Gents - just wanted to intro myself with my first post to this forum. Read most of the stickies and used what I learned to facilitate my TRT adventure. Some smart bros on this forum and I value your experience and opinions. Apologize up front for the long intro…my future posts will be much more concise.
About me: I’m 42, 69 in and 195 lbs. Not as lean as I’d like to be at ~18% BF, but in very good shape otherwise with 20 years weight training. Total Test was <200 ng/dL before TRT. Lipid profile is very good as well as PSA, thyroid, blood pressure and other vitals. Diet is tight, but nowhere near perfect.
I considered myself lucky when my endo acknowledged that Androgel wasn’t the only protocol for everyone and she actually agreed to approach my treatment as a partnership. She started me on 200mg Test Cyp every 2 weeks and let me do the shots from home, so of course I split the doses up appropriately (once a week is best I can do). I couldn’t get her to understand why E2 was important for my follow-up blood test, but she agreed to do it anyway…the sticky “Estradiol: Why You Should Care” was definitely going to my printer for her to read, along with common protocols for Arimidex and HCG.
Six weeks in, I got another blood test at Quest on the day of my weekly injection and just BEFORE the shot. Total Test was at 488 ng/dL and Estradiol was at 41 pg/mL. She didn’t run a Free Test and my other values came back normal.
I was ready for my return visit last week, armed with good info and quantified, conservative goals for my lab values, shooting for the top quartile of TT (850+) and E2 of 15-30. Subjectively, I felt better but still just “okay” and I was anxious to work with her on how we would proceed to hone my results. Unfortunately, I got the proverbial “your lab results are exactly where I want them to be”. Very disappointing and deja vu for many on this forum. She wouldn’t even read the research I gathered and everything in range meant “perfect” in her vernacular, just like happydog warned in his post. So adjusting dosages and adding an AI was out of the question. When I mentioned HCG and its benefits, she said we could discuss family planning if I wanted to have children – what?? After I reminded her of my vasectomy that I’m very happy with, she ended the discussion and told me to come back in six months. I just felt lucky to get the script and walked out of the office realizing I’ll be self-administering some things from now on.
I ordered 30 mL Liquidex (1 mg/mL) to start my AI routine and got my hands on some Arimidex to get me started while I wait on the shipment. Doing 1 mg/ week divided up EOD. I also began taking 50mg zinc daily, for what that’s worth. Still stuck with no HCG and will probably approach my GP about that when I can. Might just have to find it on my own as well.
A few questions I have for the gurus:
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Can I reasonably expect the anastrozole (Arimidex/Liquidex) to elevate my TT? I ask this with respect to AI effects on androgen receptor uptake.
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Given HCG effects on TT, should I start an HCG protocol and retest before I increase my Test Cyp dosage? Again, I’m trying to go from 488 to 850+ ng/mL
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Any other suggestions?
Thanks
CD