Libido is Only High When Starting Therapy

[EchoTango]

Can someone help me with this observation?

My libido is always the highest when my testosterone levels are rising - on the upswing. If you think of my levels as a line chart, it would be during the beginning of the curve. Once I plateau (and my levels are high) my libido is back to normal. It's the same thing when they are falling, normal libido.

I noticed this the first time I started with TRT. I thought to myself, this is great, it's going to last forever, but it never does.

There are other times I notice this as well. When I come off of therapy for a while, and then come back on. It also would happen while I was taking testosterone pellets. On week 2 or 3 after pellet insertion, my sex drive would be great. Two weeks after that, right back to normal. I would have to wait three or four months for another insertion and start all over again. I would get two great weeks, and then back to normal.

I've monitored my estrogen levels and I can't find a relationship there. I've tried different combinations of with or without HCG and Anastrozole. No luck. Any ideas?

 

[Gman86]

Can someone help me with this observation?

My libido is always the highest when my testosterone levels are rising - on the upswing. If you think of my levels as a line chart, it would be during the beginning of the curve. Once I plateau (and my levels are high) my libido is back to normal. It's the same thing when they are falling, normal libido.

I noticed this the first time I started with TRT. I thought to myself, this is great, it's going to last forever, but it never does.

There are other times I notice this as well. When I come off of therapy for a while, and then come back on. It also would happen while I was taking testosterone pellets. On week 2 or 3 after pellet insertion, my sex drive would be great. Two weeks after that, right back to normal. I would have to wait three or four months for another insertion and start all over again. I would get two great weeks, and then back to normal.

I've monitored my estrogen levels and I can't find a relationship there. I've tried different combinations of with or without HCG and Anastrozole. No luck. Any ideas?

Have you tried using a high dose? When doing pellets, it seems like your libido correlates to when the pellets are peaking and giving you the highest levels of T. If you stop TRT, and then start back up, at the beginning you’ll have the injections raising your T, as well as your own production still going on, which would theoretically have your levels pretty damn high, and then they would lower once your natural production stopped. So kind of makes sense that you may need to up your dose and see how you feel with higher levels.

 

[Cataceous]

The effect is common, but the reasons why are elusive. DHT is something else to look at. You could probably get this boost more frequently, at least every couple weeks, if you applied scrotal testosterone cream periodically.

 

[EchoTango]

With the pellets, I don't think my levels would peak after only 2 or 3 weeks. Also, the same thing happened with the cream, and the dose was constant there. So high libido in the beginning but then stops.

I guess DHT should be the obvious answer, but I had those levels tested specifically, and they were in fact high at a time when my libido was low. Of course, that is only one data point, and I may be placing too much emphasis on that one instance. There could have been other factors at play. I will try the scrotal cream to see if I can periodically boost my DHT and see what effect that has. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Cataceous]

It's probably more complicated than DHT or any isolated hormone.

I do get a nice boost for a few days whenever I apply the cream. It fades whether or not I continue with applications (on top of injections). Fortunately I find I can repeat the cycle shortly after the effects fade.

 

[M.J]

Maybe libido happens during testosterone swings only, there have been many discussions on testosterone swings here.

 

[sh1973]

If someone ever figures this out it would be awesome. I’ve tried a decade to figure it out. The only thing I’ve found to improve it slightly is using a very low dose of testosterone only at 60mg per week. Honestly using the lower dose improves most other aspects of trt substantially but libido only slightly. At higher doses it’s like being castrated.

 

[HarryCat2]

I also only get libido when levels are rising from a very low level. I've found that if I'm using cream only I need to take about 1 week off before resuming in order to get a libido boost. With injections it is much longer, 2-3 weeks off. During the off period my total T drops to around 200, which is where it was when I originally started TRT.

I've been following the posts regarding Natesto closely and wonder if a treatment like that, which doesn't completely shut down the HPTA, might work better for someone like me. There was also some research out of Japan that tested a similar protocol using low dose scrotal cream, which also didn't completely shut down the HPTA.

 

[EchoTango]

@HarryCat2 With the research out of Japan, do you know how they defined "low dose," for the scrotal cream?

 

[HarryCat2]

@HarryCat2 With the research out of Japan, do you know how they defined "low dose," for the scrotal cream?

3mg according to this study:

The efficacy and safety of short-acting testosterone ointment (Glowmin) for late-onset hypogonadism in accordance with testosterone circadian rhythm.

 

[Robotics]

This is one of the reasons i am considering natesto. The body natural has those daily variations, and perhaps that is what helps libido, natesto might be able to mimick that.