SKIP TO BELOW THE DOTTED LINE IF YOU DONT WANT THE HISTORY 
So im going to try to make a long (~2 year) story as short and concise as possible. Since i believe its relevant.... I was a long term opiate addict. I finished that miserable journey with a few years of methadone treatment which is known to rock bottom testosterone.
Few years after getting clean I wasnt feeling up to snuff and most of the symptoms (bad sleep, trouble concentrating, low libido) were posters for low T so I went for blood. (as someone who avoids the dr like a plague, assume i had to feel pretty awful to make this step. It was my first blood draw in my life @ 35 lol)
Ultimately the blood draw returned a few things that took precedent. My ALP was triple OOR which led to tests determining I had kidney cancer. So went through surgery and knocked that off the list. Afterwards, the reasons for the elevated ALP had to be determined. Surprise, I had(have) pagets disease as well. Good times.
Anyways, the test showed my TT had recovered to 497. for 36 y/o this didnt seem to be good to me. Of course, turns out its quite average - but the prevailing idea that more test is better, coupled with my symptoms had me hell bent on TRT. Unfortunately, based on the TT number alone (its all he ran that time) I was declined.
I went on a mission to get as lean as possible. Again, misguided into thinking the leaner you are, the better as far as naturally inflating T numbers. I dieted hard at a deficit for about 6 months and got very lean. Too lean. Inlaws were voicing concern to my wife behind my back. I loved the 10 pack but evidently my face looked like skeletor ;p
In the end, i had expected my libido and energy to go up, but as informed minds know - this had the opposite effect. I felt worse than ever.
Went for more labs and as I now know, my hormones were bottomed out, helped along by dieting. TT was 197 on a 400-1080 and FT was 40 on a 49-212. The doc then started me on TRT.
Now fast forward. Ive gone through this entire time trying to dial in, and im close - at least by the numbers. Only partially by the way I feel. Ive been able to keep my TT at the tippy top of the range (little over/under depending) and my FT in between 150-200 on the same scale. E2 is between 20-30 with <1mg arimidex spread out during the week.
Im currently on SubQ as i really dont want to eviscerate my muscle over time and i lost 2 injection sites when i started routinely nailing nerves in my quads. very unpleasant. Anyways the subQ has me feeling worse, which is likely a result of the same dose resulting in lower TT/FT and higher E2. Perhaps due to the slower release resulting in a lower peak as well.
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TRT has definitely provided me with a more even mood. Generally better. It hasnt done "magic" for my energy, but in general it is improved as well. Libido is usually better. So what is the problem you say? (and after the novel, the reason for my post ;p)
1) It has given me some BPH symptoms. I basically have to wring out my penis after urinating lest i dribble in my boxers. Undoubtedly due to the fact my prostate numbers (which while still good) have gone up by ~25%. As a flip side, its made orgasms basically like magic.
2) It has made my appetite insatiable. I used to be able to diet and cut fat very easily. Now i struggle. Struggle might be an understatement. I even wake in the middle of the night to eat now.
3) The biggest caveat. It gave me terrible ED. Terrible as in, I can barely get an erection good enough for penetration let alone maintain it. Viagra allows a return to form, but for gods sake I dont want to have to take more medication.
4) my DHT is 517 on a 106-719. Obviously in range, but high enough to literally annihilate my hairline. I always had some recession, but the amount of hair im losing now is very upsetting. had to change my hairstyle. It was always going to happen, it just would have been much later.
5) Systolic BP is up in the high 130's low 140's however Im not sure if this was present before, as it runs in my family and I am getting older. Also controllable with diet if i get to a low enough weight.
In the end, im really concerned about how things are effecting my health. After the cancer scare, im a bit of a hypochondriac i guess. Longevity doesnt run in the family, and heart disease does. Also the ED thing in and of itself is a HUGE problem for me, also can be caused by hardening of arteries or whatnot and Im beginning to wonder if TRT is having long term deterimental effects on my health.
Especially since we lack data from people who have used it for 30+ years like I will end up doing should i stay on it (and last that long).
In short, is it realistic to think that after a year or two I can come off with the proper protocol and restore myself to the ~500 range, or do you guys think staying on is my best bet? I dont know what part broke my erections but if nothing else, I cant live with that.
Would I simply request HCG and nolvadex from the doc and run them for a month or so and hope for the best?
totally torn.
