Recovery after stopping cold turkey

[Rektnopct]

Looking for advice / guidance after having severe side effects 9 months into treatment, followed by abrupt discontinuation and severe withdrawal. Almost 5 months later, still not back to pre-TRT self.

Some background:
37 yo M
Was on 180 mg testosterone cypionate weekly, split into injections MWF. Was on 1/2 tablet anastrazole per week. Usually taken on Monday. On for about 9 months.

Had a lot of water retention on this protocol. Worsening sleep apnea. However, began having heavy palpitations and almost autonomic side effects. Tried to reduce my dose and stop taking anastrazole (which at the time was causing me to have a lot of worsening sides). Ended up having horrible autonomic effects 1 week after. Constant fight or flight symptoms, palpitations, weird neurologic symptoms associated with migraines.

Labs at this time were
Test: 787
Free test: 207 pg/ml
E2: 50
Progesterone 1
Prolactin 13
Shbg:16

I stopped everything at this point because symptoms were so awful. Talked to my clinic who stated it would be okay to stop cold turkey due to severity of symptoms.

After that, I have been pretty sick. Constant fight or flight symptoms for 2 months (alongside insomnia, dehydration, orthostatic hypotension, etc), followed by a gradual improvement over the last 2.5 months. Still not back to my normal self. A lot of residual anxiety that I never had before, etc. Still have testicular atrophy.

Had full medical work-up including MRI that was negative.

Everything hit suddenly and awfully. Had no significant stress at the time or anything.

Last set of labs done 1 month ago (at 4 month mark).
LH 2.4
Fsh 3
Test 274
Free test 61.7
E2 29. (Had a sensitive test 1 month earlier that was identical. High free e2)
Prolactin 6
Progesterone 0.7

Baseline labs prior to trt
Test 331
Free test 71
Prolactin 20
Progesterone 2
E2 33

With my baseline labs, felt fine other than fatigue (but was working and traveling a lot).

Right now, I am not at my baseline from a subjective standpoint. Objectively, I am close outside of progesterone and testicular atrophy. Improving but still feel really awful emotionally. The physical symptoms have improved a lot.

I think my free test and estradiol climbed too high and I had a pretty rough imbalance of hormones. When I stopped, everything crashed, and I have been slowly balancing since.

My questions: has anyone else had really awful withdrawals?. And if so, how long does it take the hormones (including the downstream neurotransmitters) to recover? And does the testicular atrophy usually recover?

 

[Systemlord]

I think my free test and estradiol climbed too high and I had a pretty rough imbalance of hormones.

A good number of men that come to Exelmale with problems are overdosed, which only increases the severity of side effects.

Similar to Cushing’s disease, an increase in all steroid hormones, aldosterone produced in adrenal glands, which enters the kidneys, tells the kidneys to absorb more sodium and sodium, carries water.

TRT does that same thing in some men. This occurs, especially after dosing changes!

This leads to fluid retention, therefore requiring a diuretic in extreme cases.

A lot of people seem to think it’s high estrogen.

If you’re exercising and eating healthy, that excessive fluid retention will become intracellular.

It would be more helpful if you posted normal ranges for the Free T.

If you ever revisit TRT, due to the fluid retention problems, I recommend very short half-life versions of TRT, like Jatenzo, or Kyzatrex.

Natesto is also another option, one that doesn’t shut down your natural T production.

These short acting versions of TRT are in and out of your system more quickly.

My questions: has anyone else had really awful withdrawals?

The first time I was on TRT, I was on for 3 years, stopped cold turkey, return to baseline in four and a half weeks.

This is with ongoing health problems.

 

[Rektnopct]

Thanks man!
Free testosterone range is 35-155
E2 range is 11-52

I think my pre-TRT test and estradiol came back pretty quick, but I think a lot of the issue is still with disrupted overall homeostasis from baseline if that makes sense. Trend toward improvement over time makes me think more along these lines as well.

Always a super calm person prior to all this. It’s such a weird personality shift.

 

[Systemlord]

Thanks man!
Free testosterone range is 35-155
E2 range is 11-52

I think my pre-TRT test and estradiol came back pretty quick, but I think a lot of the issue is still with disrupted overall homeostasis from baseline if that makes sense. Trend toward improvement over time makes me think more along these lines as well.

Always a super calm person prior to all this. It’s such a weird personality shift.

The fatigue you experienced prior to TRT could be as simple as a vitamin or mineral deficiency. TRT can make you burn through vitamins and minerals faster, and if that’s the case, that may be why you don’t feel like you did prior to treatment.

I started TRT with vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which TRT made worse. That’s the reason I stopped the first time.

Low testosterone typically causes high blood pressure, I would look more into this hypotension.

 

[Cynice49]

those same autonomic dysfunction symptoms are the same reason why I stopped; but I still have them 3 months after stopping yet. I was on trt for 6 years, and the symptoms have not gotten better, so ultimately I am guessing it has to be something else. Will probably restart trt. The symptoms I’ve had are palpitations especially when I stand, increased anxiety and a heightened state especially after 12 or my first meal. Just odd symptoms.

 

[sammmy]

Autonomic dysfunction symptoms (palpitations when standing up, orthostatic hypotension) can manifest after a viral infection - the most common nowadays would be after Covid. The condition is called POTS.

Anxiety feeling after meals could be a digestive problem like gastritis, infection, lack of digestive enzymes, lack of gastric acid etc.