I started testosterone back in Jan. I was seeing a Dr. that had me on 1ml every 14 days, then changed it to every 10 days after seeing a test of 194 after 4 weeks. They said as long as I was above 350, that’s all they were concerned with. I started seeing another Dr. that is more aggressive. He put me on 1.2 every week for 4 weeks then 1ml per week, I felt better on the 1.2 so he said I can keep doing that. When I started back in Jan. I noticed I started getting gyno in one of my breasts, it changes here and there, gets harder and softer but doesn’t really change size.
I saw him today and asked if a estrogen blocker might help with the gyno, so he prescribed me 1mg of Anastrozole, he said most people take it 4 or 5 times per week, but after doing a little reading, that sounds like way too much. Should I take half 24 hours after and another half 2 days after the first. So, I inject thursday morning, should I take .5mg Friday and Monday? My most recent lab shows total testosterone 1390 (348-1197), free testosterone 35.3 (8.7-25.1). He didn’t test for estrogen so I don’t know where that is. What is a safe dose to take? I should mention that I am 39 years old. Thanks for any help.
Wow man so you’re taking 240mg test cyp per week. That’s pretty high. I’m taking 120mg per week and my TT yesterday was 1250. But I’m also taking HCG and keeping E2 in check. Both of which increase TT.
Since you’re not using any AI at all, some is better than none. Take 1mg per week split into 2 doses and test E2 in a few weeks to see where you are. 1mg might be too low of a dose but some is better than none and you might be an Anastrozole over responder and you would risk crashing your E2. Doesn’t matter if you take Anastrozole same day as injections. I take test, hcg and anastrozole all at the same time EOD.
He started me at 1.2 for 4 weeks on a loading dose, then went down to 1.0 for 4 weeks and got tested, that is the test that I quoted above. I did feel better on 1.2 so he said I could keep doing that but I was thinking the same thing that I could probably just do the 1.0 if I can get my E2 down. I don’t go back in for 3 months for testing and I don’t know if he is planning on testing E2 but I was going to ask to have that done. It sounds like people are pretty careful about how much AI they take and I don’t want to crash. I took .5 on Monday which would have been day 4. What kind of symptoms do you get when E2 is low and how long does it take to rebound?
3 months is a long time. Where do you live? You can possibly get private blood work done at privatemdlabs.com unless you live in NY, NJ, RI, MA or MD. I’ve read rebounding could take up to month or so.
Low Estradiol Symptoms:
Fatigue along the lines of sleepiness
hypersomnia (sleeping too much and too often)
strong erections but limited sensitivity
loss of erections
osteoporosis and osteopenia
joint pain, clicking or popping joints
eye fatigue (eyes seem more tired despite adequate sleep, dark circles)
loss of libido (interest in sex)
difficulty retaining water (constant urination)
anxiety, depression, irritability
High Estradiol Symptoms:
Soft erections, inability to maintain an erection
water retention (less frequent urination), leading to excessive sweating, blood pressure spikes or high blood pressure (from the water retention)
insomnia
hot flushing (flushing around the ears or on the face)
night sweats (from estradiol lowering, causing loss of water retention)
bloating; brain fog (like your head’s in a bubble)
testicles seem smaller than usual
Find the panel called Hormone Panel for Females. It is $66.99. Use coupon code 99UI7V for 15% off. Just make sure to select MALE at checkout. Make sure you are on Anastrozole for atleast 3 weeks before you test. And to get an accurate results, make sure to get blood drawn halfway between injections/Anastrozole. So make sure you are taking your test injections and anastrozole together
Thanks for the help. I only inject once weekly, if I take anastrolzole twice, when should I test? I’ve read to take it 24 hours after the injection, should I do that or take it with the injection?
Discuss doses in mg’s, not volumes as mg/ml is not always the same.
100mg T per week is a typical T dose that works well. That would be 0.5ml of 200mg/ml T cyp or eth.
If you are injecting 1.2ml 200mg/ml that is 240mg and that is insane. You were getting swamped by T–>E2 and higher dose hid some of those problems
Inject 50mg T twice a week, SC/SQ, not IM, with #29 1/2" 0.5ml insulin syringes, pinch up skin on upper leg, inject into end of fold with needle parallel to underlying muscle layers
0.5mg anastrozole at time of injections
250iu hCG SC/SQ EOD to preserve testes and fertility
always do labs halfway between injections to eliminate lab changes driven by lab timing artifacts, labs at time of office visit can be wrong, get lab order and control lab timing yourself
Knowledge is power. Sadly, almost all doctors are lacking. You cannot be passive with your hormone health care.
Evaluate your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky. Thyroid hormone fT3 is what gets the job done and it regulates mitochondrial activity, the source of ATP which is the universal currency of cellular energy. This is part of the body’s temperature control loop. This can get messed up if you are iodine deficient. In many countries, you need to be using iodized salt. Other countries add iodine to dairy or bread.
Some female E2 labs are not going to resolve lower E2 levels that we see in males. Having a result of E2<17 does not guide dose refinement calculations. Do we have experience that shows that lab panel resolving lower levels?
What are the advantages of doing it sc instead of im? Why would the dr. Have me doing it that way? I thought it absorbs better im. Also why split the dose to twice a week? I’m just worried about changing everything without his knowledge or “permission”. Im not on hcg, I’m assuming that is prescription also. My testes have shrunk up, I was hoping the AI would help with that, as far as fertility, I have had a vasectomy. Do I need a rx to get the insulin needles?
Insulin needles hmm…order online? You’ll know if they ship to your state or not at checkout?
Imagine one big injection, which you are doing now. You start high and the test starts to decline over the week. Most feel great say day 1-5 and then they crash day 6-7. Then you inject again and ride the roller coaster again. So injecting more frequently you don’t peak so high and you don’t crash so hard. Makes it nice and smooth.
And Ai will not help with shrinkage, only HCG will. Ask for HcG next time. Tell them about the shrinkage and how the hcg will help them stay full. Make it clear that you are only looking to take 250u every other day. My doctor was worried about prescribing me HCG because I think he has heard of bodybuilders using 5000u all at once. Once I explained the small doses I was going to take, he was ok with it.
Thanks, I did find that I can order them online without a rx in my state. What is the theory behind sq, I’ve read differing opinions. I think I’m going to hold off on going back to 1.2 since I’m taking AI now. Can hcg and T be combined into one or do they have to be separate injections? Sorry for all the questions, trying to get things figured out. I had to ask for the AI, he didn’t offer it and I didn’t tell him about the shrinking boys, almost did but since he gave me the AI I thought that would take care of it so I didn’t mention it.
T levels will be higher in AM for natural guys. Some docs like AM testes to disqualify some guys.
E2 can be done at any time.
Clomid has a sustained action and time of day should not matter.
25mg clomid can create high LH/FSH that can create high T–>E2 inside the testes and anastrozole cannot control T–>E2 inside the testes.
T subq is still 100% absorbed, but slower to absorb and smoother T levels. And you can avoid decades of muscle needle damage.
If injecting twice a week as suggested, volumes are lower. T should be 200mg/ml not 100mg/ml. Take AI at time of injections.
Injecting once a week will create T peaks and troughs that will not work properly with T competitive anastrozole. You need blood levels of both ~steady.
Thanks for the feed back. That was really helpful in many ways.
I had one last question what would cause someone to lose sensitivity is that related to a estrogen problem???