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It's looking ok so far. The most recent measurement was 29 pg/mL taken about six weeks after dropping to these trivial doses of exogenous testosterone. Still a decent drop from the 40-60 it had been running previously. If anything I might be concerned about the E2/T ratio being high. The...

I developed an aqueous testosterone solution, which I ended up diluting to 10 mg/mL. With my 0.3 cc insulin syringes I have 0.005 mL resolution. The threshold occurred between the dose rate of 0.15 mg testosterone taken three times daily and 0.05 mg testosterone, also three times daily. So this...

I think interference with libido and sexual function by exogenous androgens is much more common than people think, even if not as dramatic as in your case. This was driven home to me by recent experiments in which a difference of 0.3 mg in the daily dose of testosterone made a very large...

Assuming normal albumin, Vermeulen calculated free testosterone is around 7 ng/dL, which is on the low side. The normal LH points towards secondary hypogonadism, as does the response to hCG. This would suggest brain mediation—hypothalamic or pituitary—rather than testicular insufficiency...

Do you have an AM total testosterone measurement to go with that SHBG? If you provide these two numbers then we can estimate free testosterone to get a better idea of your status. I assume that normal LH value was measured prior to TRT? Under conventional TRT it's expected to drop to low levels...

You guys who potentially have primary hypogonadism may be interested in a slightly different approach to treatment. Here's one of various posts I've made on the subject: Having residual sexual issues on TRT sometimes means the dose of testosterone is too high, which isn't necessarily related...

For young men the effect becomes noticeable in the midrange of testosterone. Here are the data and plotted best-fit equations.

That's a decent summary in line with speculation over the years. What I'd like to see is an elaboration and quantification of this hypothesis that pulsatile T leads to more efficient E2 clearance and/or less efficient E2 production. The implication is that there's some added...

Ok, have some TRT 101: Injecting 25 mg of testosterone cypionate is not equivalent to injecting 70% * 25 mg TC = 17.5 mg testosterone, say in the form of suspension or oil-based solution. The latter would be mostly absorbed within the day and would represent a decidedly supraphysiological amount...

This is true, and the crux of the issue is whether integrated exposure causes the same or similar effects, at least in a susceptible subpopulation. The AI conclusion is that there is such risk. I guess you could argue that careful monitoring might warn you if you are a susceptible individual. In...

Hard to have a discussion if you won't admit to knowledge of even rudimentary aspects of TRT. Cite studies showing benefits, aside from improved musculature, that extend into above-physiological dosing and levels in a dose-dependent fashion. The only one I found showing benefits is this one. A...

I suggest you learn about pharmacokinetics. Now include the details that are in the subsequent posts. For example, that "too low" is based on the assumption of levels for healthy young men, as opposed to relative to an age-adjusted healthy reference range. There's also the fact that relatively...

You have no supporting evidence for that. Most men do well on one of the three doses of Zyosted, and only a small minority is even on the 100 mg dose. No, what irks me is your banal stream of misinformation, which ends up harming men by encouraging them to start with excessive doses or to...

Because virtually nobody is producing 12 mg of testosterone per day naturally. This mischaracterizes what I said. It may not be optimal for a slight majority, but in divided doses it would resolve some of the worst symptoms of hypogonadism. The reason for the low-and-slow approach is that many...

Wrong. Virtually nobody is naturally producing 12.5 mg T per day, so 125 mg TC/week is decidedly non-physiological for anybody. People like you can tolerate it, but that doesn't change my position that it's foolish to start "TRT" with such doses, and it's unlikely that such doses are optimal for...

Yet this phrase seems to come up when people want to skip directly to high doses without bothering to explore the physiological range first, which ironically is treating by numbers anyway. Yes, there are plenty of testimonials about the harm done in trying to make bigger doses work, as with...

In theory, though it could be overstated. It would imply that a 1 mg dose would raise TT by around 2,000 ng/dL. I might use this dose for testing next time—in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. I'm not even going to attempt HPTA suppression, but if TT levels really hit well over 1,000...

This is highly misleading due to using trough values on weekly injections. That 125 mg dose is supraphysiological except near the end of each injection cycle.

Unfortunately your priorities are likely at cross-purposes. Some nontrivial fraction of men must choose between overall health—and sexual health in particular—and high-level physical performance. You can read about the experiences of others in this post. I would argue that your doses are above...

Here's an interim update on this research. It had become clear that if I wanted to continue using small-gauge needles, e.g. 31 gauge, then I needed to create an aqueous solution; the particle sizes in even partial suspensions were too large to get a predictable dose. A new formulation that...

There is a possible middle ground, which is topical finasteride, along with topical and/or oral minoxidil. I had unpleasant side effects from oral finasteride, and it took some time to make the connection and then recover. But as hair loss resumed I eventually gambled on going the topical route...

As the point-by-point rebuttal has gotten repetitive, I'll skip to this, which I agree is the crux of the matter. In the end you've provided no evidence that there are advantages to starting TRT with this higher, non-physiological dose. In contrast, I have shown that lower starting doses can be...

Trough levels on testosterone cypionate do tend to rise with a higher injection frequency—and variation decreases. A propionate blend given daily is a different animal. You would adjust the dose to give you an appropriate peak level, which you get within a few hours of the injection. The...

If you're sufficiently motivated then a logical progression in the experimentation is daily injections of a cypionate/propionate blend. Then you remove the variation across different days and you can focus on how each day should be. With a blend you can control how much daily variation you want...

I post this occasionally to remind people to be careful with making inferences from LH measurements. Overall there's going to be a correlation with testosterone. But with any single measurement you don't know where you are with respect to the pulses. Endogenous testosterone is going to be like a...

They are, but that should read "high starting dose". You added a "majority of men" qualifier. I'm not claiming to have quantified the rate at which men have problems at this dose. My point is that a midrange dose, say 50-80 mg TC/week, is less likely to cause side effects. While the general...

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/2019/209863Orig1s000SumR.pdf Nonetheless, it makes sense to titrate to the center of the healthy normal distribution for initial dosing. That's not a claim I have made, though it would undoubtedly be true if out-of-range free testosterone...

That's patently false. I called the 60-70% figure a rough guess initially and then provided the statistics to back it up, showing a more accurate number was only 5% outside of my estimated range. And speaking of prevarication, as long as we're letting AI do the heavy lifting for us: - However...

Some interesting stuff there, but I suspect it's far from complete. More discussion of testosterone's link to antisocial effects is needed. A small point, but I have to somewhat question the statement that "even modest increases in lethal cancer late in life would select against chronically...

Cite at least three of the "numerous studies" showing people doing "really well" long-term at these doses. A few months of dose-response testing doesn't count. What is really telling is the high churn rates for the standard forms of TRT, including injections, which at least prior to Xyosted were...

I do recognize that my preferred strategy of starting at the lower end is unlikely to be adopted. If you read my posts you'll see that my actual recommendations are for starting with mid levels, 60-70 mg TC/week or so. Anything to get away from the stupidity of starting at 100+ mg. If you insist...