1st bloodwork after 1st 7 weeks of TRT - Need Help getting Dialed In

[brendangaz]

Hi All - 38M Excited to have my bloodwork back after 7 weeks on TRT (120mg test cyp 1x/week). Overall I feel great, much better than prior to TRT, but still want to refine my protocol. My bloodwork results are below, and labs were taken 8 days after last injection. I have a couple of questions:

Hormone	Current - 9/3/19	Ref Range	Before TRT 7/18/19
Estradiol (pg/mL)	49.2	25.8 - 60.7	26.3
SHBG (nmol/L)	22.0	16.5 - 55.9	21.4
Testosterone, total (ng/dL)	711.6	200.5 - 1437.8	351.2
Free Testosterone (ng/dL)	18.83	4.09 - 37.37	8.34
Cortisol (ug/dL)	4.7	6.2 - 19.4	7.8

With these trough levels 8 days post injection, would I benefit from more frequent injections given my SHBG level? I am concerned that my E2 being where it is 8 days post injection is way too high a couple days after injection. I begin experiencing some joint cracking and odd mild pains in my shoulder 36 hours to 3 days after injection.
Any way to estimate what my peak total and free testosterone levels would be based on these results 8 days post injection?
Also, B12 went up considerably - not sure if that's related to TRT?
Thanks, guys!

 

[JV63]

You say you feel great. What else can you ask for? As long as that is the case I wouldn't change anything.
7 weeks is a short time and there will probably be changes but don't start chasing lab numbers if you feel good.

 

[sh1973]

If you feel good I don’t understand why on earth you’d want to mess with anything. Trust me keeping it simple with as little meds as possible is key.

 

[Vince]

I don't think your estrogen is too high, remember E follows T. When your testosterone is higher your estrogen will be higher, right. You might want to consider injecting every three and a half days, it would level out your peaks. Did you ever have a complete thyroid panel, TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3 and both antibodies?

 

[Gman86]

I would just increase injection frequency to around EOD. Other than that, if you feel great, I wouldn’t mess with things.

 

[brendangaz]

I don't think your estrogen is too high, remember E follows T. When your testosterone is higher your estrogen will be higher, right. You might want to consider injecting every three and a half days, it would level out your peaks. Did you ever have a complete thyroid panel, TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3 and both antibodies?

I just feel if E2 is 49 8 days post injection, it must be significantly higher a couple days post injection. No?

My most recent thyroid test results are:

Free T3: 3.8 pg/mL
Free T4: 1.0 ng/dL
TSH: 1.79 uIU/mL
Reverse T3: 11 (lab report doesn't provide UOM)

 

[Vince]

I just feel if E2 is 49 8 days post injection, it must be significantly higher a couple days post injection. No?

My most recent thyroid test results are:

Free T3: 3.8 pg/mL
Free T4: 1.0 ng/dL
TSH: 1.79 uIU/mL
Reverse T3: 11 (lab report doesn't provide UOM)

You didn't show ranges but I believe your thyroid levels look good.
Yes closer to your time after injecting your levels will be higher. But as you know that is not the time we do labs.

 

[brendangaz]

Also, Libido is sky high the night of injection day (inject in the am), then tapers off considerably from there. Will injections every 3.5 days rather than 1x/week help with this?

 

[JV63]

Also, Libido is sky high the night of injection day (inject in the am), then tapers off considerably from there. Will injections every 3.5 days rather than 1x/week help with this?

There are no absolutes when dealing with hormones, so maybe/maybe not.

 

[Systemlord]

Will injections every 3.5 days rather than 1x/week help with this?

If your levels are swinging enough, this could affect libido negatively. It's not really a question are levels swinging, there are and the question becomes are you sensitive to it.

Only one way to find out, try injections every 3.5 days to even things out. I bet you see an improvement, most do in your situation.

Who knows, maybe you'll need injections EOD to optimise TRT. You might even be like me, even the slightest fluctuation makes TRT less effective.

 

[Vince]

Also, Libido is sky high the night of injection day (inject in the am), then tapers off considerably from there. Will injections every 3.5 days rather than 1x/week help with this?

There are many men that do good with weekly injections, twice weekly injections and everyday injections. We're all different for whatever reason. I actually thrived on all my protocols. I went to daily injections just to keep my levels nice and even. When I went to daily injections I no longer had to donate blood, my HCT has held steady at 48. I don't know if it's because of daily injections, longevity of trt, or maybe both.