Looking for a poll and feedback from folks who are “dialed in”

[FLguy123]

Looking to hear some success stories and feedback from guys who are feeling great and achieving all their goals, how long it took them to find that sweet spot, and how long they’ve been there.

To me dialed in would be doing well in these categories:

Energy
Mental clarity
Strength/gym gains
Libido
Quality erections
And anything else I may have missed

 

[sh1973]

Good luck ever finding that

 

[swoops36]

I’d have to say that lately (the last 1-2 months) i’ve felt ‘dialed-in’. My new Dr upped my dose to 280mg T weekly (I know that’s a lot), dropped HCG and anastrozole completely. My workouts are great, but more importantly I don’t get that lazy, apathetic mood of ‘who cares’ from crashed e2 anymore. I spent a year on 200mg T + HCG + AI and never had consistent improvement, so I dropped the HCG & AI at the beginning of this year and upped my dose 6 weeks ago and I’m finally feeling like I’m Getting all that I wanted out of TRT.

 

[xqfq]

You might find this thread useful. It might be best for guys to comment over there as there's more responses:

The Thread for Dialed-In Dudes

 

[madman]

I’d have to say that lately (the last 1-2 months) i’ve felt ‘dialed-in’. My new Dr upped my dose to 280mg T weekly (I know that’s a lot), dropped HCG and anastrozole completely. My workouts are great, but more importantly I don’t get that lazy, apathetic mood of ‘who cares’ from crashed e2 anymore. I spent a year on 200mg T + HCG + AI and never had consistent improvement, so I dropped the HCG & AI at the beginning of this year and upped my dose 6 weeks ago and I’m finally feeling like I’m Getting all that I wanted out of TRT.

280 mg is by no means a trt dose.....you dropped the hCG/a.i. and upped your T dose 80 mg/week which is a whopping jump.....if you need to run such dose to benefit from trt you had more going on pre-trt than just low T.

Many men would never even need 200 mg/week of T to achieve a healthy FT level, many can hit a trough above the upper end of the range on much lower doses.....sure some may need 200 but it is not common.

Steroid doses would be 300-600 mg/week.....let alone many would consider 250 mg/week a low dose T cycle.

If your dose was just upped recently within the last few months than your body has not yet adapted to those new T levels and it is common for many when one increases T there is a short lived period of bliss which does not last.

What is your SHBG and where does your TT/FT sit at on such dose?

 

[madman]

Looking to hear some success stories and feedback from guys who are feeling great and achieving all their goals, how long it took them to find that sweet spot, and how long they’ve been there.

To me dialed in would be doing well in these categories:

Energy
Mental clarity
Strength/gym gains
Libido
Quality erections
And anything else I may have missed

Hope you do understand that the strength/muscle gains are going to be minor on trt doses as we are not doing steroids here.

Sure having healthy T levels will have a positive effect on body composition (muscle gain/fat loss) when following a proper diet/training protocol but no one using trt doses let alone running TT/FT trough levels in the upper end of the reference range 1200 ng/dL (older reference range) is packing on muscle let alone massive strength gains.

If this was a steroid forum it would be common to ask such.....Strength/gym gains!

 

[swoops36]

Hope you do understand that the strength/muscle gains are going to be minor on trt doses as we are not doing steroids here.

Sure having healthy T levels will have a positive effect on body composition (muscle gain/fat loss) when following a proper diet/training protocol but no one using trt doses let alone running TT/FT trough levels in the upper end of the reference range 1200 ng/dL (older reference range) is packing on muscle let alone massive strength gains.

If this was a steroid forum it would be common to ask such.....Strength/gym gains!

Yeah, like I said, I know it’s high, but I’ve also finally felt good on a consistent basis for the first time since I started.

I’ve read all over about guys having great results on 50-100mg T a week, and some on 200 or 250. We’re really all over the place on dosing, person to person.

This is week 7 for me at this new dose and it could all be a new high from the adjustment, I’ll have to see. Blood work is mid-September, but on 200mg T weekly:

TT: 836
SHBG: 30
e2: <5 (last time it was measured before stopping AI)
FT: calculated TruT 27.95 ng

When I get my new bloodwork I’ll follow up with this post

 

[madman]

Yeah, like I said, I know it’s high, but I’ve also finally felt good on a consistent basis for the first time since I started.

