Anyone here experienced a serious dip in libido when lowering their T dose? How did you respond?
My plan was 260mg/week for a while, and everything in my body was functioning great, but my sleep was really bad and I was scared off by long-term effects. So we lowered it to 200mg/week – which doesn’t sound like that significant of a drop, and I didn’t expect anything really to change. But my libido has plummeted in the past couple weeks.
How long has it been since you lowered your dose?
Oh and thanks for your kind words, but I assure you that there is nothing “great” about bmbrady77 lmao! I’m just like you brother, trying to make the best out of what I have in front of me!
It has been about 2 months now. It’s felt like a gradual wearing-off, like my body has been on a downward slope, both in terms of libido and general motivation. It sounds weird to say that when I’ve still been on a high dose at 200mg, but it’s definitely been noticeable.
Ok so I don’t think it’s a stabilization issue. What does your supplement intake look like? Multivitamins and such?
The reason I ask is because I tried to start taking a multi a couple of months ago and felt a change in libido and performance after about a month. Turns out that the multi had a lot of the same vitamins I was already supplementing individually and it was just too much. Stopped it and felt like my old self about a week later. May be worth looking in to.
Have you had labs yet on the new dosage?
Hmm, I hadn’t considered whether my supplements could be affecting it. I haven’t changed anything up, other than adding NAC late in June. Here’s what I’m taking now, supplement-wise:
Fish oil 3000 mg per day (3 pills)
Zinc 50 mg per day (1 pill)
Magnesium 500 mg per day (1 pill)
Boron 3 mg per day (1 pill)
Multivitamin (1 pill)
B-12 1000 mcg per day (1 pill)
Vitamin D 6000 IU per day (3 pills)
Niacin 500 mg per day (1 pill)
NAC 2000 mg per day (2 pills)
B-6 200 mg per day (2 pills)
Turmeric 1000 mg per day (2 pills)
DHEA 25 mg per day (1 pill)
Unfortunately, no labs on the new dosage. I’m scheduled to have my next labs within the next two weeks, though.
Cross check your multi and see if it’s adding to your individual vitamin stack. If it is (highly likely), I’d drop it.
I would also try upping the DHEA to 50mg for a couple weeks and see if that helps anything.
This is the first time I’ve heard about dropping a multi potentially being advantageous, so I am intrigued.
My multi has all the usual suspects. The vitamins that are adding to what I’m already taking are Vitamin D3, B6, B12, Niacin, Magnesium, and Zinc. Think I should drop it, in addition to upping the DHEA?
I would, at least for a couple weeks and then see if I noticed any changes.
Vitamin D, and B-12 have both been proven to have an effect on lowering E2, which could kill libido as well.
Also, Vitamin D is not water soluble. This means that you build it up in your system and it can cause issues. It’s not like vitamin C where you take as much as you want and your body just excretes the excess. Vitamin D buildup can result in calcium excess as well, which we all know is the great precursor to kidney stones.
This is all premised by whether or not you are taking more than your body needs of course.
One more note to add…
If you are taking vitamin D, it’s wise to take Vitamin K as well. K helps your body absorb D. Most people taking a shit ton of D to get levels where they need to be could probably cut the dose in half if they took K to help their body utilize more of that dosage of D.
Thank you brother. I know Vitamin D and B12 are important for other health functions. Do you think I should lower my dose of either item, or perhaps drop the supplements altogether for the time being? Maybe hold off and see how I react to the dropped multi and increased DHEA first?
I would just drop the multi and increase the DHEA first and see how you feel in a few weeks. I wouldn’t change the other supps until I had blood work to confirm whether or not it’s warranted.
Maybe you could get those tests added to your upcoming labs.
I suspect your issues are with E2 being too low. You’re very lean and are not aromatasing much to begin with, so lowering your test dose probably dropped E2 levels as well. The suggestions I am making are things that could be contributing to making E2 even lower than it would naturally balance out to be.
Ooof…New Haven. Rough.
She’s gone now. Down in Atlanta working on a PhD @NH_Watts
That’s great, good for her, you must be proud. My father owned a grocery store chain and had a store in New Haven. I worked there a few times and it was sketchy. Might have just been the neighborhood but living out there in CT New Haven was in the news a lot for crime and violence.
Looked like ghetto surrounding the school. Then cross one street and BAM! everything is nice and clean and had a $2B endowment tied to it.
Ivy League man
Dude you got bigger? Looks like it. Good shit!!
I really appreciate that brother! Think I’ve put on about 5-8 lbs. of muscle since going on TRT in January – almost 1 per month. I’m holding a little bit of fluff right now, but trying to get my body “used” to being in the low-mid 180s. I recently heard Stan Efferding talk about how you have to “hold” a certain weight for a while (maybe a few months) before your body comp will improve there. No idea if that’s scientifically verified, but it sounded believable!
Well it makes sense. Maybe the system adapts as well and more muscle binds. Not sure, but it makes sense if the body isn’t used to that.
You put in more form on the upper body. Whatever you have been doing is working.
You’re the man. Thankful that we get to grow both physically and mentally together through this forum.
Anyone have any recommended resources for divorcing self-image from body image? I’d love to read up on this subject, as it’s a real issue for me and so many others who are into fitness. It’s probably unsurprising that I was a chunky kid, which is where this issue originates for me. As I grow as a man and become more mature, I’d love to be able to focus more on different, non-aesthetic-related goal – things like strength and performance and mobility and just feeling good – but the mind games are tough!