My TRT Journey

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

Well I’ve been lurking around for awhile now, absorbing as much info as possible. Figured it was time to post and seek some advice and guidance.

About me. About 2 years ago I porked up to 300lbs and a 48 inch waist. After a year of a ridiculous diet and cardio I manage to get down to 210 lbs and 38 inch waist. But still felt like crap. Typical low T symptoms brain fog, no libido, tired, moody.

stats before TRT
-age 38
-height 6’1"
-waist 38
-weight 230
-describe body and facial hair
Facial hair spotty patches except mustache and chin I shave every 2 days
no hair on back or chest
light hair on arms
moderate hair on legs
-describe where you carry fat and how changed
carry all my fat around stomach and giant love handles
-health conditions, symptoms [history]
Brain fog, low libido, constantly tired, no morning wood, moody
-Rx and OTC drugs, any hair loss drugs or prostate drugs ever
none

-lab results with ranges
-LH and FSH [LH/FSH] doc didn’t do them and didn’t find this site till after
-TT 321 range 348-1197 ng/dl
-FT or bio-T doc didn’t do them and didn’t find this site till after
-E2 10.7 range 7.6-42.6 ng/dl
-Prolactin doc didn’t do them and didn’t find this site till after
-DHT doc didn’t do them and didn’t find this site till after
-PSA 0.6 range 0.0-4.0 ng/ml

-describe diet
fairly clean diet lots of chicken and tuna and veggies.
-describe training
weight train 5-6 days a week 45 minuets a session. as best I can with a bowfex
cardio jog 5-6 days a week in the a.m 1 hour secessions
-testes ache, ever, with a fever?
yes just the left, no fever
-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed
no morning wood in awhile weak erections

After 9 months on TRT,bumped up to 180 mgs of test cyp, I was feeling the roller coaster effect and the weekly injections were getting expensive. My family doctor was willing to take over my TRT and of course she “couldn’t” prescribe HCG because it was an off label use and didn’t think i needed anastrozole because my E2 was still in the low normal range. I stared doing subq injections every Monday, Tuesday and Friday (which was the best thing ever) Of course she referred me to an endocrinologist to try to get hcg.
The endo said she was willing to prescribe hcg, but first I had to get a testicular ultra-sound and a MRI of my pituitary gland. Everything came back normal. and of course since everything was “in range” the endo refused to prescribe hcg. Told her my nuts were sore and shrinking, and still she said it was unnecessary.
Labs done 8/20/13
-LH <0.1 range 1.4-11.1 mlu/ml I know stupid after trt started but endo ordered it
-FSH 0.1 range 1.6-17.8 mlu/ml I know stupid after trt started but endo ordered it
-TT 889 range 348-1197 ng/dl
-FT or bio-T wouldn’t test
-E2 12.8 range 7.6-42.6 ng/dl
-Prolactin 4.5 range 5.0-25.0 ug.dl
-DHT wouldn’t test
-PSA 0.8 range 0.0-4.0 ng/ml

Today I finally found a new doc who is on board with hcg. Still doesn’t want to prescribe anastrozole, which is no big deal, I’m only 3 hours from Mexico and I can legally bring it across. As far as the hcg goes, Wow what a mess. most pharmacies don’t have it and are unable to order it. The ones that are able to order quoted me prices of $1,800 and $7,000 for a month supply??? Unless my insurance covers it which requires a doctors written statement of medical need. I called my insurance (BCBS) they said they cover it with the doctors statement and co-pay would be $10.00???
I still don’t understand the pricing. When I look online at the manufacture website they show prices that range from $130.00 to $160.00 for a 10ml bottle. Something is wrong somewhere. I have to wait till Monday or Tuesday for the pharmacy to get back to me with the price, at which time I will probably get my prescription and find a compounding pharmacy.
New Doc wants me to pin once a week 100mgs test cyp and pin hcg on days 5 and 6.
I was happy getting my hcg so didn’t question him but how should I take my hcg if I pin my test on Monday Tuesday and Friday. I was even thinking of pinning twice a week.
Sorry for such a long post. Thanks for reading and any replies.

