No Clomid sides. Balls are significantly bigger (literally). Energy fine. Mood fine. Libido actually went up a little (LH/FSH surge perhaps). Strength in the gym went down a little most likely due to fT drop.
I knew before bloods even came in that my E2 would be a little high. I knew it because of the slight prostate pinch. I can feel it soon as my E2 approaches mid 30s. This is probably partly due to intratesticular aromatization.
I will be dropping down to Clomid 12.5mg/day and either keep Adex .25mg EOD or go to ED. Then retest after six more weeks.
I am skeptical about my ability to keep my levels up after I am completely off Clomid, considering how low I was prior to TRT. If I could settle in around 500 range without any symptoms I’ll be a happy camper.
At 262 I actually felt normal until stressful situations came about. They would wear me out quicker mentally, emotionally and physically. Once I got on T shots I noticed that stressful situations would just roll off of me like it was nothing. I understand T opposes effects of cortisol. I have to say there is something great to having high-normal androgens and lower-normal estrogens. It is as if you can choose to feel or not feel anything.
Right now with mid-range T and even slightly higher E2 my mood is still good. I work in sales and my drive and performance is still very solid.
I believe this thread will be very useful for those who’re interested in utilizing SERM therapy for T management. Hopefully you’ll get favorable results with clomid, best of luck to you on this journey. I’m saying this because it had worked in my case and my starting T levels were 202.
As you know @cycobushmaster had as well experimented with clomid a few months ago, he may also chime in and put some input regarding the long term issues with SERM’s like decreased IGF levels and increased SHBG.
Igs, I had to attempt my HPTA restart twice to get me going. The first time I tried I used Nolvadex 10mg ED, and response was very good. Nearly all symptoms were gone and I was very happy. A few months later I started to feel a little slump, and got myself retested, and my levels came out to be 415. I investigated all of the contributing factors again, made some lifestyle changes using your fatloss advice and CT’s recovery tips and again attempted a SERM restart, resultingly I’m good to go to date. No symptoms at all, feel energetic, good performance in gym as well as bed and I’m in best shape of my life today.
The elemental thing in my case was that my body responded very well to SERM, a low dose of 10mg for 5 weeks took my levels from 202 to 753 on 241-827 range. I also tried to address the underlying causes leading to my low T like Vit D deficiency, 5alpha reductase inhibitors usage and dietary factors.
This thread contains the whole story of my T recovery
to be clear, i never had any issue with low T after any of my cycles over the years… my issue came after getting injured, and not being able to work out and getting fat. i’d guess that i was bordering on being an alcoholic over that year as well…
i got back to working out and kinda cleaned up my diet and cut back on the booze. also added in daily vitamin D and ZMA.
my testosterone levels on 8/5/15 were 285. i added 25 mg/day of clomid, and on 9/25/15 was up to 893. i tapered off clomid, and eventually stopped it around the 1st of the year. i had follow-up bloodwork on 2/19/16, and my testosterone had dipped slightly to 769, but is still high enough that i’m happy with it.
^i am rather on the fence about doing a cycle again though, due to my bout with low T. i was rather emotional, even though my E2 wasn’t that high… my family thought i had severe PTSD, but nearly every symptom went away after i got my T back up, as well.
i think at my age, i need to accept if i do another cycle, then it’s likely that i’m gonna need to stay “on” for the rest of my life…
Just a quick update. I decided to stay on Clomid because it is working so well for me. I’ve been on Clomid now for months. No emotional side effects, no mood swings. I’ve upped my AI dosage however. Current protocol is 25mg Clomid ED, .5mg Adex ED. That’s it.
I feel good. I kept all my gains since I quit TRT. I am lean, fitting into my 31W Levi’s jeans. I think I may stay on this long term. I love that I don’t have to inject and that my balls are always full size, unlike TRT.
FSH is your status. LH moves a lot and average effectively probably higher.
FT or SHBG not reported.
Your AI dose, 3.5mg/week is very high and very high relative to TT=721. The obvious conclusion is that there is significant T–>E2 inside the testes where the AI cannot work. AI cannot remove E2, only reduce T–>E2 production. It is safe to state that T–>E2 in peripheral tissue is extremely low and some will point out that T–>E2 for local utilization in the brain will be reduces and that there is some theoretical concern that the brain might be E2 deficient. There is no hard data or knowledge to lean on. So its all about what you think about your mood etc. Are you getting emotionally barren or just a calm analytical male?
SERM via LH is driving T–>E2 inside the testes.
Definitely avoiding the TRT problems with testicular atrophy, aching and reduced fertility. Your testes should be feeling larger and firmer.
I found this post while Googling Clomid for low-T, so I signed up here to post. It seems like your results are great. I was recently Rx’d Clomid 25mg EOD – 31yo male…Total Test at 281. I recently put on a bunch of bf and I have been also fighting Hashimoto’s but thyroid numbers have been good for 3 months now without a budge in mood/fatigue/bf% which prompted my Dr. to check test levels.
I’m curious, because you mentioned getting back into smaller jeans – how was your BF% before starting on Clomid?