Androgel Dosage

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

I hope this is the right forum to post this in.

I am 20 years old, 6’4 and 210lb. I’ve had chronic fatigue for a few years and finally went in to get bloodwork done. Suspected low T. When it came back, my total test was 361, and rather low free test. My endo prescribed me Androgel @ 2.5g per day. I sent her a bunch of E-Mails with my concerns about HPTA shutdown, anti-estrogen, hCG, all of that, and she just said “we will talk during your next appointment” which is in 2 months!

She didn’t even give me the time of day to talk to me about what was going on when I went in to get the results, so needless to say, I am a bit dissatisfied.

Anyways, I am concerned that 2.5g won’t do much except shut down my natural T, aromatize and raise estraditol, etc. without feeling any benefits. This small dose isn’t even on the bottle’s label.

I know topicals are shit, but she said she won’t prescribe me cypionate right now because “it’s too strong”. Yeah, whatever lady. That makes 0 sense. Test is test.

What do you guys think? @ 2.5g I didn’t notice a difference in how I felt, however I applied an additional 2.5g about 8 hours later, then went to the gym 2 hours later and felt unstoppable.

I’ve read the other threads on Androgel and would just like to know your opinions on my situation. My test isn’t so low that I don’t have any, but I want to be in the 800’s as I feel this is ideal for my age. Then again i’m not a doctor. I would just listen to what she says, but I find so much testimony to the contrary that I just don’t know what to believe.

Thanks.

2

I agree with all of your points and conclusions. You do need to know that many of the great things that you feel at first are transient responses and are not sustainable.

Where are you located? Looks like you will be after a new doc.

You pay out of pocket or insurance?

What meds are you using now and what meds were you using prior to things going wrong. Ever used meds to control hair loss?

Do you have little or no body hair, facial hair?

How tall are other male blood relatives?

Do you get cold easily and how has that changed?

Changes to skin, nails or hair?

Where do you carry fat and any hint of gyno?

When did this all start and was that preceded by a blow to the head or whiplash?

Did you have a fever where your testes also hurt?

Any loss of peripheral vision or any other visual field changes?

PM me with details that you do not want discussed here.

Make sure that you get and retain copies of all of your labs.

Go to amazon.com and find “the testosterone syndrome” by Eugene Shippen. That is a good ideal read. Note that it predates use of anastrozole and he did not like the outcome of injections because the practice then was still [insanely] injections every two weeks.

Best transdermal absorption is the inner arms, from wrist to arm pit. If you clip your pubes, apply to the pubic hair area on your body, there are lots of hair follicles there that will increase DHT which is mission critical for libido. Alcohol based gels will sting if applied to your penis or scrotum, so you can’t do that.

You should have had LH/FSH and E2 tested before starting T. Cannot diagnose the root cause now. At your age, these things are not age related and one needs to consider mechanical damage to the pituitary or an adinoma.

3

I have had head trauma where I lost peripheral vision temporarily.

4

The pituitary can be physically damaged and that can reduce LH and T. How does the timing of that relate to when you think things started to go bad?

5

I honestly cannot provide a reliable timeline, but nothing to the back of the head near the pituitary.

6

Topicals are shit - so shitty than 10 grams of Androgel has kept me at 700 to 1000 ng/dl for 8 years. A very shitty product.

Your doc is a moron and no doc worth their salt would refer to a injectable testosterone as “too strong”. That description doesn’t even apply.

Fortunately I have a great urologist-andrologist who didn’t give me a hard time at all, knows what he’s doing, and helped me from the moment I met him.

7

By the way, 2.5 isn’t even a clinical dosage. Androgel is prescribed at 5, 7.5, and 10.

8

I’ve also never needed Arimidex or Nolvadex or HCG.

Being that I have secondary hypogonadism, he gave me half a tab of clomid instead of Androgel for the first month after I met him. HALF A TAB of clomid increased my T from 240 to 790 ng/dl. I felt like a million bucks in a few weeks.

I <3 my Androgel. I’ve only had one negative side effect from it, slight testicular shrinkage. Nothing else! Sex drive, energy, and recuperative ability rate 10 for the past 8 years.

9

Wow. What was your starting serum testosterone? I’m definitely going to ask for Clomid! btw are you still on Clomid?

10

btw are you still on clomid?

11

so if the clomid worked so well why didnt you just stay on that instead of t gel?

