How Long Does It Take for LH FSH to Activate After Stopping TRT?

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

Ive been off trt for about 3 to 4 weeks now and feel absolutely horrible. Doc told me to do blood work on 8th week but i just had to do it now cuz i felt so bad. Brain fog, moody depression low energy loss of size strength…etc etc its real bad. Way worse than before i started trt. Anyways my labs came back and i will list tt fr and some others. Im from canada so our ranges are different.

Total t: range 7.6 to 31.4 nmol/l result: 5.2
Free t: range 196 to 636 pmol/l result: 118
Estradial: range <159 result 74
LH: Range 1.3 to 9.6 iu/l result: <0.5
FSH: range 1 to 16 iu/l result:<1

So my question is: when will fsh and lh reactivate for my body to start making test naturally on its own again??? I wasnt this bad (tt and ft) before starting trt. I was borderline just under ranges but now im much lower.

Im going thru all this ( sudden cold turkey stoppage of trt) because my hemocrit was like 2 points too high and doc thought i would get a stroke. Hemocrit rbc are now all normal btw. But 1 more point and they will go outside ranges as they are still high. I.e range 22 to 50 and i got 50 as opposed to 52 before.

In thinking of callin docs office to ask them if i can start again but im worried he will see my hemocrit only went down a lil and either will say no as starting up again will make it go elevated once more or he may say to wait another month for the hemocrit to go lower. But i cant cuz i feek so horrible. I dont know what to do at this point…i feel so stuck and upset right now

2

YOu need to make a restart protocol with HCG and SERM

3

@akuma4u
Check out the pharma section for PCT. They use tamoxifen 40mg daily for the first 2 weeks and then 20mg daily the next 2-3 weeks and it seems to work. They say to wait until 2-3 weeks after last T injection so you’re right at the right time to start.

If you need tamoxifen Google aipct

4

But my estrogen is fine. Actually a bit low. Taking more anti e would make matters worse no? Also, i have arimidex already so nolvadex is not necessary. I need hcg for sure to wake up my nuts to start making juice naturally.
Correct me where im wrong pls im not an expert obviously.

5

This is what I would do

Go to your doc and talk to him about the article below. Try to convince him that you understand the dose response relationship between T and HCT levels and that you fully collaborate with him to find the dose at which you are not running into the polycythemia issue. The dose might be lower or the frequency of injection might be different but at least you will get back on T if you show him that you understand his concern.

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Thank u for this. I will read. Print. And present. Hopefully he listens but…hes one of those prick rude docs who i think may tell me hes not interested right away. I just called the office and requested to go back on or at least get some hcg. They told me to call back wed when they receive the labs

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@akuma4u

PCT is what guys use after a steroid cycle to get their natural test started back up again because cold turkey takes way longer and is not guaranteed. Hcg does not do that. Tamoxifen does and it’s not an AI it’s a SERM. It does exactly what you want to have happen (restart your natural testosterone production) so you don’t feel like shit longer than you have to.

8

I know what a pct was but i always thought nolvadex and arimidex were the same thing basically, an anti estrogen.

Anyhew, So i should just get some nolva/tamoxifen and no hcg and that should restart my nuts? Any idea of dose and how many weeks i should be taking it?

Thanks

9

The answer is it took me four and a half weeks to see LH and FSH land in the ranges they were in pre-TRT. I stopped TRT cold turkey, no assistance from PCT’s or drugs. The fourth week was the worst, I knew when the cypionate left my system, my joints become very loose and painful, then four and a half weeks later HPTA rebooted.

I won’t lie, I was exhausted the majority of the time.

10

Make sure you read up before you do anything

11

Well…everything u said is exactly whats going on with me currently. Im at the 4th week and i feel so much soreness and aching in spine and joints, headache. Brain fog or like mild dizziness type feeling. Low energy. I just wanna stay in bed. It feels like bad withdrawal or something

12

You gotta get out and be around people, I was still going out with family and spending time with the brother to distract me from my problems. I was walking through the malls with family doing normal everyday stuff, just slower is all.

13

Jesus man go get a new doc why are you doing this to yourself.