I’ve read all over about guys having great results on 50-100mg T a week, and some on 200 or 250. We’re really all over the place on dosing, person to person.

This is week 7 for me at this new dose and it could all be a new high from the adjustment, I’ll have to see. Blood work is mid-September, but on 200mg T weekly:

TT: 836
SHBG: 30
e2: <5 (last time it was measured before stopping AI)
FT: calculated TruT 27.95 ng

When I get my new bloodwork I’ll follow up with this post

This is from one of your previous threads and your SHBG was 14.....now it is 30?

started on 200mg weekly divided into two injections Monday AM Thursday PM and HCG 500IU X 2 one day prior to each T injection. I felt amazing (honeymoon period) for a couple months and then the high estrogen sides kicked in and my T level came back over 1600.


1600 ng/dL is ridiculously high for an SHBG of 14 nmol/L as your FT levels would have been extremely high in the low 60 ng/dL range.....let alone even if one had a high SHBG of 60 nmol/L with a TT 1600 ng/dL it would have their FT around 55 ng/dL

 

[swoops36]

Are you sure that’s from my post? I’ve never had my TT over 1600, highest was 1160. SHBG never tested until earlier this year, 30. Sure you got the right guy?

 

[madman]

Are you sure that’s from my post? I’ve never had my TT over 1600, highest was 1160. SHBG never tested until earlier this year, 30. Sure you got the right guy?

Your right my mistake it is from FLguy123 previous post.....I meant to address him!

 

[swoops36]

Your right my mistake it is from FLguy123 previous post.....I meant to address him!

lol

 

[madman]

Yeah, like I said, I know it’s high, but I’ve also finally felt good on a consistent basis for the first time since I started.

I’ve read all over about guys having great results on 50-100mg T a week, and some on 200 or 250. We’re really all over the place on dosing, person to person.

This is week 7 for me at this new dose and it could all be a new high from the adjustment, I’ll have to see. Blood work is mid-September, but on 200mg T weekly:

TT: 836
SHBG: 30
e2: <5 (last time it was measured before stopping AI)
FT: calculated TruT 27.95 ng

When I get my new bloodwork I’ll follow up with this post

Will be interesting to see where such dose 280 mg/week has your TT/FT levels.....going from 200--->280 is a whopping jump in T as anytime one tweaks protocol whether increasing/decreasing dose 10-15 mg can have a big impact on TT/FT level.

Again understandable that you state such..... "Yeah, like I said, I know it’s high, but I’ve also finally felt good on a consistent basis for the first time since I started"

As you are only 7 weeks in your new protocol and as you know during the weeks leading up until levels stabilize your hormones will be in FLUX and many can end up feeling really good during this time as oppose to others who may experience ups/down.

Gauging how one feels during this time can be misleading as even once blood levels stabilize at 6 weeks it can take another 2-3 months for the body to adapt to the new levels and for one to truly gauge how they feel overall on such protocol!

 

[swoops36]

Will be interesting to see where such dose 280 mg/week has your TT/FT levels.....going from 200--->280 is a whopping jump in T as anytime one tweaks protocol whether increasing/decreasing dose 10-15 mg can have a big impact on TT/FT level.

Again understandable that you state such..... "Yeah, like I said, I know it’s high, but I’ve also finally felt good on a consistent basis for the first time since I started"

As you are only 7 weeks in your new protocol and as you know during the weeks leading up until levels stabilize your hormones will be in FLUX and many can end up feeling really good during this time as oppose to others who may experience ups/down.

Gauging how one feels during this time can be misleading as even once blood levels stabilize at 6 weeks it can take another 2-3 months for the body to adapt to the new levels and for one to truly gauge how they feel overall on such protocol!

Yeah, you’re probably right and we should have done a smaller increase. I told my Dr I didn’t want to take HCG anymore but wanted FT up at least at 30ng and he said ok and wrote for 280mg/week. If bloodwork (hema, lipids, etc) is high then he’s going to lower it anyway.

 

[madman]

Yeah, you’re probably right and we should have done a smaller increase. I told my Dr I didn’t want to take HCG anymore but wanted FT up at least at 30ng and he said ok and wrote for 280mg/week. If bloodwork (hema, lipids, etc) is high then he’s going to lower it anyway.

