Opinions on protocol, mood issues

[donkeyfarlo]

So my doc has me on 60mg test cyp M W F and 0.125g anastrozol M-F with nothing at all on weekends. It's been this way for a number of months and things are generally good.

Labs show good T levels and "acceptable" e2. Strength, recovery, and libido are great, but mood is not consistently good. I have moments of full confidence, peace, and comfort followed by periods of doubt and anxiety.

For what it's worth, my life is in significant turmoil at the moment, but my thinking is perhaps if I can dial in the dosage more accurately I will spend all of my time in the confident, peaceful head space.

Can anyone comment on my current dosage schedule and whether or not it seems reasonable? Obviously everyone is different, but if I'm on some kind of difficult to manage megadose it would be good to know.

 

[Systemlord]

Can anyone comment on my current dosage schedule and whether or not it seems reasonable?

Total T and SHBG would be nice to at least see what is the result of your protocol.

Labs show good T levels and "acceptable" e2.

This statement leaves too much to the imagination.

What’s your definition of good T levels and acceptable E2.

 

[Systemlord]

but mood is not consistently good.

This could be related to the use of the AI, the rapid changes in E2 may explain your mood issues..

Why are you taking an AI in the first place?

 

[donkeyfarlo]

Of course, sorry:

Total T: 830.2 ng/dL
Free T: 200.6 pg/mL
SHBG: 26.9 nmol/L
Sensitive Estrodial: 40.4 pg/mL

 

[Systemlord]

Of course, sorry:

Total T: 830.2 ng/dL
Free T: 200.6 pg/mL
SHBG: 26.9 nmol/L
Sensitive Estrodial: 40.4 pg/mL

Contrary to popular belief, more T isn’t always better, and in fact, too much can be as bad as not enough. If you haven’t already done so, maybe try to lower your dosage a little and see how you feel around 600-700 ng/dL.

Maybe talk to your doctor about reducing or dropping the AI.

 

[donkeyfarlo]

Contrary to popular belief, more T isn’t always better, and in fact, too much can be as bad as not enough. If you haven’t already done so, maybe try to lower your dosage a little and see how you feel around 600-700 ng/dL.

Maybe talk to your doctor about reducing or dropping the AI.

That was actually my thinking, as I'd love to find a level that lets me ditch the AI.

For what it's worth, this lab was from an injection day, so these numbers are likely on the low end of what I run 12 hours after and beyond.

 

[DixieWrecked]

Don't underestimate the impact life can factor into how you feel. If there is significant turmoil, don't expect to feel great all the time. TRT is not cocaine or molly. You are still present in life and will experience emotions depending on circumstance. I do think it would be a good idea to modify your protocol so you don't have to deal with an AI but even then you'll still feel stressors and insecurities if warranted. TRT might give you that extra push to remedy those stressors instead of lazily accepting a shitty situation though.

 

[donkeyfarlo]

Thanks, yeah this situation started during my first failed round of HRT with Clomid. I actually have no idea what it feels like to be on TRT without life being a shitshow.

The motivation to address the problems is definitely there and I'm grateful for it, just would love to ditch the occasional "what if it all goes to hell" sinking feeling that comes on occasionally.

Like you said though, I can't even say for sure whether that is E related or just my the state of my life right now.

 

[Phil Goodman]

Of course, sorry:

Total T: 830.2 ng/dL
Free T: 200.6 pg/mL
SHBG: 26.9 nmol/L
Sensitive Estrodial: 40.4 pg/mL

What are the ranges listed for the test that gave you these results?


As has been mentioned, more is not always better so it’s possible you’ll feel better at a lower level. Also, either your doctor just hands out AI as standard protocol, or your dose is likely too high resulting in too much estradiol. You could try either dropping the dose and AI, or just dropping the AI and see how you feel. Have you noticed a pattern with regards to days of the week that you are more likely to have the negative emotions? That could indicate a trend that is coming about due to that point in your hormonal state. I thinks it’s probably more likely that life is just life(as Dixie mentioned above) and you may be better served focusing your efforts on things like meditation, exercise, outdoor time, or other things that can improve your mental state and stability. There are lots of things and habits that go into a healthy, well-rounded lifestyle but often people get hyper focused on one thing that they hope can fix everything. Sure the TRT can provide tons of benefits, but don’t overlook other avenues that may improve your quality of life because you’re prioritizing TRT so heavily.

 

[Seagal]

So my doc has me on 60mg test cyp M W F and 0.125g anastrozol M-F with nothing at all on weekends. It's been this way for a number of months and things are generally good.

Labs show good T levels and "acceptable" e2. Strength, recovery, and libido are great, but mood is not consistently good. I have moments of full confidence, peace, and comfort followed by periods of doubt and anxiety.

For what it's worth, my life is in significant turmoil at the moment, but my thinking is perhaps if I can dial in the dosage more accurately I will spend all of my time in the confident, peaceful head space.

Can anyone comment on my current dosage schedule and whether or not it seems reasonable? Obviously everyone is different, but if I'm on some kind of difficult to manage megadose it would be good to know.

Hey donkeyfarlo, how many number of months have you been on this protocol? 3-4 or rather 6-9 months? Asking because of the 'honeymoon' phase many experience where all seems great. If your life is right now in turmoil and you have felt mentally balanced on this protocol for rather close to a year that is way longer than typical honeymoon phase then it's probably best to make very slow incremental changes to the protocol at this moment. Did you feel more impulsive since you are on TRT?

 

[donkeyfarlo]

I've been on nearly a year total, and increased the AI to M-F at the beginning of April 2023. The "life turmoil" has been happening for a year and a half or so, so I got to skip over anything resembling a honeymoon phase for sure.

It seems to me that 160mg (total I'm on weekly) is a pretty high dose. I'm getting peak and trough labs this week for both e2 and T then meet with the doc to review in a week or so. Hopefully we'll be able to come up with a way to try bringjng things down that doesn't fire off negative mood symptoms.

 

[donkeyfarlo]

Some updates here...

I had two labs taken, one to try to capture peak T (~12 hours post injection) and one to try to capture peak e2 (prior to injection Monday morning after having no injections over the weekend). I wanted to check the delta between peak and trough to see if it was excessive.

Here are the results:

Peak T Lab
Total T: 1183.6 ng/dL (264-916)
Free T: 281.3 pg/mL (30.3-183.2)
SHBG: 32.7 nmol/L (16.5-55.9)
Estradiol: 26 pg/mL (8-35)

Peak E Lab
Total T: 548.7 ng/dL (264-916)
Free T: 118.5 pb/mL (30.3-183.2)
SHBG: 28.6 nmol/L (16.5-55.9)
Estradiol: 18.4 pg/mL (8-35)

Seeing as the T levels fluctuated so significantly between tests and the "peak e" lab actually showed less e2 than the Peak T lab, I believe the theory that I aromatize quickly is confirmed.

After discussing this with my doctor, he proposed moving from 0.3ml M-W-F with 0.125mg anastrozole M-F to 0.2ml EOD with 0.125mg anastrozole on injection days.

I'm now a week in to this so everything is starting to balance out, and I'd say so far so good from a mood perspective. I'm also considering dropping the AI altogether after a full 6 weeks of being on this protocol to see if I can simply go without, as that would be ideal.

Until then, I wanted to ask you guys what you think about AI on injection day. This is what my doc recommended, but I seem to recall that the usual recommendation is to take the AI 24 hours after injection, as that is when e2 peaks. Do you think it would make a difference in my case or is everything frequent now that it won't matter?