I just finished my last injection for the ‘week’ (on a F, Su, Tu schedule). I feel like I have my routine down, and can run on autopilot rather than bumbling around a bit to get everything set up for the first pin. While it’s definitely too early to say that things are working, I’m feeling already feeling better mentally, due in large part to becoming comfortable with the injections. I have had some amazing morning wood the past couple of days, so things seem to be trending positive on that front at least.
That’s great to hear. You can expect a down couple of weeks where it feels like absolutely nothing is working - sometimes you temporarily feel worse than you did before you started - but then everything will pick back up again!
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4/24/2020 / Yesterday, marked the start of week 2 on TRT. In addition to monitoring mental and physical changes, I’ve also started regularly measuring blood pressure. While my numbers are currently good, I do have family history of hypertension, so I want to see if TRT is moves the needle negatively in that regard for me.
I’ve also started a 6-week new training phase which incorporates myorep sets, and am lean bulking again through at least the end of the summer. The program is tough, but fun. It looks like a combination of eating in a calorie surplus and TRT is giving me crazy pumps, and also making my muscles just looking fuller overall.
As suggested by @bkb333 , including progress photos of my physique on TRT. Here is my starting point, all photos relatively relaxed, no pump, etc.
Stats are 5’ 10”, roughly 175 and around 12-15%BF, as you can see calves are where I’m naturally gifted. My primary goals are adding 50 lbs to my one-rep and 5-rep maxes on the big 3, and putting on upper body mass all around.
You definitely have giant calves! Good chest development, too, and veins in your arms. I’d recommend first focusing on back/shoulders. Those two body parts go a long way toward developing a powerful look.
That would mean reworking your goals, though – maybe you could make it the big 4 and include OHP? I’d also recommend lots of pull-up varieties. I like overhand, underhand, and overhand wide grip. I’d do parallel if I had the equipment.
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@bkb333 - Thanks for the feedback man! I would agree with your assessment of my physique, especially the weak points. That’s a good idea regarding OHP and pull-ups! For now, I’m limited to DB exercises, but luckily they go up to 90lbs each so I can definitely continue to make progress until the gyms reopen.
And it’s a wrap with Week 2. No major changes to report compared to Week 1, which isn’t surprising given the short time horizon, my body is still adjusting, etc. Again, just trying to maintain an open, observant mind, and be patient until I’ve hit at least the 8 week mark on the current protocol.
As I get close to wrapping up Week 3, I’ve noticed that morning wood is becoming more frequent and intense, and I’m feeling somewhat less anxious. No other major changes to mood or how I react to stress or things that annoy me. I’ve started tracking blood pressure and it’s been fairly constant for the past 2 weeks. I’ve started waking up every night, but falling back asleep relatively quickly, and still waking up feeling rested. Since it’s been so hot the past couple of weeks, I’ve been turning the AC on at night, and perhaps getting too cold is what’s been the culprit.
One interesting observation is how quickly I’ve put on weight since starting this bulk- 3 pounds last week alone so I’m already up to 179! I know there’s a natural spike due to glycogen, water, etc. once you start bulking, but historically that usually only happens for me during the first week of a bulk. I haven’t noticed bloating or puffiness so curious to see how things shake out as the weeks progress. I feel like I’m continuing to develop more fullness, particularly in my shoulders and traps.
I did my last pin of Week 3 yesterday. I’m curious to see what happens in the coming weeks as I’m entering the period where the body’s natural production shuts down. I’m just reminding myself to be patient and analyze without getting too excited or down about positive/negative changes. Overall I would say TRT has been a positive experience so far, and am excited to see how things progress over a longer timeframe. Perhaps in the distant future(we’re talking at least one to two years minimum, and definitely not until I’ve gotten my TRT protocol dialed in, and my bloodwork and overall health remains healthy), I would consider doing an actual cycle to maximize muscle and strength gains.
One funky thing I noticed the past week or two is I’ve been getting two or three spots that are a bit like mosquito bites (slight redness and slight itch). What’s interesting is that if it’s an allergic reaction, it’s not happening anywhere close to the injection site (I pin quads, but always get these bumps on my upper arms). I’m fairly certain these aren’t actual mosquito bites since mosquitoes are usually a non-issue where I live, and I’m never outside for very long. I can’t think of anything else I might have changed to cause this. I didn’t get additional bumps after my last pin so it’s hard to say it is TRT related. I will just keep monitoring things and run it by my doctor if it keeps happening. Anyway, now that I’ve gotten that little detail out of the way…
Wow - in just a few days, I’ll have completed my first month of TRT! Where does the time go? Overall, I would say it’s been a positive experience, and I believe I’ve seen improvements in some of the symptoms I was experiencing. I’m most proud of myself for maintaining a level headed and patient mindset. While I’m keeping a log, I’m truly viewing it as a record keeping device and not stressing out if there’s a day or two when I feel more like I did pre-TRT.
