Having a bad reaction to my TRT

[sheldrake123]

Hey Guys,
I’m having a reaction to my Testosterone Replacement Therapy and I’m wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

I’m currently on my 4[SUP]th[/SUP] weekly self administered shot of 200mg/ml of Testosterone Cypionate (grapeseed suspension). 24 hours later I take 1mg of Anastrozole. This is my doctor prescribed therapy. I am taking no other medications. I’m scheduled for my first follow up visit with my doctor at the end of March so I haven’t had a chance to discuss this with him yet.

I’m experiencing some negative reactions after I give myself the weekly injection:

Slight tingling in my hands/fingers
Mild headache with warm forehead
Stuffiness/pressure in my ears
Minor itchiness inside nose (like I’m about to sneeze, but don’t)
Scratchy feeling in throat

The symptoms begin about mid day when I’ve injected first thing in the morning. The next day, I take the Anastrozole and the symptoms increase and plateau for a day or so. It then decreases slowly until I feel almost normal by the time I’m scheduled to inject again.

I wouldn’t describe the symptoms as painful but they are intense enough to be uncomfortable at times. In particular, the stuffiness/pressure in my ears is bad enough that it can be problematic when I’m trying to get to sleep. I’m lying in bed with just my thoughts and the pressure in my ears is overwhelming. A few times, it has been difficult to get to sleep.

So I’m wondering a few things:

Is this common?
Is this serious?
Will I always react like this to an injection or will it fade with time?

Thanks,
Sheldrake123

 

[dallas101346]

Are you allergic to arimidex?

 

[Vince]

sheldrake, when I first started TRT. I felt very sick, flu like symptoms. I was told my body hormones were adjusting or maybe just getting used to higher levels of testosterone.

 

[sheldrake123]

Are you allergic to arimidex?

Not as far as I know. This is the first that I've ever taken an AI before. Also, my symptoms start the day before I take the AI but they do intensify on the day that I take the Anastrozole. So I wont rule it out entirely.

 

[sheldrake123]

sheldrake, when I first started TRT. I felt very sick, flu like symptoms. I was told my body hormones were adjusting or maybe just getting used to higher levels of testosterone.

If I knew that these symptoms would eventually stop occurring, I could live with it. But so far this treatment is making me feel like crap. I'll be talking to my doctor about it in a few weeks. Maybe switching to a gel would alleviate these symptoms.

But my goal in posting here was to get a sense of what other guys have experienced. So thank you for sharing.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Not common side effects. I have never heard of them but we are all so different. All of them except the tingling in hands seem related to allergies or an allergic reaction. I wonder if you are sensitive to the oil used in the formulation. What product are you using?

 

[sheldrake123]

Not common side effects. I have never heard of them but we are all so different. All of them except the tingling in hands seem related to allergies or an allergic reaction. I wonder if you are sensitive to the oil used in the formulation. What product are you using?

I'm using 200mg/ml of Testosterone Cypionate (grapeseed oil suspension). It comes prepared in individual doses (already in a syringe and needle) and is shipped to me from the pharmacy that fulfills the prescription. I've read that there may be other types of oil suspension to be used but I don't have any experience with them.

 

[Vettester Chris]

Agree, suspect some sort of allergic issue going on. I usually see cypionate suspended in cottonseed oil. I would check to see if you can try something else.

I'm not a big fan either with dumping 1mg of Adex after an injection. Is your E2 at a level that requires that much AI? Maybe break your shots up 2x per week, and hold off with taking the AI for one time, and see if that helps. Some crazy things happen when E2 crashes, so keep that in mind. If the AI must be administered at that dosage, definitely break that up 2x or even 3x. Just my suggestion ...

 

[EmpowerPharmacy]

Is it a suspension or a solution? A suspension has visible particles that will sediment over time. Testosterone Cypionate should be a homogenous, clear solution.

Can you take a picture of the pre-loaded syringe and post it?

 

[sheldrake123]

Agree, suspect some sort of allergic issue going on. I usually see cypionate suspended in cottonseed oil. I would check to see if you can try something else.

I'm not a big fan either with dumping 1mg of Adex after an injection. Is your E2 at a level that requires that much AI? Maybe break your shots up 2x per week, and hold off with taking the AI for one time, and see if that helps. Some crazy things happen when E2 crashes, so keep that in mind. If the AI must be administered at that dosage, definitely break that up 2x or even 3x. Just my suggestion ...

Yes, withholding the AI for a week and seeing what happens sounds like a good idea at this point. Since there are only 2 factors here (the injection and the AI), that will help narrow things down before I talk to the doctor. My next injection day is Tuesday and my next AI day is Wednesday so I'll follow up with a post at that time to see how I feel on Wed/Thu if next week. Now that it's been a few days since my last injection/AI, I feel almost normal. Some minor pressure in my ears but nothing like it was.

A side comment on my Estradiol levels and whether or not to take an AI at all: My pre-treament blood test shows my Estradiol at 38.1 pg/mL with a reference interval of 7.6 - 42.6. So I'm near the upper limit of that range. I won't get a follow up blood test until later in March but I'm keen as to what it will be at that point. I've been reading that the type of test used make a big difference but I'm not sure what to think at this point. My lab results say "Roche ECLIA methodolgy".

 

[sheldrake123]

Is it a suspension or a solution? A suspension has visible particles that will sediment over time. Testosterone Cypionate should be a homogenous, clear solution.

Can you take a picture of the pre-loaded syringe and post it?

You are correct, it looks like a solution. I wasn't aware there was a difference between a suspension and a solution but I'll be more precise from now on

I've attached a picture of the fluid (hope it comes through)

 

[Vettester Chris]

Yes, withholding the AI for a week and seeing what happens sounds like a good idea at this point. Since there are only 2 factors here (the injection and the AI), that will help narrow things down before I talk to the doctor. My next injection day is Tuesday and my next AI day is Wednesday so I'll follow up with a post at that time to see how I feel on Wed/Thu if next week. Now that it's been a few days since my last injection/AI, I feel almost normal. Some minor pressure in my ears but nothing like it was.

A side comment on my Estradiol levels and whether or not to take an AI at all: My pre-treament blood test shows my Estradiol at 38.1 pg/mL with a reference interval of 7.6 - 42.6. So I'm near the upper limit of that range. I won't get a follow up blood test until later in March but I'm keen as to what it will be at that point. I've been reading that the type of test used make a big difference but I'm not sure what to think at this point. My lab results say "Roche ECLIA methodolgy".

On the first part, yes, definitely agree, that was my point. There's two variables in play, and stopping the AI for one round will eliminate 50% of it.

On the 2nd paragraph, you mentioned being towards the upper limit of that Roche assay. Here's the problem, it's not a sensitive or ultra-sensitive assay, and the measurement accuracy is totally different. Who's to say that you might be in the mid 30's with a Labcorp sensitive assay, which could mean you're right about where you need to be, or maybe just things just need a minor adjustment.

I don't want to sound brash with saying this, BUT, it's just going to be virtually impossible to manage an effective protocol using that assay, and administering a 1mg tablet 1x per week. Reduce the spikes so downstream conversion isn't as excessive, and/or adjust the test medication to where better balance can be achieved. Even if you were 20 points over a desired range (say 55pg) on a sensitive assay, I'd suggest starting .25mg x 2, or at most .25 x 3 per week, with follow up E2 labs within 4 weeks. That's just my personal take, everyone has their own opinion. E2 is absolutely a great hormone for men to have, it just needs to be regulated to the right amount.

 

[Mxrider]

Did you ever figure this out? I am getting the mild headache/warm forehead/ear pressure stuff happening