If possible, don’t start taking an AI until you KNOW you need it. Some (a few, but not too commonly) guys never test E2 because they never have symptoms of E2 troubles, and if it ain’t broke - don’t fix it. That said, you seem to feel that you have some issues that may be caused by E2 levels being out of whack, and the only way to know if that IS the cause is to have your E2 tested.
If you start taking Adex BEFORE you get your labs then you will either: A) Have to tell the doc that you’ve been taking Adex without his permission/consent/supervision, and most docs don’t like patients going off and doing their own thing which will make it hard for him to trust you; or B) You will get your labs back with good E2 levels and, assuming you don’t tell your doctor you started taking Adex without his knowledge, you will have a really hard time convincing him to prescribe an AI when your labs will show you “don’t need it” (since he won’t know you were on an AI at the time of the lab).
Your best bet is to get the doc to order the lab and go from there. That way you don’t have to be sneaking around behind his back, taking medication that wasn’t prescribed to you, or getting a lab done while on an AI and then trying to convince him to prescribe one when you have normal scores.
If he won’t (for some retarded reason) order the test, then one option is to get the test done yourself (order it through www.privatemdlabs.com - either get the Sensitive E2 test on its own, or get the female hormone panel as it has the “sensitive” estradiol [E2] as well as a few other good labs to have), show him the results, and tell him “I really thought this was an issue, so I went and got it tested on my own since you didn’t feel it was necessary. Now that we know I have high E2, can you please give me some anastrozole already!”
I don’t see why, if you explain your symptoms to him and why you suspect E2 to be the culprit, he would have an issue ordering a lab. Some doctors are funny though, I suppose. You will have to dose the Adex based on symptoms and labs; Some guys over-react to AIs, some guys under-react. It may take a few weeks and several labs to get it dialed in.
About the hCG you said, “I have been working out and want to get the most out of it.”
I’m not sure what that has to do with taking hCG; If you have low testosterone then the extra T boost you get from hCG is going to be negligible (though there will be some). The main reasons you want to take hCG while on TRT are to keep the boys producing Pregnenolone (helpful for mood and other stuff), prevent shrinkage, pain, and even testicular recession (which I had and it was awful! It felt like I was permanently kicked in the nut and my sack looked like I was 11 years old again!).
HCG will also help keep you from going sterile longer than being on TRT without hCG; So if you’re thinking about kids this is another reason you can give your doctor to help convince him to prescribe the stuff.
I also noticed that you have also started a thread asking questions about doing a Cycle (or Blast). I would HIGHLY recommend you get your TRT straightened out before even considering thinking about messing with your hormones even further. Although you are on the right track and are learning all you can about this stuff, you still have a TON to learn before you should even consider entering that realm.
Your TRT protocol isn’t nearly ironed out yet, and you’re thinking about ramping up your dose for a short-term Blast? Pretty bad idea. (Also, 300mg a week isn’t really a “Blast”.) Don’t take this the wrong way as I mean no offense by it, but you really need to learn a lot more about this stuff before trying to screw around with manipulating your testosterone to levels that are higher than the normal range.
Again, I’m not trying to insult you or tell you how to live your life, I’m just trying to prevent you from doing something that is potentially very dangerous, and I just want to make sure that you know everything about this stuff, in and out, before attempting a “Blast and Cruise” lifestyle.
I’d suggest learning more about the TRT side of things first. I know you said you’ve read the Stickies, but the protocol you say you’re following on the other thread belies that comment. You are taking one 150mg once a week and wondering why you are having mood swings? It’s because you are spiking your testosterone levels, likely above 1100ng/dL at the “peak” levels, which in turn spikes your E2 levels, and then your levels are slowly decreasing over the course of a week until you hit a “valley” or “trough”.
At that point you don’t have an optimal amount of testosterone in your system, having just probably had around a 50% drop in testosterone levels, and then it’s time for another injection! This is why you are having mood swings and sleeping problems - your hormones are going crazy, bouncing up and down! Have you really been on this protocol for 8 months? I’m surprised you’ve been able to handle it this long!
When I first started TRT at 100mg a week, I too was only doing one shot; I felt great for four days and then couch-locked for three while I desperately waited for my next dose. At that point I realized I had to switch to a twice-a-week regiment.
It may just be my perception of things, (and please correct me if I’m wrong,) but it seems like you are slightly more concerned with results in the gym than you are with getting your TRT dialed in. If this isn’t the case I sincerely apologize; I’m just letting you know that, as an outside observer, it looks like you are more anxious to get buff than you are with trying to get yourself to a normal base-line. The gains in the gym will come, and the sooner you get your base-line dialed in, the sooner your time spent in the gym will be done so efficiently.
Don’t worry about taking B-12 at night: Any insomnia issues you have that you think are based on this is simply placebo effect. Somewhere along the line somebody thought that B vitamins (B-12 in particular), which are necessary for energy synthesis amongst many other things, assumed that “energy synthesis” meant caffeine-like effects, and now every energy drink on the market has a ton of B vitamins because people think it will ramp them up like meth or something. It doesn’t.
Unless of course you have pernicious anemia (which my significant other does), and so she feels great after her monthly B-12 shots, but that’s only because she has a medical issue that is being treated.
Use this thread here as your “Case Study” home-base, and it should be the place you post all the stuff related to your TRT protocol. For now you should post every lab you have - both before starting TRT, as well as any labs you have after you started. Without numbers we are all going by guesswork. Get us some labs, and feel free to ask as many questions as you need to!
Good luck man!