Dropping AI Completely

[Thomtst2010]

I recently got an email from my doctors office requesting I make an appointment, and during the appointment my doctor told me, I should stop all AI's, and not to worry about any side effects. This seems to be the way TRT is going these days, and personally I couldn't happier. But, like most doctors mine isn't interested in explaining anything, so I have no idea what to expect. I followed his advice, and it's only been about two weeks and I have a few light symptoms from the side effect of high E2. Red face and chest comes and goes, as does my erection quality. It seems that I spend more time on the softer side of things. Although, it's not horrible since a viagra will fix that. I guess I should mention, that normally I don't need viagra, but while my body's adjusting it seems that I do. I also, experience some bph, not horrible but it's there. I've read a few posts from guys who are dropping their AI's and their saying it takes about 4-8 weeks for their sides to disappear. I was wondering about two things. First, how can the body adjust to higher E2, and second if you dropped your AI, how long did it take you to feel great?

Thanks for the info I appreciate it!

 

[Vince Carter]

"Ignoring the sides" sounds like a bad Dr but that's just me. Implying that you should just cope with body acne, anger/irritability/PMS and soft erections, and all that, is terrible advice.

 

[Thomtst2010]

It where things are now in the world of TRT. My Doc came off AI's 100% and so did Dr. Crisler before passing away. Take a closer look and maybe it might help you too.

 

[Nashtide]

I dropped the AI about six months ago. I have had zero issues. My E2 went from 25 to 45. I feel great. You need some labs. What was your E2?

 

[Thomtst2010]

I've decided not to bother with labs, until I hit the 6-8 week mark, of zero AI.Additionally, I think labs are way over used, and talked about by everyone. With that said I think annual labs make good general health sense. I've been on TRT long enough to remember, where it was lab this, and lab that, or target 22 E2 or at 50 and your going to get man boobs. Today it let your body do the ballancoing. So, I prefer to wait my 6-8 weeks and let my body do it's thing and if I "feel" my sides getting worse, I'll check them but for now I'm still walking this zero AI thing.through.

I was glade to hear that your doing great on zero AI !!!!!! (for both our sakes)

Thanks

 

[Nashtide]

I've decided not to bother with labs, until I hit the 6-8 week mark, of zero AI.Additionally, I think labs are way over used, and talked about by everyone. With that said I think annual labs make good general health sense. I've been on TRT long enough to remember, where it was lab this, and lab that, or target 22 E2 or at 50 and your going to get man boobs. Today it let your body do the ballancoing. So, I prefer to wait my 6-8 weeks and let my body do it's thing and if I "feel" my sides getting worse, I'll check them but for now I'm still walking this zero AI thing.through.

I was glade to hear that your doing great on zero AI !!!!!! (for both our sakes)

Thanks

I agree that we overdo labs and I’m not suggesting you do labs this early on. However, in this case, labs can be helpful to compare E2 prior to and after dropping the AI. For me, the rise in E2 was fairly minor and probably explains why I had no symptoms. As a matter of fact, my bp is running better than it has in 30 years. If however your labs show a very large change in E2, you may need to make other changes. Best of luck!

 

[Thomtst2010]

I don't disagree. I'll tell you that even when I was using an AI, I wasn't big on following the lab numbers. Partly because by the time you got the results back, a week had passed and "I" was different.I found it far more beneficial, to learn how my body responded to the AI at varying doses. Believe me, I've had my share of criticism, but I've always believed treat yourself according to how you "feel". As an example, in order to get and stay in the sweet spot,I bought a mg scale and I dialed in the Anastrozole, by weighing each dose, every other day, sometimes using more than one dose. The doses were as low as .005 mg which is slightly more than zero, and never higher than .010, this worked for me.I should tell you I'm an over responder. Thank you for the kind thought, and I wish you well!!

Thanks

 

[fifty]

You can get standard e2 labs back in a day. Just sayin...

 

[Vince]

I've been on trt over four and a half years now, and I've never had to use an AI. I think members with lower shbg have more issues with estrogen then members with higher levels of shpg.

I do labs twice a year.

 

[Thomtst2010]

Does that apply to E2 sensitive? I ask because, I have a friend that told me the same thing. I asked Lab Corp about the 2 day labs results for E2 sensitive, and they said that it couldn't be done, any faster. Apparently, Lab Corp sends those labs out for the analysis. Lastly, I was told by several doctors to only use E2 sensitive, so that's what I did. But, I really didn't need them that often. Thanks for the info!

