Short background, played football in the NAFL until the age of 32 when i lost my power. Fast forward 5 years and they finally figured out my T dropped, double digits so truly bottomed out. Now I am 49 and been on TRT for the better part of 10 years. I want to come off and try to rebuild my testes so that i can be fertile again. My wife is 31 and we would like kids. My current topical cream is 100mg a day and just recently they added an AI because my estrogen went just above normal. Blood draw 3 days ago shows my E1 at 13 and total estrodial is at 11, yes i feel like crap. t levels are on the 300s. LH and FSH are solid. My body weight is high at 343, my football playing weight was 310. I am going back to the gym starting tomorrow to ger the weight off and to reclaim my muscle mass. 2 semen samples last year showed some activity so i am hoping i can jumpstart the boys. I have had very little atrophy and did a few rounds of hcg last year and for a month recently, but my endo wants me off hcg until i am completely off trt then restart the hcg. His plan is a year out but i would like to know if there is a faster path back to fertile land. I have read these boards for years and i know many of you are subject matter experts, so i am reaching out. Thank you
That’s stupid, starting hCG before stopping TRT gets the boys going (functioning) and ready before all the exogenous T is out of your system. The majority of endos are out to lunch with regards to fertility and TRT.
Yeah, FSH and hCG. FSH stimulates sperm production.
The question is, are you infertile and is any of this necessary. Not all men on TRT are infertile, guys doing AAS and having kids all the time.
Was this timed around your brief periods on hCG? Either way, that is encouraging. Any levels?
[/quote] it was done prior to starting the first time on HCG and on a 3-day abstinence it was just over 5 million. Which is not much but it is something
You don’t have to come off. I didn’t and I have two kids and trying for a third. I used HCG with T. One can also use clomid by itself.
You only need to come off for HCG mono therapy, which goes as high as 9000 IU per week.
Some know a lot. I have 21 years of using TRT but I am not a doctor and recommend people deal with issues with doctors. Are any in here doctors? I’m not sure.
Your TRT protocol apparently does not shut you down. Those FSH and LH levels are fine. Of concern, your sperm count is not great, which brings the possibility of testicular failure into the mix, though not totally. Most guys shut down are usually below 2 million.
There are options for you. Most guys I treat simply add hCG to the TRT protocol and in two to six months are successful. You could also stop test and take hCG as monotherapy. There is clomid as well, but given your FSH and LH levels, it would not be my first choice. Same with FSH. Good luck.
Thank you kindly for your response. I should know that my Endo is not completely devoid of being a subject matter expert. His name is Dr Joseph Gutman and he is retiring in Wyoming. But he is also testified before Congress on anabolic steroid use in baseball so much so that he was sued by Barry Bonds at one point and he had some rather high-profile clientele/patients. And I think we can all agree that the death of John Matusak was crushing, but Dr Gutman was his endocrinologist as well. That being said I do agree with you all that I should still remain on the HCG. I suspect my luteinizing hormone and my follicle stimulating hormone will drop to non-existent while I am on the HCG but it does seem to offer the best chance for the testes to return to sperm production