12

[quote]randallh1989 wrote:
Wow. What was your starting serum testosterone? I’m definitely going to ask for Clomid! btw are you still on Clomid?[/quote]

I was diagnosed with secondary hypogonadism when I tested at 240 and my LH and FSH levels were abnormally low (forgot the numbers).

I don’t use clomid anymore. My doc doesn’t like prescribing clomid for dudes for more than six months. Besides, I’m fine with Androgel.

I don’t think a regular doc is going to prescribe clomid. Go see a urologist–preferably one with a fellowship in andrology–or endocrinologist who’s well versed in treating hypogonadism (most suck).

13

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]randallh1989 wrote:
Wow. What was your starting serum testosterone? I’m definitely going to ask for Clomid! btw are you still on Clomid?[/quote]

I was diagnosed with secondary hypogonadism when I tested at 240 and my LH and FSH levels were abnormally low (forgot the numbers).

I don’t use clomid anymore. My doc doesn’t like prescribing clomid for dudes for more than six months. Besides, I’m fine with Androgel.

I don’t think a regular doc is going to prescribe clomid. Go see a urologist–preferably one with a fellowship in andrology–or endocrinologist who’s well versed in treating hypogonadism (most suck). [/quote]

Yeah, I have a feeling my endo doesn’t know what she’s doing. So did he put you on 10g of Androgel right away? I am getting in contact with some other endos in the area to see if they will approach my case differently. Also the endo said that if the gel dose doesn’t work she will consider injections, pellets or patches (I will refuse pellets or patches.)

14

[quote]randallh1989 wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]randallh1989 wrote:
Wow. What was your starting serum testosterone? I’m definitely going to ask for Clomid! btw are you still on Clomid?[/quote]

I was diagnosed with secondary hypogonadism when I tested at 240 and my LH and FSH levels were abnormally low (forgot the numbers).

I don’t use clomid anymore. My doc doesn’t like prescribing clomid for dudes for more than six months. Besides, I’m fine with Androgel.

I don’t think a regular doc is going to prescribe clomid. Go see a urologist–preferably one with a fellowship in andrology–or endocrinologist who’s well versed in treating hypogonadism (most suck). [/quote]

Yeah, I have a feeling my endo doesn’t know what she’s doing. So did he put you on 10g of Androgel right away? I am getting in contact with some other endos in the area to see if they will approach my case differently. Also the endo said that if the gel dose doesn’t work she will consider injections, pellets or patches (I will refuse pellets or patches.)
[/quote]

What do you mean by right away? I told you I started with clomid, and then went to Androgel and have been on it ever since.

15

I called a compounding pharmacy in Raleigh and they referred me to an anti-aging doctor. I called her and she was super friendly and concerned about my condition unlike my current endocrinologist. She said that I may be a good candidate for HCG as well due to my low LH. I have an appointment with her on Thursday at 2 PM but she doesn’t accept insurance so $350 out of pocket. FFFFFUUUUUUUUUU

how much does HCG therapy cost? i know depo test is cheap.

16

[quote]randallh1989 wrote:
I called a compounding pharmacy in Raleigh and they referred me to an anti-aging doctor. I called her and she was super friendly and concerned about my condition unlike my current endocrinologist. She said that I may be a good candidate for HCG as well due to my low LH. I have an appointment with her on Thursday at 2 PM but she doesn’t accept insurance so $350 out of pocket. FFFFFUUUUUUUUUU

how much does HCG therapy cost? i know depo test is cheap.[/quote]

I don’t know. If I want a kid one day, then my doc will give me HCG or clomid. I don’t use either now.

If you can’t pay full price, why not find a doctor who takes insurance and is qualified. Clomid is cheap and takes care of FSH and LH issues but my doc doesn’t prescribe it for long periods of time.

I have NO CLUE where people get off saying that Androgel doesn’t work in most users. I have three friends who use it and all are doing fine. An acquaintance I saw three days ago is on 10 grams of gel per day and regularly tests at 600 (I don’t know what his free value is) and this is perfectly normal and he feels fine.

17

I was given Androgel, 1 month ago 5g dose. The first 10 days for me was not good, I was neaseaus and had anxiety. I was worried, and called my doc who also told me to go to a non-clinical dose. I ended up sticking with 5g dosage and I am happy I did. The anxiety I imagine was me being who I am (a worrier and overall anxious person). I have realized that this same worry has accompanied every new med I took.