In terms of positive changes, I’m noticing improvements to my physique, with more fullness in my upper body, particularly my delts and traps. I’ve noticed an uptick in libido and I’ve been consistently waking up with amazing morning wood. I have family history of hypertension so I’ve started monitoring my blood pressure, but haven’t seen it change negatively since starting TRT. Thanks to everyone that has been following along and answered questions that I’ve had!
After last week, I haven’t gotten additional allergic reactions so I’m really at a loss as to what may have caused it. Knocking on wood that things don’t flare up again.
Training is going really well, and I surprised myself on my max-out week by being able to both add weight and reps across the board. Based on how last week felt, I thought I would only be able to add reps while keeping weight the same.
I had a couple nights where I completely slept through the night, but that was offset by a couple nights where I woke up multiple times. Whether or not it’s actually TRT related or not, who knows but I’m not going to worry too much because I’m still waking up feeling rested. Blood pressure is staying consistent, and my scale weight has been pretty steady and not making the big jumps I noticed in Weeks 2 and 3. It’s also been awesome waking up to rock hard erections.
I’m done with Week 5 of TRT and things are still going well. I did notice that I’ve been waking up feeling more tired compared to the previous weeks. However, that could be due to any number of things. I’ve also noticed that during this time the size of my balls hasn’t really changed so hopefully that continues as I stay on TRT long-term.
Weeks 6-8 hit my balls pretty hard. I think I lost about 50-60% size overall. Whatever. I had big nuts before.
Thanks for the info. Good to know as I continue my TRT journey. I knew it’s a definite possibility going in, and not a super huge concern for me either, so I think I’ll be mentally prepared if it does happen.
Cost of TRT. Being healthy and enjoying life and sex again is the balls.
My balls shrink the more I have sex. Less sex the more size. More sex it’s a little smaller.
No woman ever said “I wish your balls were bigger. It would be really nice to have a big pair of balls to play with”.
On the other hand the shaft… hope nobody has any real issues there.
There was a study where they analyzed men before and after starting TRT. They concluded men who complained of Teste shrinking had smaller testicles before hand.
Many don’t even notice it or don’t care.
It’s TRT. I would rather have tiny balls and a healthy energetic life than bigger balls and a shitty fatigued life.
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@enackers I’ve been on testogel for 3 months and my TT went up surprisingly 50%. Still waiting for lab results on FT. I had erections for most of 2 months, then died down. Always have kind of a delayed and weak orgasm.
I wonder if I’d be better suited to cream then injections? Do you think cream will work for even 10, 20 yrs or could absorption issues make a switch to injection necessary? I’d be worried, coming from pfs, that a change in cream or delivery method would put me back to square one.
How many clicks do you do and could you tell me how long the cream is good before it expires?
Thanks @enackers ! No arguments with those points, and definitely helpful to hear that even if it’s not a super huge area of concern for me.
I am on scrotal cream buddy. From MedQuest. High potency and my per click. Most guys will get into the 20s with 1 click isn’t be morning and some around 2.
I take this twice a day because half life shows we’ll have even levels if taken 12 hours apart.
I take 3 am and 3pm. Feel great.
Good hormone doctors don’t give gel. They don’t even compete with the cream I’m taking about. This is a new type of cream you can’t get most places. Those gels suck. It shows you should witch docs if he think s gel is better than injections.
I would switch to cream and start with 2 am and 2pm.
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Cream will work forever there’s no reason to think otherwise. You’ll love the libido it gives and the other benefits of higher DHT. It’s just so much easier than injections and you can make changes on the fly versus injections.
Although I’d take injections over androgel. Something i had a long time ago , but it was horrible. Had to apply 6 or so clicks and today the application area still grows hair. Just because I applied the gel.
Don’t have that issue with cream.
Scrotal Cream or injections.
Forget about gels.
@enackers I think the bhrt place I’m going uses a pump thing. Supposedly Neal Rouzier protocols. If I increased my tt on testogel, I’d imagine I wouldn’t need many clicks/pumps.
Some docs say apply these transdermal creams on arms. I wonder why, since you’d need probably less on scrotum?
Does the cream stay good for long? I’d like to do some travelling eventually and might be hard to find this stuff in another country?