Wanted to post the following 5 weeks results after starting TRT and much appreciate people sharing their experiences with starting TRT and knowledge for the rest of us just starting out. My profile is that I'm a 48 year old guy in good health, but the past several years I've been feeling a lack of energy and fatigue which I've had my suspicion was testosterone related, but hoping my general condition would improve but it didn't and kept feeling that I was getting worse. I'm near 6 foot and about 170 pounds, always a lean build and health conscious trying to do all the right things with sleep, exercise, diet and no smoking/drinking/drugs. I found out that I was hypothyroid in my 30's(was feeling terrible from that) and was fine from that once I got my TSH level < 2.0 from what was a closer to 5.0 level. I had to educate myself on that doing my own bloodwork and kind of drag/convince my general practitioner doctor into upping my levothyroxine dosage to around my current daily 137 mg dosage where I feel well.
Started TRT this past January and here are my main blood test numbers before and after. Below this I list my general current regimen and general experience.
==before TRT
Testosterone, Total, LC/MS 264.7 LOW 348.0-1197.0 ng/dL 01
Free Testosterone(Direct) 12.2 6.8-21.5 pg/mL 01
Estradiol 8.8 7.6-42.6 pg/mL 01
IGF-1
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I 133 67-205 ng/mL 01
==after TRT (120 mg/week testosterone cypionate, 500 units/week HCG), 5 week blood draw at 3 day 'low' before next injection
Testosterone, Serum 900 900 348-1197 ng/dL 01
Testosterone,Free 36.00 36.00 HIGH 5.00-21.00 ng/dL 01
% Free Testosterone 4.00 4.00 1.50-4.20 % 01
Estradiol, Sensitive 58.4 58.4 HIGH 8.0-35.0 pg/mL 01
IGF-1
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I 236 236 HIGH 67-205 ng/mL 01
==regimen
I split the weekly dose of 120 mg testosterone and 500 units HCG between 2 injections per week every 3.5 days, monday morning and thursday evening
I mix my every 3.5 day shot HCG dose of 0.25 cc with my testosterone dose of 0.3 cc, using 1/2 inch 30 gauge insulin needles - takes a few minutes to draw the oily testosterone and later inject with the small gauge needle, going to try a 29 gauge to see if that works better. Using Nelson's technique(thanks!) viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=0uXoBb6mkys . For injecting, I use my quads instead of my delts or triceps - tried triceps once and its a difficult angle to self-inject for me and gravity tended to want to pull the mixture back out. As in video I draw testosterone first and HCG second, so on injection the HCG goes in quick first followed/capped by the slower/thicker testosterone.
I inject the total 0.55 cc mixture to my right outer quad mondays and left outer quad thursdays, changing injection sites by around an inch up and down the quad to allow sites to heal and prevent scarring. As I'm lean with little body fat, my quad injections are probably shallow IM.
Also because I'm using lower dosages split over 2 injections per week, I'm going without an AI(and possible side-effects) for now. Generally read where people do use an AI like anastrazole/arimidex its at a lower dosage like 0.25 mg with injections every 3 days.
==other notes
After 5 weeks, I do feel noticeably better - before I always felt like I was ready for a nap or just generally frustrated and feeling self-defeated and now I feel like I have energy and better attitude back that I was lacking. My main blood test numbers( privatemdlabs.com seems to have some good full testing panel prices in addition to using discountedlabs.com for specific tests) are about double of what I want them to be, so I'm going to try halving my testosterone dosage to 60 mg/week over 2 injections 3.5 days apart in hopes it will half those numbers also on re-test after another 5 weeks. I feel that my sleep could be a little sounder and possibly have less libido at the current high levels even though I have energy and better mindset now.
My history of coming to TRT was knowing that my testosterone levels were low and dropping and feeling lousy and feeling that I had to do something. I live in South Carolina and my general practitioner referred me to an endocrinologist. The endo was polite, but asked the usual questions about health(smoking/drinking, diet, exercise) which aren't issues for me and asked if I had any erectile dysfunction which isn't a problem for me either. I'm used to doing my own bloodwork from my thyroid condition, so had testosterone results in hand showing a 313 total testosterone level (which dropped a month later to 267), but the endo gave me the impression they mainly treat for erectile dysfunction and who knows if the endo would have just given me some other drug rather than TRT. Anyway, felt that I was getting nowhere fast with local doctors and looked online at some TRT anti-aging providers and picked one in Florida with a good website that seemed informed and legitimate and not selling some fly-by-night or bait and switch alternative. The company phone contact was polite and sympathetic and after paying for bloodwork test($200) which showed my low T levels, a routine physical($60) submitted from a local doctor and talking with one of their staff doctors they offered some package options. The package I ended up with was around $1,200 for 6 months - I probably paid $600 for meds that I didn't need such as AI's and vitamin B12 shots and probably 20% overpaid for the perscription(and needles) that I was looking for with testosterone and HCG. At current dosages of testosterone and HCG, I think I could probably get by on around $400/6 months with $30 for a yearly+ supply of 140 needles/syringes from a vet supplies website. But with my overpaid package I was mainly happy that I could start TRT now and continue searching for a local doctor that is better informed and helpful in the future. The company also offered more expensive HGH(growth hormone) options, but I don't have the need,interest or income for that. The company was also a bit clueless in providing clomid and HCG for going off-cycle when there will be no off-cycle for me.
