Hello, this is my first post on the forum. I have been lurking and reading for a while now, trying to educate myself.
I am 46yrs old, 6’1" a well-muscled, but soft in the middle 270lbs.
I am at the gym at 5am every day, usually on a bro split and lifting heavy. I am currently on a cardio only for routine for a bit to give my aching joints a week or two to recovery and am starting a cutting plan.
having said all that, for the past 10yrs i have been trying to convince my doctor to consider TRT. I had several classic symptoms, ED, brain fog, poor sleep, inability to lose weight, etc. Reluctantly he ordered bloodwork and my test levels came in at 204; he said i was in the range and didn’t need any further intervention. Fast forward 10yrs, i insisted on revisiting this as my sleep patterns and ED were worse. He fired me as a patient, so i found a new healthcare provider.
She did my labs and said i was a mess and my hormones were a disaster:
Test - 86.5
E2 - 16
started me on 1mg Cyp per week, 6wks later my results were as follows:
Test - 432
E2 - 39
told me to up to 1.4mg/week and 0.25mg arimidex twice per week. (I split my test dose into 0.75mg every 4 days) - 6wks later my results
Test - 809
E2 - 45
Current sleep patterns are not great, but not horrible (manageable), ED symptoms persist.
I think Test level is good, but should maybe increase AI to .5mg every other day.
Thoughts? Lab results came in yesterday, so i will be discussing with my healthcare provider as well, but just thought i would get some more opinions too.
BTW is the general consensus to take AI a few hours in advance of injection or if i take AI every other day and inject every 4th day, shouldn’t matter?
This doesn’t tell us anything. Well, not much, other than your lifting routine needs help. I don’t know what a “bro split” is supposed to be, but I know anything with “bro” in the name is a stupid idea.
No, he didn’t. 1mg is essentially nothing. You mean 1cc? Of what strength? If you are taking 1mL of 200/mL you are on 200 mg. But I doubt that it correct, as 200 mg a week would be really unlikely to give you a Total Test of only 432. How long had you been on when you had the first test and upped the does? Both sets of bloods taken at trough?
Your doctor fired you because he knew you weren’t going to get it go and he’s scared shitless of TRT (steroids) do to all the poor quality studies showing TRT causes heart attacks and was just exercising self preservation.
You can take the AI at the time of the injection. You need to eventually try to wean yourself off he AI, losing weight will help lower aromatisation, frequent injections will also go a long way towards lowering estrogen.
That’s why I inject daily, no estrogen issues (33 pg/mL) and no AI needed.
That’s good, I suppose it was a waste of time to start that low, but some do. I see you eventually going higher.
Wow, what an asshole. If he couldn’t help you, he could at least help you find someone who can. Good riddance.
I would try to drop it. You might find your joints feel a lot better and sexual function may improve.
If you take it, about twelve hours after injection is ideal. Generally, at that point testosterone is ramping up and you’re starting to aromatize to E2. Half life of anastrozole is around 50 hours, hence the twice weekly dosing for some.
@rabbit_ears
Mine is literally more than double the max limit and I feel best where I’m at. Don’t worry about numbers. Find the right dose of testosterone that has you feeling ideal. Nothing else matters.