Trouble with sex drive while on TRT

[one way step]

Hello all,

I've been on TRT a few years now and have struggled to find a routine that greatly improves my sex drive.

The first endo I saw wasn't very good. I began seeing him in 2011 and I would do 400mg-600mg shots every 2-3 weeks. Eventually we added HCG to the mix. In 2012 I finally found a dose that was working wonders for me; 450mg test + 2500iu HCG every two weeks. I was always hungry, always horny, and had a ton of energy. However, this came with some nasty sides such as water retention, hair loss, and body hair increase, so I stopped it.

I eventually moved on to 200mg test + 2500iu HCG every week. This dose had me feeling crappy and I had a weak sex drive. I eventually saw a new endo and he suggested an AI and lower doses of HCG. After some experimentation I found the dose that does the trick is taking 500iu HCG and .25mg ADEX on Monday, and 200mg TEST on Tuesday every week. It has me at good energy levels, I think clearly, and don't have any nasty sides from too much or too little E2.

However, I still don't have a good sex drive/libido while on this dose. I don't get morning wood and my drive isn't where it should be. If I start looking at porn I will eventually get a good strong erection, but my libido is overall unsatisfactory.

What could the problem be? Should I just go back to 450mg TEST and deal with the sides?

 

[ERO]

I too have had poor libido for the 4 years that I have been on TRT and no protocol that I have tried (and I have tried just about everything) has really helped, nor has it had anything to do with my E2 levels being too high or too low.

I just switched to Defy medical 2 weeks ago and the Doc there has me doing 20 IU of HCG every day instead of 500 IU twice a week and I think it may be helping my libido a bit. Its a bit early to say for sure, though - some days I think so, others not. I have my fingers crossed.

Hopefully some others here with more knowledge can add some more helpful info.

 

[Midnight]

Hello all,

I've been on TRT a few years now and have struggled to find a routine that greatly improves my sex drive.

The first endo I saw wasn't very good. I began seeing him in 2011 and I would do 400mg-600mg shots every 2-3 weeks. Eventually we added HCG to the mix. In 2012 I finally found a dose that was working wonders for me; 450mg test + 2500iu HCG every two weeks. I was always hungry, always horny, and had a ton of energy. However, this came with some nasty sides such as water retention, hair loss, and body hair increase, so I stopped it.

I eventually moved on to 200mg test + 2500iu HCG every week. This dose had me feeling crappy and I had a weak sex drive. I eventually saw a new endo and he suggested an AI and lower doses of HCG. After some experimentation I found the dose that does the trick is taking 500iu HCG and .25mg ADEX on Monday, and 200mg TEST on Tuesday every week. It has me at good energy levels, I think clearly, and don't have any nasty sides from too much or too little E2.

However, I still don't have a good sex drive/libido while on this dose. I don't get morning wood and my drive isn't where it should be. If I start looking at porn I will eventually get a good strong erection, but my libido is overall unsatisfactory.

What could the problem be? Should I just go back to 450mg TEST and deal with the sides?

Do you have recent bloodwork results to post?

Have you had your prolactin levels checked? If so, you might consider taking cabergoline for a few weeks if the levels are higher than normal. Higher prolactin levels could also impact libido.

Have you had your estradiol (sensitive) tested?

Also, with your current protocol, have you tried injecting more frequently? An example would be the following: Inject 100mg of testosterone on Monday and Thursday (total 200mg for the week), .25 anastrozole taken on Tuesday, and 500iu HCG taken on Friday and Saturday. This would hopefully keep your levels regulated throughout the week and would give you a nice boost for the weekend when you might need it and also for Monday morning when work might be more demanding. I highly doubt you would need 450mg of testosterone per week.

 

[one way step]

BW from a few weeks ago, before I actually implemented HCG & AI back into the mix. I was taking 300mg test every two weeks and not getting any benefit from it in any areas....

Test 631 (range 241-827 ng/dl)
E2 35 (range 0-56 pg/ml)

All the BW I have done have shown normal levels of prolactin. I don't have the results of prolactin for this blood work or any others (I inadvertently misplaced them).

As for more frequent injections, I have tried them and have not been too receptive to them. For whatever reason, splitting the shots into 100mg per week has me feeling sluggish, lazy, and unenergetic, as well as with no sex drive. I'm unresponsive to anything below 200mg per week.

As for the 450mg doses, that was for biweekly shots. I would take 450mg test and 2500iu HCG on the same day and that would be it for two weeks. Honestly it had me feeling great but the sides were too much to bear. I haven't done that routine in almost 2 years now.


