6 weeks
100mg Test 2x week
25 units HCG 2x week
Gained 10 lbs (5.4% bodyweight gain) but zero gain in my waist.
Total T went from 313 to 1652 ng/dl
Free T went from 64.6 to 252.9 pg/ml
Estradiol went from 16.5 to 142 pg/ml
SHBG 42 nmol/L
Prolactin 8.5 ng/ml
Albumin 4.5g/dl
Feel great. Somewhat concerned about my estradiol but no nipple tenderness or other symptoms. Ratio of T: Estradiol seems ok at 11.6:1.
Obviously new to this. What do you guys think?
Dose is obviously too high. What else do you want to know?
What @blshaw said. Lower your dose and stay there for a couple months and get more bloods. Is this doc prescribed or DYI?
Always a good idea to post lab ranges as well.
Doc prescribed. He wants labs at 10 weeks before adjusting. I requested these labs myself through Quest. Obviously 1652 Total T is well beyond “replacement.”
Here are the results with ranges as reported by Quest:
TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL, MS
Desired Range: 250-1100 ng/dL
1652 HIGH
ESTRADIOL
Desired Range: <=39 pg/mL
142 HIGH
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULIN
Desired Range: 10-50 nmol/L
42
Albumin
Desired Range: 3.6-5.1 g/dL
4.5
TESTOSTERONE, FREE
Desired Range: 46.0-224.0 pg/mL
252.9 HIGH
TESTOSTERONE,BIOAVAILABLE
Desired Range: 110.0-575.0 ng/dL
520.1
Prolactin
Desired Range: 2.0-18.0 ng/mL
8.5
I run a bit high estrogen as well. Could also be HCG effecting your estrogen or just the high test levels. E will follow T.
Chances are when the Doc sees these numbers we will lower your dose. You have 2 options, either drop your dose now and let him think the 200 is giving you the better numbers or keep at 200mg/wk and see what he says and where he puts you.
I’ll add that 6 weeks is not really enough time to stabilize a protocol. 3 months would be a good measure of where you are at.
Bumping this with updated bloodwork.
100mg T 2x weekly
25 units HCG 2x weekly
0.5 mg Anastrozole on day of injection
0.25 mg Anastrozole on day after shot and again the following day
Results from Quest
TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL, MS
Desired Range: 250-1100 ng/dL
1545 HIGH
ESTRADIOL
Desired Range: <=39 pg/mL
27
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULIN
Desired Range: 10-50 nmol/L
30
Albumin
Desired Range: 3.6-5.1 g/dL
5.0
TESTOSTERONE, FREE
Desired Range: 46.0-224.0 pg/mL
294.8 HIGH
TESTOSTERONE,BIOAVAILABLE
Desired Range: 110.0-575.0 ng/dL
670.3 HIGH
Prolactin
Desired Range: 2.0-18.0 ng/mL
5.4
Been running this protocol for 4+ months. Feeling awesome. Much less water retention and other high E2 symptoms. Had a complete metabolic panel done as well. Everything was well within “normal” range, including liver enzymes and all cholesterol numbers.
What @s.gentz said. My PCP agreed to take over my TRT from a TRT clinic which was likely the most conservative set of providers I could imagine. They were ok with free T slightly above "normal " provided my other labs stayed in range but had already reduced my dose previously.
I could tell my PCP was mentally wrestling with keeping me at a dose that had my total T in the 600’s and free T one fucking point above “normal” because that’s “above range”. A Primary Care doctors priority is risk reduction. That usually means their own perceived liability more so than the patients subjective response to a treatment.
Unless your provider is one of those that views lab ranges as “suggestions” only, they’ll likely drop your dose unless you reduce dose prior to next labs.
But long-term, that may not be advisable anyway. Running supraophysiologic levels long term may or may not have repercussions. There’s no metabolic free lunch.
Doctor suggested adding the Anastrozole to the protocol after the last blood test. He suggested lowering the dosage from 100 to 90 2x week. I may do that now that I’ve had another test. He wasn’t really too concerned about anything.
What is your scale weight?
189.6 lbs
14% body-fat per DEXA scan
You gained 10 pounds and increased body fat by about 5 percent and weigh about 190.
Based on those numbers you gained about 8 pounds of fat.
My DEXA was 18.2% on 12/18 and I weighed 199. So I have absolutely not gained 8 lbs fat since October. I don’t have a DEXA earlier than that. I weighed 185 in October. My midsection definition and the way my pants fit (much looser now) would suggest my body fat was over 20% in October. My body fat was 100% definitely NOT 9% or anywhere close to it in October.
You went from a dexa of 14 to 18%.
4% of 199 pounds is 8 pounds.
Did I misread your dexa numbers?
You are misreading pretty much everything. I went from 18% (December) to 14% (April) in 4 months while my body weight went from 199 to 190. Not sure how any of this is really relevant to the thread.