Guy’s,
I was on a lower dose of test and was getting around 650 levels of test in the labs. I’m now on 200 a week after the doctor gave the green light.
I’m now up close to 1000 with 55 E2 no symptoms of high estrogen.
I feel much better. Libido off the rails and I’m gaining strength and recovering way faster. My worry is long term. Can this high a dose long term have heart side effects?
It’s possible. Check your PSA, Lipids. If your Prostate starts to enlarge, you will have to add other drugs to control that, have surgery, or lower the dose. Lipids may remain fine, maybe not. You may have to start donating blood. It’s all hard to say, you just have to monitor it. And hopefully your dr is interested in your overall health. The guy I go/went to didn’t monitor things he didn’t want to monitor.
As long as your CBC labs aren’t crazy high, you have nothing to worry about.
Testosterone is cardioprotective, low testosterone causes heart problems.
A bit of context is needed, were these labs drawn at trough? If so then peak levels are higher, but are short-lived as levels start dropping quickly.
Why would you go higher then with this normal level?
What kind of doc do you go to?
So you’re entering the world of TRT Plus as I like to call it. Not quite TRT anymore but then again you know that as you said you’re looking at it from a legal PED standpoint. I’m not here to judge. If you get regular labs, physicals and heart echos etc you’re probably fine.
I’ve been on 200 per week for a couple of years, after being on 160 per week. My E2 was 60, and my dr said that is fine. My total t was over 1000, and he said that was “good”.
FYI.
That dose may be the most common one used over the years. TRT has shown to be beneficial for the heart. However, higher blood pressure is not and higher testosterone can cause fluid retention which can increase BP. What that level is for you may be different than what it is for others.
I can say that it is unusual to have those problems given the levels you are reporting. Keep an eye on the BP and report any sign of fluid retention to the doctor.
My GP. It was just a conversation. We can go higher for now. I can always drop off a little. My labs for everything else are normal as is BP.
Why go higher with a T value of 650? That is normal.
It was just a conversation. We can go higher and see how you feel. I actually feel better on the higher dose. More energy libido etc. Could be a placebo effect and we can always go back to half the dose. I will say this. The strength gains this month don’t seem to be placebo. I went and broke through my bench press which I hit a wall and couldn’t go past a certain weight.
I would gladly stay on this dose but I know it’s on the high side. Maybe I’ll cruise on this for a bit and go back for long term health sake…
What is the answer to this? Also what frequency are you pinning? I shoot for 1000 ng/dL TT, but I am pulling in between my shots (not the trough), and I pin EOD, so my peak isn’t much higher.
If thats his peak then nadir might be below 300
I don’t know the specifics. If I peaked at 600-50 and had a nadir of 300 I wouldn’t be happy. I geninely feel it if I drop below 450-400
If his peak is 1000 his nadir might be 500
What is the lag time between injection and peak total testosterone in blood? And does this lag time vary much from individual to individual, or depending on injection method (IM or subQ)?
I believe one still can’t link to other forums here but this reference may be helpful:
ttps://www.excelmale.com/forum/threads/what-kind-of-levels-to-expect-from-100mg-weekly.22095/post-190337
ttps://www.excelmale.com/forum/threads/what-kind-of-levels-to-expect-from-100mg-weekly.22095/post-190297
Take the text links above and copy into your browser window then add an “h” to the front.
This and other posts “readalot” did in that thread may help.
Typical range given individual variability for TC/TE:
This topic might prove beneficial for conversation too:
@highpull Thank you for sharing your wealth of information!
Definitely beneficial but doesn’t address the “tmax” question from @RT_Nomad.
I like this graph when trying to help people understand the basics of PK profile with injectable T.
The time for Cmax is typically referred to as tmax in the literature.
Lab was drawn the day after pinning so peak is my guess. Pin Wednesday and Sunday.
Was looking at HCT and is 50 with 17.7. so number is just a tad high but I also may have been dehydrated.
So if you are pinning twice a week, and pulling bloods the day after injection, and you are not quite at 1000 ng/dL (which I based upon “I’m now up close to 1000”), I wouldn’t worry about that level (I say I wouldn’t, not you shouldn’t, that is up to you).
I would not worry too much about the actual dose of Test you are taking. You are correct to be looking at your blood work. Two different guys can have significantly different levels on the same dose. If it actually takes 250 mg/wk to have an average level of 900-1000 ng/dL, that guy isn’t permablasting. If we are looking at benefits and risks, those come down to blood levels not dose. Two guys with 1000 ng/dL blood levels on average have the same benefits and risks on average even if one is taking 100 mg/wk and the other 250 mg/wk to get the same levels.
Short answer, absolutely.
This plot may be instructive for you @boston85 …assume once weekly injection of 180 mg/week of TC