Help Required With My Protocol From The Best On Here

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

Firstly I just want to say that of all the information available online etc this is hands down the best place for information, advice and knowledge.

I am with a private provider here in the UK and have also been with NHS before that and just find Dr’s and Endo’s etc here in the UK just arent that great, no fault of their own.

So my current protocol is 37.5 mg Test E every 3.5 days.

I dropped HCG over the last two months which has really helped with feeling better but I find i still need to use the odd small 50IU injection every week and a half or so to stop my testicles from shrinking majorly and from hurting.

My problem is that i just feel inconsistent in most ways, libido, gym performance, muscle feeling etc. I cant put my finger on it, before lowering my doses on both HCG and Test E I have been on higher levels and felt a lot worse and worked down until I felt better.

Im very cautious about trying new things in terms of TRT as I am very sensitive to literally any changes, any small changes literally hit me hard and its hard to deal with.

Over the last few months i have been struggling with tiredness and lack of energy, I just feel all over the place from day to day, might have one or two good days were i feel great, libido, energy etc then i just feel like Ive crashed.

Im just not sure how to tackle this and I’ve dropped HCG so I’ve also noticed that I can barely ejacualte and not as strong orgasms etc, its all kind of building up and really making feel like the whole TRT thing is a struggle, read so many stories of people who just feel amazing and consistent.

I upped my dose from 25mg Test E every 3.5 days to 37.5mg every 3.5 days after dropping HCG.

As you can see even though my TT may look low to some, because of my low SHBG it still has my FT at the top of the range.

In November i tried increasing my dose slightly and started to feel even more tired and almost a bit puffy and soft, like i cant deal with too much E2 because of my low SHBG.

Cant anyone please help me and lend me some solid advice, i have thought about maybe keeping my dose the same and trying 25mg Test E Monday, Wednesday and Friday to see if that helps and its slightly more frequent injections, I don’t think I’m ready to commit to EOD injections at this point.

My diet is also good, Oats, peanut butter, honey and protein at breakfast then just chicken and rice for two meals and maybe a bacon bagel at around 6pm, i then usually will fast for around 12 hours until next morning, drink about 2 litres of water, have also tried to cut back on coffee and will try to eliminate it completely over Christmas, I also take low dose Vitamin D as live in UK.

May i add when i have tried to increase my dose previously i actually feel quite good for maybe a week then slowly i will start to decline and start to feel more tired, no appetite, sleep issues, soft muscles and lack of energy.

There has been times over the last 6 months when i have felt quite good for a consistent period of time but then i would make a change and mess it up but have learnt my lesson from that and just want to find a good spot and keep it there.

Is it possible to feel good on just Test only with no other supplements or anything? Not sure if possibly i need to supplement progesterone, DHEA etc.

Appreciate any help that i can get please and thanks, Happy Christmas :slight_smile:

These are my latest labs, they are in UK format with reference ranges, I have added the USA results beside TT, FT and E2 for Americans:

Albumin 45.2 35 - 50 g/L

Cholesterol 3.57 0 - 5.0 mmol/L
HDL 1.27 >1.1 mmol/L
Triglycerides 1.14 <1.7(Fasting) mmol/L
LDL 1.78 <3.0 mmol/L
HDL Cholesterol ratio 35.6 >20 %
Non HDL Cholesterol 2.30 <4 mmol/L

FSH L <0.3 1.5 - 12.4 IU/L
LH L <0.3 1.7 - 8.6 IU/L
Oestradiol 74.4 41 - 159 pmol/L (USA 20.26 pg/mL)
Testosterone 17.5 8.64 - 29 nmol/L (USA 504.32 ng/dL)
SHBG L 13 18.3 - 54.1 nmol/L
Free-Testosterone(Calculated) 0.531 0.2 - 0.62 nmol/L (USA 15.3 ng/dL)
Prolactin 221 86 - 324 mU/L
Progesterone <0.7 nmol/L

TSH 2.12 0.27 - 4.20 mIU/L
Free T4 15.5 12.0 - 22.0 pmol/L

2

How long did you do higher test. This:

Just sounds like low T to me. Perhaps you need a bit higher dosing? Maybe not 200 mg, but also higher than 75 mg.

3

I was on a higher test for about 4 months but was also on higher HCG which might have been causing the issues.

I do think that sometimes but anytime I have tried, i start to experience negatives like sleep issues and even more tiredness.

Suppose i could try the M,W.F injections for a bit to see if that helps

4

I do this. I take 200 mg total a week, with a bit more on Friday. I do 62.5, 62.5, 75 mg for MWF. Odd numbers, but with 250 mg/mL test it is .25, .25 and .3 mL shots.

What dose were you at with the higher test and higher HCG?

5

What is your SHBG? The reason I am cautious is that Im already at higher end for FT, I think i will try the M, W, F, means that my body is getting a more frequent hit of test and not as much at the one time.

I started 100mg a week Test E and 1000IU HCG a week, then tapered down over a couple of months until i was at 50mg a week Test E and 125IU HCG EOD

6

Usually around 30.

I would not worry so much about being slightly over range on FT. Many many men feel great above range. I would go on how you feel up to a point.

I would think forgoing the HCG for now would make sense (get Test figured out first). If you must use like 100 iu in mixed in with your MWF shots. I would try to go higher than what you have been at. It is a small minority of men that feel good at lower doses. Maybe 100 mg/wk wasn’t enough to rid you of your symptoms, and you went the other way, when up would have helped you more. Perhaps you are sensitive to HCG, and the 1000 iu was what screwed up your protocol. I think you had too many variables to determine that your test dosage was too high.

Try just test if you can. Figure out where you feel best with that, then add HCG. I think this is the fastest path to a good protocol.

7

When you change your dosage hormone levels become unstable until 6 weeks at which time hormones reach a stable state. If you make too many changes in a short period of time, you are setting yourself up for misery.

You more than likely need daily injections because it seems you are very sensitive to fluctuations and daily injections minimizes these fluctuations.

8

@systemlord What do you think about trying 25mg M, W, F? Not as much at one go and possibly a bit more consistent? Or would you suggest increasing or decreasing? Really value your knowledge and you seem to be one of the few who understand what low SHBG actually means and results in, in regards to FT TT etc

9

If you waited a good 8 weeks since last change. Then that’s a good idea to try.

Takes time to stabilize.

10

Ive been on this protocol since September.

11

Go for your 25 three times a week.
Are you using an insulin syringe? Is so you can try 27 three times a week. It’s minor but that’s closer to 80 mg total.

12

I’m just concerned about Haematocrit etc hence why I’m cautious with changes etc but will give it a go

13

Why do you think you will have a problem with hct? Only a small minority have to give blood.

I’ve been on trt for 3 years doses from 90 mg to 150mg and never once did I donate blood.

My hct was near 50 once but after a while it went down to 46-47. Your body should stabilize after the change.