2

Man, you are really getting the run around.
Your E2 is way too low. Should be between 20-30ish.
When mine is that low (from too much AI), I am a miserable bastard.
Low libido, weak erections, no morning or nocturnal wood.

*side note, it doesn’t seem that you need an AI, but keep an eye on
your E2 after starting HCG. You can also raise your e2 by changing your dose
to IM vs SubQ, or by injecting less times per week with bigger dosages.

I order my HCG from safemeds4all (google it) have been for 2 years.
I buy the Ovidac brand.
(5) 5,000iu freeze dried btls for $96 including shipping.
Lasts me almost a year.

Just remember to buy a btl of Bacteriostatic Water to reconstitute it.
Safemeds doesn’t sell it, but you can buy it online
from mountainside medical for $6 + shipping.

Good Luck and Great work on the weight loss !

3

I’m going to hold off on the A.I until I do my next labs in 8 weeks.

Probably will go down to 2 injections a week. Just need to get my hcg taken care of and hopefully I can get everything fine tuned. Thanks for hcg recommendations.

4

PKNY, does safemeds4all require prescription for HCG? I believe it is an RX medication. I am buying HCG from a local pharmacy for $225 per 10000 IU. I thinks it is waaaaay too expensive.

Also, do you keep powder HCG in the fridge? I believe instructions say that you are supposed to keep them at room temperature, and refrigerate only after reconstitution.

Also, I called them, they are not in US. They have two pharmacies, one in Canada, another in India. Is it ok to order prescription drugs from a different country? I never did it before, this is why I ask.

5

Holy Smokes !!! $225 for 10k!! Criminal price ! The HCG diet has made HCG more expensive
in the US. No script needed at safemeds, I know it says you need one but you don’t.
A questionnaire pops up but that’s it.

I think the shipments that I get come from India, and they take about 7-10 business days to get to me.

I keep the dry ones in their boxes in a room temp cabinet, but I do refrigerate after I reconstitute.

~Side note, I only use 250iu every 7-10 days and it keeps me right. More than that and it sends my e2 to the moon.

On the ok to import thing, not sure…I know you are allowed a certain amount of non scheduled drugs for personal use in the US. Safemeds offers a worry free guarantee, so if your order gets blocked by customs, they will re ship or refund your money. I’ve never had a problem with anything from them or All Day Chemist.

6

Pkny, how long does it normally take to recover from low e symptoms? Some people say 2-3 weeks to regain erections after low e. what is your experience ?

7

It depends on what you are using as an AI. Each has a different half life.
Adex is about a week.
Aromasin 3-4 days.
Letro is more along the lines of 10-12 days, ime.

Hcg can speed up the recovery time if you crash your e2, but you can over shoot it easily
with too much.

I stick with Aromasin.

8

PKNY, in your experience, what are the consequences of overshooting E? People report same effects on libido, erections, as low E. How do you feel when E is high?

MC0311, not to hijack the thread, I believe you will also benefit from these answers.

9

Too high and too low are similar in that you will feel like shit at both ends of the spectrum.
But, through experience this is what I have found.

E2 Too low:
Joints ache, knees and shoulder joints are a dead give away for me.

Low libido.
Weak erections.
If you do have sex, you will probably need viagra.
Inability or great difficulty to reach orgasm.
Sad, hopeless depressed mood.

E2 Too high
Aggressiveness, irritability. Everything and everyone will piss you off.
Think about women that are near their period…that’ll be the way you’ll act.

Low libido.
Weak erections.
If you do have sex, you will probably need viagra.
Easier to reach orgasm, but still harder than being at an optimum level.

10

Kwn- no worries the more info the better.

PKNY- Managed to get my script filled at a local pharmacy, $90.00.
I ended up with a 10ml bottle of 10,000iu
I’m pretty sure the correct way to mix would be add 10mls of bac water, which would give me
1,000iu per ml. So load the needle to .25 which would be 250iu, right?

