Yes I think I know what might be going on, but there are a lot of variables so I don’t know for sure.
I have an underlying autoimmune disease which may well be causing some of my issues. I think my body struggles to cope when adding a new compound to the mix. This has a knock on effect to my thyroid and adreanals making me feel more exhausted.
Like many have mentioned before, it’s probably best to just start with one compound and start with a low dose and increase till dialled in. (Testosterone) I think I should have held off the HCG and started with a low test dose. I actually started with 100mg a week but when my bloods showed lower levels of test than when I started I made a dumb decision and jumped up to 300mg a week because I listened to some advice here and thought it was a good move. (It was not)
Improvement have been increased muscle, much less joint pain and less emotional ups and downs.
About 5 months. My doc started me with a very low dose so I got worse before I got better. Issues were the same as low T but magnified. Irritability, sleepiness, hot flashes, bloating, crying, depression, etc.
I have been an avid gym goer (power lifter) for the last 17 years, and although I have gotten stronger and maybe put on a little muscle, not really progress commensurate with the work that was being done in the gym and diet wise. Over the last 10 years I have gone from counting and stressing over every calorie to low carbing for 12+ months, to being lax but careful, etc. My weight never really budged. I could gain or lose 3-5lbs but that was it. I could maintain hitting the gym hard 7 days a week with two a days thrown in here and there and consume no more than 2k calories a day and my weight would do nothing for 8 weeks with no real gym gains either.
So to say my body was primed for a progress spurt is an understatement. Once dialed in the gym numbers started moving, quickly. As did the scale. I dropped 20lbs in the first couple of months and had to start buying new pants after 12 weeks or so.
I guess in the end the fat loss and muscle gain were due to T, diet, and gym regularity. But none would have been possible without the therapy. FWIW I saw a lot of progress early on when I was keeping my T around 1100 and have not seen any considerable changes in that area pushing it up to 1,900 but I do feel better.
I’ve been on trt almost 1yr. Started with 50mg two times a week. Went up to 60mg two times a week and have finally settled in at 36-40mg EOD and feel great.
With cleaning to my diet since, intermittent fasting an some exercise, I’m also down 20lbs. I’m 5’11" and was 187… Now down to 167 and feeling good.
I’ve exercised in the past, but never really had these results while not on trt. I’m 42 and feel as good as I can ever remember.
I guess my doc didn’t test it during my appointment 2 weeks ago. He asked how I was feeling and I said great… So he said keep doing what I’m doing and not to worry about it… So I said ok
I know the thread is old, but I will give you my opinion based on my personal experience. I’m been on TRT for over 2 years, I have way more muscle, energy, sense of wellbeing, but my libido and erections are worst. Everyone is different, some guys get much better sexual function on TRT, but in my case is worst
This is disturbing that no one has got to the bottom your sexual dysfunction. My guess is it’s related either to hormones or neurotransmitters. In my case, it appears adrenal fatigue held me back.
I have issues on top of that, with several neurotransmitters that are deficient. You can order neurotransmitters testing yourself, but then the question becomes, what do you do about deficiencies?
Anyhow, I quit trt because clearly I have other issues that I need to sort out before I can reap the benefits of trt.
I appreciate your honesty. You realize you have other things to sort out. No one can fault you or flame you for being this honest.
For me TRT has helped me change my body comp. it made my efforts pay off that much more. The only negative is now I’m a moody asshole. I was an asshole before, this just makes me quicker to act out my aggression.
I didn’t have libido issues, sex drive issues, or any of that prior to TRT. The only time i’ve had erection problems is when i used to cycle for hours on end everyday. That took years to recover from. Or when I’m over-training, which is often as I am a type-A and I go all out on what I do.
If I was to answer your initial question, I would have said like someone else said and tokd you to get all other shit in order… But you already know this.
I had zero benefits from TRT until I treated my anemia. It showed up on pre-trt labs (low hemoglobin, HCT etc) but everything I had read said TRT would improve it. Turns out it did but not enough. Got full iron panel etc done and started supplementing Iron and B12. A couple months later I really started getting the full TRT experience.
TRT definitely doesn’t fix everything and there are some things that need to be fixed before TRT works.
@dextermorgan how low was your hemoglobin? Mines at 141 range is 140-180. I don’t know much about anemia but I can say I definitely don’t have as much breath while singing as I used to (shortness of breath). Should I look further into this?
I had 5X more energy and a better wellbeing. It helped me actually experience the positives of TRT. My B12 was much higher than yours is before I supplemented so you’ll likely have an even better experience.