For the package I chose, the company suggested a starting dosage of 200 mg(1 cc) testosterone one a week and 500 units HCG once a week, which I tried the first testosterone shot in my quad with the 0.5 inch 30 gauge insulin needle and it took too long to push 1 cc of the oil through the narrow insulin gauge and I could feel the physical 'bump' from the oil under my skin for the next day or so which I didn't like or the associated soreness. After that first shot, I decided to try from the lower end of 120 mg/week split over 2 injections and work up or down from there based on my 5 week test results. I was very happy to see Nelson and others videos of people mixing testosterone and HCG to one shot and for me 0.3 cc of the testosterone oil mixed with 0.25 cc of HCG per shot(total volume 0.55 cc) was much less of an injection, site and recovery issue than 1 cc. I also really like not having to deal with the big 1.5 inch IM injections, and my 5 week test show for me that my levels are high at the lower dosage(and injection method) so I may be moving towards primarily HCG therapy than testosterone(secondary vs primary hypogonadism, wish I had gotten FSH and LH levels checked beforehand). The company also had a high perscribed level of 1 mg arimidex twice a week which I wanted to stay off an AI if possible.
I also tried going to a local compounding pharmacy with hopes of finding a better hormone doctor perscription lead there, but unfortunately that turned out to be a bait and switch as I paid for a $100 saliva hormone test and $125 consultation only to have the pharmacist talk about anti-oxident levels and offer some expensive over-the-counter multivitamins. I do have some leads on some other doctors that I am planning to contact towards the end of my current perscription after I feel that I'm getting my numbers dialed in where I want. I also found the videos at youtube.com/user/bignoknow/videos to be positive and informative in regards to TRT and related mental-wellness issues. Anyway, best of luck to others as they research the complexities of TRT and try to self-diagnose and find helpful professionals and perscriptions. And thanks to websites like this and others that help people share information and experiences.
Started TRT this past January and here are my main blood test numbers before and after. Below this I list my general current regimen and general experience.
==before TRT
Testosterone, Total, LC/MS 264.7 LOW 348.0-1197.0 ng/dL 01
Free Testosterone(Direct) 12.2 6.8-21.5 pg/mL 01
Estradiol 8.8 7.6-42.6 pg/mL 01
IGF-1
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I 133 67-205 ng/mL 01
==after TRT (120 mg/week testosterone cypionate, 500 units/week HCG), 5 week blood draw at 3 day 'low' before next injection
Testosterone, Serum 900 900 348-1197 ng/dL 01
Testosterone,Free 36.00 36.00 HIGH 5.00-21.00 ng/dL 01
% Free Testosterone 4.00 4.00 1.50-4.20 % 01
Estradiol, Sensitive 58.4 58.4 HIGH 8.0-35.0 pg/mL 01
IGF-1
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I 236 236 HIGH 67-205 ng/mL 01
==regimen
I split the weekly dose of 120 mg testosterone and 500 units HCG between 2 injections per week every 3.5 days, monday morning and thursday evening
I mix my every 3.5 day shot HCG dose of 0.25 cc with my testosterone dose of 0.3 cc, using 1/2 inch 30 gauge insulin needles - takes a few minutes to draw the oily testosterone and later inject with the small gauge needle, going to try a 29 gauge to see if that works better. Using Nelson's technique(thanks!) viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=0uXoBb6mkys . For injecting, I use my quads instead of my delts or triceps - tried triceps once and its a difficult angle to self-inject for me and gravity tended to want to pull the mixture back out. As in video I draw testosterone first and HCG second, so on injection the HCG goes in quick first followed/capped by the slower/thicker testosterone.
