TRT patient feeling better after lowering my prescribed dose

[Tman]

Hey Guys,
Hope all's well and Happy 4th! I'm looking for feedback. As a young male battling ED and low T, hopefully sharing my experience on what worked helps someone too.

Almost 32 now and I use to have severe ED as long as I can remember, maybe late teens. No clue on cause. Maybe it's medicine, sports-injury, or genetics related as I easily get high cholesterol despite being very active and eating normal. Even though I ate slightly better than the average American in my past, I now eat EXTRA-healthy to get LDL cholesterol in range. As far as medicine, my dad's a conventional doctor. He often went to his drug cabinet 1st if I was just a little sick, had flareups of severe eczema, or allergies. Docs often prescribed steroid creams/sprays/allergy shots as well. Maybe it effected ED/T. I'd never blame my dad and love him, but as I grew, I learned more. These days, I rely much more on listening to my body, diet, and exercise for health.

It took alot of yrs for me to realize I had low T and estradiol, plus extra years of confusion since my urologists weren't interested in treating. They usually just gave tadalafil which didn't help enough. I eventually found Defy and Dr. Saya. To combat ED, I started AI and clomid first 12.5mg twice daily, and then HCG 350iu daily without success. Clomid raised T levels a lot and HCG barely did. Symptom-wise, no help. Thinking back on those protocols, maybe changing dose and dropping AI may have helped, but that was never tried. About 1-2 yrs ago, I started a prescription of about 62mg of T cyp, 500iu HCG, and 0.3mg AI twice a week. Also, 1 click of 10% T gel to scrotum a day. Bloodwork for that shared in 2nd post. TRT took me into the right direction. I had alot more morning wood, 60% less ED, and slight improvement in libido. While I was happy to see improvement, there was still room for more. The pipes worked maybe on average 4/5 times, and libido only improved slightly.

Around early-mid June, without obtaining doctor's recommendation yet, I started taking 9-10mg of T cyp and 40iu of HCG daily. No more AI and T gel. Changing to daily shots gave more reason to use a smaller needle. I switched to 31g 5/16” needles, as I assume a needle that small won't cause scar tissue. I rotate injections between butt/abs/quads/shoulders. Anyways, I did this protocol because I figured starting low and increasing frequency was a good way to optimize. Change as needed. It was difficult to find how low to start as a daily user because there aren't many I know who inject T+HCG daily. I heard few starting as low as 60mg T cyp once a week and 50IU of HCG daily, so I must be at a decent daily starting point to titrate up. I wanted to focus more on symptoms and a starting point, instead of common protocols/lab numbers. I knew I had aching joints and low-normal SHBG before the latest change. I have to say with this protocol, I feel better. Less ED, more libido, more steady, and as an unexpected bonus, less pain. My muscles feel less stiff. Maybe I do better without AI and higher estradiol.

Everyone's different but for me, my theory is that my original protocol of higher doses and less frequent injections was helpful, but not optimal. Lower doses and more frequent injections is currently working for me. However, I could be wrong. It's not clear if it'll continue to work. Thanks to a sticky thread here, I've learned that T cypionate has a very long half-life, so I'm not at a steady state until after 40 days after changing dose. I'm only 2 or so weeks in. If I see my testicles getting smaller at 40IU HCG daily, then I assume I can just increase that to increase chances of having kids someday. After 40 days, I'll know better if I need increase dosage of T+HCG, or if I can even go lower without ED resurfacing. I'll get bloodwork and doctor's suggestion as well.

That is my experience thus far. If you have any comments, critique, or questions, let me know.

Keep us updated

 

[Arcane]

Its normal in the bloodwork shared under Dr.Saya’s supervision, but as mentioned, hair loss accelerated when a past urologist had me on high doses of dhea and clomid. That probably led to high DHT at that time, plus hairloss is genetic anyways. Before hair transplant, I occasionally used Nizoral and Lipogaine shampoo, because it contains ketoconazole which lessens DHT on the scalp. Now that I got a hair transplant, I may stop using that shampoo.

I went with Dr. Carlos Wesley for hair transplant. I probably wouldnt have mind Dr. Bernstein but I didnt want to visit too many top doctors when I already found one I liked, so I never saw him.

hows yoru hair holding up these days? using minoxidil or finasteride?