I have never been, and am not now, on TRT or any steroids in general. I am 66. Do people manage okay without TRT or does every male 66 or older need it? I don’t know what to think.
Need it for what? To survive? To feel better than they would otherwise? To live longer? To put on muscle?
It’s pretty safe to say you’re unlikely to have optimal Testoterone levels at 66 years old. Assuming (big “if”) you managed to fine tune an HRT protocol (Test, HGH, etc…), you would 100% feel better than you do now regardless of how good your genetics are, since you can’t possibly have at this point in your life the hormonal profile of a 20yo with elite genetics.
You’d build muscle much more easily, have more mental and sexual energy, more drive and thirst for life and adventure, better skin and lower BF%, and even a better lipid profile and probably better heart health as well.
However, remember where I said “big if”? The thing is we’re in the Wild Wild West years of hormone optimization. Most doctors have no clue what they’re talking about. Endocrinology is so complex nobody understands what’s going on. Probably half of endocrinologists don’t understand the very basic concept of a half-life and will prescribe a medication with a 7 day half-life every 2 weeks.
So it’s not as simple a decision as it would theoretically be if we fully understood all this stuff. Browse these forums a little bit and you’ll realize quickly that for many men, even basic TRT is far from straight forward. They struggle with sex drive, high Estrogen levels, water retention, high blood pressure, thicker blood, etc…
Almost all of those negative side effects are fairly easy to deal with, mostly by lowering your dose and increasing injection frequency, but that’s not to say you’re going to feel great once negative side effects are gone. You might feel slightly better or even slightly worse in some ways (more “flat” or “meh…” than you used to).
The bottomline for me is that if you feel great at 66yo, still have a high sex drive with strong erections if you need them, are active physically and still in good shape, have lots of life in you and mental energy, etc…I wouldn’t touch this stuff.
If you don’t feel that great, I think it’s definitely worth a try. It could be absolutely life changing in the most incredible ways.
Personally I don’t feel fully dialed in after almost 2 years on TRT and 1 year on HGH, but I feel a million times better than I used to. This is not just me saying it either, it’s everyone who’s known me for years.
I’m more alive, happier, have more energy, sex drive is higher, erections are baseball bat hard. Physically the transformation is ridiculous. Most importantly, I was in a suicidal depression for years before TRT and it got completely, 100% rid of it. And that’s pretty much a small miracle right there.
So no regrets from me. When I started I felt I truly had nothing to lose and this has given me back some life worth looking forward to.
Still, in some ways I feel flatter than I used to. I think my Estrogen levels are too high and I feel more sluggish and with less “explosive” energy than I used to have when I was younger (I’m talking even early 30’s). So it’s not perfect and I’m still looking for ways to optimize things.
But overall it has been completely life changing, and in my case probably literally life saving
If TRT provides a benefit, then it’s absolutely warranted. I would start with Total T, Free T (Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration) and SHBG.
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I think reading over this article might give some insight
Do you need it? depends on if the shoe fits, but it is likely given your age
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Those are the issues. I find it harder to gain muscle and libido is maybe half or less than it was and not the best quality stiffies and sometimes don’t last at inconvenient times. Otherwise, I am building muscle and not depressed and while energy isn’t great, it’s not gone either.
So, yes, i see all the troubles some have and then it seems even harder to ‘fix’. Some even get serious complications like blood clots so I sure don’t want that!
While for me it would seem to be a no brainer to go for it, I think i may be better served by getting down to the optimal BF% range of 12-15% (for test and such) and see how i am feeling then first. Of course, it’s also now harder to lose weight! Getting old sucks.
Thanks for your reply.
TRT doesn’t cause blood clots, usually it is some underlying condition that trigger a clot. TRT or testosterone suspeded in the ester is chemically the same molecule produced naturally by the body.
TRT doesn’t cause prostate cancer as once believed, nor does it cause heart attacks or strokes.
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That’s a very low BF bfor the average male. TRT at your age is mostly an anti aging regimen versus medicinal need. You’re biologically not supposed to have the T levels or libido of a 25 year old.
@RonS, the benifits of TRT will definitely outweigh the bad. I was on gels for a couple years, really not much improvement. On 200mg of Test-C a week and holy shit do I feel great. All of what you mentioned has disappeared in the last 2 months. Get a good check up, labs, finger wave, PSA ect and go for it!