Thanks for the help bro

 

[Midnight]

BW from a few weeks ago, before I actually implemented HCG & AI back into the mix. I was taking 300mg test every two weeks and not getting any benefit from it in any areas....

Test 631 (range 241-827 ng/dl)
E2 35 (range 0-56 pg/ml)

All the BW I have done have shown normal levels of prolactin. I don't have the results of prolactin for this blood work or any others (I inadvertently misplaced them).

As for more frequent injections, I have tried them and have not been too receptive to them. For whatever reason, splitting the shots into 100mg per week has me feeling sluggish, lazy, and unenergetic, as well as with no sex drive. I'm unresponsive to anything below 200mg per week.

As for the 450mg doses, that was for biweekly shots. I would take 450mg test and 2500iu HCG on the same day and that would be it for two weeks. Honestly it had me feeling great but the sides were too much to bear. I haven't done that routine in almost 2 years now.


Thanks for the help bro

Sorry I missed the bi-weekly piece. Thanks for clarifying. Hopefully, the more experienced gents on the forum will reply with better ideas.

 

[one way step]

Thanks man. I can't figure out why the hell I have such a poor sex drive on this routine. Like I said the 450mgT/2500iuHCG worked great but the sides were way too much.

What routine are you on?

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Try

100-200 mg/week of T + 500 IU twice per week of hCG + 1000 mg/day citrulline and stop the AI.

 

[one way step]

I have tried 500iu 2x per week, as well as 250iu 2x per week. The second HCG shot seems to send my e2 too high and I get lethargic and my sex drive/libido goes down significantly.

I've done a lot of trial and error over the past 8 months with TRT, and have at least concluded that I need at minimum 200mg of test per week and only one shot of HCG per week and one dose of AI per week. Two or more doses of HCG or AI sends my E2 either too high or too low.

The reason I take the HCG + AI the day before the test is because I respond much better to it. If I take them all on the same day I don't get the same effect.

 

[HarryCat]

or too low.

I just switched to Defy medical 2 weeks ago and the Doc there has me doing 20 IU of HCG every day instead of 500 IU twice a week and I think it may be helping my libido a bit. Its a bit early to say for sure, though - some days I think so, others not. I have my fingers crossed.

ERO, is that really 20IU per day? That would be 140IU total for the week. That is the lowest dose I have heard of for HCG. Just curious.

 

[Vince Carter]

ERO, is that really 20IU per day? That would be 140IU total for the week. That is the lowest dose I have heard of for HCG. Just curious.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[ERO]

Sorry, typo - I meant to say 200 per day! Just as a trial for 3 weeks to see if it helped. So far it has not, so I am likely to go back to 500 IU twice per week. I understand that HCG back-fills important pathways, but for me it has never done anything that I can see or feel. My testicles are no bigger on it than off and I can (after 4 years now) never notice any change in libido, either. Maybe its just me...

 

[Vince Carter]

I feel the same way about HcG, its kept my nuts alive, fertility is not an issue for me, but it's never done anything else that I can tell. I've done 250iu EOD, 400iu EOD, 100iu daily, never amounted to a hill of beans, done those each time for 4 weeks. I'm currently using just 100iu EOD.

 

[HarryCat]

Sorry, typo - I meant to say 200 per day! Just as a trial for 3 weeks to see if it helped. So far it has not, so I am likely to go back to 500 IU twice per week. I understand that HCG back-fills important pathways, but for me it has never done anything that I can see or feel. My testicles are no bigger on it than off and I can (after 4 years now) never notice any change in libido, either. Maybe its just me...

I feel the same way about HcG, its kept my nuts alive, fertility is not an issue for me, but it's never done anything else that I can tell. I've done 250iu EOD, 400iu EOD, 100iu daily, never amounted to a hill of beans, done those each time for 4 weeks. I'm currently using just 100iu EOD.

That sums up my experience as well, except I've only been using it 6 months.

 

[dallas101346]

That sums up my experience as well, except I've only been using it 6 months.

Adding HCG for me seems to bring up other side effects, might be because it will boost cortisol.

 

[ERO]

Yes, I sure wish we had something besides HCG to help with libido. I have heard of guys using just a small amount of gel or cream applied to the scrotum in addition to their injections to raise DHT, which is critical for libido. I might try that as my libido has been worse on TRT than it was off, even with the low T.

 

[bruin]

Im probably noticing some libido swings, but also aware of the bigger picture, personal and professional challenges which bring on the high level of stress and affect the biological. An endless cycle. Noticing more hair in the drain after the shower and sink, not liking that, while I have my rx undercontrol, am changing dr this week due to insurance changes, will get a new blood draw. Duane