Hey everyone,
I am currently 7wks into beginning TRT. Since beginning, I have cleaned up my diet immensely, began working out 4x a week, and I have gained 4.6 lbs. Needless to say I am ecstatic. My muscles are defining more than they every have in the past and I am 39. The first 4 weeks I had good energy but the last few weeks I have felt the “newness” wear off. I have been more tired even at the beginning of my weekly cycle and the spontaneous erections aren’t as often. Today we decided to up my dosage to 150mg/wk.
Follow up labs were as follows:
Free T- 85.4 pg/ml (46-224). Started at 47.7.
Total T- 536 ng/dl (240-1100). Started at 389.
Estradiol- <25 pg/ml (11-44). Started at 30.
All other labs were within normal limits. SHBG wasn’t drawn.
But, I find myself already wanting to experiment with more. Is this normal thought processing? I have a beach trip approaching in 10wks and I would just really like to look my best. Would Deca be appropriate or just more Test? I have never cycled before.
How honest is everyone with their TRT doctors if they stack something? How do you explain the sudden increase in levels if you keep it private? I have been tying to research all the different options and how each works differently, but I would love some experienced advice.
Would Deca be appropriate or just more Test?
For reference, I am 5’8’’ and am currently 138.6 lbs.
I would like to achieve a physique like this. I understand this isn’t possible in 10 weeks, but this is my end goal target.
Not for TRT.
Also, TRT doesn’t involve cycling.
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Don’t chase the dragon dude. Remember why you started this journey. This was about recapturing your health.
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Maybe my thoughts didn’t come out well. I guess what I was trying to say is that I potentially want to do my first cycle on top of my TRT.
You’re saying not to go down this road? Not worth it? Always chasing more?
This is what “don’t” means, yes.
You had messed up hormones BEFORE. You finally have them NOT messed up…and now you wanna mess them up?
It reminds me of this lyric from Nine Inch Nail’s “Even Deeper”
“And in a dream I’m a different me
With a perfect you, we fit perfectly
And for once in my life I feel complete
And I still want to ruin it”
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Well, maybe I’m splitting hairs here, but that wouldn’t be “on top” of TRT. It’s just doing PED’s. If that were my route, I’d be honest with my doctor and I think he’d fire me for good reason. I’ve been going to my doc for 23 years and he helped me have my kids. I would certainly not lie to someone like this.
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Very powerful lyric. I just went and listened to the song. That lyric specifically reminds me of some of my past.
Any thoughts on my new current labs? Libido hasn’t increased a bit which I found weird. I also thought is was weird that my E2 went down.
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That’s a good album in general.
I can’t speak to the labs, as I’m not nearly qualified enough for that, but I’ll say that libido took a long time to sort out for me. Part of that is physical, but part of that is going to be psychological as well.
The initial “high” from any drug is always going to be the strongest. It’s why I reference “chasing the dragon”. Heroin junkies always get that really strong initial high, and then spend the rest of their lives trying to recapture it, never actually succeeding, and totally destroying themselves in the process. You went from someone in desperate need of medical intervention to someone in receipt of it: your androgen receptors were turned up to their max at that point and then they received a big dose of the good stuff. Now that they have a regular supply, they’re not as sensitive, and the response isn’t as great.
But this is about being superhuman: it’s about being HUMAN. Because before that, we weren’t even that. You’re experiencing life as a 39 year old male: we’re not 20 any more.
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You JUST started man. Your follow ups show you could go up in dose a bit, but you don’t need to blast PEDs. You’re so undersized right now that you have a lot of room to grow with your TRT proper hormones. That hit of dopamine you got initially is from the increased Test but it wears off quickly. It will take six months to a year to reap the muscle growth benefits from having proper hormones. Be patient.
Regarding the body you want, that’s achievable with proper nutrition and training … time depending on genetics but probably 1-2 years. Lesser the more dialed in you are.
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Thank you everyone! blshaw, T3hPwnisher, and Brickhead, these are the things I needed to hear to get me straight. My dosage his been upped and I will recheck in 3 months (per the MD) to see where I am. I will not let my foot off the nutrition and training.
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TRT is the weed of the steroid world. It gets you hooked and you want to take more and more. Timeline ranges from immediate to 3-6 months. 7 weeks is pretty quick, would almost certainly say max this out first and then when you plateau consider adding more. But up to you.
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I also think it either makes neurotic men more neurotic or becomes a starter for neuroticism.
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Second puberty is an interesting phase.
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Yeah I’d agree with that. It’s like it can feed your worst or best habits
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I’ve seen this before too. Some middle-aged guy gets on TRT because he is actually hypogonadal. So the hypogonadism is treated. Some ailments persist, such as fatigue, not being a sex robot on standby and ready for action on command, or not being able to pack on muscle at an alarming rate (if we can consider that an ailment). Meanwhile he’s just describing what it’s like to be normal middle-aged guy.
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