Hi all - I'm about 9 months into this and still figuring it out, wanted to get some feedback. 57-y/o, fairly fit, 180lbs, 6'1", daily exerciser.
Here's my history.
2009: felt like crap, Total testosterone 300, started daily transdermal testosterone (compounded) with primary care doc. Felt good for several years after that but labs were inconsistent (TT varied from 500 to 1100!) probably due to inconsistent dosing and application. Testes were fine, never heard of HCG.
2016: Decided to try living without TRT to see how I felt (had given up alcohol and made other life improvements), doc put me on clomid for a month to restart.
2018: no matter what I did I could not get to feeling the energy I wanted w/o TRT, wanted to start again but with injections instead of transdermal for consistencies' sake, also wanted to try HCG, so signed on with Defy. Was not/am not looking to nail it right out of the gate, very willing to try various protocols.
pre-TRT baseline
6/2018
TT 330 (264-916)
Free T 9 (7-24)
e2 sensitive 11 (7-35)
shbg 46 (19-76)
labs after 3 months of 2x/wk 80mg test cyp and 500IU HCG
9/2018
TT 875 (264-916)
Free T 24 (7-24)
E2 sens 30 (7-35)
shbg 29 (19-76)
I felt decent at this point but was not liking doing that Thursday injection at night and also felt like my testes were too shrunken, so DR modified my protocol to below....
labs after 3 months of EOD 46mg test cyp and 350IU HCG
12/2018
TT 999 (264-916)
Free T 30 (7-24)
E2 sens 40 (7-35)
shbg 33 (19-76)
at that point my testes were back to normal but I was feeling some bloating, so doc suggested I experiment with slightly lower HCG dosages in order to find the sweet spot where testes feel good but bloating is gone.
So now its 2 months later and I have been trying lower HCG dosages and NOW my testes are full-seized even at 150IU every other day (half of my initial protocol), but I still have the bloat (which may just need more time)
1) I'm wondering if my initial testes shrunkenness was temporary and maybe I should try going off the HCG completely for a month or two to see how it feels, as maybe I do not need HCG at all given that I never missed it back during those years on transdermal. The only time I've ever had shrunkenness was those first few months from 6/2018-9/2018. Going off HCG might help my E2, SHBG, and bloating all reduce, is why I want to try it. btw I do not care about fertility.
2) The doc had mentioned in the last consult that given my shbg, it may make sense to go back to twice a week test cyp. So am thinking about that also.
btw the bloating is not severe, certainly not visible to others, I can just feel it and see it in the mirror. No gynomastia or other E2 symptoms. It seemed to correlate with the switch from 1000IU/wk of HCG to 1400IU/wk.
Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!
Here's my history.
2009: felt like crap, Total testosterone 300, started daily transdermal testosterone (compounded) with primary care doc. Felt good for several years after that but labs were inconsistent (TT varied from 500 to 1100!) probably due to inconsistent dosing and application. Testes were fine, never heard of HCG.
2016: Decided to try living without TRT to see how I felt (had given up alcohol and made other life improvements), doc put me on clomid for a month to restart.
2018: no matter what I did I could not get to feeling the energy I wanted w/o TRT, wanted to start again but with injections instead of transdermal for consistencies' sake, also wanted to try HCG, so signed on with Defy. Was not/am not looking to nail it right out of the gate, very willing to try various protocols.
pre-TRT baseline
6/2018
TT 330 (264-916)
Free T 9 (7-24)
e2 sensitive 11 (7-35)
shbg 46 (19-76)
labs after 3 months of 2x/wk 80mg test cyp and 500IU HCG
9/2018
TT 875 (264-916)
Free T 24 (7-24)
E2 sens 30 (7-35)
shbg 29 (19-76)
I felt decent at this point but was not liking doing that Thursday injection at night and also felt like my testes were too shrunken, so DR modified my protocol to below....
labs after 3 months of EOD 46mg test cyp and 350IU HCG
12/2018
TT 999 (264-916)
Free T 30 (7-24)
E2 sens 40 (7-35)
shbg 33 (19-76)
at that point my testes were back to normal but I was feeling some bloating, so doc suggested I experiment with slightly lower HCG dosages in order to find the sweet spot where testes feel good but bloating is gone.
So now its 2 months later and I have been trying lower HCG dosages and NOW my testes are full-seized even at 150IU every other day (half of my initial protocol), but I still have the bloat (which may just need more time)
1) I'm wondering if my initial testes shrunkenness was temporary and maybe I should try going off the HCG completely for a month or two to see how it feels, as maybe I do not need HCG at all given that I never missed it back during those years on transdermal. The only time I've ever had shrunkenness was those first few months from 6/2018-9/2018. Going off HCG might help my E2, SHBG, and bloating all reduce, is why I want to try it. btw I do not care about fertility.
2) The doc had mentioned in the last consult that given my shbg, it may make sense to go back to twice a week test cyp. So am thinking about that also.
btw the bloating is not severe, certainly not visible to others, I can just feel it and see it in the mirror. No gynomastia or other E2 symptoms. It seemed to correlate with the switch from 1000IU/wk of HCG to 1400IU/wk.
Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!
Last edited:
