Excellent chance its the SUBQ resulting in lower levels over time.
Switch to IM and report back.
Might wanna try asking someone to post a full set of labs (assays/reference ranges, lab used) let alone make sure when it comes to comparing blood work whether one is following a strictly sub-q protocol, strictly IM protocol let alone sub-q vs IM protocol that they are following the steps needed in order to make a fair comparison before shooting off at the mouth stating....
Excellent chance its the SUBQ resulting in lower levels over time
Still caught up on that it must be the sub-q resulting in the lower levels bulls**t!
As you and many that have been on the forum long enough should very well know when comparing labs:
1. The protocol needs to be kept the same (ester/dose T/injection frequency)
2.
4-6 weeks for blood levels to stabilize before getting blood work done (6 weeks)
3. Testing is done at the true trough
4. Using the same lab
5. Using the same assays (most accurate) TT/e2 (LC-MS/MS) and FT (Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration)
6. Each protocol needs to be given 12 weeks (claim success or failure)
Only then can one make the claim whether the protocol was truly a success or failure let alone when comparing blood levels.
OP (post #1)
My Protocol:
60mg Testosterone Enanthate SubQ E3.5D
700IU HcG SubQ E3.5D
0.25mg Anastrozole three times a week
I've been on TRT for 4.5 years, the past three years on Enanthate & HcG injections. During these last three years I've been tinkering with the dosage and frequency of the T and HcG injections, until last May I stopped the tinkering and have since kept the same protocol.
SHBG is in the range of 16-20
Aug 2019: Total T 796 ng/dl , E2 45 pg/ml
Nov 2019: Total T 678 ng/dl , E2 29 pg/ml
Feb 2020: Total T 516 ng/dl , E2 40 pg/ml
1. kept his protocol (dose T/injection frequency) the same since May
2. stable levels as he has been on the same protocol for months on end
3.
never mentioned if blood work was done at true trough each time
4.
never mentioned if blood work was done at the same lab each time
5.
never mentioned if blood work was done using the same assay each time
6. been on his protocol since last May and we have no clue how he feels overall as he did not mention it
Even then if we give him the benefit of the doubt 3-5 you can clearly see that he has been on trt for 4.5 yrs and the last 3 years have been TE/hCG injected strictly sub-q.
Looking over his very first thread on the forum from 2018 (posted below) you can clearly see that he has been f**king with sub-q injections from the get-go!
Never had any issues with the effectiveness/absorption of injecting T strictly sub-q for the past few years up until Feb.2020 when his TT was 678 ng/dL (Nov.2019) which then dropped to 516 ng/dL (Feb.2020).....3 months later.
Yet you jump the gun claiming sub-q is most likely to blame!
If anything one would have run into issues well within starting sub-q injections.
You need to break yourself free of that heard you follow on some of those bro forums.
You know the ones with all those blast/cruisers claiming he said/she said, this, that, and the other.
OP (post #1)
Hi everyone, I've been reading here for a little over a year and I've found this site most educational. Thank you to Nelson for all the informative material on this website (I also enjoyed your book which I bought on Amazon) and for everyone else here who contributes information and shares...
www.excelmale.com
Hi everyone,
I've been reading here for a little over a year and I've found this site most educational. Thank you to Nelson for all the informative material on this website (I also enjoyed your book which I bought on Amazon) and for everyone else here who contributes information and shares their experience.
Background on me and my TRT journey:
I'm 55 yo male, all my life I've enjoyed a high sex drive and high sexual function. My wife and I had problems conceiving children some 20+ years ago and my sperm was tested and turned out to have low quantity and very low motility so we were given the express path to IVF/ICSI. My Testosterone was tested then too and was on the low side of normal. My sexual dysfunction problems began three years ago after several months of taking an SSRI to alleviate stress of dealing with a life crisis. The SSRI crashed my libido and caused ED, but I wasn't too worried as I knew this to be temporary as I experienced similar symptoms before when I took an SSRI for several months and also when I took a Propecia for a month - but I rebounded very well both these times after I stopped taking the medication. However this time the symptoms of low libido and ED persisted after I got off the SSRI. I finally got tested and had Total Testosterone that was below the low normal range, as well as low LH & FSH, thus deducing secondary hypogonadism.
I tried both Nebido (Aveed) shots as well transdermal Testosterone but they were not able to provide me a stable level of Testosterone in the normal range. About a year ago I had a most helpful consultation with Dr. Crisler who pointed out that my low SHBG (around 17, which is the low side of normal) is causing the Testosterone to be flushed quickly out of my system. Dr. Crisler recommended me to go on bi weekly SUBQ injections of Testosterone, explaining that the slower release from the subq tissue would enable me to sustain a normal level of Testosterone. And indeed Dr. Crisler was right and when I switched to bi weekly Testosterone Enathate shots I was finally able to sustain a normal and stable level of Testosterone. Dr. Crisler also recommended taking DHEA and that indeed had a noticeable very positive effect on my libido, along with the HCG. For some reason I am still dependant on PDE5 inhibitors to overcome ED issues despite having for a year now normal Total Testosterone , managed E2 and high libido.
A couple of months ago I tried Clomid for two weeks (50mg three times a week) after a week of discontinuing the injections of T&HCG. However I had no response to the Clomid (LH remained low and my T and libido crashed) so I got off the Clomid and resumed the T&HCG therapy.
My current protocol:
45mg SUBQ Testostone Enathate twice a week
500IU SUBQ HCG three times a week
0.25mg Anastrazole twice a week
50mg DHEA twice a day
With the above protocol I am able to sustain a level of Total Testosterone of 600-650 ng/dL. When I increased the above dosage I was able to increase my Total Testosterone levels. My E2 levels are around 50-55 pg/ml, and I prefer to keep them a little higher than the normal range since the sensitive LC/MS test is not available here and the CLlA test used here to measure E2 may erroneously elevate the results.
