Hi,
Firstly, I want to thank this forum for all the great info I read and also @KSman for all his stickies and help on this forum. I am writing because I finalized the HPTA restart protocol suggested by him and would like to share the results, as well as ask for advice on optimal future options for cases like mine. Thanks a lot in advance for all your input and advices!
BACKGROUND
I’m 33 now and been struggling to recover my testosterone level and testicle size since 2007, when I was in my early 20s. I’ve done few cycles back than, where my estrogen got really high. I couldn’t get my hands on a SERM other than tamoxifen at that time, so I couldn’t drop efficiently the estrogen. My couch at that time didn’t believed in SERMS and HCG and was advocating only Proviron as a PCT.
My balls started to shrink and testosterone levels were lower than minimum baseline. Erections were hardly achieved and penis would go numb often, during the first year after my first cycle which contained Nandrolone Decanoate as well. Also, there were times with mild osteoporosis detected, which normalized somehow in my late 20s.
After one year of attempts with nolvadex and proviron, there was an attempt to restart with an HCG protocol from an endocrinologist for 1500 UI 3 times a week for a total of 6 weeks, again no SERM. That was stupid, as estrogen was bouncing through the roof and after finalizing the treatment my balls shrunk again, along with low sperm productions. Though after few weeks testosterone seemed to get back, as erections were good and well being was normal, along with some balls volume (I didn’t had access to lab test that time, as I was traveling for 4 months). But after few months, did the labs and testosterone was on the low end, while estrogen pretty high, which could be expected.
I than tried different protocols (not very good ones) offered by docs and some done on my own, but using either high amounts of HCG for low periods, or SERMs attempts without tapering off slowly.
So, here I am today, still hoping I could get my T level in a normal range.
I stumble on KSman reset protocol and gave it a shot, so I would like some feedback on what would be next steps for me. Should I give another try to reset (I’ll explain why below) or should I go with TRT or HCG/SERM long term therapy.
My current stats are:
1.90 m
73 kg
Pretty hard to gain muscles
OKish erections, but refactoring time is huge, morning wood most of the mornings
Mood and energy levels ok
STARTING THE RESET:
MEDS
I could get my hands on vials of 500UI HCG, Tamoxifen 20mg, and Arimidex 250mg
HCG was from an unofficial source that claimed they were transporting them directly from a lab in a freezer at correct temperatures.
I did the pregnancy test directly into the solution - came positive
Did pregnancy test in urine multiple times, mornings, and it always was coming - negative
Did an LH test during the reset and it was almost 0, which really confused me, because if LH was almost 0, it means that endogenous LH was present in the bloodstream, right? But if that was the case, why the urine test failed? Any ideas?
LABS
My initial lab results were:
LH 1.52 mIU/ml (0,8 - 7,6)
FSH 5.64 mIU/ml (0,7 - 11,1)
FT 230 pmol/l (118 - 853)
TT 9.92 nmol/l (5,55 - 25,17)
E2 83.7 pmol/l (< 206)
SHBG 21 nmol/l ( 10 - 57)
Also, here are the thyroid results done some time ago
TSH 1,21 mkIU/ml ()
Ft3 5.94 pmol/l (2,15 - 6,45)
Ft4 13.3 pmol/l (10 - 26)
I started injecting 250UI HCG EOD, along with 125mg arimidex, so I was getting 375mg in some weeks and 500mg the other weeks.
I did the labs after 4 weeks again
FT 229 pmol/l (118 - 853)
TT 9.6 nmol/l (5,55 - 25,17)
E2 126 pmol/l (< 206)
SHBG 19 nmol/l ( 10 - 57)
So, basically no changes other than an increase of roughly 50% in estrogen. I decided to increase the dose of arimidex to 250 EOD.
A week later, did E2 labs again
E2 134 pmol/l (< 206)
So at this point I wasn’t sure if adding more arimidex will be effective or not, as it doesn’t affect the testicular conversion of T to E.
Two weeks later
FT 215 pmol/l (118 - 853)
TT 9.5 nmol/l (5,55 - 25,17)
E2 92.5 pmol/l (< 206)
SHBG 21 nmol/l ( 10 - 57)
So, even if the results were not very inspiring, I continued to SERM part, and here were my labs after
4 weeks of 20mg Tamoxifen EOD and 250mg arimidex EOD
LH 6.75 mIU/ml (0,8 - 7,6)
FSH 6.74 mIU/ml (0,7 - 11,1)
FT 346 pmol/l (118 - 853)
TT 13.3 nmol/l (5,55 - 25,17)
E2 120 pmol/l (< 206)
SHBG 21 nmol/l ( 10 - 57)
I continued 1.5 weeks more and started to decrease the amounts to 10mg Tamoxifen EOD, than 10mg E3D, and continued the arimidex for a bit longer. So here are the results:
1-2 weeks after I stopped everything
LH 4.56 mIU/ml (0,8 - 7,6)
FSH 5.91 mIU/ml (0,7 - 11,1)
FT 436 pmol/l (118 - 853)
TT 16.7 nmol/l (5,55 - 25,17)
E2 97 pmol/l (< 206)
SHBG 19 nmol/l ( 10 - 57)
CONCLUSION
So, at the end of the treatment testicle size improved a bit, but not much.
Testosterone was highest after the treatment ended.
So, please share your feedback and insights, would really appreciate it!
Also, please let me know if it makes sense to repeat the reset with HCG from a more reliable source and experimenting with 250UI or 500UI EOD protocols, taking into consideration that my pregnancy test was coming negative.
Also, I’m worried that I couldn’t control my E2 at 80 pmol/l, which also might affected the result of the reset.
Thank you all in advance, and would be more than grateful to hear thoughts from @KSman on my experience.
Cheers