I inject the total 0.55 cc mixture to my right outer quad mondays and left outer quad thursdays, changing injection sites by around an inch up and down the quad to allow sites to heal and prevent scarring. As I'm lean with little body fat, my quad injections are probably shallow IM.
Also because I'm using lower dosages split over 2 injections per week, I'm going without an AI(and possible side-effects) for now. Generally read where people do use an AI like anastrazole/arimidex its at a lower dosage like 0.25 mg with injections every 3 days.
==other notes
After 5 weeks, I do feel noticeably better - before I always felt like I was ready for a nap or just generally frustrated and feeling self-defeated and now I feel like I have energy and better attitude back that I was lacking. My main blood test numbers( privatemdlabs.com seems to have some good full testing panel prices in addition to using discountedlabs.com for specific tests) are about double of what I want them to be, so I'm going to try halving my testosterone dosage to 60 mg/week over 2 injections 3.5 days apart in hopes it will half those numbers also on re-test after another 5 weeks. I feel that my sleep could be a little sounder and possibly have less libido at the current high levels even though I have energy and better mindset now.
My history of coming to TRT was knowing that my testosterone levels were low and dropping and feeling lousy and feeling that I had to do something. I live in South Carolina and my general practitioner referred me to an endocrinologist. The endo was polite, but asked the usual questions about health(smoking/drinking, diet, exercise) which aren't issues for me and asked if I had any erectile dysfunction which isn't a problem for me either. I'm used to doing my own bloodwork from my thyroid condition, so had testosterone results in hand showing a 313 total testosterone level (which dropped a month later to 267), but the endo gave me the impression they mainly treat for erectile dysfunction and who knows if the endo would have just given me some other drug rather than TRT. Anyway, felt that I was getting nowhere fast with local doctors and looked online at some TRT anti-aging providers and picked one in Florida with a good website that seemed informed and legitimate and not selling some fly-by-night or bait and switch alternative. The company phone contact was polite and sympathetic and after paying for bloodwork test($200) which showed my low T levels, a routine physical($60) submitted from a local doctor and talking with one of their staff doctors they offered some package options. The package I ended up with was around $1,200 for 6 months - I probably paid $600 for meds that I didn't need such as AI's and vitamin B12 shots and probably 20% overpaid for the perscription(and needles) that I was looking for with testosterone and HCG. At current dosages of testosterone and HCG, I think I could probably get by on around $400/6 months with $30 for a yearly+ supply of 140 needles/syringes from a vet supplies website. But with my overpaid package I was mainly happy that I could start TRT now and continue searching for a local doctor that is better informed and helpful in the future. The company also offered more expensive HGH(growth hormone) options, but I don't have the need,interest or income for that. The company was also a bit clueless in providing clomid and HCG for going off-cycle when there will be no off-cycle for me.
For the package I chose, the company suggested a starting dosage of 200 mg(1 cc) testosterone one a week and 500 units HCG once a week, which I tried the first testosterone shot in my quad with the 0.5 inch 30 gauge insulin needle and it took too long to push 1 cc of the oil through the narrow insulin gauge and I could feel the physical 'bump' from the oil under my skin for the next day or so which I didn't like or the associated soreness. After that first shot, I decided to try from the lower end of 120 mg/week split over 2 injections and work up or down from there based on my 5 week test results. I was very happy to see Nelson and others videos of people mixing testosterone and HCG to one shot and for me 0.3 cc of the testosterone oil mixed with 0.25 cc of HCG per shot(total volume 0.55 cc) was much less of an injection, site and recovery issue than 1 cc. I also really like not having to deal with the big 1.5 inch IM injections, and my 5 week test show for me that my levels are high at the lower dosage(and injection method) so I may be moving towards primarily HCG therapy than testosterone(secondary vs primary hypogonadism, wish I had gotten FSH and LH levels checked beforehand). The company also had a high perscribed level of 1 mg arimidex twice a week which I wanted to stay off an AI if possible.
I also tried going to a local compounding pharmacy with hopes of finding a better hormone doctor perscription lead there, but unfortunately that turned out to be a bait and switch as I paid for a $100 saliva hormone test and $125 consultation only to have the pharmacist talk about anti-oxident levels and offer some expensive over-the-counter multivitamins. I do have some leads on some other doctors that I am planning to contact towards the end of my current perscription after I feel that I'm getting my numbers dialed in where I want. I also found the videos at youtube.com/user/bignoknow/videos to be positive and informative in regards to TRT and related mental-wellness issues. Anyway, best of luck to others as they research the complexities of TRT and try to self-diagnose and find helpful professionals and perscriptions. And thanks to websites like this and others that help people share information and experiences.
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