Jason Ellis
Member
I'm working with a popular Tampa based TRT clinic. I've been with them for years, but have lost a little confidence and been disappointed of late.
Like many men with low T (diagnosed at age 35 with total T of 181, but probably a lifelong issue), I'm hoping to finally get my body to look and feel more "manly" with increased muscle mass and less belly fat. I had spent years since college strength training, and literally got nowhere. When I started with shots at age 35 (8 years ago), I thought I finally found my answer to a better body and overall health. It hasn't exactly worked out that way. I'm only slightly stronger than I was 8 years ago with very consistent training. This year, I completely plateaued with no progress at all. My clinic added compounds like oxandrolone and nandrolone, but neither helped (more on that later). The overall advice was, take the least amount of medication to make your labs look good, and no glaring issues (ED, fatigue, libido, etc.), but no more. Fed up with my lack of body recomp, I decided to do an experiment and take 3X the normal dose of my injections for 3 weeks. After those 3 weeks, I would assess how I felt and get a full lab panel completed. It was shocking. I had more energy, strength and muscle gain in those 3 weeks than in the past 3 years. I'm not joking about that. Obviously I don't want to hurt my health, so I didn't know if this was sustainable, hence the labs and followup with the doctor. My labs looked excellent from my lipid panel to my liver enzymes. Nothing looked wrong at all. The clinic was surprised my labs looked so good with such an increase in my medication. Long story short, they suggested I go back to my old dose of 1mL per week of Test and be done with it. They weren't comfortable with me using that much. I get it. On one hand they want to make sure they are taking care of my health. But if my labs look as good as ever, why not allow me to continue with it? I'd be willing to get a full lab panel done every 3 months just to make sure everything is good.
I'm wondering if there is another clinic out there that is more flexible in how the prescribe medication and treat patients. I felt so good, was looking so good, and had more confidence than I had in decades. That all ended when my protocol went back to where it was, and again I've completely plateaued in my strength.
Any advice at all would be helpful. The clinic wanted to say that the extra total and free Test was diminishing returns, and getting it above and beyond the normal range wouldn't result in anymore strength or muscle gains. But that's completely wrong as I was living proof of it. If this was going to harm my health, I'd not want to do this. But my visceral belly fat isn't healthy either, and my lean mass is far below average for a 43 year old who has strength trained for 20+ years.
Help!
Like many men with low T (diagnosed at age 35 with total T of 181, but probably a lifelong issue), I'm hoping to finally get my body to look and feel more "manly" with increased muscle mass and less belly fat. I had spent years since college strength training, and literally got nowhere. When I started with shots at age 35 (8 years ago), I thought I finally found my answer to a better body and overall health. It hasn't exactly worked out that way. I'm only slightly stronger than I was 8 years ago with very consistent training. This year, I completely plateaued with no progress at all. My clinic added compounds like oxandrolone and nandrolone, but neither helped (more on that later). The overall advice was, take the least amount of medication to make your labs look good, and no glaring issues (ED, fatigue, libido, etc.), but no more. Fed up with my lack of body recomp, I decided to do an experiment and take 3X the normal dose of my injections for 3 weeks. After those 3 weeks, I would assess how I felt and get a full lab panel completed. It was shocking. I had more energy, strength and muscle gain in those 3 weeks than in the past 3 years. I'm not joking about that. Obviously I don't want to hurt my health, so I didn't know if this was sustainable, hence the labs and followup with the doctor. My labs looked excellent from my lipid panel to my liver enzymes. Nothing looked wrong at all. The clinic was surprised my labs looked so good with such an increase in my medication. Long story short, they suggested I go back to my old dose of 1mL per week of Test and be done with it. They weren't comfortable with me using that much. I get it. On one hand they want to make sure they are taking care of my health. But if my labs look as good as ever, why not allow me to continue with it? I'd be willing to get a full lab panel done every 3 months just to make sure everything is good.
I'm wondering if there is another clinic out there that is more flexible in how the prescribe medication and treat patients. I felt so good, was looking so good, and had more confidence than I had in decades. That all ended when my protocol went back to where it was, and again I've completely plateaued in my strength.
Any advice at all would be helpful. The clinic wanted to say that the extra total and free Test was diminishing returns, and getting it above and beyond the normal range wouldn't result in anymore strength or muscle gains. But that's completely wrong as I was living proof of it. If this was going to harm my health, I'd not want to do this. But my visceral belly fat isn't healthy either, and my lean mass is far below average for a 43 year old who has strength trained for 20+ years.
Help!
