34 year old, 3 weeks into TRT, struggling significantly on low dose - looking for advice from others who've been through a rough start

[scyther]

Started TRT at 34 with total testosterone of 13.6 nmol/L and free testosterone of 0.25, symptomatic with low mood, overthinking, fatigue and poor motivation/work/gym performance.

Currently on 30mg twice weekly (60mg total) which I know is a low dose, but even at this level I'm experiencing significant morning anxiety, CNS overstimulation, irritability, emotional blunting, night sweats and mood instability. I've stopped drinking coffee and stopped taking any other stimulants.

The first 3 weeks have been genuinely rough with very few good days. Just took Tongkat Ali which actually helped with taking the edge off slightly.

My main concern is that 60mg per week won't get my levels high enough to feel the benefits, but when I've tried higher doses the CNS side effects become unmanageable.

I'm seriously contemplating stopping altogether but I know my baseline is a bad place to return to. Has anyone else experienced a particularly rough adjustment period on low doses? Did it get better with time? And did anyone reach optimal levels on 60mg or less per week?

Any advice welcome. Didn't think it would be this tough. Cheers


Testosterone - 13.6 nmol/L
Free Testosterone - 0.255 nmol/L
Oestradiol - 98.9 pmol/L
LH - 6.3 U/L
FSH - 3.64 U/L
Prolactin - 238 mIU/L
SHBG - 32.7 nmol/L
Haematocrit - 43.0%
Haemoglobin - 152 g/L
Ferritin - 108.56 µg/L

 

[Systemlord]

Started TRT at 34 with total testosterone of 13.6 nmol/L and free testosterone of 0.25, symptomatic with low mood, overthinking, fatigue and poor motivation/work/gym performance.

Currently on 30mg twice weekly (60mg total) which I know is a low dose, but even at this level I'm experiencing significant morning anxiety, CNS overstimulation, irritability, emotional blunting, night sweats and mood instability. I've stopped drinking coffee and stopped taking any other stimulants.

The first 3 weeks have been genuinely rough with very few good days. Just took Tongkat Ali which actually helped with taking the edge off slightly.

My main concern is that 60mg per week won't get my levels high enough to feel the benefits, but when I've tried higher doses the CNS side effects become unmanageable.

I'm seriously contemplating stopping altogether but I know my baseline is a bad place to return to. Has anyone else experienced a particularly rough adjustment period on low doses? Did it get better with time? And did anyone reach optimal levels on 60mg or less per week?

Any advice welcome. Didn't think it would be this tough. Cheers


Testosterone - 13.6 nmol/L
Free Testosterone - 0.255 nmol/L
Oestradiol - 98.9 pmol/L
LH - 6.3 U/L
FSH - 3.64 U/L
Prolactin - 238 mIU/L
SHBG - 32.7 nmol/L
Haematocrit - 43.0%
Haemoglobin - 152 g/L
Ferritin - 108.56 µg/L

You’re more than likely on a suboptimal dose given your response. The majority of men need somewhere closer to 100 mg per week. You’re not even reaching a steady state yet, which will be in 4 to 6 weeks. This dose might just be enough to shut you down, but not give you enough to function on any sort of normal level.

 

[FunkOdyssey]

Currently on 30mg twice weekly (60mg total) which I know is a low dose, but even at this level I'm experiencing significant morning anxiety, CNS overstimulation, irritability, emotional blunting, night sweats and mood instability. I've stopped drinking coffee and stopped taking any other stimulants.

I had.an unpleasant start, very similar to yours. I think it's a matter of adaptation that needs to occur here, and it will occur given time. There's not really any such thing as a biological male being overwhelmed by your current weekly dosage.

When side effects are happening that you don't like, smaller and more frequent injections almost always improve the situation. I switched to daily injections of 10 mg in the beginning, and that was immensely helpful compared to the larger doses you're using.

Eventually, with continued exposure to TRT, I was able to chip away at the unmanly aspects of my physiology that were producing these uncomfortable reactions. I can now take a 100 mg shot of a long ester or even 30+ mg of test prop and be completely fine.

Magnesium supplementation can be helpful in the short-term to counteract some of the overstimulation and anxiety.

 

[scyther]

Thank you for this, very reassuring.

I think you're right, I'm going to try daily doses of 10mg as of tomorrow to try to try and manage the irritability, anxiety and general side effects. I'm already taking magnesium too.

I know it's a low dose but 100mg biweekly was really throwing me around. Hoping I can start increasing dosage and side effects start to subside in a few weeks.

Thanks again

 

[scyther]

I had.an unpleasant start, very similar to yours. I think it's a matter of adaptation that needs to occur here, and it will occur given time. There's not really any such thing as a biological male being overwhelmed by your current weekly dosage.

When side effects are happening that you don't like, smaller and more frequent injections almost always improve the situation. I switched to daily injections of 10 mg in the beginning, and that was immensely helpful compared to the larger doses you're using.

Eventually, with continued exposure to TRT, I was able to chip away at the unmanly aspects of my physiology that were producing these uncomfortable reactions. I can now take a 100 mg shot of a long ester or even 30+ mg of test prop and be completely fine.

Magnesium supplementation can be helpful in the short-term to counteract some of the overstimulation and anxiety.

I just want to say a massive thank you. I'm feeling MUCH better and now I'm on daily injections of 15mg already, I think it was partly just the adjustment phase. Thanks again. Hopefully I can start spreading them out after a few weeks.

 

[scyther]

Another update. Feel amazing now. If anyone is reading this having similar issues in the adjustment phase, just get through 6 weeks before making a decision about whether trt is right for you.