12 Weeks into TRT, Feel Terrible (Labs Included)

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

I’m really at a loss here with this. I have done a few cycles in the past and felt amazing, went through my PCTs then did a stint of blast/cruise for about 18 months. Came off entirely for a year and really struggled due to the timing. 2020 hit me with job loss, finances, stress, etc. Anyways, I decided to restart a nice easy TRT dose like I used to be on. 100mg Test C, broken up into 50mg Tuesday and 50mg Friday (no AI). First 3 weeks of it was amazing, felt better than I ever have in my entire life. Then week 4-6 I plateaued and mellowed out, which I expected. But now I am at week 12 and almost feel worse than I did off test. ED (Viagra and Cialis not working now), terrible sleep, fatigued, not gaining muscle (when I can get motivated enough to work out) and overall low sense of well being and anxiety.

I just got my labs and am now even more confused. My BP is a little high, running on average in the 140s systolic and my LDL is currently 140, but I have a pretty clean diet overall. Did gain some weight last year with everything going on but not enough to where I imagine it being the cause for all of these symptoms.
Vitamins include - Vit D3 and K2, Zinc, pregnenolone (2 or 3 times a week), and Vit B12.
Currently 30 years old

04/2021 - Pre TRT
TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL, MS 252 NORMAL 250-1100 ng/dL

ESTRADIOL,ULTRASENSITIVE, LC/MS 27 NORMAL < OR = 29 pg/mL

FSH 3.7 NORMAL 1.6-8.0 mIU/mL

LH 1.5 NORMAL 1.5-9.3 mIU/mL

PROLACTIN 1.8 LOW 2.0-18.0 ng/mL

07/22/2021 - On TRT
TESTOSTERONE, FREE,BIO AND TOTAL, LC/MS/MS

ALBUMIN 4.7 NORMAL 3.6-5.1 g/dL

SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULIN 26 NORMAL 10-50 nmol/L

TESTOSTERONE, FREE 155.3 NORMAL 46.0-224.0 pg/mL

TESTOSTERONE,BIOAVAILABLE 333.0 NORMAL 110.0-575.0 ng/dL

TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL, MS 858 NORMAL 250-1100 ng/dL

TSH - 2.45 uIU/ml 0.27 - 4.2

ESTRADIOL,ULTRASENSITIVE, LC/MS 26 NORMAL < OR = 29 pg/mL

PROLACTIN 4.2 NORMAL 2.0-18.0 ng/mL

2

This is the only thing that stands out. Are you on an AI?

3

Not currently. About 4 weeks ago I felt like I was getting a little bloated with water retention so I took 12.5 of aromasin two times in a 5 day period. Other than that, I haven’t taken any AI.

4

Did you also just recently start taking all those vitamins and supplements??? I will tell you that pregnenolone and vitamin D can throw people off their norm.

5

The vitamins I started prior to the TRT due to having low vitamin D and I figured a b12 couldn’t hurt. The pregnenolone I started about 4 weeks prior to TRT in hopes of at least regulating my hormones enough to feel somewhat decent. After I got blood work back and began TRT I continued with the pregnenolone every day 100mg for about 6 weeks and really felt like there was some positive synergy with taking it. Once I began feeling down, I stopped the pregnenolone for a week or so and noticed no change. Now I just take it 2 or 3 times a week and really don’t feel any different either way. It definitely used to give me that mental clarity and sharpness, but not anymore.

6

Just completely guessing here, but your labs seem fine other wise, it could be a build up of pregnenolone overtime. Maybe take 2 weeks off and see how it goes. There is anecdote around the internet if you dig up but oral vitamin D also doesn’t sit well with everyone for what ever reason. Sometimes also depends on the dose.

Just hard to tell because nothing in your blood work screams out something negative. If I were to start somewhere thats where it would be. Drop the preg, zinc, and vitamin D and incorporate them slowly 1 by 1. Vitamin b12 I don’t think is giving you problems.

7

That’s interesting, I thought vitamin D was one of the most benign vitamins too. Ok, I will drop all orals and see where I land. Just seems strange to me to be hovering around 900 test and have zero libido, no aggression (like last time I was on trt), and barely any motivation.

8

Yeah man its such a debatable topic as I have seen guys swear by super high FT levels over 30, while some guys claim they can’t have long term FT out of range? Who the hell knows if you may benefit just from upping the dose thus upping your FT?

9

Yea, guess I will see how dropping the vitamins goes and if nothing helps, then up my dose another 25-50mg a week. And if that doesn’t help, maybe lower my dose then? Either way, I appreciate you guys responding, I knew this would be a difficult topic to answer cause all the numbers are within range. The human body man… such a pain sometimes lol

10

Me personally, I don’t respond well to multi vitamins and D3. Just feel off, get sluggish, headaches. Don’t know exactly what it is, but when I got them all out to see what was doing it, I felt better. It’s possible to overdue it with minerals and micros

11

I think more T is in order.