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What I'm asking, now that I think about it more is: if there is enough substrate (cholesterol) then why isn't there enough production of pregnenolone, DHEA, testosterone, DHT, etc? Is it ultimately an enzymatic issue where conversions to these hormones are not taking place at adequate rates?

You may be mistaken here*; DHEA is in the sex hormone pathway, not the cortisol pathway. *Edit to add: unless you subscribe to the "pregnenolone steal syndrome". Then what you say makes sense to me. Trying to understand all this and it is complicated.

Read some warning from the US about these hormone precursors affecting "good" cholesterol (HDL). Can't find any science to back that up so far. The warning is here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=hsc&group=110001-111000&file=110423-110423.8

Trying to wrap my head around the use of DHEA and pregnenolone whilst on TRT. I have looked at the diagrams showing how cholesterol becomes the various hormones. It would seem that people with high cholesterol would also have high T (not necessarily the case). So, why supplement with DHEA and...

Thank you, Mr. Vergel. Interesting, and much preferred over testicular aspiration.

I've recently gone to daily injections of t cyp myself. No feedback yet, but that graph looks good to me. :)

The level at any given moment; not necessarily the peak or trough. "Absolute" is probably the wrong word. Edit to add: if you look at the above post with the graphs, I am curious why the first protocol would lead to more aromatization/E2 (it's more "peaky"). Or if it really would.

FWIW, plots of t suspension (first graph) and t cypionate (second graph) @ 16mg/day x 6 weeks (from steroidcalc.com):

I am wondering why the peak would lead to a higher conversion rate compared to the absolute level. Also, do you supplement with B12?

But if your HDL is low and goes up to "heart healthy" levels with alcohol consumption, do you really worry about a possible tiny increase in left atrium diameter that might lead to afib? Also, this was published in the journal of the association that considers the following diet "heart healthy"...

I hear ya! Anastrozole was the devil for me (severe flu-like symptoms). I'm doing daily injections, and pre-fill syringes a week in advance. I just started this routine, but find it no trouble at all so far. I hop out of the shower and inject, then take my various supplements (and I find...

Interesting, Coast. I look forward to seeing the follow-up test results. One thing one we can probably agree on is that tests can fluctuate unpredictably. Don't know your age, but SHBG does tend to go up as one gets older, I believe.

So if your doctor didn't believe it, and it's almost unheard of, are you the first case of this?

Not so fast, CoastWatcher. I trust my doc's judgment, but I question *your* judgment. We've gone from SHBG being "crucial" to "vital" to now being "essential". I gave specifics regarding SHBG levels and asked how often one should inject based on those levels. You did not answer that...

And I don't mean to be argumentative or disrespectful in any way with my line of questioning. But my doc never ordered SHBG, and I trust his judgment.

If SHBG is 17 (range 19 - 76) for a 50 year old hypogonadal male, should TRT be administered every 3.5 days, every other day, or every day? What if it is 20? Or 7? Do we know enough to select the appropriate TRT frequency of injection based on SHBG alone? Or will we have to still look at...

At what SHBG level should TRT be administered daily? Please be specific if possible. Thank you.

I'm not sure it's crucial, though. Knowing your total T, free T, and your hematocrit would be crucial while on TRT. Knowing SHBG doesn't seem to be crucial. And it's not an inexpensive test.

Thanks, ERO. I just don't understand why. Is low SHBG correlated with fast metabolism/excretion of testosterone? It's not clear to me why one would have to inject more frequently with it being low, otherwise.

So, more frequent injections of T resulted in higher T levels and lower E levels. Sounds like a win to me. Thank you for sharing.

Grass-fed is favored. But any butter is better than no butter. Betty put a little bit of butter in the batter but the little bit of batter made her big butt fatter.

Butter and coconut are the best fats. Olive oil is pretty good, but comes in third place due to the omega 6 fatty acid content.

Why is knowing SHBG crucial?

Can you give us an idea how much higher your total T is on daily injections vs the same dose administered twice weekly or whatever your previous protocol was? I've read that daily injections can boost total T by about 25% over less frequent injections of the same dose.

I am a Defy patient and requested an HCG/T cyp refill from ONLY APS or Empower, via email to Defy on October 5. Today I received a FedEx notification that my shipment is coming from Hallandale.

I read it, and have been following this thread. I take Citrulline and Doxazosin twice a day, but Cialis only once a day. The half life of Dox is about 17 hours and that of Cialis is about 22 hours, so shouldn't once a day for both be fine?

No, that was my original protocol (it was anastrozole/DIM, actually). That stuff destroyed my life for 10 weeks! Not going back to it if I can help it!

Cialis twice a day doesn't make sense. Why not 5 times? Eating the stack dry is critical, however ;-)

Well, I'm going to do 24 mg T cyp/day (168/week, up from 70 twice a week) till I see my doc next month. I don't understand the usefulness of SHBG. It's my understanding that one can infer that it is low if your total T is low but your free T is within range. And it tends to go up with TRT...

I had it tested in the past, well before ever starting TRT. It was low normal. In general, how does low SHBG with fast metabolism effect protocol? Should I expect to dose more frequently, higher dose, or both?

The draw was last Tues, actually, just got the results (hence the Oct date). I inject at 8:30 AM on Tuesdays, and the draw was at 7:45 AM, 45 minutes before my injection. Even though it's been just a week since stopping anastrozole, I don't feel so awful. Do notice swelling of my ankles now...