Sublingual T

[rleach]

Hello, after 3 months on 200mg bio identical test cream, my total T went from 326 to 229. I feel bad, no energy and poor overall outlook. My doctor put me on sublingual T, 300mg split by 150mg in the morning and 150mg in the evening.
I cant really find a lot of information on Sublingual T. Can anyone tell me of their experience with it? So far after 3 weeks I have seen no benefit, but I understand that it can take time.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

rleach

I hate to say this, but your doctor is using an unorthodox approach to your testosterone replacement. Sublinguals have short half lives and you have to use them 2-3 times per day. It is hard to stabilize T levels using that option. He should have increased your T cream concentration first.
Please read this so that you know what standard options for testosterone replacement therapy are: https://www.excelmale.com/forum/showthread.php?1487-Testosterone-Replacement-Treatment-Options

 

[rleach]

Thanks for the quick reply Nelson. I don't recall what the t-cream concentration was but the pharmacist at the compounding pharmacy mentioned a couple of times that it was a strong dose. The doctor thinks that I stopped being able to absorb it for some reason. For a while it worked great and I felt like a new person. Then I crashed after about 6 weeks.
The pharmacist also mentioned that the sublingual T I was just prescribed was also at a high concentration, Ill reach out to him and verify the concentration. They have me taking it twice a day, the troches came split in half. I get my blood drawn next Friday and will know a lot more on what effect it is having, but today I feel awful....no energy...depressed...the usual symptoms.
The primary reason for using the sublingual is that I wanted to avoid injections. I may just have to bite the bullet and start doing them. The strange thing is that while there's a lot of information and people posting their experiences with the other methods of delivery, there's very little out there on sublingual.
BTW, great book! It has really helped me.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

If you still have the cream you used, take a pic of the label and post it here. There is no such a thing as someone not been able to absorb transdermal gel or cream unless the concentration, dose and purity are not right.

 

[rleach]

Thanks Nelson, I was very surprised when I started feeling bad again. I have attached a couple of shots of the dispenser from a couple of different angles so you can read the whole label. Please let me know if you cant see the attachment.

Besides the Compounded Bio identical test the Dr has me taking 25mg of DHERA daily.

My stats are:

Before:

DHEA 344 scale - 70-495
Estradiol - 26
Free Test - 93.3 scale 34-246
Total Test - 326 scale 300-1200
SHBG - 15.3 scale -20-60
Progesterone - .40 scale - .2 - 2.0
Cortisol - 4.6 scale - 3.0 - 16

After:
DHEA - 592
Estradiol - 20
Free Test - 62.6
Total Test - 226
SHBG - 15.4
Progesterone - .38
Cortisol - 4.7

 

[rleach]

Sorry, forgot to add that I'm 47 years old. An odd thing is that my skin tears easily. This is the first time this has happened and I'm not sure if its related to the low t or not.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

rleach

Your testosterone cream was 2.5 percent. Not bad if I assume that it is a good quality product. It would be interesting if you order a 500 mg/ml cream from empowerrxpharmacy.com to see if your total testosterone increases abpve 500 ng/dL

Are you taking any medications?

 

[rleach]

Thanks, Ill look into upping the cream concentration, good idea. I get blood drawn this Friday which should tell me which way the sublingual T is going. This Friday will be 30 days on sublingual-t. The doctor scheduled draws at 60 and 90 days as well. Ill post the results for everyone to see.
I take trazodone 50mg to help with sleep. I get 4-6 hrs of sleep and have had a hard time sleeping since my early 20's. TRT has helped though, and once I get my levels dialed in I expect to see continued improvement.

 

[rleach]

OK, I got my results back and their not good.
Free Test - 60.6 pg/ml scale 34-246
Total Test 183 ng/dl scale 300-1200
SHBG 8.2 nmol/L scale 20-60

this is all that was tested for this time.
The Dr decided to try going back to the compounded cream using DMSO as an agent to facilitate better absorption. I now have 200mg/ml Biodentical cream (2.5%?) mixed with 5% DMSO.

Has anyone tried this? After 2 days I seem to be feeling better, but its too early to really tell.

 

[rleach]

Didn't get a response so Ill try again. Has anyone used compounded cream with DMSO? After a little more than a week I can say I feel a little better, and I don't think I've experienced the bad side effects related to smell and bad breath.
Has anyone used this combination long term?