1 Like
11

[quote]MC0311 wrote:
Kwn- no worries the more info the better.

PKNY- Managed to get my script filled at a local pharmacy, $90.00.
I ended up with a 10ml bottle of 10,000iu
I’m pretty sure the correct way to mix would be add 10mls of bac water, which would give me
1,000iu per ml. So load the needle to .25 which would be 250iu, right?[/quote]

I know this question wasn’t directed at me, but you are correct MC.

12

Yes, that is correct on the dilution/reconstitution.

If you want to inject smaller volumes of liquid, you could also
dilute the 10k Hcg with just 5ml of the bacteriostatic water. That way your injection of 250iu is only .125iu.
Really just a matter of preference.

On the 10k btl, most say Hcg shelf life is only about 6-8 weeks, but I have not found that
to be true. I get a strong response to HCG, (testis firm up, sweat smells pungent, mild mood boost)
even after 4 months.

If ever you need to test if your Hcg is still viable or real, pick up some
pregnancy test strips from the dollar store. If your Hcg is still good or real…the sticks will
show you as expecting…LOL.

13

[quote]PKNY wrote:
Man, you are really getting the run around.
Your E2 is way too low. Should be between 20-30ish.
When mine is that low (from too much AI), I am a miserable bastard.
Low libido, weak erections, no morning or nocturnal wood.

*side note, it doesn’t seem that you need an AI, but keep an eye on
your E2 after starting HCG. You can also raise your e2 by changing your dose
to IM vs SubQ, or by injecting less times per week with bigger dosages.

I order my HCG from safemeds4all (google it) have been for 2 years.
I buy the Ovidac brand.
(5) 5,000iu freeze dried btls for $96 including shipping.
Lasts me almost a year.

Just remember to buy a btl of Bacteriostatic Water to reconstitute it.
Safemeds doesn’t sell it, but you can buy it online
from mountainside medical for $6 + shipping.

Good Luck and Great work on the weight loss !
[/quote]

PKNY,
If I purchase 5000iu of HCG, how would I mix that in order to get 250iu injections. How much bac water would I need and how long would that last? KSMan recommends 250iu EOD. What have you found works for you? Thanks for your help!

14

So does safemeds4all require a script for hcg??? According to their faq section you do…? Where else can one get it without a script due to an out if touch endo?

15

I am currently using 1mg of Test Cyp Subq EOD at .33mg. I am using Arimex at .3mg EOD. I have more energy, but still have no erections. Will HCG help that, or could there be something else going on? Thanks!

16

PKNY,

I could use your help. I am currently on 250 units of Test Cyp EOD, M-W-F and I am taking .3mg of Arimidex on the same days. However, even though I feel better, I am not getting any erections, period. It seems like everything is shriveling up! I have not taken HCG, but am wondering if that would help. When I was taking .75 IM once a week, it was putting a lot of fluid on my leg and my Estradiol was over 115.

I do not know what my levels are now since going on SubQ EOD, but will find out. However, what is bothering me is that I am not getting any erections, either nocturnal or in the AM. I am wondering if HCG would help in that regard. Any suggestions I would appreciate. I know it takes time to get these things right. It seems to me that since I started on TRT, that the erections have gone bye bye. Thanks!

17

One more question. What is the difference in the freeze dried and the premixed HCG? Is it better to get the freeze dried? Also, if I get the 5000iu, how would I mix that with the water? How much water would I need to use with the freeze dried? I saw if it is 10000iu, you would use 10ml of water, so I am guessing it would be 5ml of water, is that correct? Thanks for your help in educating me!

18

PKNY or anyone else who can help. I am doing Test Cyp 250IU’s EOD. I was doing .2 of Arimidex EOD as well. My blood pressure shot up substantially and I believe it is the Arimidex doing this. Can anyone make a recommendation on what to do about this? Thank you! I am still not seeing any real difference in libido. I am not using HCG and am wondering if that would help. Thanks!