Sorry for the book.
So im going to try to make a long (~2 year) story as short and concise as possible. Since i believe its relevant.... I was a long term opiate addict. I finished that miserable journey with a few years of methadone treatment which is known to rock bottom testosterone.
Few years after getting clean I wasnt feeling up to snuff and most of the symptoms (bad sleep, trouble concentrating, low libido) were posters for low T so I went for blood. (as someone who avoids the dr like a plague, assume i had to feel pretty awful to make this step. It was my first blood draw in my life @ 35 lol)
Ultimately the blood draw returned a few things that took precedent. My ALP was triple OOR which led to tests determining I had kidney cancer. So went through surgery and knocked that off the list. Afterwards, the reasons for the elevated ALP had to be determined. Surprise, I had(have) pagets disease as well. Good times.
Anyways, the test showed my TT had recovered to 497. for 36 y/o this didnt seem to be good to me. Of course, turns out its quite average - but the prevailing idea that more test is better, coupled with my symptoms had me hell bent on TRT. Unfortunately, based on the TT number alone (its all he ran that time) I was declined.
I went on a mission to get as lean as possible. Again, misguided into thinking the leaner you are, the better as far as naturally inflating T numbers. I dieted hard at a deficit for about 6 months and got very lean. Too lean. Inlaws were voicing concern to my wife behind my back. I loved the 10 pack but evidently my face looked like skeletor ;p
In the end, i had expected my libido and energy to go up, but as informed minds know - this had the opposite effect. I felt worse than ever.
Went for more labs and as I now know, my hormones were bottomed out, helped along by dieting. TT was 197 on a 400-1080 and FT was 40 on a 49-212. The doc then started me on TRT.
Now fast forward. Ive gone through this entire time trying to dial in, and im close - at least by the numbers. Only partially by the way I feel. Ive been able to keep my TT at the tippy top of the range (little over/under depending) and my FT in between 150-200 on the same scale. E2 is between 20-30 with <1mg arimidex spread out during the week.
Im currently on SubQ as i really dont want to eviscerate my muscle over time and i lost 2 injection sites when i started routinely nailing nerves in my quads. very unpleasant. Anyways the subQ has me feeling worse, which is likely a result of the same dose resulting in lower TT/FT and higher E2. Perhaps due to the slower release resulting in a lower peak as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRT has definitely provided me with a more even mood. Generally better. It hasnt done "magic" for my energy, but in general it is improved as well. Libido is usually better. So what is the problem you say? (and after the novel, the reason for my post ;p)
1) It has given me some BPH symptoms. I basically have to wring out my penis after urinating lest i dribble in my boxers. Undoubtedly due to the fact my prostate numbers (which while still good) have gone up by ~25%. As a flip side, its made orgasms basically like magic.
2) It has made my appetite insatiable. I used to be able to diet and cut fat very easily. Now i struggle. Struggle might be an understatement. I even wake in the middle of the night to eat now.
3) The biggest caveat. It gave me terrible ED. Terrible as in, I can barely get an erection good enough for penetration let alone maintain it. Viagra allows a return to form, but for gods sake I dont want to have to take more medication.
4) my DHT is 517 on a 106-719. Obviously in range, but high enough to literally annihilate my hairline. I always had some recession, but the amount of hair im losing now is very upsetting. had to change my hairstyle. It was always going to happen, it just would have been much later.
5) Systolic BP is up in the high 130's low 140's however Im not sure if this was present before, as it runs in my family and I am getting older. Also controllable with diet if i get to a low enough weight.
In the end, im really concerned about how things are effecting my health. After the cancer scare, im a bit of a hypochondriac i guess. Longevity doesnt run in the family, and heart disease does. Also the ED thing in and of itself is a HUGE problem for me, also can be caused by hardening of arteries or whatnot and Im beginning to wonder if TRT is having long term deterimental effects on my health.
Especially since we lack data from people who have used it for 30+ years like I will end up doing should i stay on it (and last that long).
In short, is it realistic to think that after a year or two I can come off with the proper protocol and restore myself to the ~500 range, or do you guys think staying on is my best bet? I dont know what part broke my erections but if nothing else, I cant live with that.
Would I simply request HCG and nolvadex from the doc and run them for a month or so and hope for the best?
totally torn.
Sorry for the book.