Over the past two weeks I have noticed the following (on 5g)

Better mood
More activity sexually
More restfull sleep
Not as tired anylonger
Less anxiety

I feel good, better than I have in quite a while. I will note that this overall better feeling is not an over the top placebo/transient type feeling , I would classify it as simply feeling like myself without the problems I have had before. It seems that the only transient effect was the neaseau. Im getting tested this Sat.

This is one Androgel user who so far is satisifed and so far have not needed to supplement with anything else. IMO do not take a non-clinical dose.

MXL

18

[quote]MattyXL wrote:
I was given Androgel, 1 month ago 5g dose. The first 10 days for me was not good, I was neaseaus and had anxiety. I was worried, and called my doc who also told me to go to a non-clinical dose. I ended up sticking with 5g dosage and I am happy I did. The anxiety I imagine was me being who I am (a worrier and overall anxious person). I have realized that this same worry has accompanied every new med I took.

Over the past two weeks I have noticed the following (on 5g)

Better mood
More activity sexually
More restfull sleep
Not as tired anylonger
Less anxiety

I feel good, better than I have in quite a while. I will note that this overall better feeling is not an over the top placebo/transient type feeling , I would classify it as simply feeling like myself without the problems I have had before. It seems that the only transient effect was the neaseau. Im getting tested this Sat.

This is one Androgel user who so far is satisifed and so far have not needed to supplement with anything else. IMO do not take a non-clinical dose.

MXL[/quote]

Did you ever look into the E2 issue? I still have a script for androgel sitting on my desk at home but, at 24, I am hesitant to use it.

19

[quote]MattyXL wrote:
I was given Androgel, 1 month ago 5g dose. The first 10 days for me was not good, I was neaseaus and had anxiety. I was worried, and called my doc who also told me to go to a non-clinical dose. I ended up sticking with 5g dosage and I am happy I did. The anxiety I imagine was me being who I am (a worrier and overall anxious person). I have realized that this same worry has accompanied every new med I took.

Over the past two weeks I have noticed the following (on 5g)

Better mood
More activity sexually
More restfull sleep
Not as tired anylonger
Less anxiety

I feel good, better than I have in quite a while. I will note that this overall better feeling is not an over the top placebo/transient type feeling , I would classify it as simply feeling like myself without the problems I have had before. It seems that the only transient effect was the neaseau. Im getting tested this Sat.

This is one Androgel user who so far is satisifed and so far have not needed to supplement with anything else. IMO do not take a non-clinical dose.

MXL[/quote]

Why would someone take a non-clinical dose (too high or too low) in the first place. Anyway, COMPETENT doctors DON’T prescribe non-clinical doses.

I don’t know where that anxiety and nausea comes from. I’ve had NO uncomfortable side effects from Androgel for as long as I’ve been in my usual range (700 to 1000 ng/dl).

The only time I had a problem was when, for some BIZARRE reason, my value was 1,500 at 10 grams per day. We went back down to 7.5, and then eventually 10 again, and I’ve had no problem ever since. That was strange. I didn’t feel good at 1500 at all; my temper was out of control and I had acne on my back and felt really bloated.

20

[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:

[quote]MattyXL wrote:
I was given Androgel, 1 month ago 5g dose. The first 10 days for me was not good, I was neaseaus and had anxiety. I was worried, and called my doc who also told me to go to a non-clinical dose. I ended up sticking with 5g dosage and I am happy I did. The anxiety I imagine was me being who I am (a worrier and overall anxious person). I have realized that this same worry has accompanied every new med I took.

Over the past two weeks I have noticed the following (on 5g)

Better mood
More activity sexually
More restfull sleep
Not as tired anylonger
Less anxiety

I feel good, better than I have in quite a while. I will note that this overall better feeling is not an over the top placebo/transient type feeling , I would classify it as simply feeling like myself without the problems I have had before. It seems that the only transient effect was the neaseau. Im getting tested this Sat.

This is one Androgel user who so far is satisifed and so far have not needed to supplement with anything else. IMO do not take a non-clinical dose.

MXL[/quote]

Did you ever look into the E2 issue? I still have a script for androgel sitting on my desk at home but, at 24, I am hesitant to use it.
[/quote]

Whats up Nate,

I am getting tested this week, and thats when I will find out about this, IMO at 24 I would be hesitant as well. So far I have to say I am satisfied however.