How to raise FREE T when on TRT

ReillyJ said:

Thank you FeelingLost,

If his doc ups the dosage then we probably won't have to buy new syringes/needles (we have a ton of them) because it'll be easier to measure the higher dosage... i may still do it 3x a week instead of twice weekly.

Do you all use Defy or how do you find a doc that will RX the correct amount? I mean...this is the second doctor and a Naturopath to boot (who has been rx'ing TRT for years..) and H is testing in the 500's which is low, in my humble opinion. I emailed him and said if the dosage stays the same then husband will be status quo and nothing will improve.

There's another Naturopath in my town that does TRT but then again to fork out more $$ and what if this person agrees with the dosage? Another $200 gone. Sorry for the laments....

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My PCP attempted my TRT first but quickly found he was over his head not knowing how to bring E2 and prolactin down.
I went with Defy and could not be happier. I have been with them since June 2017. You could not put your husband in better hands.
Give them a call and ask detailed questions about costs all of them and you might be surprised. They are not a T mill.

As others have said, he needs to inject more often and that will bring his levels up, 100mg weekly divided in 2-3 doses

JPB said:

As others have said, he needs to inject more often and that will bring his levels up, 100mg weekly divided in 2-3 doses

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Yes, that's what i've decided to do.

I'm thinking of trying to draw up the T with the 25 g needle that we have to inject, instead of drawing with our 20 g and then injecting with 25 g so as to minimize the dead space so to speak unless someone has a better idea.

Asked the pharmacist about injecting IM with insulin syringes and she said no go because they're too flimsy and something about drawing up the T with that kind of syringe (insulin) would be difficult but i'm just going by what she has said as i know nothing about this method.

dont draw with a 25. I am never amazed at the lack of knowledge from our medical community. With a smaller gauge needle you cannot just jab it in the vial, you can bend it. It also takes longer to load the smaller the needle gauge. It takes my 27 gauge needle around 10 seconds to fill up to the .2 cc line. I then push it back up to the .11 mark and stick it in my deltoid. It is painless.

Where are you located? Find some of those syringes I sent you a link for at a local pharmacy, buy a dozen. If they work for you order them online. You might have a problem finding .5cc, so if you find 27g 1cc 1/2" just try that.

Screw the 1 1/4" needles I was talking about before. I am sending them back. Everyone else does 1/2" needle, who you gonna listen to? The guy that is putting it in for a couple of years, or the pharmacy rep at CVS looking it up on a computer.

blackebob said:

dont draw with a 25. I am never amazed at the lack of knowledge from our medical community. With a smaller gauge needle you cannot just jab it in the vial, you can bend it. It also takes longer to load the smaller the needle gauge. It takes my 27 gauge needle around 10 seconds to fill up to the .2 cc line. I then push it back up to the .11 mark and stick it in my deltoid. It is painless.

Where are you located? Find some of those syringes I sent you a link for at a local pharmacy, buy a dozen. If they work for you order them online. You might have a problem finding .5cc, so if you find 27g 1cc 1/2" just try that.

Screw the 1 1/4" needles I was talking about before. I am sending them back. Everyone else does 1/2" needle, who you gonna listen to? The guy that is putting it in for a couple of years, or the pharmacy rep at CVS looking it up on a computer.

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OK i'll ask my pharmacist to order a box, their prices are good and she understands me and what i'm trying to do.

So you are injecting 100 mg a week divided 3x a week? That would be .11 mark on that syringe? (yea i probably failed math, i have CFS and brain fog is pretty intense, thus the questions) I'm definitely going to transition him to 3x a week.

I'll look up on how to stick in deltoids, i'm used to injecting into his glutes but it sounds like that needle would be too short to do that and i'm not quite sure about Sub Q yet--i mean i do believe it's probably more effective but right now the deltoid seems more doable, i'll have to look that up on exactly how to do that, i think with Sub Q i'm concerned about lumps that i've heard, etc.

How long have you been injecting and i assume you just alternate deltoids? Do you stick the entire length of the needle in?

EDIT: she doesn't have them, i'll have to call around.

Thanks again
Susie

Those 27 gauge syringes in my opinion load easier then my 25 gauge syringes, these pharmacist are not speaking from experience, they can't imagine drawn that thick fluid through those small needles so they assume it can't be done.

You do have to be careful inserting the insulin syringe into the vial so you don't bend the needle, after a couple of tries you'll have no problems. Don't worry about any air bubbles since you're not injecting directly into a vein, every time I inject I got air bubbles in there and it's never a problem.

I alternate Deltoids, I stick the whole needle in and actually compress it a little. Every day left, right , left....

I inject my wife in the glutes, you tube it

.11 IS MY DOSE FOR 20MG OF CYP A DAY NOT YOURS! That puts me at 150mg T per week

Divide the cc that you usually inject by three. If I remember right you were doing 100mg of T by injecting .5cc a week. Thus somewhere between .15 and .18cc EOD

I am not a doctor, this is for info only.

