Long time lurker turned patient

[mewmewmew]

Last year fell into a whirlwind of low test like symptoms and consistently tested in the 350s total as a healthy and active 34 year old. In November and December I tested at 257 total / 35 free and 186total with 32 free. I was diagnosed with hypogonadism this month due to an issue found in MRI on my pituitary and my endo OKd me for hormone replacement.

Now I am prescribed 80mg cyp every 10 days to start — I’ve been lurking and researching long enough to know this is an extremely low and probably overly conservative dose. He wants labs at the 35 day mark (5 days after my last 80mg) and re-evaluate from there.

I am doing daily subQ of the 80mg over the 10 days instead to hopefully help get more consistent levels and manage e2 and hematocrit (was 52% and I just donated blood this weekend to help)


realistically what can I expect at this dose in terms of benefits and really a timeline where I could expect to notice anything?

I plan on adding hcg probably next month (compounded) to help maintain fertility but didn’t want to start right away so I can get the true baseline on the docs protocol

Thanks!

 

[JorgeF]

yeah man, first off… getting an actual pituitary finding + an endo ok’ing trt is a diff situation than the usual “i feel low t” posts. so at least you’re not guessing anymore.

on the dose: 80mg / 10 days is conservative, yeah. but it’s not “zero”. some ppl still feel stuff, it’s just usually more subtle + slower, and the big variable is how your body clears it (shbg, metabolism, etc).

timeline (realistic, not hype):

• sleep / “less wrecked” energy: sometimes 1–3 weeks
• libido/morning wood: 2–6 weeks (can be sooner, can be meh if stress/sleep is bad)
• mood / less edgy: 4–8ish weeks if it’s gonna happen
• gym/body comp: think 8–12+ weeks, not days

one thing tho: if you’re doing daily subq but your doc is planning labs “5 days after last 80mg”… that lab timing kinda stops meaning what he thinks it means. not saying don’t split, just saying i’d tell him, bc otherwise you’ll both be reading the numbers wrong and tweaking based on noise.

also hematocrit 52% is def something to watch. donating can help short term, but long term it’s usually about dose/levels + hydration + sleep (and yep, sleep apnea can sneak in even in “healthy active” guys). keep an eye on bp too.

and i like your hcg plan tbh. waiting a bit so you get a clean baseline is smart. once you add hcg it’s harder to tell what did what.

couple q’s so i can give a better read:
what are your main symptoms you’re hoping trt fixes (energy, libido, mood, brain fog, etc)? and do you know your shbg + lh/fsh + prolactin from the pituitary workup? those change how “low dose” will feel.