
I also plan on using a handful of supplements during this journey. I am writing this 48 hours into a fast (more or less cutting until day 35 or so to lean out and allow me to stuff my face while being lean during the real PCT) so I am not taking anything currently (gonna try to fast for a week or so but may give up), but it will be as follows:
- Taurine: 3-5 g per day (testicular antioxidant, dirt cheap, tasteless Taurine Recovers Testicular Steroidogenesis and Spermatogenesis in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats - PubMed The role of taurine in male reproduction: Physiology, pathology and toxicology)
- Grapeseed extract: 400 mg 95% per day (minor AI, good antioxidant, also dirt cheap, good for other stuff like BP, lipids, insulin sensitivity, anti cancer etc Grape Seed Extract benefits, dosage, and side effects)
- NAC: 1200 mg 2-3 times per day while on HCG (Leydig cell protection N-acetylcysteine counteracts oxidative stress and prevents hCG-induced apoptosis in rat Leydig cells through down regulation of caspase-8 and JNK - PubMed)
- Molecularly distilled cod liver oil: 1/2 TBSP per day (retinol seems important for the testicles and I do not eat many eggs/organ meats, vitamin D is good, omega 3 is good)
Will check in intermittently to note my mood etc and will follow up with my blood work results. I am confident I will recover just fine because there isn't a lot of evidence that guys on steroids/TRT don't recover, and the body is fairly resilient. However if I don't, I am fine hopping back on. Just want to coming off a shot, and every passing day makes it a little more unlikely that I'll be successful.
