Been on TRT Since July, Having All Types of Side Effects

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

I started going to a local clinic because I was shut down, felt all the symptoms of low T and couldnt go on living feeling the way I did. I thought I needed a quick fix to get me feeling better.

I’m only 41, 5’9 and weigh 190 currently.

My initial labs had my total T level at 187 ng/dl so they tested me again 3 days later with a more detailed lab.

This time my TT was 109 ng/dl.

The clinic dr advised TRT so I started that day 6/10/2020.

The Dr. didnt seemed to be alarmed at any of my other levels in the test but after researching, I thought some things were off.

TSH was 1.4. Range 0.4-4.5

Free T4- 0.9 Range 0.8-1.8
Free T3-3.2 Range 2.3-4.2

WBC 3.9 Range 3.8-10.8
RBC 5.11 Range 4.2-5.8
Hemoglobin 16.7
Hemacrit 46.3
MCH 32.7 Range. 27-33
MCHC 36.1 Range 32-36

Everything else seemed normal to me

FSH 5.0 Range 1.6-8.0
LH 3.4 Range 1.5-9.3

They gave me a protocol starting with
120mg Test Cyp 1x/week
1mg anastrozole 1x/week
50iu hcg 1x/week

Sad thing is I was desperate to feel better so I agreed.

Since then (6-10-2020) the protocol has evolved to

120mg test Cyp 2x week
2mg anastrozole/week
25iu hcg 7x/week

They do monthly labs but basically just tell me my tt levels which were at 742 on 12-12-2020.

Biweekly test injections have me feeling more stable through the week. I noticed lumps behind my nipples(gyno); that’s why anastrozole was raised.

I have been having bad sides like
Aching joints
Cracking popping joints
Worsening arthritis
Headaches
Mood swings
High blood pressure
Anxiety
Vision impairment
Impaired sleep patterns/insomnia
Numb hands and feet
Extreme fatigue
Weakening fingernails

And the worst is my aching testicles. It feels as if someone is squeezing them all day and pulling them up into my body. This alone gives me anxiety.

My body temperature is about 96.5 in the morning and about 97.6 in the evening.

My sides seem to be getting worse and I convinced myself that there is something else wrong with me(underlying condition). I just had a mammogram and ultrasound to see if the gyno was breast cancer and it is just gyno.
Now I think I may have a prolactinoma and am scheduled to see an actual endocrinologist soon.

I thought TRT was the only way to feel better, but I also want to live a long healthy life too but am afraid I’m getting osteoporosis and am at risk of having a heart attack or stroke from the anastrozole.
Can anyone help point me in the right direction and look at my lab numbers.
TIA

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:point_up_2:t2:Cause, meet my friend effect :point_down:t2:

Stop. Taking. Insane. Amounts. Of. AI.

Your balls ache because they aren’t working anymore, but you’re giving them just enough HCG to barely hang on. You’d have been better off on 0iu than on 50. Up the dose to something that’s actually prescribed by real, actual doctors.

Your problems aren’t with trt. Your problems are 100% caused by your doctor being completely incompetent. Full stop. If you had spent your trt money on a dominatrix you’d have gotten less punishment.

3 Likes
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The anastrozole is causing all your symptoms because you are crushing your estrogen metabolism. Your doctor is reckless prescribing this much anastrozole or any for that matter. When one crushes estrogen metabolism, you can expect all the symptoms you described.

Some of these TRT clinics (T-mills) are run by people that aren’t necessarily doctors, the actual doctors are writing the prescription remotely and some guy who takes a couple of weekend crash courses on TRT protocols is running the show, or should I say shit show.

The doctor in the video is seeing men at 3mg anastrozole per week with osteoporosis in only several months to a few years. This person in charge of your protocol doesn’t have any clue what he’s doing and is going to wreck your health.

HCG is used to keep your testicles from pulling up tight into your scrotum and keeping them producing small amounts of testosterone and estrogen, but your dosage is laughably low. Typical dosages are 150 daily, 250 EOD and 350-500 twice weekly.

HCG can cause issues for some guys while other guys need it to make TRT work.

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As everyone has said, there’s your problem right there

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Yikes! With your shirt on and stretched over your chest, take a pic of your nipple area and lets see these gyno lumps. I wont believe you have gyno til I see it. Gyno looks like puffy female pubescence. Otherwise stop the AI and allow your body to figure it out for you. It takes a while too. If you manually override things with an AI, you will never stabilize on your own. Pics or you dont have gyno!

