Alright, so I’m looking into starting TRT. Beyond my concerns, there are my wife’s concerns. We might want a child 1-2 years from now. My doctor has perscribed me TRT + HCG, knowing that fertility is a concern for me. They suggest that if I was actively trying to have kids, they would take me off TRT and put me on Clomid. This seems consistent with the protocols described here.
I was wondering if people here have done this? Started TRT, then later tried to have kids. Successes? Failures? I’m interested in both. I would hate (as well as my wife) if I started TRT and was unable to preserve or restore fertility in the long run. Looking for some experiences to get an idea on the chances of this.
I have a buddy who takes prescribed clomid monotherapy for hypogonadism. Seems like this works for him. I haven’t talked much to him about it, but if your concerned about getting on T and HCG, its something to consider and look into. I don’t have any input for you regarding fertility on T/HCG injections, but thought I’d throw this out there.
Clomid therapy works for very very few people and will not make you feel as good as testosterone. It tends to increase SHBG and also continues use for more than 2-3 years can cause liver damage. Like all drugs clomid has a lot of side effects
My Doctor actually started me on Clomid. It did not work out. What it did for me:
Took free T from 7.49 to 18.2
Took my E2 from 7.4 to 18.7
Took my SHBG from 58.6 to 73.6
That is as high as my Test and E2 has ever gotten since beginning a treatment protocol, early 2019. Once I stopped Clomid, my free T and E2 went back down, and SHBG remained really high (got even higher, in fact). Therefore, my provider has stated clomid would only want to be reintroduced if I was actively trying to have kids.
What I’m questioning is:
T + HCG = This protocol typically RETAINS fertility to full extent? Or makes it decline at a lesser rate?
Stop TRT and go Clomid only - What is normal as far as time length to RESTORE fertility?
I will say that I did not feel miserable on Clomid, as I’ve read other people feeling. But I’m wondering if I begin TRT then drop it for Clomid, if I will feel like I did before, or just crash into misery for that time.
According to one study this happens if you use 3x500 UI per week, but we dont know for how long this can be sustained. Also I wouldn’t stay on such high dose HCG this will cause a lot of side effects in my mind
That is all most use. Cannot say for sure that it will keep you fertile but seems to work for most. If you’re primary hypogonadism I don’t think it will work but if that was the case your probably already not fertile. There also are FSH injections you could add with the HCG to increase your chances when that time comes you want to try for kids.
Side note though, it’s recommended to start TRT with T only at first, before HCG and get dialed in, then start HCG. That way you know how each compound is affecting you. Run into problems starting both, you wont know which is causing the issues.
I’ve seen some studies on it, I seem to recall 500 IU’s 2x a week maintains fertility for about 90% of people. I don’t remember the details regarding over that period, how much T, etc.
I read this a while ago, but if I remember correctly they were able to get 97% of long term testosterone users fertile. The study did not look into if the remaining 3% were ever fertile. Since the study involved AAS users and TRT patients, I would guess that a higher percentage of TRT patients are infertile than general population. I am not sure what percent would regain fertility if they were all fertile before TRT / AAS. Should be a bit higher than the 97% though. Fertility treatments for men work really well and are pretty simple. Women are more complicated.
Currently trying to conceive with a tt in the 1400s and ft in the 400s 400iu twice weekly and an at home sperm test showed a faint line on the normal sperm section so we will see what happens. DR didn’t seem big on FSH not sure why. She mentioned price but kept talking about clomid and restarts or lowering T and increasing HCG
My wife is currently pregnant, and we achieved that basically right when we started trying. So my boys can certainly swim currently.
What I gather from this post and some others is if we want to have more 1-2 years from now, the TRT + HCG may be able to maintain fertility enough to not even have to ever stop TRT. And if it turned out my fertility had been compromised, a stop TRT and goto clomid only approach could be taken to restore fertility. Am I correct in this?
This helps my peace of mind, and certainly my wife’s.
I think the fertility scare with TRT is way overblown. I think it is mostly not understanding the research (see study I have linked), and doctors using it as an excuse not to do TRT on younger guys.
It is anecdotal, but the BBers from the 70s through at least the 90s (Arnold, Haney, Dorian, Ronnie) all have children. Many of the pro strongmen are also fathers. I think many conceive without HCG, FSH, Clomid.
Are you sure? I think many (obviously some are lifelong TRT patients) stop taking after being done with competition.
I believe that the study above said almost every man that received no treatment eventually regained fertility. I am not sure if they were using those things or not. However, even if they were using them (and along with the study I posted), shows that the drugs (HCG, FSH, Clomid) are effective, for regaining fertility.
