First post, be kind :-). Help evaluating Labs and advice needed for my TRT

[beaverdave]

I am 41 years old. Started TRT in January 2018. I am 6'2" 285lbs and work out at the gym 5 days per week plus work construction. I stay active.

Initially it was the generic bi-weekly shot of 200mg.
Then in July we went to weekly 100mg shots as Hematocrit was high.
In November the doc changed me to daily subq shots at .17
I am currently on the daily subq shots at .17 First of January, I changed from morning injections to just before bed injections. Feel much better and its much easier due to a busy house in the morning rush.
My recent labs from discount labs (TRT follow up package) last week came back as:
Total Test: 1107.1
Free test: 34.7
Estradiol Sensitive: 86.2
TSH: 3.14
SHBG: 27.7
Red Blood Cells: 5.82
Hematocrit: 51.7
Cholesterol Total: 217
LDL: 150
HDL: 40

Few things I notice and am looking for help on...

1. Estradiol is high to me....agree? I have armidex pills and before the daily protocol we were doing 1/4 pill twice a week (tuesdays and saturdays) Would you recommend starting that again or a more aggressive schedule?

2. Cholesterol is still high....it been high for a while. I'm down 17lbs in January through dietary adjustments and I feel loosing more weight will improve this....any other tips on cholesterol?

3. Hematocrit is still high. Ive read to donate blood and check again. Is blood donation the go to remedy? Any other tips?

Overall I feel much better on daily injections. I still have a no energy day now and again but most days Im good to go.

Any other tips would be appreciated.

thank you!!

 

[Cataceous]

I'd try a dose reduction first. This may help with both estradiol and hematocrit. Top-of-range testosterone may be good for body composition, but anecdotally some guys find quality of life degrades when levels are too high for their needs.

 

[beaverdave]

I'd try a dose reduction first. This may help with both estradiol and hematocrit. Top-of-range testosterone may be good for body composition, but anecdotally some guys find quality of life degrades when levels are too high for their needs.

Thank you. I might try that. From what I read, 800ish should be a target area for trt total test....does that sound correct?

As far as executing the reduction, would you say 4 or 6 weeks would be the window to sustain the reduction then pull labs again? Shorter? Longer?

 

[Systemlord]

TSH could be better and may explain the high cholesterol, TSH >2.5 may indicate a struggling thyroid. You said cholesterols been high for a while, how about TSH?

You definitely have room to maneuver your dose down, this may give you the opportunity to significantly decrease the anastrozole or completely eliminate it altogether.

I applaud you for attempting a daily protocol, not many are willing to do it and those that do usually see really good results.

 

[beaverdave]

TSH could be better and may explain the high cholesterol, TSH >2.5 may indicate a struggling thyroid. You said cholesterols been high for a while, how about TSH?

You definitely have room to maneuver your dose down, this may give you the opportunity to significantly decrease the anastrozole or completely eliminate it altogether.

I applaud you for attempting a daily protocol, not many are willing to do it and those that do usually see really good results.

Thank you.

life on the road in the construction industry got me a lot of bad habits of eating. I feel pretty confident a few more months of healthy eating can put a dent in that cholesterol number

I was pretty terrified to start the daily protocol. I'm scared to death of needles. But the Sub-Q method and the small dose are not very bad. I would say one out of five sting a little bit but not awful. And once I switch to the nighttime protocol right before bed, I inject and I get right in the hot shower and massage the oil around and then go to bed. I don't dwell on the injection anymore and I wake up ready to start the day.

I know in the past the doctor has commented about the thyroid and I'm trying to get all the past blood work I've done download it and put together in a binder. This recent blood work was my first on my own. We're lucky to have a flex spending at work that paid for it. Is there any sort of Thyroid supplement you would recommend?

 

[Cataceous]

Thank you. I might try that. From what I read, 800ish should be a target area for trt total test....does that sound correct?

As far as executing the reduction, would you say 4 or 6 weeks would be the window to sustain the reduction then pull labs again? Shorter? Longer?

We had a poll over at PeakTestosterone.com on "Testosterone level you feel best at overall" and the top vote-getter was 600-800 ng/dL.

As for the time frame, at least six weeks is preferred.

 

[beaverdave]

We had a poll over at PeakTestosterone.com on "Testosterone level you feel best at overall" and the top vote-getter was 600-800 ng/dL.

As for the time frame, at least six weeks is preferred.

Thank you. I'm going to adjust tonight. Thank you for the advise.