I’ve been on Test-Cyp for a 6+ months and have tested different dosages followed by blood work. Reason for changing doses was to see if I could get by without an AI and to just test how I felt at a higher (~1000) vs slightly lower (~700) level.
I can definitely tell the difference between <800 and >1000. I’ve been able to maintain my E2 between 20 and 30 during this time.
Protocol is e3.5d: Sunday morning, Wednesday evening. All blood tests are done Tuesday morning. All from LabCorp, same testing site, 264-916 range.
Any idea of why T level would be at 805 after being over 1,000 twice before on the same dosage of 120mg/wk? I recently got a personal trainer and have been working out significantly harder and more often. I’ve also added quite a bit of muscle since January. That’s really been the only change.
I’m now thinking of trying a higher dosage; maybe 140mg or 150mg/wk. Curious to see if anyone else has experienced this within a 6 month period.
I have no intricate knowledge of your biology, how could anyone know these things? This isn’t mathematical calculations here, biology plays by a different set of rules.
It was more about if anyone else has had any similar personal experience. If you haven’t or don’t have any knowledge about it, then no need to respond.
My guess would be slight timing differences between injections and lab draws. Labs are simply a snap shot in time and will fluctuate hour by hour. As those labs represent valleys I assume your peaks are 1,000+.
Questions about your protocol. Do you inject IM or Subq? Am I correct in understanding that you’ve never needed an AI? Are you working with a Dr?
What were your E2 levels for each of those tests? When E2 goes up it binds to androgen receptors and blocks Test thus lowering your TT/FT. Same thing happened to me. I increased my AI to lower E2, no change to test dose, my TT increased by over 300 points when my E2 went from 42 to 19.
I have also noticed TT/FT higher when E2 is lower. A change of 10pg/mL correlated with a 200ng/dL change in TT. Also, what is your thyroid and insulin status? Liver? SHBG?
People seem to think that SHBG remains static and unchanging, this is simply not true. The only thing I can think of is SHBG decreases therefore Total T decreases while Free T increases.
So chasing Total T pointless since its a bound hormone, Free T is what matters. Fluctuations is SHBG is out of your control. SHBG also increase within 24 hours of a workout.
I wondered about that as well, but his free T percentage was relatively unchanged. It would be interesting to see how/if LFT, SHBG and E2 fluctuated with those test numbers.
As I understand it, drastically different levels in physical activity does indeed affect your levels during trt and how much T you would need to take to achieve a desired level. I had the exact same but opposite experience as you. For the first year or so I had achieved solid (albeit high) consistent levels. My physical activity was brutal. Then later on, I got a second job and didn’t have time to train as much, but the job was very physical. Later still, I transferred positions to a physically easier job.
So then, now I have two jobs, taking up all my time, and they are not physically demanding. Yet I still don’t have much free time for the brutal training I used to do. Well all of a sudden my total T and free T levels skyrocketed and I had to lower my dose.
When my physical demand was very high, my levels were stable. When my physical demands significantly dropped off, my T levels skyrocketed. I had to lower my dose.
Here are the numbers with E2 and SHBG when I had it tested:
12/20/17: 120mg/wk, T: 1049, FT: 32.3, E2: 30.2
1/10/18: 100mg/wk, T: 617, FT: 17.9, E2: 33.5
1/30/18: 120mg/wk, T: 1071, FT: n/a, E2: 23, SHBG: 21
4/3/18: 112mg/wk, T: 753, FT: 23.8, E2: 19.7. SHBG: 19.9
5/22/18: 120mg/wk, T: 805, FT: 24.2, E2: 26.1
So, 1049/30.2, 1071/23, 805/26.1.
I have had my SHBG tested two previous times before these results, going back to 2016. It’s been 19 and 18.1. So SHBG pre- and post-TRT has been between 18.1 and 21 over the course of two years.
I started the AI in January after the 1/10 test results. I could tell my E2 dropped and felt better with the .125mg AI e3.5d. Sometimes I have to take the AI 2 days after my shot - I can tell my E2 is getting high.
Yes, just a correlation, no causation. My E2 has never been very high, nothing close to the top range, or over 30 for that matter. Goes to how we respond differently.
I think older, overweight, low T guys likely have high E2. Maybe just dropping E2 would help them feel better, but not like TRT would.