Mid-Cycle Check-in – Low Libido, High E2, and Coach Neglect – Advice Needed

Pharma / TRT
1
  • Age: 27
  • Height: 1.72m
  • Weight: 79kg
  • Body Fat: ~16%
  • Goals: Recomposition, libido recovery, stable well-being, long-term aesthetics

I’ve been training for years but never really had a lean and muscular look. No abs, always either skinny-fat or puffy bulk. Decided to run a proper cycle to finally see the results I never achieved naturally. I also have a history of low libido, low energy, and mild depression, which I suspected was partly hormonal.

Here’s my natty bloodwork, just before the first pin:

  • Total Testosterone: 920.9 ng/dL
  • Free Test (calc.): 16.55 ng/dL
  • SHBG: 50.7 nmol/L (high)
  • Estradiol: 36.6 pg/mL
  • LH: 5.76
  • FSH: 3.21

Despite “good” total T, I felt very little from it. Libido was low, energy was off, and mental drive was lacking. Likely due to high SHBG.

Started solo, felt no libido improvements, no strength increase.

Decided to consult a coach.

Here’s what I’ve been doing week by week:

image
image760×447 49.2 KB

You’ll see I began solo with 500mg Test E and 300mg Mast per week, then transitioned into a split 48h pin protocol with 150mg Test E + 80mg Mast P EOD.

Coach asked me to do bloodwork 1 day after the first pin

The bloodwork results:

Hormonal Panel
Total Testosterone: 1,838 ng/dL (Reference: 165–753 ng/dL)
Free Testosterone: 47.08 ng/dL (Reference: 3.74–16.62 ng/dL)
SHBG: 41.10 nmol/L (Reference: 14.6–94.6 nmol/L)
LH: 0.78 mUI/mL (Reference: 1.50–9.30 mUI/mL)
FSH: 0.96 mUI/mL (Reference: 1.40–18.10 mUI/mL)
Estradiol (E2): 70.6 pg/mL (Reference: ≤52.0 pg/mL)
Estrone: 55.5 pg/mL (Reference: ≤174.0 pg/mL)
Progesterone: 0.98 ng/mL (Reference: 0.28–1.22 ng/mL)
Prolactin: 8.7 ng/mL (Reference: 2.1–17.7 ng/mL)
DHT (Dihydrotestosterone): >2,500 pg/mL (Reference: 143–842 pg/mL)
IGF-1 (Somatomedin C): 180 ng/mL (Reference: 83–271 ng/mL)
Cortisol (Morning): 22.5 mcg/dL (Reference: 3.7–19.4 mcg/dL)

Thyroid Panel
TSH: 3.96 µUI/mL (Reference: 0.48–5.60 µUI/mL)
Free T4: 1.27 ng/dL (Reference: 0.75–1.22 ng/dL)
Total T4: 7.3 mcg/dL (Reference: 4.5–12.3 mcg/dL)
Total T3: 0.97 ng/mL (Reference: 0.60–1.81 ng/mL)
Reverse T3: 0.15 ng/mL (Reference: 0.08–0.31 ng/mL)

Metabolic Panel
Glucose (fasting): 68 mg/dL (Reference: 60–99 mg/dL)
HbA1c: 4.7 % (Reference: <5.7%)
Estimated Average Glucose: 88 mg/dL
Insulin: 2.4 µIU/mL (Reference: 3.0–25.0 µIU/mL)
Urea: 32.1 mg/dL (Reference: 19.0–49.0 mg/dL)
Creatinine: 1.27 mg/dL (Reference: 0.76–1.24 mg/dL)
eGFR (CKD-EPI): 79 mL/min/1.73 m² (Reference: >90 mL/min/1.73 m²)
Uric Acid: 5.1 mg/dL (Reference: 3.7–7.8 mg/dL)
Albumin: 4.5 g/dL (Reference: 3.7–5.2 g/dL)

Lipid Panel
Total Cholesterol: 149 mg/dL (Reference: <190 mg/dL)
HDL Cholesterol: 40 mg/dL (Reference: >40 mg/dL)
LDL Cholesterol (calculated): 94 mg/dL (Reference varies by cardiovascular risk)
Triglycerides: 68 mg/dL (Reference: <150 mg/dL fasting)

Liver Enzymes & Others
ALT (TGP): 31 U/L (Reference: ≤58 U/L)
AST (TGO): 33 U/L (Reference: ≤40 U/L)
GGT: 12 U/L (Reference: <73 U/L)
LDH: 207 U/L (Reference: 120–246 U/L)
Alkaline Phosphatase: 40 U/L (Reference: 30–120 U/L)
Bilirubin Total: 0.7 mg/dL (Reference: 0.3–1.2 mg/dL)
Direct: 0.2 mg/dL
Indirect: 0.5 mg/dL

