My Testosterone levels are good but my sexual performance is less than what is was in the past.

[Michael341]

I had a better sex drive before I started TRT and I am trying to find out what's wrong.

Before I started taking Testosterone, I was able to have sex 3-5 times a day, after I started taking TRT I am only able to have sex 1-2 times a day. My sexual performance is not what it use to be 2-3 years ago before I started TRT. My desire for sex is the same as when I was "natural" but my performance is not.(Getting or maintaining a erection. I also take a lot longer to recover from sex.
My TRT cycle is 200 MG of Testosterone enathante per week split up in two injections. I take 300 IU of HCG with each injection. (600 IU per week)
My physical performance is great. I sleep 8-11 hours per day. My diet contains plenty of fruits and vegetables. I do cardio and strength training.

I got a hormone panel to see what is wrong. I think my Prolactin, Progesterone levels are high and this is causing the problem with my sexual performance being less than what it was in my past.

TSH 0.71 uL/mL
Total T3 123 ng/dL
Free T3 (FT3) 4.6 pg/mL
Total thyroxine 8.82 ug/dL
Free Thyroxine (FT4) 1.33 ng/dL
BHCG Quantitative 1 mIU/mL

Estradiol 42 pg/mL
FSH 0.20 mIU/mL
LH 0.20 mIU/mL
Albumin serum 4.8 g/dL
Sex Hormone Bind Glob 11.7 nmol/L

Testosterone 850 ng/dL
Testosterone Bioavail 700 ng/dL
Free Testosterone 21 ng/dL
DHT 60 ng/dL

PSA, TOTAL 0.754 ng/mL
PSA FREE 0.35

There are a lot more things I could have tested for, so I will get more labs done with my doctor as this blood work does not give me the answer to why my sexual performance is not as good as before I started TRT. I always had a better sex drive with higher Estradiol levels, when I was natural, so Estradiol is not the problem. The only thing that this blood test tells me is my FSH and LH are low because of starting TRT.

Would having low FSH and LH cause a decease in sexual performance in Men?

If anyone has a recommendation on what else I should test for, let me know, thanks.


I have used the following things in the past. (Before starting TRT) I do not currently use any of these drugs but I have used them in the past. 1-2 years ago.
Estrogen blockers, Letrozole, anastrozole. When ever I took a estrogen blocker, even at a low dose, my sex drive, performance would crash and I would be horrible.

MK-677, Growth hormone, IGF-1-LR3, GHRP-6, GHRP-2. My sexual drive and performance was less while on these peptites due to Prolactin levels increasing.


My sexual performance and drive was the worst in my life when I took Letrozole. My mental and physical health was also at its worst when I was taking Letrozole.

 

[slicktop]

I had a better sex drive before I started TRT and I am trying to find out what's wrong.

Before I started taking Testosterone, I was able to have sex 3-5 times a day, after I started taking TRT I am only able to have sex 1-2 times a day. My sexual performance is not what it use to be 2-3 years ago before I started TRT. My desire for sex is the same as when I was "natural" but my performance is not.(Getting or maintaining a erection. I also take a lot longer to recover from sex.

I'll tell you the problem: God only gives us one dick, and you already used yours up @ 3-5 times a day. Like, wow Scoob!
All kidding aside... your TRT protocol just doesn't match up to what most of us would expect to see. 200mg a week at your SHBG should have your free and total t higher than what it is, but again, so there's a piece of the puzzle missing here and I'm just not sure what it is. At what age did you start TRT, and what age are you now?

 

[Jayyy]

I hardly have sex 3 to 5 times a week. Why do u need to take TRT in the first place. Its not about number as much as how do u feel and symtoms

 

[broker]

You had sex 3-5 times a day BEFORE starting T ...!!!
Why in the world were you even on trt ?? Makes absolutely no sense. If you told your doctor you had a strong libido and he still gave you a “ steroid dose” of testosterone, he is not a doctor.
This is very suspicious.

 

[Michael341]

I think my problem has everything to do with me taking Letrozole. I took Letrozole long before I started TRT. My sexual performance was never the same after I took Letrozole.
My stupid reasoning for taking it was I thought it would increase my sex drive even more because I have always had high Estradiol levels but this was not a bad thing as before I took Letrozole. My sex life was at its best. Let me make this clear, I took Letrozole which caused my sexual problem, I stopped taking it, things slowly went back to normal but never like they were before hand. I started myself on TRT for sports performance and to restore my sexual performance like when I was natural. While I did get far stronger and faster, my sex performance did not get any better. So I need to find out why my sexual performance is not as good as it was before I took Letrozole. If any of you have questions that will better help find out what is the problem in this case, please let me know. I am working with my Doctor tomorrow and I will order a complete hormone panel to see what is going on.
I want you all to keep this in mind, my problem is not one of desire, but the act of sex itself, I want to have sex 3 times a day, but I am not able too.
I have the money to order any lab I need, what do you advise ordering?

 

[slicktop]

My stupid reasoning for taking it was I thought it would increase my sex drive even more ....
I want you all to keep this in mind, my problem is not one of desire, but the act of sex itself, I want to have sex 3 times a day, but I am not able too.

I know it's not the answer you want to hear, but you might need to look into counseling for sex addiction, not testosterone or HCG or anything else. We're all men here and we just about all want more sex, but... this is next level. You're in something like the 99.999999th percentile here.

