You talking about berberine?
There are study that say this herb works better than metformin and minus the sides.
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@enackers Jay addresses berberine in that aforementioned interview with Ben Greenfield. I agree that itās a fine alternative, but Jay says metformin is preferable for a few reasons (copied from Benās website)
- Berberine is similar to Metformin, but isnāt as regulated and is much more expensive
- Berberine doesnāt have a good reputation among people in the know
- Metformin is the most studied drug in the world (because of diabetes)
Berberine may be superior for strength/VO2 max, but I think weāre probably splitting hairs.
Have to say, for guys curious about creams/injections, that so far injections are working a lot better for my lifestyle. I thought it would be the opposite.
I donāt know what the results will be (maybe cream will prove more effective), but Iām finding 2X a week injections to be much more convenient than waiting for cream to dry 2X a day, 7 days/week, and planning my showers/workouts/sex around testosterone. But different things will work for different people. And travel will probably be harder with injections, whereas cream was easy to pack up.
@bkb333 you do im?
Got it on the metofrmin . Time will tell on the injections. You wonāt know for a good 6-10 weeks what your levels will be on the injections with a high shbg. Iām looking forward to the difference. It will be a nice example for the rest of us to see what creams and injections do for a high shbg guy. You do have high shbg if I am remembering correctly.
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Liver clearance is different for everyone regardless of shbg
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Yep. I got 27G, 1/2" insulin syringes, and have been injecting in my delts (alternating right/left). Very easy.
Oh yeah ā as high as it gets! I was at 180 pre-HOT. Down to 114 as of last test (on the cream). But keep in mind that, though injections might influence my SHBG, it will also likely be lower because of the added danazol, albeit the dose (25mg EOD) is minimal.
@bkb333
Any labs coming up soon to see what that Danazol 25 EOD is doing for you?
I was just thinking the same this morning: canāt wait for my next labs! Iām roughly 2 months into this protocol and have one more to go before Iāll get limited labs (Testosterone F/T, Estradiol, SHBG, Prolactin, DHT). Iāll then have full labs worked up at the 6-month point (4 months from now).
Since switching to injections and adding Danazol, my subjective feeling (mood) has been very positive. Iāve had lots of energy. Workouts have been strong, and I am definitely noticing body composition changes.
The one thing thatās been lacking, since switching from the cream, is libido. It is now significantly lower than it was when I was using the cream. That said, everything else has been good, and I find injections far more conducive to my lifestyle.
Edit: one thing I forgot to mention is sleep. My sleep has been rough since switching to injections ā often waking up in the middle of the night, unable to fall back asleep, and just staying up for the day. That said, I havenāt been lagging at all. Iāve had plenty of energy throughout the day. This effect has also lessened since I started eating carbs/protein before bed, which Dr. Andy Galpin mentioned helps sleep ā it has worked well for me.
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I may have missed it ā¦ but what were your PRE-TRT numbers from Estradiol?
No sweat! Here are my E2 numbers over time:
Start of HOT: High (no numbers)
July 2018 (hCG, AI): 61
October 2018 (hCG, AI): 51
February 2019 (hCG, AI, very early in exogenous T): 50
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I mentioned above that my workouts have been good. Honestly, theyāve never been this awesome before. I have so much motivation to lift right now; I could go 7 days a week if I wanted to and thought it would be healthy, though I know I still need a rest day. Iāve been looking forward to my workouts all day, then crushing them 6 days a week.
Some people say the biggest benefit of steroids is that they allow your body to recover more quickly; you can just train more. I think I am seeing that to a lesser extent (as Iām only on TRT protocol), in terms of both recovering like a champ and feeling super motivated to work out and get after it in my lifts.
Has anyone else had a similar experience on TRT?
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I recover very fast and force rest. Two days each week. I feel the body repairing after day 1 if i donāt go to gym after a hard day. The day feee I feel even stronger and etc.
I did some deadlifts and two 1 rep max Monday and was soar all week. It was painful but I was able to walk just fine. So yeah you can still get soar if you kill it
Oh, for sure. I absolutely wrecked my legs last week and was feeling it for nearly a week. I just have so much more motivation to lift, for some reason.
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That transformation is just from hCG mono therapy? Pretty impressive,
Did you track calories/macros during this phase? If so did you change anything else from a nutrition/training standpoint or do you credit the extra T for the body recomp?
My physique is very similar to yours in the ābefore hCGā, although I probably have slightly more body fat and slightly more muscle mass.
I would love to get as lean as you are in the after pics and then focus hard on a slow, clean bulk.
Ditto bro love it man just love it!!!
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Thanks, man. I have to say I donāt give much credit to the hCG. I give far more credit to being on top of macros/calories and training. I did track and implemented intermittent fasting ā and that combination is ultimately what helped me lean out.
In this transformation (pre-HOT to pre-TRT, on hCG mono), I do not think I gained any muscle, but I also donāt think I lost any ā just dropped from about 16% to 11% body fat.
You can definitely do the same. It didnāt require much adaptation of my lifestyle. Just track and be sure to hit calorie and protein goals and youāll get there in no time. IF is a nice addition, too, just makes it a little easier.
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Iāve actually been down that road, and the super low free T definitely hindered things. I went from 16-17% BF down to approximately 10-11% 2 years ago, then went on a clean bulk with approximately 500 calories a day surplus. 90% of the weight I gained in that bulk was from fat, very disappointing to say the least.
The I got blood tested because I knew that it should not be that hard to gain muscle when I was training as hard and eating as disciplined as I was. Sure enough my free T was near 5 (labcorp ref range 6-21).
Now Iām 3 months in to TRT, which is when the science says you should start to see the early onset of the physique benefits of extra T. I am very excited to say the least. Not to mention all the mental and libido benefits Iām already experiencing thanks to T.
Side note, I love intermittent fasting when Iām in a deficit. Itās a great tool to stay in a calorie deficit and still get to eat some big meals.
Itās nice having confidence your work will pay off. Totally man!