Advice needed

[blinkyvx]

180 days is a long while to go, without re drawing test levels etc. id ask [or do myself ] for 6 weeks in to re check.. to see if what your doing is working, number wise and symptom wise. Id track symptoms as well daily to correlate with different dosages you may try.

free T PG or NG/dl? i assume PG, reference range is important as well.

 

[Crom_is_good]

180 days is a long while to go, without re drawing test levels etc. id ask [or do myself ] for 6 weeks in to re check.. to see if what your doing is working, number wise and symptom wise. Id track symptoms as well daily to correlate with different dosages you may try.

free T PG or NG/dl? i assume PG, reference range is important as well.

Free T = 80.9 pg total 493 ng. I think they mentioned after first injections I check levels in a week then every two weeks. Once they have me where they want me it's every 180 days.
They also said if my hematocrit gets to high they might have me go donate blood. But not to worry cause I'll feel fantastic after. I kinda raised my eyebrow there. I've heard men can take up to 600 a week safely. Not sure how true that is.

 

[blinkyvx]

id find out what "where they want you" means in relation to your symptoms and how you feel. what are your ranges?

 

[Crom_is_good]

id find out what "where they want you" means in relation to your symptoms and how you feel. what are your ranges?

I'm going to write up a list of questions before I go in this Thursday. I'll do some more homework as well. I really just wanna feel better and heal. I'll update. Thanks again.

 

[Systemlord]

They also said if my hematocrit gets to high they might have me go donate blood.

A word of caution, those who donate too often may see ferritin in low. I find decreasing my dose will see a quick decline in HCT usually within a few days, of course your mileage may vary.

 

[DragonBits]

So 43 y/o 5'11 159. After three months of 200 mg DHEA first thing in the morning my T was 493 and free T was 80.9. Any experts think that's good enough to stay off T. The men's clinic Doc said it was too low and in the 65 y/o + range. Feel like I'm second guessing. I know this is going to be a commitment. I just wanna feel good and heal my body so damn bad.

You can buy a dhea blood test from discounted labs for $49.

IMO 493 total T is marginally OK. If you drop the DHEA and your total T goes down, better to go on TRT. IF total T stays at 493, kind of 50/50 to me. Be curious what your E2 sensitive is at 200 mg dhea I would like my total T north of 600, but I am 67. Without TRT, my total T is usually 350.

BTW, it's my feeling people become for or less sensitive to hormone like T or E2 when they are chronically high or low. You could be more sensitive to lower levels of T.

 

[Crom_is_good]

You can buy a dhea blood test from discounted labs for $49.

IMO 493 total T is marginally OK. If you drop the DHEA and your total T goes down, better to go on TRT. IF total T stays at 493, kind of 50/50 to me. Be curious what your E2 sensitive is at 200 mg dhea I would like my total T north of 600, but I am 67. Without TRT, my total T is usually 350.

BTW, it's my feeling people become for or less sensitive to hormone like T or E2 when they are chronically high or low. You could be more sensitive to lower levels of T.

Hi. So, I stopped the DHEA and had my blood done at the Mens clinic. My levels dropped about 200 points. Also my free T went from 80 to 20.
I got a real good vibe from the Doc. Articulate, in good shape and so on. He has been doing hormone replacement since 05 in my area. He basically told me my levels are too low and it's not doing my body any good anymore. He gave me my first shot of 160 today! I also took .5 Anastrozole estrogen blocker.
The progress I've made with low levels of T has been pretty good. I'm really hoping this is a quality of life bump for me.

 

[DragonBits]

Hi. So, I stopped the DHEA and had my blood done at the Mens clinic. My levels dropped about 200 points. Also my free T went from 80 to 20.
I got a real good vibe from the Doc. Articulate, in good shape and so on. He has been doing hormone replacement since 05 in my area. He basically told me my levels are too low and it's not doing my body any good anymore. He gave me my first shot of 160 today! I also took .5 Anastrozole estrogen blocker.
The progress I've made with low levels of T has been pretty good. I'm really hoping this is a quality of life bump for me.

Interesting, congrats on getting a doc to move you to injections. I would have liked to test E2 before taking Anastrozole.

