New and Filled with Questions.

[J.James.A]

Hello frens,
Long story short, am hypothyroid got my levels "normal", still felt bad so Dr. suggested checking T levels and found to be low. 344 if I remember correctly (I'm 31, 5'11 275lbs ), asked me if I wanted to start TRT. Had a ton of questions but since it was something that kinda hit me like a ton of bricks I didn't ask or really didn't know what to think. Was more in a "okay now what?" blank stage, also kinda bummed out because I thought I had my Thyroid kinda figured out with the FreeTs and TSHs and stuf and now I have to educate myself on T and FreeTs Es and blah blah blah. You can see my frustration. Kinda overwhelming...

Well after 2 weeks of wrestling with "what should I do, let me learn" I decided to get it done. The more I read and listened (podcasts) the more I felt the benefits would way over power the cons for me so why not? Let's get to feeling better over all.

Dr. wanted to go the 200 every 2 weeks route but after reading and finding a protocol I felt best for me (once weekly injections +hcg+inhibitor) printed it and gave it to her. She is more the pellets kinda Dr. and has her protocol but agreed to let me go on that and monitor me. Well today was my first injection, she went ahead and gave me 200 (T) this one time and will go back to 100(T) next Friday (I'm going to get it done every Friday as of right now). The question I have for you guys is, she went ahead and gave me the hcg at the same time and will give me another one next Friday as well.

Should I ride with this? Or should I separate them(take them on different days)? She also included B-12 and Lipo B? to the hcg injection. What do ya think about that combo? She said it would help with my belly and love handle fat along with the man boobs. Hell as soon as she said that I didn't even question it lol, kinda feel dumb for not voicing my concerns/questions now tho. Have ya heard about this combo, should I keep it or go straight plain hcg? I think I'm also getting an inhibitor, maybe pill form? cause she didn't give me anything there but did send a prescription (my new dose of synthroid) so maybe it's with it? I'll ask if I don't get anything but the thyroid med.

Well that's what I have for now lol. I'll try to be an active member also, I've learned a lot and also confused a lot lol, I know I still have a long road ahead of me but kinda excited in a way.

Your input is very important to me guys. Seeing what ya think about this combo injection and the timing of it.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

J.James.A

First of all, let me welcome you to our community. You are in the right place.

Your doctor seems great and progressive. You are lucky.

She is giving you options that most men do not get presented to them.

If you could post your TSH, free T3, free T4, and thyroid antibodies that would help to first see how your thyroid is doing. Sometimes having values within range is not enough. Where the values lay inside the range is truly what matters. If you have any other blood work, please feel free to post it here:

http://www.excelmale.com/forumdisplay.php?58-Blood-Test-Discussion

A total T value of 344 ng/dL in a man with a high BMI like yours is not too uncommon. Some doctors encourage you to lose weight to see if your T would raise as proven in some studies. Your doctor chose to give you the TRT option instead. A good TRT + thyroid replacement program can help you lose weight faster.

Many doctors "front load" with a 200 mg shot and then put you on a 50-100 mg twice weekly injections. I use HCG with my T injections as shown in this video. You could do them separately but my goal was to save time, supplies and testosterone waste.

https://www.excelmale.com/?s=149-Ho...o-Preserve-Fertility-Libido-and-Testicle-Size

If you want to quickly educate yourself about TRT, watch my video since it summarizes everything :

https://www.excelmale.com/?s=16-Practical-Tips-for-Testosterone-Replacement-Therapy

Lipo C is a nutrient combo used by several people on ExcelMale.com

Some report better energy. Many report injection site reactions. It seems that intramuscular injections cause fewer problems than subcutaneous ones. There is no data on LipoC's weight/fat loss effects, so all the info you see is anecdotal.

https://www.excelmale.com/forum/showthread.php?4428-B12-vs-Lipo-c

I know this is a lot of info to digest, but I see that you are trying to educate yourself fast as you enter the world of TRT.

 

[J.James.A]

Thank You for the welcome.

My Dr. is pretty nice but like I mentioned, she is more familiar with the pellet method. That's where she is more comfortable at. When I mentioned hcg she kinda didn't know what to say, I guess she researched it in the time between my appts. She did agree to it but mainly, from how it came off to me, more about the weight loss issue less about fertility (don't plan on having anymore kids, guess it would've mattered anyways ) She said I could be her guinea pig (something maybe I didn't want to hear? lol) mainly because she has her own pellet office an her protocol is different.

I also do like your idea of hcg & trt together also because of the time schedule, right now I will be going to the Dr office every week and I'm hoping I she will let me self inject. Something I will ask later, I don't want to over load with my wants/needs just yet lol. Don't want to loose what little access I have (small town living at it's finest!)

You said lipo C but what I got was Lipo B and when google it said "The lipotropic portion of our Lipo B injections is composed of three amino acids: Choline, Methionine, and Inositol. They help your liver process fats at peak efficiency, making your weight loss faster and easier to maintain." I still dunno and I'll ask next Friday to see if I really need the concoction. The nurse also brought me a hcg diet plan? I told her I wasn't interest on that plan that I only wanted the hcg cause the ball shrinkage issue lol. She kinda got a kick out of it, also why I'm wondering if my Dr made the concoction because she thought I wanted the diet too?

