Newbie with Concerns

[Blizzard]

Hi all,

So 2 months ago I decided to enter this amazing world of TRT therapy. Mainly because of reduced libido and the reality that at 66 my body is not optimized as years ago. So after a bit of poking around, I found a clinic in La and here is where we are now.

First visit, my levels were 135 total and I believe about 20 free. It was decided I would start with .5 per week cym injectable.

After 6 weeks I reached out and asked how long it may be before I may be actually feeling any effects and was told that everyone is different but 90 days is a fair time to evaluate. I suggested running blood tests right away and not wait for the 5 months originally told to me to see what was going on. So after 8 weeks and by the way my day is Tuesday, I went in for test on Thursday. I got back the results yesterday and low and behold, the Dr said, way too high on the TRT as well as the estrogen. 2100 on the TRT and I don't have the other number .
He said stop injection next week and gave me a script for an estrogen blocker and said take 1/2 once a week.

I am set to take blood tests again next Thursday

So being extremely uneducated in this world the question is , why the hell is my body not metabolizing any of this TRT but almost storing it, and why did I not get the buzz as the levels were climbing. I can only assume as the TRT spooled out of control the estrogen was also ramping up.

I had zero side effects good or bad over that 8 weeks besides a little hornier but that's it. No life-changing revisit to my 20's!

Any and all info is greatly appreciated!

 

[MIP1950]

I'm not the most knowledgeable person but I'll weigh in. The first thing is to post all your labs ordered by your doctor. Without them, no one can give you any kind of opinion, though I have some thoughts.

You were prescribed .5 cc/mL of testosterone cypionate, which would be 100 mg per week, an average dose. You had labs done two days after your injection. The standard is to wait seven days and draw labs before the next injection. That's known as the the trough; the low point. Your total T was 2100, partly because you were still in the high part of your injection cycle. But, you also might have low SHBG(sex hormone binding globulin) which means that your body has more T available, not 'held onto' so to speak, by SHBG. As for estradiol, our bodies naturally convert some testosterone to estradiol. When you take exogenous T, more of it might be converted to estradiol. That doesn't automatically call for an aromotase inhibitor.

Again, post whatever labs you have and let us have a look. Thanks.

 

[Cataceous]

With that level of total testosterone SHBG would more likely be on the high side. It's also common for the underlying metabolic clearance rate to decline with age, increasing serum testosterone levels relative to dose.

It's odd you didn't get much of a honeymoon period, especially considering the low starting point. But ultimately TRT is only going to resolve low-T symptoms, and perhaps improve body composition; unfortunately it's not a fountain of youth.

It's doubtful you need an aromatase inhibitor, and use of one may cause other problems. With a total testosterone of 2,100 ng/dL it would not be too surprising to see estradiol over 100 pg/mL. The solution is to decrease your dose to 50-70 mg per week of testosterone cypionate and inject more frequently so that you do not have large variations in serum testosterone during the week.