 

[fifty]

E2 regular assay takes 1 day. E2 sensitive takes 3-6 days.

 

[Vince]

Sensitive Estradiol Blood Test: The Only Accurate Assay for Men

 

[fifty]

I have seen it be either more accurate or totally wrong. Just know that your regular e2 will almost always be a little higher # than your sensitive e2(assuming it’s done correctly).

 

[TLR]

I agree everyone should try to get by without an AI if possible, but not everyone is the same. My doc is a big proponent of lowering the dose until an AI is no longer needed if symptoms of high E2 are present, but again this doesn't work for everybody (I'm fortunate it worked for me). In my N=1 experience the soft erections, water retention and moodiness / anxiety start up anytime my E2 gets in the upper 30s, (I over respond to anastrozole also). I've actually never heard of "waiting out" high E2 symptoms, but I'm interested in seeing how this works out. Keep us posted.

 

[Gman86]

I agree everyone should try to get by without an AI if possible, but not everyone is the same. My doc is a big proponent of lowering the dose until an AI is no longer needed if symptoms of high E2 are present, but again this doesn't work for everybody (I'm fortunate it worked for me). In my N=1 experience the soft erections, water retention and moodiness / anxiety start up anytime my E2 gets in the upper 30s, (I over respond to anastrozole also). I've actually never heard of "waiting out" high E2 symptoms, but I'm interested in seeing how this works out. Keep us posted.

What was your dose of anastrozole? A lot of guys don’t take into account half lives of a med, and they don’t realize that if you start noticing positive improvements from anastrozole after a day or two, you’re doing it wrong. I just laugh when I hear guys say they feel positive effects after only hours. If you feel positive effects of anastrozole after only hours, you can 100% guarantee low E2 symptoms are right behind it. It takes about 10-14 days to reach a steady state with that particular med. Which basically just means that ideally you want to notice no change after a day or two, start noticing some slight benefits after 7-10 days, and then around 2 weeks you want to really be feeling the negative symptoms of high E2 disappear. If you feel anything before a week or so, you’re almost always going to go too low, let alone a few days or god forbid hours.

 

[TLR]

What was your dose of anastrozole? A lot of guys don’t take into account half lives of a med, and they don’t realize that if you start noticing positive improvements from anastrozole after a day or two, you’re doing it wrong. I just laugh when I hear guys say they feel positive effects after only hours. If you feel positive effects of anastrozole after only hours, you can 100% guarantee low E2 symptoms are right behind it. It takes about 10-14 days to reach a steady state with that particular med. Which basically just means that ideally you want to notice no change after a day or two, start noticing some slight benefits after 7-10 days, and then around 2 weeks you want to really be feeling the negative symptoms of high E2 disappear. If you feel anything before a week or so, you’re almost always going to go too low, let alone a few days or god forbid hours.

I haven't taken any in over two years since I lowered my dose. When I did take it i was on anywhere from 160 to 200 mg a week and was initially prescribed .25 EOD. That crashed me pretty quick, so I began the painstaking pain in the ass of trying to "dial in" on an AI. Last dose I was on was .125 1-2 times a week. I am doing much better on a lower dose and E2 always comes back in the 20s. I had just never heard of the body "adjusting" to higher E2 with all other things being equal so I'm interested in this.

 

[Gman86]

I haven't taken any in over two years since I lowered my dose. When I did take it i was on anywhere from 160 to 200 mg a week and was initially prescribed .25 EOD. That crashed me pretty quick, so I began the painstaking pain in the ass of trying to "dial in" on an AI. Last dose I was on was .125 1-2 times a week. I am doing much better on a lower dose and E2 always comes back in the 20s. I had just never heard of the body "adjusting" to higher E2 with all other things being equal so I'm interested in this.

Ya was just curious. Some guys don’t respond well to even micro doses of ai, but the majority of guys that have a hard time dialing in ai’s I assume just don’t realize that they should be feeling their symptoms subside around 10-14 days, not hours or a few days after taking it, so just wanted to put the info out there incase you weren’t aware. Glad to see you’re currently doing well without an ai.

 

[Tman]

You can get standard e2 labs back in a day. Just sayin...

really, like to know what lab you're using. It takes me a minimum of three days and up to 3 weeks get my results back using discountlabs.