I alternate delts and quads. glutes are a pain in the @ss They work fine. 27g 1/2 pins work great. be patient on drawing, it takes a minute.. Currently injecting EOD, but might change.

Hi Susie,

I have been using Stinging Nettle Root to help with SHBG and Free T. I actually took too much and my FT was very high so I backed it off to 3x a week. Might be worth researching.

To answer the original question:

How to decrease SHBG and increase free testosterone

Susie,

Sounds like you need a specialist who understands the total picture. Total T / Free T is affected by hormonal balance overall ...not just dosage amounts of testosterone. Given his age and his rising PSA, your best approach is to have a follow up with urologist who should be ordering a Free PSA test to more accurately examine PSA. As mentioned, he should avoid any digital stimulation (sexual) for 48-72 hours prior to labs. They should also rule out that he doesn't have a UTI or Prostate infection which can drive up PSA. If you want HRT specialty advice, you can always google us at RenewFX Health if you're in the Houston area. Happy to help or provide some guidance.

Lol what? He takes fking 400 a week and is at 513? im so confused. I take 100mg and I'm at like 800 Edit * Sorry I read through, I misunderstood your original post when you said he dose was 400mg, I didn't realize you meant monthly, generally people speak of dose by the weekly amount. 100mg is great, please read below. I also struggled very hard when I first started TRT and I'm taking off like a rocket now. Losing 1-2 pounds a day with the therapy and this diet I made up, its like insane.

Sorry I was in a game, editing to add advice. Like I said I'm on 100mg/week and doing very well. My SBHG is almost non-existent, for a couple months something happened and I was going down to like 350, after adding MYOMIN herbal supplement, I am back in the higher up range. Sometimes I throw in Pregnenolone and DHEA (my dhea was tested to be very low) then I get more libido and body heat generation and overall strength feeling. I don't overdo it on the MYOMIN, it was making me feel warm and stronger, then I started getting weaker, probably because it lowered E2 too much, So I take it once a week now, I don't do E2 testing anymore, I'm so sensitive to E2 that I can just tell now what is going on, I will get super tired and my entire chest will burn, but I've been fine and havent had any burning since the MYOMIN. The company that makes it sent me a few studies that were done using it.

I agree with that other guy, stinging nettle ROOT extract is great for men, make sure you dont buy NETTLE EXTRACT which is from the leaves and will not do anything for SHBG.

You also have to understand how complex the body is, testosterone is not some magic bullet drug that makes you feel 17 years old again, although it is extremely important. You need 85+ minerals, all your aminos, proper thyroid and adrenal levels, good range vitamin D levels and some genetic luck. Chaga extract (I use sayan brand) is a great supplement and I also take KSM-66 Ashwagandha, I get mine from nootropic depot, that is good for a few things but also for keeping the cortisol down. Studies done with KSM-66 showed 30-40% reduction after a few months.


Try to see what his DHT is, you could try adding some boron, see the video below, it hydroxylates vitamin D and steroid hormones at higher doses, it will also give you an extremely strong skeleton as long as you are taking in the right amount of calcium, you won't end up some arthritic pair of hunchbacks when you are 80. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJp7SW1pY2I

ReillyJ said:

Hi,

My husband is 69 and has been on TRT for about 5 months. Standard dosage 400 mg and he shoots twice weekly (well... i give him the shot)

His E2 is fine, his thyroid numbers are good (also on replacement therapy) and he has been testing above 500 and below 800 in a trough. This is Total T, however his Free T tests low.

Example:
Total: 513 ng/dl
Free: 34.2 pg/ml

We recently switched to a Naturopath that manages TRT instead of his disinterested Endo which refused to even run a E2 (we ordered it ourselves) and frankly i was shocked he even ordered a Free T on this go around. Anyway, i was surprised that the Naturopath didn't think he warranted an increase in dosage although i understand his reasoning in that when you up it, you certainly can run into more "management" problems, in addition, his PSA has been rising.

He was checked by a Urologist for BPH before initiating TRT and is treated for that and no lumps or anything suspicious, was given the green light. Of course, i am making an appt for him to go in and have a re-check.

PSA is now 3.27, 4.00 is the upper limit. So if he gets a go ahead from the Urologist (LORD WILLING) what can we do to increase his Free T if indeed there is anything we can do? Naturopath said the BW is just a snapshot in that period of time which of course we know....

He is doing OK on it, starting to see results after 4-5 months on it, libido could be better but not bad, energy OK...he has numerous health issues so all cannot be blamed on inadequate therapy if indeed it is inadequate.... Just wondering if there's anything i can do in addition to help him.

Oh his supplements do include 50 mg DHEA which he has been on for a few years, Vitamin D, etc... Also any input on PSA?

Thanks
Susie

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What strength testosterone are you using? Testosterone cypionate 100 Or 200? 400 milligrams seems like quite a bit Per week . This said there seems to be something wrong with the numbers. If you're taking T 200 At 400 milligrams a week that's a lot . When I was taking 100 milligrams T 200 per week My T & E numbers were off the chart. I'll cut it in half and things are much better. I can't be more definitive because once I felt better I stopped doing all the testing.