Minerals, Vitamins, and Iron Panel
Ferritin: 256.1 ng/mL (Reference: 22–280 ng/mL)
Serum Iron: 103 µg/dL (Reference: 65–175 µg/dL)
Vitamin B12: 252 pg/mL (Reference: 181–906 pg/mL)
Vitamin D (25-OH): 39.4 ng/mL (Reference: 20–60 ng/mL general / 30–60 ng/mL ideal)

PSA (Prostate)
PSA Total: 0.26 ng/mL (Reference: <2.5 ng/mL)
PSA Free: 0.11 ng/mL

Urinalysis (Urine Test)
Color: Pale yellow
Appearance: Clear
pH: 7.0
Density: 1.020
Protein, Glucose, Ketones, Bilirubin, Nitrite: Negative
Hemoglobin: Trace
Leukocytes: 1.1 /µL (Ref: <25/µL)
Erythrocytes: 4.0 /µL (Ref: <23/µL)
Bacteria: 5 /µL (Ref: <1,200/µL)

2 weeks in: Libido is WORSE than ever. No morning wood. Tired. Mental drive inconsistent.

Sent those bloods to my coach and only got a reply three days later after I asked if he had seen them.

He goes, “Ah, I see your testosterone has doubled, FSH and LH are at zero — means you’ve shut down and you’re only running on exogenous test.”

I told him I’m dealing with low libido and weak performance in the gym, and he didn’t seem concerned at all. Just told me to stick with the current protocol — 150mg Test and 80mg Masteron EOD — and to run labs again in two weeks.

Then he added that if things don’t improve by then, I should consider switching suppliers.

But honestly, that doesn’t even make sense to me… The supplier is clearly legit — my total test doubled. The stuff is working, I’m just not feeling right.

Feels like I’m being neglected here. What do you guys think?

Should I keep going or change the cycle?

2

Can you post the lab ranges for these two tests?

These symptoms can be caused by other illness besides low t. How is your diet/sleep? How often do you train, at what intensity? External stress factors? Any other meds you might be taking (SSRI 's/ benzodiazepines)?
How’s your thyroid?

Since you’re already shut down and are dead set on running a cycle, don’t overthink and overcomplicate things.
There’s a reason why 500mg/week of testosterone enanthate/cypionate is a classic for a reason - it works for the majority that run it. But you must give it 4-6 weeks for the test to fully saturate, despite preliminary high blood markers.

Drop the masteron.
One compound at a time. Otherwise you’ll never know how you actually feel on x/y/z compound alone. You could add a mild oral if you wish for the last 4 weeks if everything is in order from the testosterone alone.

3

I’ve seen blood panels over well over 1500TT with 200 mg week.

To me, it looks like your test runway is cooked. That dose is way too high for someone who has your lbm.

I would imagine that your rhr and hrv are also skewed.

4

Sure. I just updated the post with the full bloodwork.

5

Sleep is great, training high intensity, low volume 3x a week. Mild stress. No SSRI’s, but I do take an antidepressant, bupropion. It’s a NDRI, which has no negative impact on libido.

I used to have a libido problem, now after the cycle I think I have a ED problem lol Isn’t estrogen way too high? Don’t really know what to do

6

If it were me, I would take 500mg of Testosterone only for 6-8 weeks. Grow. Then add in Mast 100mg at a time until you feel stable.

7

What ester is the mast?

You’re testosterone doubled, so did your e2. You can try and lower it with some arimidex taken 0.5mg the day after your shot for three weeks and see if that helps.
You may just be someone who’s body doesn’t agree with taking anything higher than a TRT dose of test.
Maybe you’re anxious about pinning exogenous testosterone and are taking some time to adjust.
It could be a host of things and this is why adding in more compounds than necessary doesn’t help.

My advice would be to stick with 300-500mg of test e solo for 3 more weeks. Add in arimidex to dismiss e2 as the culprit. If things don’t get better after 3 weeks, lower to a TRT dose (120-160 mg) to see if a lower test dose helps move things along.

8

Prop

9

Yeah I decided to do exactly like this, thanks man.
That’s what I was doing when I was solo, and my libido was much higher the week after the first pin lol
I’m going to run 150mg test EOD for 2 more weeks and see how it goes.

And go back to my regular training program that is much more fun than it is now with this shitty coach.

1 Like
10

I plan on blast test for 12 weeks and then cruise. Next cycle we’ll see if I add more drugs

1 Like
11

Just had my last test+mast shot of the week. Buying arimidex right now lol