Hey all. I’ve been on a TRT for a few years. I’m 32yo and overweight. My libido has been pretty trash since I started the whole thing, at least compared to when my T was below the reference range. My mood has never improved, and I actually developed anxiety issues after starting TRT. I take the minimal dosage to ensure minimal side effects, my T is in the mid-range (sometimes upper-range), and my estrogen is usually in the low to mid-range without AI.
A couple of weeks ago I added in HCG in the slim hope of maintaining fertility and improving my mood/drive. My protocol is simple, 100mg of test and 400iu of HCG per week. So I’ll take 50mg Monday, 200iu HCG Wednesday, 50mg Thursday etc. The results are disappointing; mild increase in LH/FSH and SHBG (which was always super low). Overall I don’t feel any better and probably made a mistake hopping on TRT in the first place. I’ll share my recent panel, maybe someone here can give me some pointers on what I need to pursue with my generally clueless doc:
Sorry but this comment definitely shows you need help. For starters, you should know that these are irrelevant once you start TRT. They will be 0 or close to it. Your doc should know this too so testing for them is a waste of money. Otherwise… what @Andrewgen_Receptors stated is something to try. IMO, don’t use HCG until you are dialed in on solo Testosterone.
LH and FSH will be suppressed on TRT, ignore these markers. Also, hCG doesn’t increase these.
Hypothyroidism can cause an elevation in prolactin and prevent TRT from working. If you haven’t already done so, check TSH, Free T3 and Free T4.
Antidepressants can cause an elevation in prolactin and lower testosterone.
Vitamin D tends to be suppressed in obese people. It wouldn’t hurt to check your ferritin and vitamin D levels. If either of these are low, TRT may not work at all.
I didn’t feel anything from TRT injecting 1-2x weekly, daily dosing is the only time I respond to TRT. Try 10-15 mg per day.
The prolactin only got this high when I introduced 400iu of HCG. I really wasn’t expecting such a small amount to make it this high. I’m gonna try to lower to 200-250. My main goal was to raise progesterone but it’s undetectable, so I’m hoping supplementing some progesterone cream might help with this.
The LH and FSH I expect to be at ~0.1 on the solo test, which I have done for the last few years. My assumption was that adding HCG would wake things up and help produce the missing hormones that I’m not getting from exogenous testosterone alone.
If you’re cranking it like multiple times a day, your prolactin will also be high. Not accusing and I don’t care if you are or you aren’t; just giving you information.
If that’s not a factor, then you may just need to supplement 50-100mg P5P daily and re-evaluate.
I don’t know enough about progesterone to comment, but I know it plays a big role in how one feels.
So TSH came back quite low with this recent test, but still on the bottom-end of the range, FT3 and T4 are usually within range.
Vitamin D and ferritin are all in good ranges. A1C is slightly elevated and I have a prediabetic diagnosis, so that’s expected. I tried to do daily shots before but it’s a bit tricky doing 0.057ml shots. I was hoping subq injections would create a smooth peak/through.
I have read that cranking it can raise serum prolactin. I try to avoid doing anything a few days before the blood draw, but hard to say for sure. I’ll have a look into P5P and see if that does the trick!
Your TT is low because of SHBG. Your FT was adequate. A little bit more / higher dose solo T with frequent injections is likely your sweet spot. These look MUCH better than your HCG labs.
