I hear you. I wanted to believe that high E2 = better mood, sex drive and erectile function. And it does for some men. Not you, not me. I’m willing to gradually push my ai dose. I look forward to the morning when I wake up with a stiff one! As I wrote, it stirs in the morning, so perhaps on the right track with an ai; a matter, now, of finding the appropriate dose and frequency of dosing. Glad to hear you’re making progress. We’re all taking T to have a better quality of life, in all areas of our life.
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Purely anecdotal, but for several years I thought I had to inject EOD (often daily) to really benefit from TRT. This year I went back to basic, 2x per week injections with slightly larger doses and have felt my best, even going to lower the dose every 5 weeks to see how low I could get it. Labs look good, I feel good.
Maybe there is too much hype in the “stable levels” and “microdosing daily” ideas. Maybe just let the ester do what it’s suppose to do.
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My only advice when playing with the AI dose is that if you take it and feel good right away or a few hours later, it was likely too much and you’re in for some low e2 issues for a week or so. If you take it and don’t feel any real difference until day 2-3, then you’re probably on the right track and can start timing your doses during the week. That’s been my experience anyway
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And like I said some of my best I felt on TRT funny enough is dropping it altogether for a few doses, and also reintroducing a decently sized bolus out of the blue. I remember one time I dropped it for 2 weeks and felt fine to be honest, actually felt better in the latter half and did not experience this hellish crash people do after a few days.
Like I am hypothesizing here maybe constant 900 TT is not good feeling for what ever reason if its the T itself or E2 or what ever, but X amount of days being over 900 and X amount of days being under 900 all of a sudden I can tolerate and actually enjoy having and average level of 900 once you do the math.
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Thanks for sharing your experience. As I never used an ai in a serious, chronic way, I now have to learn about its pharmacokinetics and my body’s reaction/tolerance to it in order to find the dosage that produces maximum benefits and minimum sides.
Not telling you what to do but something to consider when doing an AI, depending on levels of course, is to possibly even increase dose to make sure you don’t crash your E2.
If you are staying the same dose start very minimal. Luckily with Defy I can get 0.125mg capsules or even less.
What you’re talking about is similar to @roscoe88 with his 300 mg every 2 weeks experiment. Of course, that relates to the way T was, and in some quarters, is still prescribed; 200 mg every 2 weeks. But if you dose higher; 250, 300, 350, even 400 every two or three weeks…
No, I appreciate different perspectives. Within TRT, we know there are men who do well on 10 mg, daily or 50 mg a week(few men) and those who need 250 to 300 a week to feel good and function. And of course, guys who blast once a year. @dextermorgan talked about his early foray into testosterone, doing 500 mg per week and having a raging libido and equally raging erections. I like and respect my urologist and wouldn’t do something that would sever my connection to him but I sure would like to know what it feels like to have that youthful raging libido and erections, again. I’m 72 and I miss it. For now, though, focus is on lowering E2 in search of a sweet spot that brings back erections.
Here in Florida, so many sexy, luscious women to tempt, LOL. Two of them are neighbors!
Update. At 6:30 this morning, put .25 mg anastrozole under my tongue. About 45 minutes ago(2:15) began to feel quite horny. 20 or so minute later, got a strong erection. I’ve got the rest of the day to assess, as well as if I have any nocturnal erections or morning wood. My plan was to take .25 MWF but perhaps just see how it goes for the next 2 to 3 days. Took my injection Sunday morning at 6 a.m. Next one is Thursday morning.
What’s your protocol and the lest levels you took on it?
100 mg, Test E, IM, E5D. My Quest labs came back yesterday. TT: 889 Free T:240 E2(sensitive) 61. If I continue to see erectile improvements this week, I might pay out of pocket for another E2 before I see my urologist next week. Or I can get a lab slip from him and let insurance cover it. Also, urinating a lot but as of yet, no decline in weight.
Have you tried just going down to 100mg per week?
Used to do 100 mg E7D. Crashed by day 6. Feel better on 100 E5D. Mood, energy, exercise ability. After 5 weeks, broke through barrier to now, 70 push ups daily. Like nothing. In a few weeks, 100, daily. I’m no gym rat but I want to be strong and keep upper body in shape.
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But since you are considering AI have you tried 70mg E5d instead to see what happens on 100mg a week with the 5 day routine. Since your problem was crashing by the fifth day.
I’m finding physical and emotional benefits from 100mg E5D. I believe, based on my E2, that I hyperaromotize. I certainly could be wrong about that. We agree that taking an ai, for some men, can be beneficial in improving their response to TRT, specifically, erectile function. I didn’t have any nocturnal erections, or don’t recall, as I needed to take one of my heavy duty PRN sleep meds. My wife wasn’t doing well yesterday and thought I’d have to take her to the hospital, again. But, early in the evening, once again, from .25 mg of anastrozole in the a.m., strong libido and erectile function returned, as it did in early afternoon. My instinct is to take it, today, but I wanted to try MWF and give it two weeks.
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Perhaps a dumb question, but is your ai a sublingual version? Or are you just taking it that way for absorption reasons?
I recently switched from 20mg daily sust to 125mg test E once a week. Morning wood was non existing on daily shots. Now on the once a week protocol i wake up most of the time with morning wood and lots of wood through the night.
But libido is still pretty low. Do i ride this out? Am i on the right track now that i have morning wood most of the days?
100% on the right track. Morning wood is, in my opinion, the best indicator that your levels are where they should be. Low libido could be due to another reason or it could be improving soon as well.
I wonder how many people confuse libido with arousal. You can have a strong libido, semi-strong erections and poor arousal.
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Libido is the thought I want to have sex with THAT woman. I find her attractive.
Arousal is the bodies response to HER when you’re with her, and getting sexual. Is your erection working… are you getting that heated/“need to get it in her” feeling. It’s more physiological.
My opinion is that test doesn’t really help with arousal. Just the libido bit. Arousal is what most are missing… and it’s more a neurotransmitter issue.
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