6

I totally agree. Your taking way too much. Less is more. I only take .25mg per week. I went from 45 down to 16.3 on only .25mg. Your symptoms can be just this problem. I hope you don’t crash your estradiol. Aramidex is super powerful. I would only start small and work higher. My dr. wanted me to start with .50mg and I said I wanted to go smaller. I did that because of all the conversations on this website. Cutting your dose is the wisest move to make. I hope you get well soon.

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Thank you for your reply, I agree that the NP at the clinic is clueless when it comes to anything but my TT levels.

I want to tell him that but I guess I dont want to hurt his ego. Ha.

I told him I feel like more HCG(150iu 3x/week) would help the aching Testes and he acted like I was smoking crack and said he hasn’t heard of anyone taking that high of hcg doses and said the most they have prescribed is 150iu a week.

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I only did the 2mg a week for one or two weeks a few months back and have been doing 1mg a week since and also think that it is still too much.

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Thank you for replying.

I watched that video above a few days ago after I saw it on another thread and it had me thinking I’m starting to get osteoporosis.

I have since been to my PC Dr. to let her know my concerns and am waiting on her endo referral and to get a dexa scan.

I self administer everything now and have taken higher doses of hcg(100iu) e3d to see if that helps ease the aching. It helped but not totally. I’m going to tell them I need more as you recommended and see what they say. If they cant give more, I know I should walk away.
I honestly think they are trying to keep their costs down by keeping the hcg dose small.

Before I started the TRT program I talked with her about just having her prescribe what I need, but she is more clueless than the clinic when it comes to hormones and said she more comfortable having the clinic take care of me instead.
I’m trying to explore all my options to feel better and stay/get healthy.

I really dont want to come off of the test again to get my TT levels where they were before TRT just to be able to do new labs with a new provider.

One more thing, I am pretty sure my prostate is enlarged because it feels like there is something in my ass, like a little pressure. My urine flow is slow and weak. My 3 year old boy has a much better flow than I, which is embarrassing. My PSA was .3 on my labs a few weeks ago. They say it is within range though.

10

Time for a new clinic. That’s a dealbreaker.

As far as prostate enlargement, that’s not unusual on trt. Some guys get it worse than others. Try some saw palmetto and see if it helps. Cialis at a low dose (5mg) daily can help too. It’s an approved treatment for BPH, and you get the added benefit of it being all around good for you with almost no downside.

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I just had a mammogram last week after my PC Dr. felt the lumps and it confirmed the lumps. The instantly did a MRI and found the lumps to be glandular/ non cancerous and said it was most likely gyno caused by hormones.
My lump on my right side is bigger than the left though just as my right teste aches more than my left.

Could this be because of high prolactin? I asked the clinic to check my prolactin on my next labs.

If you really want to see my nips to prove I have gyno, guess I’m left with no choice ha, but just because it isnt developed into fully grown breasts doesnt mean it not there

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Get an N-telepeptide or NTx test.

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You don’t need arimidex for this. You need raloxifene. That’s about the only thing out there that can actually reverse gyno (as well as stopping it from forming in the first place). Aside from surgery your only hope is to use ralox and monitor the situation.

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Appreciate the advice.

Never heard of it before but after looking it up, seems a bit risky for me?

My sister had a stroke at age 35 and almost lost her which scares me since I have high hemoglobin and hemocrit.

I know the gyno is there, can feel it, but cant really see it so I wont be getting surgery anytime soon if at all

15

It’s not the friendliness drug on earth, but you’re not going to be taking it for long. And realistically the risks are magnified by the usual population that uses the drug, namely women with breast cancer. For the general population it’s a different version of risk. A few weeks should knock out whatever gyno has formed. After that you can use low dose tamoxifen to prevent future growth.

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Well, Im not gonna suggest anything for Gyno since often its not gyno, especially with your low dose.Can you post your results of the mammogram? And also HCT of 46 is not high. You need to start educating yourself on how all of this stuff works by reading tons. Post your mammogram results

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I’ll post my mammogram and ultrasound results when I get them. I’m going off what the radiologist told the technicians.

46 is in the upper range of what is considered normal range, correct?

My hemoglobin was 17.2 when I donated DoubleRBC on Tuesday and am hoping that donation lowered that number in the normal range.

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I have some Letrozole but dont want to take it, the last time I did I crashed my E2, but made the lumps much smaller

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No. Upper end of the range is high 50’s. 46 is perfectly normal.

FYI, donating is a nice thing to do for someone who is in need, so don’t let me discourage you, but it doesn’t buy you a ton of time at a lower range. You’ll be lower for 3-4 weeks before you’re back to baseline.

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My HCT hovered around 53 but I learned to always drink plenty of water throughout the day. My last test fasted with only water gave me an HCT of 46, so Ive managed to actually lower it after a year on TRT.