Hello all, I'll try to explain the situation as simply as I can. I'm 39, very active until recently because of complete lack of energy and started gaining weight, injuries. I used to train muay thai, wrestling and brazilian jiu jitsu pretty much daily since I was in my teens. In the last year I stared getting rather bad panic attacks and my energy levels have disappeared. With that came nagging depressing and isolation. Loss of interest in every day things. But I knew I was not depressed. Something was "missing". On April 27 of this year I got my first lab work to check hormonal imbalances. Lab work was done at Quest Diagnostics:
Free Test = 43 (Range 46.0-224.0 pg/mL)
SHBG = 66 (Range 10-50 nmol/L)
Bio Test = 87 (Range 110.0-575.0 ng/dL)
Estradiol = 33 (Range < OR = 29 pg/mL)
No surprise that my doc said "man, you really are running on empty". On 5/22 I started on TRT cream. 1ml for the first month 0.5 x 2 times / day. Then 0.5 ml / day. I did that from May - August. Also Estrogen blockers (I swear I could feel some benefit from just taking those alone). AI I would take for the first couple of weeks only total of 16 pills maybe. I used Compounded cream with Lipo (200mg/ml concentration) .. One thing I didn't like about the cream was that this particular batch was very flaky and not at all smooth when I'd rub it on. I was sure about 20-30% didn't really get absorbed.
Still I felt a pretty solid difference in my energy mood and sleep patterns. Overall I was happy with the results. I was able to restart my training routine and although it took some time to get back into the groove of things, I was able to get back to working out pretty hard at 2-3 times a week and walking (bad kneed) for 5 miles each day.
About a month ago I went on a five day trip and didn't bring the cream with me (just forgot). Around the last day I felt rather shitty and one interesting side effect was really bad insomnia, I rarely experienced insomnia in my life. Typical problems would be anxiety and depression. I simply would not fall asleep. Once I got back from the trip and started to reapply the cream as directed things seemingly improved.
However, within a week or so I ran out of cream and got sick (unrelated). I couldn't get my lab done until about 10 days after I ran out. Here are my numbers as of the most recent test. Same exact lab, same ranges and even the same person taking my blood
Free Test = 35
SHBG = 76
Bio Test = 76
Estradiol = 32
This does not look promising. By the time second week without cream was coming to an end, I couldn't get off the couch. Walking around the block seemed like torture. Insomnia was nasty, feelings of complete emptiness and hopelessness mixed with non-stop anxiety got a little too much. My doc is really quite good. He did all the right tests and said all the right things. After I texted him saying that I'm seriously at the end of my wits, he pushed a new batch of cream the same day.
This batch is a lot better, much smoother and within 2 days I feel more stable and my energy and sleep have come back. On Sunday I just slept all day. My body was beyond exhausted. It literally felt like a car without gas.
Is it possible to completely lose all the benefits of treatment within 10 days or so? I presume my levels didn't shift significantly, although I probably improved a little while applying the cream.
I realize that I messed up because I got the lab work done late, but I would at least hope slightly better numbers. My only conclusion is that initial treatment had a little effect, which wore off rather quickly and levels dropped (and raised) back to where they were because there wasn't that much improvement in the first place?
Free Test = 43 (Range 46.0-224.0 pg/mL)
SHBG = 66 (Range 10-50 nmol/L)
Bio Test = 87 (Range 110.0-575.0 ng/dL)
Estradiol = 33 (Range < OR = 29 pg/mL)
No surprise that my doc said "man, you really are running on empty". On 5/22 I started on TRT cream. 1ml for the first month 0.5 x 2 times / day. Then 0.5 ml / day. I did that from May - August. Also Estrogen blockers (I swear I could feel some benefit from just taking those alone). AI I would take for the first couple of weeks only total of 16 pills maybe. I used Compounded cream with Lipo (200mg/ml concentration) .. One thing I didn't like about the cream was that this particular batch was very flaky and not at all smooth when I'd rub it on. I was sure about 20-30% didn't really get absorbed.
Still I felt a pretty solid difference in my energy mood and sleep patterns. Overall I was happy with the results. I was able to restart my training routine and although it took some time to get back into the groove of things, I was able to get back to working out pretty hard at 2-3 times a week and walking (bad kneed) for 5 miles each day.
About a month ago I went on a five day trip and didn't bring the cream with me (just forgot). Around the last day I felt rather shitty and one interesting side effect was really bad insomnia, I rarely experienced insomnia in my life. Typical problems would be anxiety and depression. I simply would not fall asleep. Once I got back from the trip and started to reapply the cream as directed things seemingly improved.
However, within a week or so I ran out of cream and got sick (unrelated). I couldn't get my lab done until about 10 days after I ran out. Here are my numbers as of the most recent test. Same exact lab, same ranges and even the same person taking my blood
Free Test = 35
SHBG = 76
Bio Test = 76
Estradiol = 32
This does not look promising. By the time second week without cream was coming to an end, I couldn't get off the couch. Walking around the block seemed like torture. Insomnia was nasty, feelings of complete emptiness and hopelessness mixed with non-stop anxiety got a little too much. My doc is really quite good. He did all the right tests and said all the right things. After I texted him saying that I'm seriously at the end of my wits, he pushed a new batch of cream the same day.
This batch is a lot better, much smoother and within 2 days I feel more stable and my energy and sleep have come back. On Sunday I just slept all day. My body was beyond exhausted. It literally felt like a car without gas.
Is it possible to completely lose all the benefits of treatment within 10 days or so? I presume my levels didn't shift significantly, although I probably improved a little while applying the cream.
I realize that I messed up because I got the lab work done late, but I would at least hope slightly better numbers. My only conclusion is that initial treatment had a little effect, which wore off rather quickly and levels dropped (and raised) back to where they were because there wasn't that much improvement in the first place?
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