Damn, brother. I’m really sorry to hear that. It seems if you could use some oxandrolone without too negative of repercussions, that would be ideal.
So, my provider is good with reintroducing danazol or trying out oxandrolone. Which one would you recommend? I’m really unsure. Danazol comes in 25/50/75, and oxandrolone in 5/15/25/50.
If I understand correctly (reading up now on Bizarro Superman now, lol), oxandrolone should produce more GAINZ than danazol?
Fascinating stuff. I’ll get the right test next time!
I was prescribed 50 mg oxandrolone but he mentioned I could take three per week if I’d like instead of ED. What do you think? Could the inconsistency be an issue?
That’s a lot of math. You really get into this stuff! Just out of curiosity, my doc doesn’t try to chase SHBG. His recommendation is to flood the system with exogenous test. This way SHBG is inundated and can’t bind it all up. He mentioned issues (didn’t get into specifics cuz we didn’t go that route) with chasing SHBG. So, why are you guys taking extra stuff to specifically lower SHBG? It seems like you’re still experiencing problems (soreness) with high total and free t. The puzzle here is where is it coming from?
What’s your vitamin D levels? Have you had it checked? When i started my journey i was at a 5. I currently take 5000 iu a day with K2. I can’t remember where I specifically am but im at the top or slightly over the high reference range. Low vitamin D affects so many processes in the body and it can cause soreness and lethargy if very low. Btw- i paid $125 for a private blood draw to test vitamin d and zinc oxide. Insurance pays for none of this.
One of the many many docs i saw told me that my E2 was too high. She never picked up on next to zero free t. I mention this cuz my new doc also doesn’t like to target estrogen due to potential issues. Apparently low estrogen can be a huge problem for soreness and irritability. I think it leads to pain in the joints. Im thinking out loud here since i don’t recall anyone mentioning estrogen as a potential source of pain. Btw - when i was taking an AI I didn’t feel any better. My E2 was 35 at one point before AI. My new doc said stop immediately. And at my weight at that point i was a solid A-cup so no gyno or love handles.
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Ahh, the costs of taking stuff other than T - how I haven’t missed this 
I’m thinking I might do 50 mg EOD. If I do that, do you think it would make more sense to take it on injection days or non-injection days?
Sounds like the Nichols logic. Is he your doc? He’s a smart guy and has chimed in on this thread.
I do understand this perspective, for sure, and think it would work for just about everyone. However, it seemingly isn’t working in my case. My SHBG started in the 180s (!) and won’t go any lower than 70 on T alone. I think most/all TRT docs would agree that 238 mg/week is a rather high dose, so I’m not sure how much more ‘flooding’ could be done. It seems I need that flooding and something else.
I think the real puzzle is why free T is not higher given the sky-high TT. I don’t think I should need total T to be in excess of 2000 to reach a decent free T. Furthermore, the ratio between the two is poor given my dosage.
Fair question. Though I haven’t had it tested recently, I take 9,000 per day, so I really doubt this is an issue.
Another important point. I also believe estrogen is valuable and hopped off my AI a couple years ago. Since, I haven’t worried about estrogen. My E2 was 53 on last test but has run as high as 91.
As you said, it really doesn’t seem straightforward which would be more harmful in the long term. Judgment call.
There’s also the question of which would be more beneficial in the short term. Having tried the ‘high T only’ route, I think at least experimenting with oxandrolone makes sense. I’ll probably start at 50 MG EOD (25 MG/day) and adjust based on lipids.
I ordered 12 weeks’ worth of oxandrolone. Thinking I’ll measure biomarkers at 8 weeks - that make sense to you? Also, do you think I should adjust my T dose (238 mg) at all? Thinking no, so I can isolate the effect of the Anavar.
@dextermorgan @unreal24278 I’d also love to know your guys’ thoughts on this experiment to potentially lower SHBG (thereby increasing my FT:TT ratio) and current perspective on Anavar in general. I understand it seemingly isn’t a great long-term solution, but maybe at a low dose or for a time it’ll be a beneficial addition?
Given that I won’t have bloods again until the 8-week mark, do you still think I should use the
ED free T method (which is obviously favorable), or direct RIA so there’s a 1:1 comparison?
Interesting video from Derek – he reviews how, in one study, 40 mg anavar produced as much muscle as 80 mg, though 40 was better than 20. So in the case of this drug, at least, more is not necessarily better. There is certainly a point of diminishing returns.
Hmm, why do you think the population (262 men with HIV) should impact our interpretation?
“The average 22-year-old man today has an average testosterone level roughly equal to that of a 67-year-old man in 2000.”
Amazing
@bkb333 I was just wondering have you tried to take X amount of T a week to keep your free T at high range maybe a hair lower but not higher for around 8 weeks sometimes less is more and the answer is simple
I’ve been on T only for about 2 years, at varying doses. My Free T has been all over the place during that time, including the high range.
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Good point, man…so many individual differences. And I definitely don’t have those genetics either lol.
I think from all the hormones high SHBG is still the hardest to understand
Dude, I’m with you! I’ve read SO many forum posts about it over the years, immersing myself in experiences, and it’s still SO mysterious. I still don’t know if I’m damaging (or saving) my health by hopping on exogenous hormones. I am hopeful that all this experimentation will pay off, though.
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According to this study sugar especially fructose turns SHBG off, buying pure fructose powder is not a good idea that’s why people who eat too much fructose in the refined form have really low SHBG = metabolic syndrome, so where can we up the amount of fructose we eat without messing up our metabolism? My answer would b fresh fruits specially those rich in fructose cause as we know whole fruits are packed with vitamins, fibers, minerals way different from crap refined sugar maybe this is a safe and natural way to turn SHBG off a bit, just my point of view
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Very interesting perspective. That was part of why I was confused when I got an SHBG in the 180s – because I was eating literally no sugar at the time. Seemed to make no sense. I’ve been eating a good amount of fruit lately, though – one of my favorite snacks. Dr. Greg got me to do it.
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I’ve read that insulin is a powerful hormone to drive SHBG down, maybe no sugar = less insulin released by the pancreas = high SHBG, then too much insulin = low SHBG = metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, bad, to me BALANCE must be the key