TRT and HCG levels

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rayrock1

Member
I recently started TRT. On the 5th week had blood test showing my T level went from 215 pre -T to 524 on a weekly injection schedule of 100mg once a week.
I am about to add 250iu HCG twice weekly{500iu total per week} to the protocol as well as splitting the weekly 100 mg T from once a week to 50 mg twice a week.
Any idea if anyone thinks my T levels will increase at next blood test or just about be the same given change in regiment or HCG at that doseage?
 
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Cataceous

Super Moderator
There are a few variables to consider. The apparent half-life of your testosterone (cypionate?) determines how long it takes for levels to build up initially. A five-day half-life would mean you won't see much additional increase after five weeks.

Splitting the dose should be pretty significant. Again assuming a five-day half-life, and assuming the 524 ng/dL measurement is a trough value and is accurate, your weekly serum testosterone peak could be as much as 1500 ng/dL, with an average level of about 1000. Splitting to two doses a week maintains the average level, so a rough guess is that you'll see an increase to 800 ng/dL in trough serum testosterone, with a predicted peak of 1200 ng/dL.

Adding 500 IU hCG a week could over time add a little bit to total testosterone, but probably less than 100 ng/dL given that this is a pretty small dose.
 

rayrock1

Member
Thanks for your help. Yes the testosterone is Cypionate and yes it was the trough day that I had the blood test done.
How do you calculate the peak and average? is there a site were I can put these values in? I tried the steroid graph, but it did not correlate. I thought the half life of T.C. was 3.5 days, is it dosage size dependent?
 

Cataceous

Super Moderator
As I said, it's a pretty rough calculation. What else goes into it? The time to reach peak serum testosterone is neglected. I think this is justified, but there's some opposing data suggesting it's longer than the few hours I assume. The fall in serum testosterone is modeled as an exponential decay: Serum_T = Peak_T * exp(-ln(2) * time / half_life)

For E7D dosing the calculated reduction from peak to trough is 0.38. For simplicity I just call it one third, putting the peak value at around three times the trough. For E3.5D dosing the reduction is 0.71, which for simplicity I call two thirds, putting the peak value at around 1.5 times the trough.

Another simplification is used to estimate average serum testosterone. The exponential decay function is fairly linear in this range, so the average is simply assumed to be peak plus trough divided by two.

So for your trough of 500 ng/dL at seven days we multiply by three to get a peak of 1500, then take the average of peak and trough to get 1000. Then we work things in reverse to see where the 3.5-day trough is when average testosterone is 1000.

The apparent half-lives of testosterone esters aren't set in stone, and yes, there probably is some dependence on dose size, with smaller doses having shorter half-lives. Nonetheless, the best research I've seen, along with a fair bit of data provided by forum members, seem to show five days as a good half-life figure for testosterone cypionate. Contradictions of this would tend to be higher, e.g. 7-10 days, not lower.
 

rayrock1

Member
Thanks again for going through it all with me. Will follow up with you to let you know results on next test. any reason some people inject every 3 days instead of 3.5. is it just a matter of convenience, since the half day may fall one in am,one in pm etc? I imagine the trough levels would be a little higher.
 

Cataceous

Super Moderator
I'd imagine an E3.5D dosing schedule is easier for working guys, as it can stay synchronized with their weekly routines. But some retired guys might see little distinction between weekdays and weekends—so for them E3D could be more convenient. Trough levels would be a little higher on E3D, and peaks a little lower.
 
Last edited:

rayrock1

Member
thanks again, do you mind if I ask what your regime is and if you use HCG with it? I am about to start the HCG 250iu twice weekly, after my next blood test, and trying to settle in on a working routine.
 

Cataceous

Super Moderator
thanks again, do you mind if I ask what your regime is and if you use HCG with it? ...
My current regimen is rather unusual. Though I found that using hCG is much better than not, its effect on estradiol caused problems. So I have substituted a SERM and GnRH in order to make my own LH and FSH. It's a demanding protocol, but the good results make it worthwhile.
 
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