 

[Michael341]

This has nothing to do with why I had stronger erections and could have more sex while I was natural.
I need to know what damage I caused while I was using Letrozole.

 

[Cataceous]

You already mentioned a good candidate: prolactin. Do you have a baseline to tell you if it did go up?

 

[Michael341]

I going tommrow to get a full hormone panel and CBC and COMPLETE DIFF
I need to know what the hell I did to myself when I took Letrozole. I do think that my problem must be prolactin or progesterone, if not, what else would it be???!
My physical and sport permanence is great, but my like I said, I am not able to have as much sex as I want even though my desire is there.

 

[Systemlord]

My TRT cycle is 200 MG of Testosterone enathante per week split up in two injections. I take 300 IU of HCG with each injection.

Before I started taking Testosterone, I was able to have sex 3-5 times a day, after I started taking TRT I am only able to have sex 1-2 times a day.

Sex hormone binding globulin 11.7 nmol/L

I am seeing a trend of low SHBG men having sexual problems with normal estrogen and high free estrogen hiding under the surface, but your estrogen is 42 slightly above the reference ranges and Free estrogen has got to be very high with SHBG at 11.7 nmol/L.

When SHBG is low, you bind (deactivate) less testosterone and estrogen and therefore more of it is free and bioavailable and high free estrogen can wreak havoc on sexual function. I had the same problem, estrogen over 35 and I had longer sexual recovery. My SHBG is low as well. I only found daily and every other day protocols to restore sexual function to normal.

I don't need a high Total T either, 400-450 is plenty because I have low SHBG and Free T is high normal at only a Total T at 450-500 ng/dL. Now you may have had better sexual function naturally, but TRT is a different ballgame.

You will have estrogen higher longer compared to naturally, naturally you have gnrh and LH pulsatility, testosterone and estrogen are pulsatile as well which you lost when going on TRT and shutting down the HPTA.

 

[Michael341]

I can afford to order any test I want from my doctor but I just want my sexual permanence to return to what it was when I was natural...
What time of damage did I cause when I took Letrozole?

 

[Michael341]

I going to ask my Doctor to test for all of this, if there is anything else I should tell him to add to the blood work, please let me know!


Testosterone: Total and Free
(DHT) Dihydrotestosterone
FSH/LH (follicle stimulating hormone / luteinizing hormone)
(SHBG) Sex Hormone Binding Globulin



Estrogen: Total
Estradiol (sensitive & total)
Progesterone
Prolactin


DHEA-S
Cortisol


TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone)
T4 free
T3 free
T3 reverse




Vitamin D, 25-hydroxy
Fasting Glucose
Hemoglobin A1C
Insulin
(IGF-1) Insulin-like Growth Factor 1
(IGFBP-3) Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3

CBC AND COMPLETE DIFF
IRON PROFILE
Blood Chemistry Panel
Complete Metabolic Panel

AST
ALT
CREATININE
CALCIUM
SODIUM
POTASSIUM
TOTAL PROTEIN
ALBUMIN
AMYLASE
LIPASE
TRIGLYCERIDES
CHOLESTEROL, HDL
CHOLESTEROL, LDL
VITAMIN B12
FERRITIN

I hope after this test, I will know the cause of my problem...

 

[Gman86]

@Michael341 so peptides increased your prolactin in the past? Did you find this out by doing labs?

 

[bbex2014]

You had sex 3-5 times a day BEFORE starting T ...!!!
Why in the world were you even on trt ?? Makes absolutely no sense. If you told your doctor you had a strong libido and he still gave you a “ steroid dose” of testosterone, he is not a doctor.
This is very suspicious.

What exactly is "a steroid dose" of testosterone? I'm not being a smartass here, just curious what you consider that to be. I personally don't know what seperates trt from steroid dosages outside of blood levels. If it takes some 350 mg to reach a free t of 30 and all health markers are good, is that still considered trt?

 

[antelopers]

What exactly is "a steroid dose" of testosterone? I'm not being a smartass here, just curious what you consider that to be. I personally don't know what seperates trt from steroid dosages outside of blood levels. If it takes some 350 mg to reach a free t of 30 and all health markers are good, is that still considered trt?

It's an alarmist overreaction to someone being on the high end of trt dosages.

 

[bbex2014]

It's an alarmist overreaction to someone being on the high end of trt dosages.

I agree, it’s just that most doctors use this in practice, where they will not go above a certain dosage, regardless of what levels you achieve and health markers. Probably for liability reasons. It’s like a doctor telling a diabetic he will only prescribe x amount of insulin even if blood sugars are still too high.

 

[Gman86]

I agree, it’s just that most doctors use this in practice, where they will not go above a certain dosage, regardless of what levels you achieve and health markers. Probably for liability reasons. It’s like a doctor telling a diabetic he will only prescribe x amount of insulin even if blood sugars are still too high.

Very good analogy. Just like there is insulin resistance, there is also androgen resistance.

 

[Michael341]

Guys if my problem has nothing to do with prolactin or progesterone what else could it be???

 

[bixt]

Too much porn

 

[Systemlord]

Guys if my problem has nothing to do with prolactin or progesterone what else could it be???

I suggest you spend a little more time on these forums and watch how low SHBG men find success on TRT, and it's not injecting twice weekly.