You will have to make some sacrifices but you will make it work. A lot of gyms have daycare
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Thank God for that! Such a cool offering from gyms that do that. I could also see the home gym being especially clutch once you have kids. Plus itās probably cool to model good behavior for them
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Iām in this camp. I have 3 kids and no time or extra $ for a gym. Have the basics in a home gym in the basement. Nothing like bmbrady77, but it gets the blood flowing.
I will say, when kids are younger you have to dedicate so much time to their care a drop off in exercise frequency is almost inevitableā¦ But once they get a little older, itās basically to business as usual.
How you feeling today? How did you transition from your other protocol to daily?
My ānormalā shot was Wednesday night, so I kept that and injected 42mg. Then last night I started daily and injected 22mg and will continue to do so.
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Def if you have the space. I had a power rack etc in mine, which the household later grew into as a growing family tends to do. But being able to get a lift in and still be available to the family is a good compromise.
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Thank you good sir, I appreciate it. Time is going to pass no matter what I doā¦ Might as well switch it up and see what happens.
The benchmark is high thoughā¦ I want ā@dextermorgan - likeā perpendicular rebar to show off to my wifeā¦haha.
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Nice man, I followed a similar path. I skipped my injection Wednesday, per the docās instructions, ahead of my bloodwork Thursday ā and felt like absolute garbage Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I was such a dick, not a good version of myself. Amazing how much hormones can affect the way you see the world.
After I had the labs Thursday AM, I went home and injected my usual amount of 70 mg ā and immediately started seeing the world in color again. It was wild ā this was the first time I could remember āfeelingā the T after an injection ā or, perhaps more directly, I really felt the lack of the T before the injection. Those three days between shots really got to me.
Today, I started the daily injections with 36 mg SQ (~250 mg per week). It took forever to come out of the 30 g syringe, but what are ya gonna do? I do feel a little bit better and have had a better āenergyā since my injection yesterday. Not High T Rudd by any means, but just in a better mood than earlier this week. Hope things keep improving!
How are you feeling?
Well that could have something to do with it. I might be as much as 25% depending on some measurement estimates. Bad family genetics and not enough work on my part to fight it over the years.
NBD, brother, youāre in the right place for finding advice on how to lean out. Plenty of direction on all these forums on TN. Just know that when you do cut that BF number in half, youāre gonna start feeling the sting of the needle! Lol, shedding fat can be a blessing and curse in many, many ways.
Low-T Rudd you wereā¦
How long does it take for you to get lab results usually?
Im a higher BF% than youā¦ About 19%. Using the same needle size, it only takes 12 seconds to push 42mg into my belly. Am I pushing too hard? Hahaā¦or are you hitting muscles since your lean?
I feel a more āsubtle T feelingā than I am used to the day after an injectionā¦ But itās still a bit early. Iāll usually start feeling better in a couple of hours, but so far, Iām feeling better than I normally do the morning of an injection day.
I must be real sensitive to testosterone, or itās downstream metabolites because I can definitely feel the difference after taking it vs notā¦ Like your feelings of the 3 days between shots and having the shot. Too much at once is overwhelming for me.
Either way, excited for the journeyā¦ Weāre kind rolling the same timeline, but your doing 100mg a week more than meā¦haha
@bkb333 - I heard this has to do with how tough you areā¦ Iām kidding of course. 
Seriously though, Iāve noticed when there is testosterone either on the tip or shaft of the needle, the shot stings a lot more. Something in the carrier oil stings.
benzyl alcohol, more than likely is the cause
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Usually about a week. I had the draw Thursday so Iām hoping Quest turns them around before Thanksgiving. I have a feeling the holiday could cause delays, though. How long for you?
I donāt think youāre pushing too hard ā I think itās just slightly different because of the BF% difference. I donāt think Iām hitting muscles, though, and itās really not that bad. Iām just being soft 
Man, that is crazy! I canāt even wrap my head around that. Completely understand why youād want a more āsteady release.ā Must be wild feeling the fluctuations throughout the day. I have a feeling the ED injections are going to be an absolute game-changer for you, brother.