Levels may very well come back too high.....no worries you are 7 weeks in and having blood work done soon.....only labs will tell how said dose effects your TT/FT levels among other health markers.....than you can decide your next move!

You stated earlier:



This is week 7 for me at this new dose and it could all be a new high from the adjustment, I’ll have to see. Blood work is mid-September, but on 200mg T weekly:

TT: 836
SHBG: 30
e2: <5 (last time it was measured before stopping AI)
FT: calculated TruT 27.95 ng


T levels were most likely never your issue as your FT (trough) on the above protocol is closer to the higher end....could it be bumped up more.....most definitely but highly doubtful it needs to come up a lot and I would say the use of an a.i. which had your E2 crashed was your issue.

As @userjoe makes a great point when he stated....."I take 200 split over 8 days along with 1500 hcg. No ai. Took 3.5 years. Eliminating ai is what made it consistent"

"I couldn't agree with you more."....as not only is having healthy FT levels critical to the effectiveness of a trt protocol but most importantly for one to truly experience the full spectrum of testosterone's positive effects healthy levels of it's metabolites DHT and estradiol are needed!

 

[madman]

I take 200 split over 8 days along with 1500 hcg. No ai. Took 3.5 years. Eliminating ai is what made it consistent.

 

[swoops36]

Levels may very well come back too high.....no worries you are 7 weeks in and having blood work done soon.....only labs will tell how said dose effects your TT/FT levels among other health markers.....than you can decide your next move!

You stated earlier:



This is week 7 for me at this new dose and it could all be a new high from the adjustment, I’ll have to see. Blood work is mid-September, but on 200mg T weekly:

TT: 836
SHBG: 30
e2: <5 (last time it was measured before stopping AI)
FT: calculated TruT 27.95 ng


T levels were most likely never your issue as your FT (trough) on the above protocol is closer to the higher end....could it be bumped up more.....most definitely but highly doubtful it needs to come up a lot and I would say the use of an a.i. which had your E2 crashed was your issue.

As @userjoe makes a great point when he stated....."I take 200 split over 8 days along with 1500 hcg. No ai. Took 3.5 years. Eliminating ai is what made it consistent"

"I couldn't agree with you more."....as not only is having healthy FT levels critical to the effectiveness of a trt protocol but most importantly for one to truly experience the full spectrum of testosterone's positive effects healthy levels of it's metabolites DHT and estradiol are needed!

Man I learned that the hard way! Dropping the AI was the best decision I ever made. I should say I spent 4 months at 200mg T weekly with no AI & no HCG before bumping up, but even at 280 (140x2) weekly I have no need for an AI and have noticed zero side effects (re-occurrence of gyno, highly emotional, ED, etc.). Crashed e2 was the worst feeling ever; I don’t buy into the ‘let e2 run wild’ idea, but def avoid AI’s if at all possible.

 

[RLW]

Looking to hear some success stories and feedback from guys who are feeling great and achieving all their goals, how long it took them to find that sweet spot, and how long they’ve been there.

To me dialed in would be doing well in these categories:

Energy
Mental clarity
Strength/gym gains
Libido
Quality erections
And anything else I may have missed

Maybe it's early in the game but I started over 2 years ago and have felt dialed in for almost all of that time. I started on 150mg a week split m/w/f. I also started with hcg. But have since stopped taking it. Started with 0.125 anastrazole m/w/f. After about 5 months I had a sudden episode of Ed which looking back I think might have had to do with stress but who knows. At that time I upped the anastrazole to 0.2mg m/w/f and symptoms dissapeard but I believe it would have gone away on its own now that I think about it. After 3 months when I got my refill I accidentally was given 0.125mg anastrazole and just decided to see what happened. Nothing changed so I decided to see what would happen if I stopped the AI all together. Still no symptoms and that was 9 months ago.

More recently about 2 months ago I decided to up my weekly testosterone dose by going to 50mg every other day. About 3 weeks after I did that I had some ED. I could perform but not like usual. I believe it would have sorted itself out and I would have gotten used to the higher dose but I dropped my EOD dose to 44mg and feel great. That's the only symptom I had and other than that I felt absolutely amazing. Within 2 weeks erection quality came back. I may slowing raid the dose a little to see what happens.

As far as your criteria for being dialed in, here is what I have been.

Energy has been great. I used to take naps almost daily, now I have to miss a full night's sleep to need a nap.

