Starting trt was at first a very exciting prospect for me. I did my first two shots and finished my week and am thinking about calling it quits. This week I was moody, anxious, insanely hungry, had one day where my penis literally didn’t work!! Wife was up for sex and it felt like nothing could get it up! And nothing did… first time ever I couldn’t get it up all day… I’m super hot, having flashes, feel bloated like I’m carrying 5 extra pounds of water weight… cardio feels more difficult. I literally am torn between keeping this going and being so moody makes my decision even harder. I have people saying you need trt because of your high shbg, and others saying try lowering shbg naturally first … you don’t need trt with a 600 test level… so confused
Tapping out already, what you are experiencing is normal. It’s perfectly normal to lose erections for the first couple of weeks as your HPTA shuts down. The increase in hunger is common because you’re stepping up the metabolic rate.
It does sound like your dosage was too high, decrease your dosage should do the trick. HCG is going to increase estrogen, not good if you like libido and erections.
Still need to see thyroid levels, symptoms are the same as low testosterone.
As I said upthread, it is not a fun or easy ride. So far, I am right about that, right?
When you start this journey, you have to be ready to go through a lot of stuff, and meanwhile you will be shutting your natural production down. And your natural production while maybe not optimal is certainly not small potatoes. I was 170 when I started. Shutting myself down was like turning off a dripping faucet. You are turning off a pouring one. I’m not saying 600 is amazing but it’s not Instant-T will fix everything time either.
That is difficult to go through and also a very serious prospect. You are on a board full of people who live on the stuff. Many of them will be ready to convert you instantly as it is natural to think the answer to your own problems is also the answer to everyone else’s. No sleight on anyone else. Many of them know more than me. And even though it MAY be your answer, it also may not.
All I said is think this stuff through before you move on it. Two shots ain’t gonna shut you down, but if you do two or three more, then the REAL shit starts.
Systemlord, T4 was 1.43, TSH 2.91, IGF 171, Reverse T3 18.5, Thyroid Peroxidase 10 and T3 Free 3.5. These are LabCorp reference ranges.
My E2 prior to starting was 30. Is this something to worry about ? I was running a anti estrogen supplement prior to my blood tests and stopped two weeks prior… so not sure If this was a rebound.
Maybe trying a lower dose would help.
Thyroid looks good on the surface, but the TSH is bugging me. TSH increases when the pituitary sees more demand for thyroid hormones and when elevated >2.5 is indicting demand isn’t being met. You could have caught your thyroid on a good day, could be worse on other days when not testing. You labs are a snapshot in time, a bigger clinical picture emerges when test frequency increases.
If I had seen your thyroid labs before, I would have put my money on thyroid. I would stay the course and lower your dosage do to your response to TRT, isn’t any reason why you couldn’t be having two different problems.
IGF-1 looks good.
The evidence for a narrower thyrotropin reference range
It has become clear that previously accepted reference ranges are no longer valid as a result of both the development of more highly sensitive TSH assays and the appreciation that reference populations previously considered normal were contaminated with individuals with various degrees of thyroid dysfunction that served to increase mean TSH levels for the group. Recent laboratory guidelines from the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry indicate that more than 95% of normal individuals have TSH levels below 2.5 mU/liter. The remainder with higher values are outliers, most of whom are likely to have underlying Hashimoto thyroiditis or other causes of elevated TSH.
Your pre-TRT estrogen looks typical and good for a man with your Total T and Free T numbers. Do not touch an AI when levels are in flux, you will go through massive fluctuations which it may seem like estrogen is high when it’s just in transition to becoming stable.
You could be one of those men that needs Free T between 20-26 pg/mL to feel good. The top 2% and bottom 2% of men are excluded from the reference ranges, that could mean you are the 2% of men above the reference ranges not included in the ranges for which you are being measured.
AI has no place in TRT (unless there is some extenuating circumstance), avoid it. Stuff did more harm than good for me. Stopped taking over a month ago
I want to avoid an AI at all costs!!! Maybe that’s why I was slightly freaked out by my symptoms…feeling watery, moody, one day where my junk didn’t work… I thought my e2 was sky rocketing
@sprinter528 if E2 caused any those things, you would have reason to worry. It doesn’t, so don’t worry.
The sides I got was b/c the AI crashed my e2. Amazing how dropping the AI and letting my e2 rise actually got rid of the sides. No bloating, no moodiness, no erection issues, etc… AIs have no place in TRT
Mine was 11 when I started trt. It’s usually around 42 and I’ve never felt better. I recently dropped my AI completely, while blasting, and I’m curious to see what the numbers look like after a few months of not using it.
Mine was a solid 12 before starting, haha. I hope getting that up some helps me as well
Thank you! After spending the morning reading around the forum I now have zero concerns about E2. I assumed it would eventually become an issue and I would need this stupid AI to avoid looking like stapuff marshmallow man and avoid gyno ! LOL
I have had high blood pressure readings in the past. Especially when I ran a cycle of ostarine. It was in the 150/90 range. Since starting TRT my nightly readings are around 105/60. Is this common ? I assumed test would raise BP slightly ?
I believe supraphysiological (a cycle) levels may raise BP, not replacement therapy. For what it’s worth, I believe E2 is a white whale - worth looking for, but usually not a problem.
Myth is correct. If someone is getting BP issues from testosterone it’s either because they’re taking too much or because they’re taking too much. Replacement doses should not cause wild fluctuations in BP for a healthy man without preexisting hypertension issues.
I lowered my dosage from 160mg a week to 140 mg this week and feel amazing ! It could be because I am adjusting to the test but my mood this week has been freaky. I have been in a constant good mood and everything excites me … I drank an A and W diet root beer and became euphoric because it reminded me of a root beer float when I was a kid. I would say for the last 5 years or so I was the most pessimistic negative person in my social circle. My friends often joked about it. I am wondering if this was all from my free test being crushed by high SHBG. At work rather than put problems off or hope they simply go away… I want to deal with them immediately.
Free T is needed for a lot of things, like producing dopamine and serotonin. You positively can get beat down by low free T.
I am starting week number 4 and feel like my boys are still working downstairs. I have not noticed much of a change in size ? How long does that usually take to happen ?
I’ve gone up to three weeks without using hcg and not noticed a change in size down there. But I think that’s an individual response and your results may vary.