The fact that everyone is different is what helps you figure things out, you can compare your experiences to others and learn from it. It all depends on how you look at things, positive minds will see the hidden message buried deep within the walls of text.
I believe a lot of guys start out too high in dosing, start out at average dosage around 100mg total weekly and make smaller incremental increases until you start feeling unwell, then back down the dosage until such time you feel better.
I agree with the smaller incremental adjustments but personally I feel worse before I feel better on any change I make up or down. I would add to your statement that for me at least it takes about 8 weeks at each adjustment to feel better. That and there’s a lot of folks that need 150mg+ to feel like some feel on 100mg. You don’t really know where you will be on that spectrum until you try it.
I have been on Clonazepam for about 7 of the past 9 years (tapered off a couple of times, without much issue…but would go back on, when the panic hit again)… i always assumed it was the REASON for my low T! Seeing this post now really has me wondering… on 1.5mg Clonazepam per day, my TT is 315 and my SHBG is 28… so they would be very low without it! Possibly what caused my attacks that resulted in my Clonazepam use in the first place?
Either way, the ONLY reason i’ve held off this long on the doctor prescribed TRT, is fear of the attacks coming back (on my daily clonazepam, i havent had an attack in a few years)… if i knew that i wouldnt have any issues with panic, i would start my shots tomorrow!
What is your opinion? I already plan to do daily subQ shots, with the lowest dose i can use to get my #s into a good range and feel better…but the fear (not so much FEAR, as just not knowing if i should risk it) of the unknown/ panic has kept me from taking the plunge… what would you advise that i do?
@coltsblue1888
Be careful you aren’t causing anxiety because you fear it so much. Most people don’t have anxiety on TRT.
Thanks man…i’m not so much anxious about it now, just wondering if it will cause it… i also am leaning towards not “feeling” the high E sides as much as most people, as i’m already pretty much E dominant, with my TT at 315 and E at 26 (was at 29 when my TT was 253!) maybe my thinking is way off, i obviously dont know, yet.
My E2 is almost 80 and I don’t have any worries. I don’t think estrogen plays a big role in anxiety (at least for most)
If you cannot handle anxiety without clonazepam I don’t think trt is for you. Trt doesnt solve anxiety, I have panic disorder and during my uncontrollable anxiety i panic 24/7 qnd have Depersonalization. I contain/overcame/battle with it on 10mg paxil and use xanax when needed. Trt has flared my anxiety, but I made a lot of progress on paxil alone only using 20 xanax in a 10 year span. I suggest more therapy and get off those dangerous benzos. I’m on week 6 but I’ve noticed a lot of anxious and obsessive thinking patterns reoccur ever since I started to “feel” my trt working. I’m gonna keep pushing through after labs etc and try to dial in while going to therapy but we’ll see.
@josht9210
Read the different threads here. TRT effects people in all different ways. Because it didn’t help you doesn’t mean it wouldn’t help him. Regardless, he’ll never know what it’ll do unless he tries it. It would really suck if it would have helped him in many ways but he decided not to because some guy said it didn’t help him. How you feel 6 weeks into TRT is likely not how you’ll feel 4 months in. Technically you don’t know how TRT is going to effect you yet.
Thanks for the response…but Paxil has it’s own host of problems. It sounds like your panic disorder is far worse than mine, as i’ve not had an attack in probably 2+ years, now.
I’ve tapered off of clonazepam more than once, and i have done so pretty painlessly, so i’m not worried about “those dangerous benzos”… if someone needs a medication for a legit reason, it is no different than a diabetic needing insulin or someone with high blood pressure needing something for that… or ALL of us here, who need TRT.
May i ask what your TRT dose and injection frequency are?
Thanks!
Dosage really depends on initial labs, but my advice is start at 100mg a week, injecting a split amount every other day to prevent emotional spikes. Once you get used to injections I’d look into injecting small doses more frequently. You’ll start to feel things within 5 weeks. My anxiety flared up at 3.5 weeks regardless of ssri use, its been a struggle but I’m slowly using cbt to keep my mind in check and its been helping me feel better.
Paxil is trash I agree, it has helped keep my issues in check though, which is why I’m starting trt and spear heading my anxiety more immensely with cbt and exposure. However if I was on my doctor prescribed benzo for 10 years, I’m sure my fatigue/ed/memory issues would be far worse than they are now from paxil. I’ve read too many benzo horror stories.
I never said trt didn’t help me. I’m still on it and still trying, only 6 weeks in I know I’m just starting. I’m just saying when it comes to anxiety disorders, not “generalized anxiety”, it can trigger some hardcore anxiety from my experience and many others that I’ve read. If you have typical social/general anxiety, I’m 100% sure trt will help… But hardcore panic attack history, you better have all your ducks in a row.
Absolutely not true on the “doesn’t help anxiety”. I had anxiety issues my whole life, got on top of them through CBT, and then the anxiety all started coming back as I became Low T. The anxiety from Low T felt different somehow and I couldn’t shake it no matter what I tried. TRT solved that anxiety issue in fairly short order.
That said, the first six to eight weeks of TRT, you can absolutely have increases as well as decreases in anxiety. Also susceptible people who take doses that are too high for them seem to encounter anxiety, especially as their T peaks and before it troughs.
I also find that when I do a protocol switch I get random panic attacks. They are not psychosomatic. They are actual random fucked up panic attacks but I deal with them by telling myself I know it’s only a panic attack and not something otherwise threatening to me. They subside as I continue on the same dose.
Since getting my T dose right, I am calmer by and large than at any previous time in my life.
I know I pulled you up on an earlier post, but to be fair this last one is absolutely correct, and very solid advice.
Are you on hcg? I’m curious of how hcg will effect my anxiety, and if no hcg curious about when my htpa is shut down if lack of pregnenalone/dhea will also cause anxiety. (I’m trying to prepare myself)
I am not, and I haven’t heard anything I can recall about its effect on anxiety pro or con. I will do some digging.
Edit: On a cursory look, it appears HCG has spiked anxiety in numerous people here to the point where someone got off it and their anxiety improved. No guarantees but I would prepare for it to do the same in you.