I’ve been a member on here for the last 6 months gaining as much knowledge as I can on TRT and everything that comes with it. You guys have been a great source of information and very helpful to my own progress. I thought I’d share my experiences with low testosterone and my treatment for the last since months.
About me: 23 years old, been working in medical field for 4 years as Navy Corpsman (reserves) and medical assistant. Have worked in some great offices with some excellent medical providers, but all of which have/had limited knowledge on testosterone and treatment besides your basic 65 year old for biweekly T shots in the bum (which I would get to give). Noticed some symptoms back in high school around 17 years old (not making the gains I should in the gym, tiredness), but mostly experienced symptoms at the end of last year: tired, weigh gain, libido problems, trouble concentrating/remembering, trouble gaining muscle, etc. Worked for a family practice so did a blood draw and checked for thyroid levels thinking that was a good explanation for my problems, it came back normal. Did some more research as well as finding out low testosterone runs in the family (father started androgel a few years ago and believes grandfather had low T as well). I had remembered having my testosterone checked when I was 21 and called my old doctor to get numbers. Was at 480.2, and 10 months later dropped to 473.8 as well as had slightly elevated estrogen levels… and test my testosterone levels:
January 2014:
Height: 6’3"
Weight: 250
Waist: 40"
Forearm: 12"
Bicep: 15.5
Body fat: 25%
Labs:
T Free 86.6 (47-244)
T Total 427 (332-896)
Estrodial <20 (0-56)
The other results from lipids, CMP, CBC, etc were normal so I won’t bother listing.
So the low T levels (especially for being 23 and active) along with the many symptoms I had as well as a family history made it a fairly simple diagnosis of hypogonadism. Was a bit of a depressing thing finding out that at 23 I have low testosterone, but I was also very relieved to know what the problem was that had been effecting so many parts of my life. Have had difficulties in physically demanding jobs, troubles in relationships, and an overall unhappiness from always being tired and not having the energy to do anything.
I found a family practice provider to begin TRT. Did all my research on here and the internet and knew I wanted to do self injections. Started on 100mg a week of Test Cyp. Did not like the doctor very much, she seemed to of cared less about what my labs said and didnt care to go over long term plans, side effects, or any interest in androgen inhibitors or HCG to prevent infertility down the road. Did 8 weeks on 100mg a week then found a new doctor. The second doctor was worse than the first. Seemed to know nothing about testosterone, told me that 427 was “normal”, regardless of my argument about my age group as well as the studies I printed out and brought with me to show averages broken down by 10 year age groups. He gave me a refill to get me by but told me that he would only consider taking me as a patient if I came in for injections. I give shots for a living, so no way in hell was I going to pay someone else to give me a shot every week.
Finally, I found a doctor with the medical group I worked for that had lots of TRT patients that I would see to give shots, and after seeing about 5 patients in a day, all 2-3 times my age with 2-3 times my testosterone levels, I asked him if he would take me as a patient. New labs were taken since being on 100mg/week:
T Free 118.7 (35-155)
T Total 508 (250-1100)
Even without the adjusted larger ranges (due to it being a different lab that ran the tests this time), my testosterone arguably only went up very very little, and I was not feeling a whole lot better.
The new doctor agreed that it seemed low and was ok with increasing the dosage to 200mg/wk (done in two doses of 100mg Mondays and Thursdays per my choice).
Came back in about 10 weeks and had full labs done again: Test, Estrodial, CMP/CBC, PSA, etc…:
T Free 33.3 (9.3-26.5)
T Total 1098 (348-1197)
Estrodial 55.0 (7.6-42.6)
Ferritin 23 (30-400)
Prolactin 21.5 (4.0-15.2)
Everything else was normal.
This was the best I have felt in maybe years, if not ever. Was making progress in my lifts at the gym, losing weight, going down a notch on the belt, doing well in school and focusing better, no more naps in the middle of the day because I’m tired. He felt the Free Testosterone was too high and could cause liver damage later on (no signs from current tests that this is the case right now). And the estrogen was obviously high which I was going to bring up going on an AI to him anyway. Put on Anastrazole 1mg a week (in one dose, he didn’t see point in doing smaller doses EOD, E3D, and I didn’t feel like arguing for it). Asked about HCG he was unfamiliar with it and later emailed me on their portal website that he would not be comfortable prescribing it due to risk of gyno side effects.
I have had some issues dealing with pharmacies as my insurance will only pay for a 30 days supply so I would have to pay cash price for a 10mL vial of Test Cyp 200mg/mL, instead I usaully do 4 of the 1mL vials that cost me about 12 bucks total, oppose to cash for the 10mL was once as high as $180 (I bought once when cash price was down to about $60 figured might as well).
Since then I have felt very good, continuing to make physical gains and look and feel better. Moved back home (was in Idaho now back in socal) and on Friday re-established with my old family practice doctor. Gave him all of my recent labs and caught him up to speed, he was completely on board to continue with my TRT including the AI and also to start HCG (finally!). Just picked up the HCG today and started with the first injection. He was very cautious about TRT 2 years ago when I tested relatively low because of infertility issues, so he was happy to start HCG to try and reduce the chances of that for the future (I have no kids right now, but may want some in the future). Have not noticed any shrinkage at this point, but on an asthetic not the boys aren’t hanging as low as they used to.
So from January to today this is how I stand now:
Height: 6’3"
Weight: 235
Waist: 36"
Forearm: 14"
Bicep: 17.5
Body fat: 17%
Weekly Medications:
Test Cyp 200mg a week (100mg on Monday and 100mg on Thursday)
Anastrazole 1mg on Monday
HCG 250iu (going to do Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays)
-Will have a lot left over on this, figured I’d start on 750iu a week then see about increasing to 1000iu if all goes well.
So that has been my adventure thus far. Very happy right now as I finally found a doctor who is completely on board with me and has the same direction and plan. Have been improving in the gym and my physique but more importantly overall feeling much healthier and happier.
Labs and doctor’s visits aside (had a few labs that were pretty outrageous in costs) the current costs for my meds are very reasonable. On a monthly (4 week) basis I pay:
$12 for Test Cyp
$13 for AI
$20ish for the HCG
Thanks for all the help getting to this point, and hopefully my experiences can help someone else out.