I’ll make it brief, but you can ask any questions that would help with clarity on my situation. I’m 32 now, but when I was about 23 or 24 I took a cycle with a friend of mine who was far more experienced with steroids and other PEDs. What I realize now is that he was probably blasting and cruising for years, yet when he set us up on a cycle (the same cycle for both of us, though I can’t remember now what it was, exactly), it was my first and only cycle. We did no PCT. He told me it wouldn’t be needed because the cycle wasn’t anything too crazy. I did put on a little size, but nothing freaky. Needless to say, I’m sure it was something like 350-400mg of Test E per week. We ran it for about 6 weeks and then basically just quit cold turkey. I knew that it was a mistake, but I didn’t even know where to go to fix the situation and get some proper PCT.
What I noticed a few months later was that my right testicle had shrunk tremendously. I thought it would eventually come back, so I simply put it back of mind. Nevertheless, here I am years later and it never did recover. Every once in a while I feel a sense of pressure or numbness in it, but not really pain. Nonetheless, I’m wondering if it’s too late to revive it or fix it.
I have low T as verified by my doctor, and am starting my TRT journey, as stated in another thread (200mg per week, injections e3.5d). What I want to know is if I should ask for anything else beyond the 200mg of Test Cyp. that the doctor prescribed. Any thoughts or ideas?
TRT is about replacing normal levels and I believe 200 mg per week is more than likely too much. Most guys need between 120-150 and a small percentage of men can require a bit more.
I know little about this subject, but, OP, did your doc consider restart alternatives, rather than just going to TRT? Did he do a detailed exam to try to determine what the cause of the problem might be?
Are they not doing it anymore? It was pretty common when I started years ago and I just assumed that the science hadn’t changed drastically enough to warrant the cessation of an insanely safe and efficacious drug.
Some are, and I think it has a place, but not as a set in stone “part of the program”. When a 62 y/o comes to me, already on testosterone, and hCG, and anastrozole, with a vasectomy and seven grandchildren, and he tells me his soon to be previous TRT doctor has him on hCG to “keep his testicles going”, I have to question the rationale behind that.
These guys certainly have to know better. First off, the testicles weren’t doing that great anyway. Secondly, there are no children in the future. Of course, I don’t know for certain, and I do not say this, but I think it is about getting some extra money from the patient.
I don’t usually think of the 62 year old. Most trt that I have exposure to is 30-45, with a lot of them skewing to the younger end of that. I suppose that’s why I think HCG is so commonplace. But your example of course makes perfect sense. I’m only looking at a chunk of the overall patient population and that has obviously biased my view.
I wouldn’t personally want to give up all the downstream benefits of having my body work the way it was designed to work, especially if the only benefit is saving like $8 every month. But to each their own.
I remember him saying that. I wonder about constant stimulation of LH, anything to that? Maybe little cycles of HCG throughout the year is the way to go?
Edit: I had read that there are LH receptors in male breast tissue as well. I always have gyno flareups (or tenderness) when I use HCG. Could be e2, or could be activating those receptors?
I often feel the same when I add it in, but usually I’m doing that because I’ve screwed up my e2 or something by experimenting and use the HCG to bring me back to center quickly. In that regard it works pretty well.