You aren’t going to get a damn stroke. Why do people trust their docs word. This makes zero sense friend.

The range was 20-57 some years and only recently did it fucking drop. I hate these lab companies man.

This is low. You aren’t even close to dying form a heart attack or stroke.

This hurts my brain.

Go find a new doc. Since when was T harmful to a man?

1 Like
14

THE DOC SAID ITS BAD OK!?!

Idiots.

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Polycythemia is a blood disorder an illness that would of been present before trt. He doesn’t have it. He’s experiencing what everyone experiences in TRT erethrocytosis. This is healthy. You don’t need to worry about a 52. I’m so frustrated hearing him go throgh this. Forgive me if I sound like a dick.

Hematocrit my write up that I’ve saved for people who need clarification.

Testosterone therapy causes erythrocytosis. This is an increase in red blood cells due to increased production of erythropoietin by the kidneys.

the same occurs when a cyclist takes EPO or procrit to raise RBCs, which produces increased O2 carrying capacity.

Patients with chronic lung diseases such as COPD also experience erythrocytosis as a compensatory mechanism for inadequate oxygenation.

Individuals that live at high altitudes also experience erythrocytosis in response to being in an environment with low O2 concentrations. Doctors usually don’t have these patients donate blood for the natural physiologic response, erythrocytosis, caused by high altitude and etc…

So why do we TRT users have to and are told we might get a stroke if HCT was the deciding factor behind when to give blood?

Furthermore , It is understood that only RBCs are increased & clotting factors are not increased in these patients and therefore not at risk. Meaning rbc isn’t the only measure. There’s more to it than a hematocrit.

The confusion occurs when practitioners that do not specialize in HRT confuse erythrocytosis ( secondary polycythemia ) with Polycythemia Vera. PCV is a dangerous genetic blood clotting disorder in which RBCs, WBCs, and Platelets are ALL elevated. PCV increases blood viscosity & puts patients at risk for blood clots/stokes.

That is the difference and why you need a trt specialist and not some one who is not taking the time to wrap their head around this: we have never seen a patient die forms. Stroke in the last decade + with a hematocrit in the mid 50s. Also the phlebotomists who cannot use logic, google and his education to dig into this topic for his patient population.

Instead they are just lazy and take the word of others before them.

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16

My doctor Keith Nichols Gave me last few paragraphs. They been doing trt for a long time and their patients regularly sit at 52-57 hct and nobody has signs of stroke or has had a heart attack. Only when they have the disorder or other factors like platelets also increase with HCT do they worry.

My doc himself has a 56 HCT. Ten plus years of it. By now he would of had signs of a stroke or heart attack but he hasn’t.

Anyways that’s my rant.

1 Like
17

@enackers

But he posted a study so it can’t be wrong…

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Ofcourse every study is right . Be scared all the time. Backup your fears with studies

19

A+B =C
No stupid you can’t add alphabets.

What? logic use logic. Ok fine 1+2=3 Oh my god genius. Life lesson learned. Use common sense and logic.

20

@enackers
Technically speaking i agree with you. TRT causes secondary hormone induced erythrocytosis. The medical community however uses the terms polycythemia and erythrocytosis (i agree incorrectly) interchangeable.

Whatever you call it, the common understanding is that we dont know if elevated Hb, HCT, RBC is associated with an increased risk for thrombosis, stroke etc. Some data show an elevated risk for patients on TRT especially within the first 90 days of TRT start. Medical societies and regulatory agencies practice the precautionary principle. Thats why doctors recommend to stop TRT at high HCT or reduce dose, and thats why FDA wanted to have a black label warning on eg Xyosted.

I agree that this is a conservative, precautionary approach and that a potential risk from high HCT is small if at all present.

That your doc and his patients have high HCT without an apparent elevated incidence for thrombosis etc is good, but its a personal perception of your doc and doesnt not have the same strenght as well controlled clinical studies carefully designed to avaoid bias.

The abvoe linked study does not adress the question whether high HCT is a risk factor, it only describes the dose response relationship between exogenous T and risk for developing high HCT/Hb.

I recommend the following read, its freely accessible

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