Yeah man, itās been interesting and glad to have you on this journey. Iām kind of over worrying about the amount and thinking Iām going to die if I inject more than 200 mg per week. If thatās what it takes for me to feel like a functioning man who wants to have sex, thatās simply what it takes. Like Dr. Nichols says, treat patients and symptoms rather than numbers.
With all that being said, I am hoping itāll turn out to be something I can resolve with a lower dose, perhaps by addressing thyroid, because cutting my life short is the last thing I want to do. The new labwork will help make that clear.
My doc doesnāt really pull comprehensive bloods like I see here. After 2 years, when I go in, he checks TT and PSA and thatās it. Iāve wanted more, but for some reason my insurance wasnāt covering the cost of all the blood work, so I decided to do my own through Ulta Labs. Through Ulta you can choose LabCorp or Quest. I have a Quest 3 miles away, so I go to their draw station and have results emailed to me usually within 1-4 days.
I know itās not a placebo since Iāve been injecting test c sub-q for over 2 years now. I can 100% tellā¦like right now, I can feel something different about myself in how my body feels and my attention to things, like conversations. Was just talking to my wife and I didnāt look away from her once, like we were locked in. Hard to explain.
Now, with the time for test to peak a real thingā¦Itās debatable if what Iām feeling is last nights shot or a different one from the pastā¦but, Iām leaning towards last nights shot since A) this is how I normally feel the day after a shot and B) I donāt ever feel like this at 12:44pm on the day of a shot.
If this is how I can feel all the time, like you said, it could be a game-changer. I might try to inject a little earlier at night so I can feel the good feelings earlier.
Itās good that you are thinking about your health at young age. When I was 28, I was trying to decide which bars I was going to or where/who I was going to party with. I think as long as you feel good, eat right and your numbers arenāt out of wackā¦and you stay consistent, what could make the numbers/health change?
Dr. Nichols responded to one of my comments a while ago about something, I donāt recallā¦but he said that if I were to go ED, heād start at 30mg ED and adjust up or down from there.
Always have to be thinking about this for sureā¦serious question, have you read anything/seen studies that indicate testosterone at a replacement to slightly higher than replacement level has shortened the lifespan of those using it?
Hearing about endocrine disrupting chemicals, and how they bind to the same receptors as your hormones blocking the binding of real hormones, and then activating the specific receptor theyāve attached to is scary. Something that mimics estrogen for instance can enter into your body by any meansā¦absorbed from clothing, food consumed that was in plastic packaging from a store, etcā¦bind to the estrogen receptors in your body and then stimulate a response as if it were real estrogen. Iād rather flood my body with testosterone and have all the receptors full of test than that other crapā¦hahaha
It will be a fun journey
This guy sounds really questionable, man. I know you probably already know that, but Iād definitely look to go elsewhere if you can afford it. I just wouldnāt trust that doctor. My insurance setup with Defy has been perfect. I know Iāve mentioned looking elsewhere, and I still might depending on how things go in the next 1-2 months, but Defyās infrastructure is top-notch.
Trust me brother, I get it. Itās the difference in Low and High T Rudd! I fully understand. And that locked-in feeling is like nothing else. You feel unstoppable.
Do you usually inject right before bed?
Yeah man, I got over the drinking scene pretty young ā probably around 22, I tapped out. Iād had enough fun in college and got focused on spending my time on things that align with my purpose in life. I think itās crazy when I see friends my age ā or in their 30s! ā going out and drinking every weekend. Just seems wasteful, not to mention all the issues youāre causing for your body.
Exactly what he said to me ā seems to be his standard starter approach for guys in our situation. He also recommended SQ to me.
Absolutely not. Have you listened to Russ Scala on Jay Campbellās podcast? Amazing interview. I really believe having higher T levels (as long as you approach things the right way and arenāt doing the juicehead thing) is correlated with longevity rather than premature death, especially given the current environment.
Thereās a war on testosterone and men today need it now more than ever.