Mental clarity I haven't noticed a difference. I felt good before so I can't say I have noticed a difference.

Strength/gym gains. I had strength gains in yhe beginning and have been pretty steady since. The real benifit has been that I simply don't get sore. I used to be sore for 4 days after doing legs now I can work out until I can't walk and I wake up the next day feeling great.

Libido was strong even before testosterone and nothing has changed. Wife and I have sex between 4-6 days a week and many days multiple times. The difference I would say since starting testosterone is before starting sometimes if I was tired I would choose going to sleep instead of sex, especially if I already had sex earlier in the day. Now I'm not usually tired so I don't choose sleep.

Erection quality with the exception of maybe a total of 4 weeks which I explained earlier has been really good. 10/10.

Overall I have really had a good experience with testosterone. I'm 41 years old and maybe I'm an anomoly but for me it's been amazing. I take 44mg testosterone EOD. No AI or HCG.

 

[Gman86]

I’d have to say that lately (the last 1-2 months) i’ve felt ‘dialed-in’. My new Dr upped my dose to 280mg T weekly (I know that’s a lot), dropped HCG and anastrozole completely. My workouts are great, but more importantly I don’t get that lazy, apathetic mood of ‘who cares’ from crashed e2 anymore. I spent a year on 200mg T + HCG + AI and never had consistent improvement, so I dropped the HCG & AI at the beginning of this year and upped my dose 6 weeks ago and I’m finally feeling like I’m Getting all that I wanted out of TRT.

No other compounds, like pregnenolone or DHEA? Just testosterone?

 

[Gman86]

Maybe it's early in the game but I started over 2 years ago and have felt dialed in for almost all of that time. I started on 150mg a week split m/w/f. I also started with hcg. But have since stopped taking it. Started with 0.125 anastrazole m/w/f. After about 5 months I had a sudden episode of Ed which looking back I think might have had to do with stress but who knows. At that time I upped the anastrazole to 0.2mg m/w/f and symptoms dissapeard but I believe it would have gone away on its own now that I think about it. After 3 months when I got my refill I accidentally was given 0.125mg anastrazole and just decided to see what happened. Nothing changed so I decided to see what would happen if I stopped the AI all together. Still no symptoms and that was 9 months ago.

More recently about 2 months ago I decided to up my weekly testosterone dose by going to 50mg every other day. About 3 weeks after I did that I had some ED. I could perform but not like usual. I believe it would have sorted itself out and I would have gotten used to the higher dose but I dropped my EOD dose to 44mg and feel great. That's the only symptom I had and other than that I felt absolutely amazing. Within 2 weeks erection quality came back. I may slowing raid the dose a little to see what happens.

As far as your criteria for being dialed in, here is what I have been.

Energy has been great. I used to take naps almost daily, now I have to miss a full night's sleep to need a nap.

Mental clarity I haven't noticed a difference. I felt good before so I can't say I have noticed a difference.

Strength/gym gains. I had strength gains in yhe beginning and have been pretty steady since. The real benifit has been that I simply don't get sore. I used to be sore for 4 days after doing legs now I can work out until I can't walk and I wake up the next day feeling great.

Libido was strong even before testosterone and nothing has changed. Wife and I have sex between 4-6 days a week and many days multiple times. The difference I would say since starting testosterone is before starting sometimes if I was tired I would choose going to sleep instead of sex, especially if I already had sex earlier in the day. Now I'm not usually tired so I don't choose sleep.

Erection quality with the exception of maybe a total of 4 weeks which I explained earlier has been really good. 10/10.

Overall I have really had a good experience with testosterone. I'm 41 years old and maybe I'm an anomoly but for me it's been amazing. I take 44mg testosterone EOD. No AI or HCG.

Same question to you. No other ancillary compounds like pregnenolone or DHEA?

 

[RLW]

Same question to you. No other ancillary compounds like pregnenolone or DHEA?

No, I was originally told taking DHEA would be benificial as I am in the middle of the range but I have not done so. I have thought about taking pregnenolone but I think it would be best to get it tested first.

I have a couple things I take from time to time but I'm not good about taking them regularly. Those include zinc, and vit D3. I take magnesium every night before bed as I read that it is important to take when you are on testosterone.

I have entertained the idea of taking stuff like metformin and other stuff that always gets talked about in the anti aging community but havent done it yet