This all started with me finding out I wad Hypothiroid back in June of last year, went to my Dr. to tell them that I felt like CRAP, I have always been a bigger boy but at one point around Dec of 2013 I went down from 280 to 22ish in about a span of 3-4 months (Thanks Insanity!!) then BAM, I got socked with a lazy stick. No energy to get up, anxiety threw the roof, dry skin, hair loss (very bad feeling looking in the mirror) gained weight and always craved sweets and carbs. My old Dr. did a TSH and sure enough I was at 10.10 (0.27-4.20 ref range) Put me on levothyroxine 50 a day.

Around that time I started to inform myself on this issue and found out about Free T3s&4s and found out that he didn't check those, just TSH so I looked for someone else. Found 2 Dr.s, one was 120 miles(found him first, doc #2) the other was 30 miles(#3). Both checked TSH, T3s & T4s. I booked an appt with #2 but it was about a month before he could see me so I went to doc 3 (they saw me right away) and I told him how I felt, he did some blood work and they came back.
Free T4 1.3 (0.8-1.8)
Free T3 3.4 (2.3-4.2)
TSH 2.90 (0.32-5.00)
I was feeling pretty good around then had more energy, started to move a little more but then also around this time I also started to get denationalization spells (feeling one today as I type ). A couple weeks went by and my appt came up too see doc #2 (well rated Dr.) I showed him my tests and then he proceeded to put me on Armour but after a few weeks (my body is super sensitive) I was feeling more anxious and more depersonalized. I said to hell with going 120 miles let me call Dr #3 and see him and tell him how I feel. He did more blood work and found that my T3 was a bit high
4.7 (2.0-4.4) and then put me back on synthroid again.
Dr #2 without doing blood work had told me that I was suffering from Hashimots, I told #3 that and he did blood work and yup I did have hashi.
TPO 225 (0-34) 9/29/14
Also told me to come back and see how we are in a couple months back on being back on synthroid 50.
Fast forward to June of this year I went back to him Dr.#3 (never went back to see #2, too far of a drive, plus Dr #3 is super awesome with me) and I told him I was feeling like crap again, I kinda felt worse then when they first found out I was Hypo. He ordered more testing and i came up with
TSH 10.95 (0.450-4.500)
T4 1.22 (0.82-1.77)
T3 135 (71-180)
TPO 598 (0-34)
Also put on more weight and we decided to go to 100 levo once a day. He also told me he wanted to see me in 3 months to check me again and if i didn;t improve energy wise of weigth wise he would check my T levels because he had seen this before.


Ahhhhhh this is my journey my man lol. It's been a roller coaster! Okay don't get upset because after that visit my wife's friend told her that her mom was a Dr here locally and she had experience with both Thyroid and Testosterone, she also checked the Ts I needed checked (ala Dr #4 ) so I got an apt with her and she saw my labs and agreed to come back in 2 moths to check my Thyroid levels and went ahead and check my T levels that day. I got my results
T Serum 344 (348-1197)
Estrodial 27.8 (7.6-42.6)
She said that they ratio of T to E was off in her opinion and that's why my fat is in my mid section and have me man boobs
We made the decision to wait till I get the thyroid blood work done before going more into the T talk.
Well the time came for my Thyroid blood work and the rests were
9/10/14
TSH 3.94 (0.27-4.20)
Total T4 10.60 (4.00-11.00)
Free T3 3.4 (2.0-4.4)

Today she said it was in the "normal" range but we both agreed we wanted the TSH lower and the T3 a little higher so now I'm going to be 112 levo and also now on T

So there you go my friend, there is my story. Been one hell of a year for me, can't dwell on it I guess just gotta find me again.

The loosing weight thing you mentioned, even if she pushed me to it, I have no energy, no will and no want. My mood sucks bad, my brain fog sucks, libo always been good lol and my stress levels been threw the roof so I have 0.00000% in wanting to excersive. I need the boost honestly. That's what I'm hoping for in all honesty. I want a boost so I can get going again, hell I was killing the Insanity wrorkouts at one time!! I want to feel better, I want to treat my family better and not un load my stress on them or act like a **** to them cause I'm stressed out. I want to loose this damn belly fat, I want to want to excersive again.

Again, Thanks for listening/reading about me and my journey, Also thanks for your replys. Means a lot.

 

[ERO]

You have only had one injection so my 2-cents would be to give this protocol 4-6 weeks before you make any changes. A lot of new guys start changing things the second week and you cannot see what works and what doesn't that way. You can only measure one variable at a time and it takes 4-6 weeks for your body to adjust to a new protocol.

Some guys feel better right away on TRT, but for most of us it takes a few weeks so don't get discouraged if you don't feel like Superman by week two.

 

[CoastWatcher]

As ERO wrote, it takes time. Give things four weeks, at a minimum, before considering changes. The relationship you have with your doctor is marked by good communication and, seemingly, mutual respect - that's an enormous plus when engaging in androgen replacement.