Not trying to ruffle feathers but where is that cutoff? IMO that line seems to keep extending from what once was considered abuse with the excuse of environmental toxins. I can get behind the toxins disrupting production as that can be seen in the decline of levels now days, but the sensitivity to the hormones I have trouble with. Not saying its not going on but just hard to get behind when its not something that seems to be able to be seen or proven, at least with labs. If there is proof let me know. In those cases I think people do probably feel better with more, but I tend to think they are masking another issue with test, that is IMHO.
I strongly believe this depends on the individual. I donāt think itās justified to issue a blanket statement like, āif your total T is above 2000, youāre in dangerā or āif your free T is above 50, youāre risking long-term health.ā Maybe you are, maybe you arenāt ā depends on the person and so many contextual factors.
I think the solution is to monitor ALL biomarkers ā HCT, HGB, liver functions, cholesterol, etc. ā for evidence of problems that could arise down the road. Ideally, we would be able to have our hearts inspected regularly too, but that isnāt feasible at least at this point in time. Iād love to take advantage of that because it is my understanding (just mine) that heart problems are the biggest potential risk of overdoing T.
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Really strange storyā¦I went to a urologist for ED. He prescribed 100mg test-c a week. During this time, the first urologist I went to sold the majority of his practice to another urologist who was originally part of starting up Menās Health Bostonā¦my new guy worked with and published some papers with Abraham Morgentaler.
Shortly after meeting him, I went to him with this āE2 of 22ā notion and that I wanted an AIā¦he shot me down telling me estrogen has tons of benefits in men and he doesnāt believe in prescribing an AI. He said that heāll consider some symptoms a person might have that could be related to E2 with a value over 60ā¦anything under that, heās not going to consider āpotentially bad for the individualā.
So while I do agree itās sketch, this guy has some credibility from Menās Health and what he told me early on is aligning to what people are now coming around to believing to be true. EDIT - He actually does test HTC and has tested SHBG too. As a matter of fact, I always have HTC testedā¦he said that plus PSA were my āSafety checksā. Plus he writes me a script for 200mg a week, so I have a nice stock pile of test saved up if I ever need it.
I did consider Defy at one point, but didnāt think Insurance covered a place like that. I have Blue Cross Blue Shields, wonder if they do?
Yes. Usually about 10:30pm at night, asleep by 11:30pm. I used to inject in the morning but realized I was having a hard time falling asleep and was amped up. Thatās when I did the math and realized I was feeling the test kick in about 16 hours after I injectedā¦and decided to push my injections to before bed so by the time the next day started, I was closer to feeling great.
Good for you, this is impressive. You are wise beyond your years in attitude and intelligence. It really comes across in how you write your posts.
I havenāt listened to any of these, but hearing this is promising. With all Iāve done to my body earlier in life, I need lots to help with longevity!
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That is my biggest fear of overdoing it. Iām not sure if catching heart enlargment or something of that nature is caught in labs without imaging, which a lot of us are not doing.
Itās a pretty gray area IMO. I mean, I think we can all agree 500mg is too much to be called TRT and 100mg is pretty much the minimum these days but the middle road of 200, 250mg is kind of like āmaybeā itās a super light cycle to some, maybe itās what some people need because of the things you mentioned. Some of the reasons that people justify it Iām not sure if theyāre the whole story or just a way to justify itā¦ not that I really care. There are probably cases where itās real and cases where itās āoh I feel great by taking mild steroid cycle levels of Tā. Well, no shit. Of course you do.
Iām mostly of the opinion that if you feel better on that amount and live a better life because of it then go for it, assuming it isnāt obviously giving you major blood pressure/other health issues, etc. which would of course take away from the living a better life because of it part. Iād rather shave a year or two from it and feel great than the opposite.
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Thatās what I have too. There is a reimbursement form you can file with BCBS to get paid back. Defy will fill out the paperwork but they charge like $15 to do it I think. You can get them to do a bunch of visits, meds, labs, etc. all at once so you only have to pay it once
The problem Iām having is theyāve had my claim for 2 months now and still havenāt done anything with itā¦ Iām hoping I can get them to cover at least the labs if nothing else but Iām not sure yet
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