New Start

[carpnp40]

Hello to all! I'm 40yo, and have been battling fatigue, brain fog, lack of ambition, mild depression and off/on low libido for the past few years. I lift weights 5 days per week and eat a very healthy diet. My recent lab work was TT 396, Free T 65 pg/ml, SHBG 40, TSH 1.48. I met with my doc a few weeks ago and he agreed to start me on testosterone injections 100mg/ wk and HCG 250 twice weekly. I have taken two test injections so far and will start HCG today (just received). First week felt greatly, likely placebo I realize. I did notice my first week that I have a lot of swelling in my hands and gained 5lbs, that seems to be sticking around. Anyone else experience this? Does this eventually normalize?

 

[Vince]

Welcome to ExcelMale. When I first started TRT, I had some weight gain. I associate with having more hunger, and then eating more. After a few week my appetite went to normal and my weight. But my libido has stayed very strong and no brain fog.

 

[Fireproof]

Weight gain could be due to increased estrogen which can lead to a little water retention. It does in me.

I also experienced a bit of weight gain in the beginning which I believe was a bit of muscle "re-gain" as I also got back into the gym after a long layoff.

 

[Gene Devine]

Agree with everyone here; the weight gain is just a little water as your body is adjusting and is normal.

You may experience a dopamine rush as well when you first start; you will feel really good and libido will be strong for a few weeks...but this will mellow out over time.

In the stickies in the testosterone forum here this is a post on how long things take on TRT...good to know.

 

[CoastWatcher]

In addition to the other excellent points made, I have a question: are you injecting 100mg in a single, weekly injection? If so, consider splitting that into two injects of 50mg every 3.5 days. Many of us have found that more frequent, smaller doses of testosterone are superior to single, larger doses. If you are dealing with estradiol issues this may be all you need to bring them under control.

 

[MAD King]

Was all of this really in the first week? Do you guys still remember that? I think it was more 3-4 weeks until you noticed some effects.

 

[CoastWatcher]

Was all of this really in the first week? Do you guys still remember that? I think it was more 3-4 weeks until you noticed some effects.

If one experiences a dopamine surge, also known as a "TRT honeymoon", it will take place in the initial, introductory phase of therapy. Endogenous testosterone, minimal as it may be, and exogenous testosterone boost levels as they haven't been felt in some time. It doesn't last because endogenous production soon shuts down, but it is a nice ride.

 

[MAD King]

PIf one experiences a dopamine surge, also known as a "TRT honeymoon", it will take place in the initial, introductory phase of therapy. Endogenous testosterone, minimal as it may be, and exogenous testosterone boost levels as they haven't been felt in some time. It doesn't last because endogenous production soon shuts down, but it is a nice ride.

Do you still remember that?

 

[carpnp40]

Thanks everyone! I do think I will go to bi-weekly injections and will start that next week as I just did this weeks injection.

Need a little advice? I made a dumb mistake today. I was going to combine my HCG injection and testosterone injection into one shot. I already loaded the HCG into the syringe and was going to draw up the testosterone. As I was injecting a little air into the bottle i pushed a little to hard and pushed all the HCG back up into the testosterone bottle. Luckily it was only a 1ml bottle. I went ahead and figured how much to draw back out to get the right amount of testosterone from the bottle. My next shot will be a week away. Do you all think it's okay to have these two sitting around until next week; I was going to refrigerate it since it has the HCG in the bottle. Thoughts?