I know your example is only anectdotal, but one thing I’ve wondered about is how much high body fat leads to more aromatization vs how much high aromatization leads to more body fat. I’m sure it’s probably both, but some seem to think it’s only one or the other.

And while I think AIs should be a last resort, I do think that ignoring E2 will make it harder for some people to reach an optimal state. Not sure what group you’re talking about, but I know of one that takes a similar approach. They’ll advise trying every different frequency and dose protocol you can think of, tell people to add cream to their injections, ask for thyroid labs, talk about vitamin d levels, ask about sleep, stress, alcohol intake, smoking status, and zodiac sign…then when someone asks if symptoms could be due to E2 they freak out and say nothing bad ever happens from E2 and that you can’t even measure it anyway. Seems to me that taking that approach is ignoring a pretty substantial factor. I understand the swing back in the other direction because of how long people were just given AIs like candy for pretty much every protocol, but to me it seems the pendulum is swinging too far in the other direction.

I just got my labs back from my most recent bloodwork and my E2 has climbed quite a bit from the 30’s to 50’s) while everything else stayed about the same as they were in past labs. Well, my DHEA jumped a lot as well but other than that the free and total T levels were the same(barely above the top end of the range). The only difference is that I switched to Pregnyl. If I had to guess, that would be my first bet but I guess I can’t really tell for now. I have noticed a little bit more of a puffy face but nothing too noticeable anywhere else(and I’m pretty strong/lean…6’1” 175). I feel pretty good, but I wonder if I would feel better I dropped my E2 a little. I already have some anastrazole that was prescribed to me but I’ve never used it. I’ve considered adding .125/week and seeing how I feel, but not really ready to try it yet. And even if I did I would probably just use it for 3-4 weeks then stop and compare. For people who have used it with success in the past, how did you incorporate it into your protocol? And ftr I currently use about 100 mg/test divided up MWF and 900 ius of Pregnyl divided up Tues./Thurs./Sat.