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If this were the case then you would not expect these opposite results seen in this study. With N=234 it is pretty well-powered. It's even more surprising because you expect lower troughs with IM vs SC. @FunkOdyssey, do you see any confounders in this research? While IM-TC and SCTE-AI provide a...

Here is the reasoning: At steady state DHT is being cleared at the same rate it is being produced. If we can assume that clearance is proportional to the free hormone concentration then at steady state the free levels are always driven directly and proportionately by the production rate...

In steady-state conditions Proviron should not have much influence on free DHT unless it is significantly affecting 5ar activity. But I would expect a reduction, if anything, due to possible negative feedback of higher DHT-like activity. Otherwise Proviron is just adding on to existing DHT...

There's not going to be one fixed number. It depends on individual susceptibility. Also see the data tareload/readalot posted here, along with reasons why higher levels are problematic...

I have the usual quibbles: Low SHBG does not mean more free testosterone is available, on average. Free testosterone is determined by the production rate, or the dose rate when under TRT. The grain of truth in the statement is that the reduced buffering capacity of low SHBG means transients in...

Welcome, and thank you for your effort to increase our knowledge. In my ten years of frequenting the forums I have seen only a few reports of such symptoms. Perhaps this is due in part to the greater emphasis on taking divided doses. It's becoming less common to see men injecting 200 mg of...

Those are the gold-standard tests. Did you happen to have SHBG measured prior to TRT? If it used to be higher then it's another sign that this testosterone dosing is high for you, as androgens drive down SHBG. However, it's also possible that you are genetically predisposed to low SHBG. Such...

What do your tests show? Lowering SHBG, either the actual levels, or virtually by tying it up with Proviron, does not affect free testosterone after stabilization, assuming an unchanged TRT dose. The original article should be updated to reflect this. It's covered in detail here...

As I recall, the nightly dose was added to a PG-free Minoxidil Max product, while the morning dose was in ethyl alcohol and cyclomethicone.

The dose was 1 mL. 50 mg/mL ~ 5% 25 mg/mL ~ 2.5%

Unless you have some other health issue this is suggesting that your dose is still too high for you. Although having total testosterone of 500 ng/dL may not seem excessive, with your daily injections you are probably maintaining this level 24 hours a day. This is an unnatural pattern, as...

I tried clascoterone a few years back and could not tolerate it. At the time I noted a pounding heart and anxiety during two separate trials. The first trial was with 50 mg applied topically twice a day. The second was with half that dose, 25 mg. I asked the Grok AI if excess cortexolone could...

Any way you look at it the your dosing is excessive—basically double natural production. But regardless, before you head down other rabbit holes consider trying a more sensible initial strategy for treating primary hypogonadism, which I assume is what you have with one or both of the "boys"...

Here's the complete answer from the AI, for what it's worth: The claim that “your FSH-producing mRNA will decay” during an 8–12-hour overnight break from pulsatile gonadorelin injections is heavily overstated and essentially false in the context of real-world manual pulsatile gonadorelin...

@KNDyMan: Your contributions are welcome. A few comments: I am also skeptical of the weekly, high-dose gonadorelin protocols. I have not seen reports on what the subjective results are like. Royal Medical Center did demonstrate high levels of the gonadotropins shortly after the injections...

I think 65 mg is a reasonable start. Be aware that dose reductions can trigger temporary symptoms of hypogonadism even when levels are adequate. Using proportionality does put total testosterone at weekly troughs in the mid 400s ng/dL with this protocol. As an aside, it is technically more...

Looking back at your posts I see that you use Testoviron. This includes benzyl benzoate, which does have anti-microbial properties, though it's not as effective as benzyl alcohol. It would not be difficult to purchase some benzyl alcohol and sterile vials to convert the ampules to multi-dose...

I'm not sure about rapid, acute effects. However, I'm now wondering if the ostensible improvements in cognition I experienced are attributable to the GHK-Cu rather than the exogenous GnRH, as I had originally supposed. Or perhaps a synergy. What makes me consider the possibility is that an AI...

With the caveat that these are very crude estimates based on typical absorption rates and should only be used to get a general sense of things: Your trough testosterone of 525 ng/dL with once-weekly injections means we might estimate your weekly peak total testosterone (TT) as 1,300 ng/dL and...

His Vermeulen calculated free testosterone is 9.8 ng/dL. It's considered borderline, but not really into hypogonadal territory. I would not be looking at that first as a cause of his issues, particularly if sexual function is ok. Of course being diabetic harms sexual function on its own. Having...

Was this at 31 days on TRT, or further along? If only a month then suppression would likely progress. Three months would be harder to explain, though it sounds like reduced levels of LH/FSH/GnRH/kisspeptin were still taking a toll on sexual function. I personally have found that restoring some...

Unfortunately it seems your doctor did not end up targeting normal LH/FSH as discussed in your previous thread: https://www.excelmale.com/threads/hesitating-on-trt-does-anyone-have-regrets.32140/post-296567 This guy perhaps has a more savvy doctor...

The problem is that estrogen measurements have less meaning when one is using a SERM such as enclomiphene or Clomid. SERM's are reducing estrogenic activity without necessarily affecting levels of estradiol. It's also complicated by the fact that SERMs are by definition supposed to be...

Another update: Four months ago I administered another series of FGF-18 injections, this time exactly following the standard protocol of three weekly injections of 100 µg. I can't be sure about causality, but not long after that treatment I stopped having intense pain in the knee. This...

The improved DHT:T ratio has been below my radar. It's a selling point for me, given my general preference for staying in the confines of normal physiology. There may not be much specific evidence of harm in an elevated ratio, but I'd say the burden of proof should be on those defending the...

Let's ask a different question then. Aside from the possible GI link, have any clinically significant differences been found? If not then the whole "native T" thing still seems like marketing obfuscation to me.

Free testosterone is what's relevant here, not total. His is considered to be healthy and normal for an adult male, and further indicates that the chance of being overtly hypogonadal is quite small. You can argue that statistically it's likely to be somewhat below the average for his age...

@madman has some excellent posts explaining the mechanics of honeymoon periods. When you read men's accounts of these periods you might think TRT is a panacea. The problem is that often the post-honeymoon let-downs are reported in different threads, so you might miss the reality of TRT. The...

Me: Grok, rewrite this sentence so that even a child can understand it: "Without an age-stratified reference range there's no evidence that your testosterone is particularly low for your age." Grok: We don't have a special chart for this test that shows the normal amounts of testosterone for...

It's challenging to give advice while the story is shifting. The return of morning erections is significant and suggests you should continue with the oral testosterone. You're unlikely to do much better with propionate, although you might enjoy a short-lived honeymoon period. With respect to...

The lab work you posted earlier and the lack of improvements from oral testosterone are suggesting that low testosterone is not your problem. It's not impossible that your elevated E2/T ratio is contributing to issues. If you can lose more weight then that is the preferred way to reduce the...