I started TRT about 7 or 8 weeks ago. My T levels were rock bottom. I’m 39 and morbidly obese. I was hoping TRT would help me lose weight and get in shape. Doctors in the past had the opinion that if I’d get my weight under control, my T levels would be normal.
I started at 150mg of T 1x a week. I also get a shot of 150IU of HCG at the same time. I’d take more, but the clinic is rationing it till the availability is stabilized.
After 6 weeks, I had levels tested. I was at 680 or so T (8 days after weekly injection). But my E2 was insanely high. The clinician said one of the highest he’s seen. It was 120+. He suggested I take 1/2 a pill of Anastrozole each week when I come in for my injections. I took it that first week. I didn’t take it last week (forgot).
Now, this week I’ve started experiencing the orgasm problem. The other night it took me 40+ minutes with my girl (fairly nonstop). While that’s better than being premature, it’s just a bit too much. Even she was getting curious what was wrong.
I just don’t feel the pressure building or that tingling sensation we always feel…at least not for a long while.
By the way, no ED issues. Erections still come easily. Morning wood is more consistent on TRT. I’ve never had ED even when my T was extremely low. And I’ve never had problems with sensitivity or this issue of taking forever.
Any ideas? I’m getting my weekly injection tomorrow. I’m going to bring it up. I read here that AIs are frowned upon. And that low E2 can cause this issue. But if my E2 is 120, is an AI all that bad of an option?
You have a lot of E2 because you are morbidly obese. Fat tissue is where aromatase activity takes place. The more you have the more E2 you will produce.
TRT is more complicated with guys carrying a lot of fat. I suggest long term you try to address that.
If I was in your position, I would take the AI. I have seen some people do once a week AI, but the half life of adex is like two days, so it seems weird to do that. I would probably split into .25 mg and do twice a week dosages. Assuming your AI pills are 1 mg each.
Be careful with the AI though, get blood work after a few weeks on it. It is powerful stuff. Individual response seems to be varied as well. I seem to get a strong E2 reduction from low doses of the stuff.
I’d guess high e2 causing high PRL. Only way to fix this is to take the AI consistently for say 2 weeks, retest, check against symptoms, adjust from there. If you take the AI when you feel like it you’ll never get dialed in and you’ll never have a record of what worked and what didn’T work.
Only diet and exercise is really going to do this.
Using TRT as a crutch is just going to lead to failure. But, like others have said higher fat will lead to higher E2 issues. It is great that you have your test levels addressed, but you really need to reduce the fat. That will make your life a lot easier and less burdensome with issues.
I didn’t lose any weight on TRT for the first year and a half. Because I thought it was just automatic lean mass gain with fat loss. I did get stronger / more muscle in a small amount. Wasn’t until I added in more cardio and subtracted calories that I got lean.
I won’t deny that it has had an impact on physique, but at least for me it wasn’t as dramatic as the nugenix commercials lead me to believe (which I don’t think that product would have any noticeable difference).
The biggest thing IMO, is holding muscle in a deficit. With low T, it just seemed like I’d gain and be strong, then if I cut I lost everything. That will happen once you get to a certain point even with TRT, but it is a somewhat higher point.
Gear helps with gaining too, but IME, gaining takes more gear than retaining does. So TRT dosages can retain muscle in a cut, but for strength gains, it took me 6 months of 150 mg/wk while training to really notice that I actually had made progress on strength. Where with a cycle of high doses, one could experience that in a month.
We are a bit off topic, but I am on 175 mg/wk spit into EOD injections. I am shooting for an average level (not trough) of like 1000-1200 ng/dL so it is above normal, but not by a whole lot. From my experience, these levels aren’t gains train levels for me. Could perhaps be more gains if I was less developed (not that I am Ronnie or anything haha).
You need a better protocol tailored to your needs. I’m certain your clinics shoves the same protocol towards everyone, skin thin guys and fat guys. This just doesn’t work out very well.
You need greater shot frequency and smaller dosages, because the rather large injection of 150mg is spiking your T and E2 now requiring an AI to counter, a lousy protocol for you.
Your clinic is treating you like a invalid, not allowing at home self injections.
Most guys here are on TRT in isolation, with no HCG. HCG is one of those compounds where some guys feel good on it, while others don’t.
Thanks for the replies. I’ll address a few of the concerns/questions.
#1 TRT isn’t a magic weight loss pill.
I know. I said I hoped it would help me lose weight. If you’ve been really fat, you know that losing weight with T less than 100 is super difficult.
#2 High E2 is due to being fat.
I definitely know this. It’s definitely the main issue I face and a big reason I’m low in T and have been my entire life.
#3 Once a week T injections
I asked and they offer twice a week injections, but not EOD. A long time ago I tried doing home injections. I was doing HCG 2x a week in the stomach and T once a week (I think) in the thigh. I was ok with that. I’m giving this a chance. May switch to 2X a week at some point and see if it levels things out. If nothing works, I will look for a different clinic so I can do at-home.
My lab results:
4/8/22 Initial labs (Hadn’t slept - which I read can lower your T)
Total T: 51 ng (264-916)
E2: 38 pg (7.6-42.6)
FSH: 6.9 mIU (1.5-12.4)
SHBG: 20.3 nmol (16.5-55.9)
5/17/22 Follow Up
Total T: 639 ng
Free T: 182.2 pg (42.3-190)
E2: 109 pg
SHBG: 19.0 nmol
Maybe your T levels are exuding masculinity and you’re making her so horny she’s sopping wet, thus opening her hallway to your hotdog? Solution: lose the weight with heavy lifting. Anyone who says they added cardio and all of a sudden the weight started to come off was not working out to begin with. Also I think the sex is mediocre and intense orgasms will ensue from more working out. If you look great, and are great, she will make sure cum no matter what.
Why would you lower your E2? To be within a range? You are morbidly obese, the range is based on people with a BMI < 30.
E2 is cardioprotective. We know this. Why would you want to lower it when you are already at a much higher risk?
We don’t know if the reason more T gets converted into E2 at a higher body fat percentage, is a protective measure of the body or not. If we are going to assume that E2 is killing people instead of the high body fat being the culprit, we might as well put all the firemen in jail for starting fires everywhere.
I am not sure ultra high E2 is necessary to get that benefit though? I don’t think the amount of cardio protection is a linear relationship with E2?
At a certain point, we know E2 will cause water retention. Water retention causes higher BP, higher BP is hard on the heart. Just an example of where perhaps more and more E2 isn’t going to be better for the heart.