I took DHEA way back in 1995 when i was 43, it did nothing for my Total T or my symptoms, I tested total T and DHEA, total t was at 376 ng/dl and DHEA was at 6672 ng/ml (800-5600 range). What did happen, my liver enzymes ast/alt went over range. No idea what happened to E2 at the time, but moot point since my total T never went up. or at least that was my assumption. in 2018 I had gone off TRT for a year, my total T was 348 at age 65 Vs 376 with DHEA at age 43. I never tested Total T before and after dhea in 1995, but my total T (without TRT) when looking back over 20 years was virtually the same.

Clomid appears to have increased my total T to 478, but not enough to make a huge difference, and it raised my E2 from 5 > 27 pg/ml. But it did increase my sperm count.

 

[blinkyvx]

I got a real good vibe from the Doc. Articulate, in good shape and so on. He has been doing hormone replacement since 05 in my area. He basically told me my levels are too low and it's not doing my body any good anymore. He gave me my first shot of 160 today! I also took .5 Anastrozole estrogen blocker.
The progress I've made with low levels of T has been pretty good. I'm really hoping this is a quality of life bump for me.

Id move to getting to do your own shots, then looking into bi weekly or daily injection, and track how you feel along with symptoms just from person experiences, from going 1 x a week, to bi weekly, to now daily.

interesting on the DHEA though mine tested at 220, range 115-730 or something..

Did you notice any changes symptom wise? energy/mood/motivation ?

 

[seppuku]

Not sure why you didn't just keep taking the dhea and hold off on the trt - it was raising your testosterone levels to nearly 500 and you felt good......

 

[Crom_is_good]

Not sure why you didn't just keep taking the dhea and hold off on the trt - it was raising your testosterone levels to nearly 500 and you felt good......

DHEA had the ability to raise my T but it didn't handle my symptoms much. Also , I was taking DHEA as well as almost two hour workouts about four times a week. So DHEA , sprints, squats, tire tosses, curls, early sleep, cold showers high fat diet, just for a 200 point gain. After I stopped the DHEA my levels dropped 200 points. Me needing TRT had more to do with my body not producing it and less to do with what I wanted. DHEA while great wasn't helping with morning wood, sex drive and other symptoms.

 

[Crom_is_good]

Id move to getting to do your own shots, then looking into bi weekly or daily injection, and track how you feel along with symptoms just from person experiences, from going 1 x a week, to bi weekly, to now daily.

interesting on the DHEA though mine tested at 220, range 115-730 or something..

Did you notice any changes symptom wise? energy/mood/motivation ?

Had an energy increase as well as a major decline in weight. I'm still on 200 mg first thing in the morning.

My doctor talked to me about daily injections and also suggested twice a week when I start doing my own shots.

He said I wouldn't notice anything till my second or third shot but I've been really hungry lately. Also last night I had so many erections in my sleep they were waking me up in the night. I haven't had morning wood or erections like that in night in probably 20 years. I'm 43 now. Also felt pretty calm and chilled out over the weekend. Really good vibes. Looking forward to my Thursday shot.

 

[Systemlord]

The fluctuations for me usually get more intense by the 4-5th week, then things calm down by the end of 6 week and things are even better by 8 weeks.

On daily injections things are more steady, more gradual and easier going.

 

[seppuku]

DHEA had the ability to raise my T but it didn't handle my symptoms much. Also , I was taking DHEA as well as almost two hour workouts about four times a week. So DHEA , sprints, squats, tire tosses, curls, early sleep, cold showers high fat diet, just for a 200 point gain. After I stopped the DHEA my levels dropped 200 points. Me needing TRT had more to do with my body not producing it and less to do with what I wanted. DHEA while great wasn't helping with morning wood, sex drive and other symptoms.

Seems an odd choice to make in my opinion, your own body was using the dhea you took and making its own testosterone at a healthy level. Most people wouldn't get that result. I'd say if you weren't getting symptom relief after getting your levels using dhea up to around 500, then your problems lie elsewhere (four two hour workouts a week maybe?). But that's just my opinion, and you obviously want to go on lifelong trt regardless. I've been folliwing these types of forums for a decade, and i've noticed a pattern - people see trt as a magic bullet to all their problems when their levels are not even hypogonadal. They go on shots, feel "amazing" until the novelty wears off, then they're back on the forums asking how to get off trt (which you usually can't). But good luck to you anyhow, i hope it works out for you.

 

[blinkyvx]

2 hour workouts are a waste, hour tops heavy compound exercises, look into mark ripptoe starting strength.

do you take 200mg DHEA daily? debating continuing mine even with lowish DEHA-S lab results. or trying pregnelone