I went quite high with the E2 and now wondering the Anastrozole dosage that I finally got a recipe for. From the posts I’ve been reading here it seems to be really hard to estimate or guess the dosage, so what would you recommend? My baseline E2 is 17 pg/mL.
Few other questions I haven’t found answers for:
Is Anastrozole truly eliminating E2 so differently in between individuals? I mean, isn’t there any kind of a rough estimate that for example 0,5mg EOD would decrease E2 approximately this and this much?
If you would guess that mentioned 0,5mg EOD to be the dosage in my case, based on my calculations it would mean steady state blood concentrations slightly above 1mg. It would take around two weeks to reach it. Why wouldn’t you then load it up with a 1mg dose in day 1, and then continue from there with 0,5mg EOD? I made the calculation based on 48 hour half-life.
Anastrozole also seems to absorb really fast. Maximum concentration is usually reached within two hours after dosing. Does this mean that a single dosage will reach it’s maximum E2 elimination capability right after it has been absorbed? Or isn’t the effect in E2 to be seen immediately? I mean if it would, then you could take that 1mg dosage and few hours after walk into the lab and see where you ended up?
I just would hope there was a way to approach this on a bit more calculative level rather than just guessing around.
Im not expert but that being said of course everyone reacts differently unfortunately just like everyone converts their testosterone to estrogen at different rates. Its always best to start low and add more as necessary. Since your are what looks like almost triple your reference range (correct?) your e2 is very high and I believe 0.5mgs 2x/week would be a good starting point. Evaluate how you feel and get rechecked in a month. It sucks there is no set answers Im just about to get into an AI myself, I took arimidex for about two weeks and it seemed to help energy and libido but I got a new doc and she was curious if we could go without one, looks like Ill be back on one soon
Thanks for the reply. I’m aware that we convert testosterone to estradiol at a different rates, but I just figured could there be even a rough estimate of how we eliminate E2 per Anastrozole mg. There aren’t many studies around of Anastrozole effects on males, that’s for sure. Some studies do exist though and it’s somewhat confusing when they conclude that 1mg ED decreases E2 approx. 50% in normal male. If I remember correctly in that study they used it for a stand alone treatment for hypogonadal males with low LH. What I’ve understood reading posts here it would be a huge overkill for most. I guess it’s just that much more effective if your E2 is already increased.
And yes, it’s around triple the reference range where I’m at. At this stage it just would be so tempting to max it up right away just to get rid off these side effects as soon as possible. Naturally don’t want to crush it though. I guess that’s why I’m asking opinions here.
If theres one thing Ive learned over the last few months is to judge how I feel, no matter how many people feel a certain way about something does not mean you will feel the same. Thinking that way just stresses me out. 0.25-0.5mgs 2x/week is enough to get most guys on TRT in to a good range. I can GUARANTEE you though you will make adjustments to your protocol in the future so start with what you and your doc think is right and adjust as to how you feel. This imo is the downside of TRT, the constant balance struggle. I have been on for 4 months and I expect at least another 8 before I find homeostasis, but when I do I know my life will be better as I have already seen major glimpses of this fact in my day to day life. Be patient dude, never try never know!
Alright, I won’t. I guess when everybody seems to suggest not to front load, the reason for that would then be the risk of crashing, right? Damn, I thought there would have been a way to approach this another way Apparently there isn’t. 0,5mg twice a week it is then.
There is a lot of info in these stickies that you should read:
advice for new guys
estradiol sticky
Your E2=17 baseline is pre TRT?
Anastrozole dose depends in serum T levels which depend on TRT dose. You have not provided any info that we can use.
When you give 1mg to a normal virile male, LH gets high and resulting higher T–>E2 inside the testes is not affected by anastrozole, so E2 levels do not crash. In a TRT context things are quite different. You can’t take what you find in many med/clinical research papers and run with it. You need to have a deeper understanding to avoid getting mislead.
For TRT, 1mg/week per 100mg T ester per week typically is a good start. Then you do labs and correct the dose to get near E2=22pg/ml by using the formula discussed in the stickies.
Hi KSman. Thanks, you explained it good. It’s true that it’s very easy to misunderstand something, but you made it more clear by explaining the role of LH in aromatisation. I didn’t know that. During the last month I went trough a lot of posts here before signing up, but obviously I need a look more carefully since I haven’t run into any formula either.
Yes, E2=17 is my pre TRT base level. I’m not injecting, but using a gel testosterone a 50mg per day. Sort of a trial, which have been ongoing for some time now. From what I’ve understood, gels seem to aromatise much harder than the injections. It’s working though. It took my Total Testosterone from 370 to 650 ng/dl (through value). Just for the sake of convenience I will switch to injections some time in the near future. Then I will just use a protocol been seeing here very often. I guess it could also help with the aromatisation when injecting less more often vs. the gel.
Apparently there isn’t. 0,5mg twice a week it is then.