Approaching Six Weeks and I Feel Nothing

[Kirk001]

Is this odd? I'm 5 1/2 weeks into my first injection protocol and I feel nothing. I'm on 60mg test cyp and 500 IU HCG, twice weekly. Also 0.250mg anastrozole twice weekly.

Most recent SHBG number before starting injections was 35.7 nmol/L (16.5 - 55.9). But this was before I did a month of clomiphene, which I believe raises it, so it may be higher than that.

I feel just normal, like I might as well be injecting water, except for two small things. First I can feel a bit moody on injection days sometmes, but not always. And second my body temp seems to be running hotter, at least at night... I notice I am having to crank up the A/C more than usual in order to feel comfortable to sleep.

I'll be getting some labwork done here as I hit steady state, as I want to change this protocol since it's not working. A fuller battery of tests will be upcoming in about another six weeks or so, so for now I'll probably just get testosterone and maybe estradiol.

But is it strange to feel nothing on the first protocol? Where should I go from here... keep frequency the same but increase dose(s)? Will post lab results, thanks.

 

[Systemlord]

I didn't feel like superman at 6 weeks, it took months of seeing small noticeable changes even on once weekly injections (low SHBG) which is far from what I actually needed. When my body reaches a stable state it may be 7-8 weeks before I actually feel it, seems to be a lag response reaching a stable state and actually feeling it.

I'm 7 weeks into a protocol and I still feel very small fluctuations, I feel different on injections days. You haven't even reached a stable state yet, body is searching for a new balance and tissues is being repaired. Frequency of injections is perfect.

Wait for the labs.

 

[Vince Carter]

Too soon to tell, probably shouldn't be using Anastrozole, at this point with no labs.

 

[KenLowT]

When my E2 is running too high my body temperature goes up. I'm hot no matter what. I'm going through that right now with my increase in dosage. Hopefully when I get my AI it'll be fine. I will also say that I thought I would immediately feel the benefits of TRT in my first 6 weeks, but I did not. In my case I dropped from 150 mg to 100 mg and after 5 weeks on the new protocol I started feeling much better. I was low normal before TRT with no libido. Now I'm plain old normal with no libido. So hopefully when I get dialed in I'll have something working.

 

[Kirk001]

Too soon to tell, probably shouldn't be using Anastrozole, at this point with no labs.

I'm 47 days into this protocol... steady state at 40 days... so at this point if the amount in my system is neither increasing nor decreasing, I should be feeling something if I was going to feel something on this protocol, right?

Re: the anastrozole it was a holdover from my time on clomiphene... I had bad estrogenic side effects on that so I went pretty strong on the AI. But you got me thinking, so I eased back on it and now I have stopped the anastrozole completely. Last dose was 10 days ago, so I suppose that's good news that apparently I no longer need it like I did on clomiphene.

But I feel no different... still nothing.

 

[Outcome]

I've heard that the lower your t is/was the faster your respond and start feeling it. Give it time, everyone is different. Good move on the anastrozole.

 

[Systemlord]

If you bottom out your estrogen, then 10 days wouldn't be long enough to recover.

Be nice if you had labs to confirm.

 

[Kirk001]

Yeah once they get back to me I will get some testing done. But I feel now pretty much like I did before I started treatment. My pre-treatment E2 was relatively low anyway I guess, 14.5 pg/mL (8.0 - 35.0). After about a month on Clomid it was up to 24 and I had bad estrogenic side effects.

 

[CROM]

I always feel better (within 2 weeks) when on testosterone. But what really makes me feel good is a well balanced meal of fruits, vegetables, protein and health fats…and 8 hrs of sleep. Makes me feel like a million bucks. Oh and the gym and cardio. Don’t expect the world from test, it’s just a tiny piece of the puzzle.

 

[Kirk001]

Ok T labwork is back.

Pre-treatment levels: Total Testosterone 297 ng/dL (264 - 916) and Free Testosterone 8.3 pg/mL (8.7 - 25.1)

Levels today: Total Testosterone 1052.3 and Free Testosterone 36.2

So I was near the bottom or below the Labcorp ranges to start with, and now I'm over the high end on both, but I feel no different. And I doubt I overshot the mark, since I also felt no different at any point during the past 9 weeks while the amount in my system was rising on the way to steady state. I guess I need to try going higher?

 

[BigBamBoo]

As mentioned above, there is a LOT more to “feeling good” than just being on TRT.

If all you did was start TRT and did not start other activities to help better yourself....working out, eating healthy, hiking/outdoor activity, etc., then I can totally see why you might not feel much from TRT.

For me starting a TRT was to get my life “balance” back up. I love working out. I love hiking. I have hobbies that are physically demanding (I am a competitive shooter), and so TRT was just a part of trying to keep myself healthy.

Everyone has their own reasons for TRT. But TRT by itself is not the fountain of youth.

Good luck.

 

[fifty]

Kirk do you have updated e2 values?

 

[DragonBits]

Ok T labwork is back.

Pre-treatment levels: Total Testosterone 297 ng/dL (264 - 916) and Free Testosterone 8.3 pg/mL (8.7 - 25.1)

Levels today: Total Testosterone 1052.3 and Free Testosterone 36.2

So I was near the bottom or below the Labcorp ranges to start with, and now I'm over the high end on both, but I feel no different. And I doubt I overshot the mark, since I also felt no different at any point during the past 9 weeks while the amount in my system was rising on the way to steady state. I guess I need to try going higher?

What problems made you go on TRT? It might help to know what your goals were.

 

[Systemlord]

High E2 can ruin the good feeling TRT brings and can also make it seem like TRT isn't working.

 

[MarkM]

I am of the thinking that you don't need to take your T higher with the Free T levels you have that are well over the top of the range. My best guess to why you don't feel any better is your E2 has risen to a point that it is higher than you feel good at. You were at an E2 of 24 when on clomid and had bad side effects. My guess is it is twice as high as it was then.

 

[Donovan P]

Any update on E2, Kirk? Also what was your SHBG?

 

[Kirk001]

Will be getting a bunch of labwork done soon and will post results, thanks.

 

[ERO]

Some guys just feel nothing from TRT even with good lab numbers on paper.

I have super low SHBG and TRT feel like injecting water to me at any dose or doing schedule, including daily injections of very small amounts of T. Sounds like you feel the same even with a decent level of SHBG.