They replace the ring for free when the battery dies. I bought my original Gen 3 ring in 2021 and had it replaced twice now for free, once in 2023 and again just recently.
Absolutely essential.
I'm skeptical of scrotal cream for the purpose of counteracting high estrogen. Yes, you get supraphysiologic DHT, but it comes with a significant helping of additional E2.
Hey, do they replace it indefinitely? Couldn’t really find any clear info about that.
Yeah, I’ll get one. Still figuring out if the RingConn 2 might be better—no subscription required, and someone mentioned the sleep tracking is more accurate (whatever that means exactly).
Ah okay, so this drives E2 up? I remember you mentioned that oral T might lower E2 because of high DHT?
I imagine there is some point where they stop replacing it but I haven't reached that point yet. Maybe two years from now when this third ring dies, they'll tell me I need to buy something new.
Yes, topical testosterone drives E2 up, like most other forms of testosterone. Only oral testosterone seems to have the E2 reducing effect. There is aromatase in the skin and subcutaneous fat beneath the skin which will produce some E2 from topical testosterone.
Normal for someone new to high levels of T and E2. You can wait for adaptation or reduce dose.
Normal increase in BP for someone new to high T and E2 due to combined water retention and increased sympathetic nervous system activity. These effects are [mostly] transient and you can wait for adaptation or reduce dose.
That is very good to know!
Shocking numbers?
Varies widely, but I would say the possible ranges are something like this:
I almost said something in my previous post about Cortex normalizing ridiculous doses of prop. So I'll say it here: the doses of prop he suggests are insane. The deep troughs on prop let you "get away with" crazy high levels during the day, without the degree of side effects that would normally accompany them.
cortex normalizing insane amounts of prop I strongly recommend the book "The Clot Thickens" for all things cardiovascular. Low LDL is not necessarily risk reducing. What you want is low triglycerides, low fasting insulin, sunlight, nitric oxide, good vitamin C and D levels and an avoidance of blood sugar spikes. That's a basic starter list but here are lots of other things as well. It's hard to distinguish between the things that seem to raise HDL (like HIIT) and the benefits of the things themselves.ah yeah
so as I understood, estrogen has protective capabilities.
With enclomiphene (and basically also without any SERMs) I had an LDL of 50, HDL of 36, total cholesterol 100. (5 mg ezetimibe + 5 mg rosuvastatin).
Lp(a) is slightly elevated at 121 nmol/L (reference: <75 nmol/L).
The low LDL should be quite risk-reducing, right?
I asked ChatGPT about supraphysiological levels and safety, and it said:
I’m not sure why I can’t get my HDL higher. It’s always been on the low side as far as I remember—I never really saw it much higher. The doc who reviews the labs says it’s “not important,” but I’ve seen people like Bryan Johnson with HDL of 73, so it makes me wonder how relevant it actually is and what I can do to raise it.
I’ve already changed my diet a couple months ago to bump fat up to around 30–40% of calories. Before that I was only at ~15%, which was clearly too low.
Regarding plaque: as I understood it, that’s more of a later stage of atherosclerosis. I’m 37. I read in Attia’s book that you’d need something like a CT angiogram to actually see the stages before anything calcified… so I guess that’s the move? I once asked a doctor about it, and he was shocked and said I wouldn’t get one even if I paid for it myself—though that wasn’t true, I’ve seen private clinics offering those for around €300–€400 if you’ve got the money.
It's helpful, but it's still very possible to develop atherosclerosis at LDL levels that low and even lower. The book that Guided recommended, The Clot Thickens, presents many examples of this, as it unravels the cholesterol hypothesis of CVD and convincingly advances an alternative hypothesis.
These are related.
"Postmortem coronary angiography and dissection of hearts from 105 United States soldiers killed in Vietnam demonstrate that (1) 45% have some evidence of atherosclerosis; (2) 5% have gross evidence of severe coronary atherosclerosis; and (3) no patient had angiographic evidence of severe coronary narrowing, and in only one patient was any degree of stenosis observed."
That is the gold standard but it's a bit expensive. Carotid IMT is a cheaper and easier method to identify soft plaque.
