You are at two weeks now right?
JPT, I have found that stress can really mess with the body’s reaction/absorption of whatever protocol we are on. Very tough to “dial in” if there is outside stress. You can’t judge things based on a few weeks (and certainly days) if there are outside stressors beyond a normal amount of stress. I would say having a baby (or one on the way) qualifies. I believe this is why the experts were so confounded by your symptoms. I have not caught up on the latest in the thread. Best of luck.
FYI I recently was dealing with a health issue and at the same time felt extremely “hormonal” a lot. Way more than at any other time in my T journey. Once the health issue was resolved, so was the depressed weepy feeling. Which is not something I have EVER lived with.
1 Like
Sorry for the delayed response, this Friday I’ll be at two weeks. I have been doing 1 click AM and PM from the beginning.
1 Like
Certainly can, I can’t rule that out. However, this stuff has also been taking place wayyyy before I had a baby or other major life stressors.
Like I said though, one can never truly rule out stressors being the cause of one’s issues. The mind in infinitely more powerful than the body, but they’re also intimately connected.
1 Like
Two weeks on the cream update: I generally feel like shit. I’m surpremely irritable, at everyone and everything, it’s like I can’t help myself, it’s miserable to be around me right now. No morning wood for a week, erections are there but not like before, thinking about sex every so often but my body could care less, energy in the gym is starting to suffer, fatigued and demotivated all around.
I’m guessing my dose isn’t high enough and that the injections have pretty much left my body? I feel like this would explain why I felt great for the first 5 days I was on the cream. I will call Defy in the morning and see what’s to be done.
Sorry to hear that man. I would also tend to believe that your dosing is not correct for you.
Have you been only putting it on the scrotum or are you putting it others spots too? I know that you had said they didn’t want you to but not sure what you actually decided to do.
1 Like
Yeah, I’ve been doing the scrotal application. I actually thought I’d fell anxious or depressed when the injections cleared my system. Instead I’m bitchy and I feel like I have zero energy.
Hey everyone, so I had a rough weekend. My irritability really got out of control. I was a total ass to my wife and everyone around me, as I mentioned before. I got bloodwork done and the results were as follows:
Total Test: 435 Range 229-902
Free T: 12.4 Range 4.4-16.8
E2 Sensitive: 44 Range 0-40 HIGH
SHBG: 16.9 Range 14.55-94.64
This was after two clicks of the cream in the AM before the test, as recommended by Defy. So I’m struggling to know what to do here. Are my symptoms those of hypogonadism or of high E2? Obviously I’m converting at a high rate and my ratio is one-to-ten, so increasing my dose would just result in the same ratio but higher levels of both Test and E2.
I think it is your higher e2 as your free t does not look bad, at least for the range given. Your total doesn’t look good but your low shbg puts your free T in a better place, unfortunately though lets the e2 climb too.
How long after applying did you take labs?
Took the labs within an hour of applying. Am I pretty much just going to have to do the AI?
According to an absorption study that i have seen you peak around 2hrs so your numbers may actually be a little better than what your labs show if it was within an hour.
Might not be a bad idea on ai, just start out slow and take a small amount. If you have arimidex/anastrozole I personally would only take a 1/4 of a pill and see if your symptoms calm.
1 Like
Are you having any other negative symptoms? The anxiety that you were having, or is it just the negativity?
I was having the irritability in addition to fatigue, excercise intolerance, disappearance of morning wood, loss of libido.
I would think all those could be attributed to high e2. Exercise intolerance i dont know about though. Hopefully it is all just due to the change in protocol and will settle.
1 Like
I can only hope man, this stuff is hard on a marriage.
I hear ya man. Especially when you are irritable all the time. I was like that before TRT. I’m still an ass but I believe I have improved quite a bit haha. I think as soon at I get my E2 leveled and stable in a good spot I’ll be much better off. Along with work on myself in general. I think I am finally about there. I believe if I would have gone slower on the AI I would probably would of gotten there quicker. Who knows though.
It’s all a learning process, I just wish the stakes weren’t so high haha.
1 Like
Well, it’s been a while since I posted. I switched to the cream and I’m taking the scrotal application approach. My sanity has been regained. I feel balanced, my anxiety has been reduced significantly, I have steady energy throughout the day, libido is teenage level and I’m stronger on all lifts literally every workout. Thanks to @enackers for hammering home the benefits of the cream and letting go of the fear of “high” E2.
Total T: 710 ng/dl Ref. Range: 229-902
Free T: 21.4 ng/ml Ref. Range: 4.4-16.8
E2: 66 pg/ml Ref. Range: 0-40
SHBG: 17.2 nmol/L. Ref. Range: 14.6-94.6
DHT: 2070 pg/ml Ref. Range: 112-955
My protocol is 4 clicks of cream a day, 50mg a click, 2 clicks AM and 2 clicks PM.
2 Likes
Look at that. It’s working!!! Happy for ya bro. Thanks to the Facebook group I’m able to spread the right info now 
1 Like
Alright y’all, another update. It seems like the simplest solution was the best one for me: take the scrotal approach with the cream and forget about controlling estrogen. I feel completely normal these days. Good energy, outlook, mental clarity. I’m cutting weight right now and the fat is melting off while easily maintaining muscle and strength on lifts.
TT: 883 Ref Range: 229-902
FT: 27.3 (HIGH) Ref Range: 4.4-16.8
E2: 56 (HIGH) Ref Range: 0-40
SHBG: 17.6 Ref Range: 14.6-94.6
PLEASE give this approach a try if you’re struggling like I was, it’s a game changer. I’m updating this for people’s use in the future. So they can see how bad off I was and how things turned around with this new approach.
2 Likes