I’m prescribed to dose up to 20mcg. Either way I’ll see how I do.
1 Like
I’d be very happy with those levels, cholesterol not too low or high, HDLs above 50 and triglycerides low or very low. Generally, I see improvements in lipids on TRT, especially with those that drop the visceral fat. I’ve seen guys drop as much as 50lbs just with TRT, no exercise or dietary changes. Not the norm, but still.
2 Likes
I’ve modified my regimen somewhat and thought I would provide an update:
- Fish oil increased to 6g daily
- Added 500mg naringin daily for Hct control
- Increased TestC to 200mg weekly
- Decreased anastrozole to 0.125mg PRN (usually every ~10 days)
- Started 20mg daily T3
I’ve been on T3 for two weeks now but don’t notice much of a difference. The AI started to get hard on my joints so I’ve backed off to just taking it PRN for now and that seems to be plenty. I feel even better with TestC increased and I think I’ll keep it here pending bloods in November. Every time I increase Test I bloat but it’s gone in a week or so.
So that’s where I am on my meds/supplements. Dick is working great. More muscle, more energy, more calm. So far, so good.
I’ve adjusted my training to a more moderate PPLPPL program to correspond with a significant decrease in calories as I move in to the last portion of this very long cut/recomp. The 5/3/1 powerbuilding routine I was running became too taxing in a calorie deficit and strength began to stall hard. I’m currently eating at 1,500 kcal daily, with 150g protein, low fat, and plenty of carbs. I am essentially eating nothing but rice, chicken, broccoli, and sweet potatoes. Mostly out of an air fryer.
Progress has been very hard to track because scale weight has just gone up since I began TRT in February. First from water/glycogen, and then lean muscle tissue. I’ve probably put on 2 pounds lean mass per month for every month since then. Maybe more. I think I can go harder, though, especially since I’m supplementing T3 now and shouldn’t need to worry about that side of metabolic adaptation. I’m going to adjust my calorie intake down further to 1,200 kcal and see what happens.
I have scheduled some consults for next week with some surgeons and am going to go ahead and schedule gyno removal - ideally in November. The leaner I become, the more obvious it is that I have a substantial amount of fibrous tissue that is not going to shrink at my age. It’s pretty tolerable and unnoticeable at my current body fat percentage, but I don’t intend on staying here. To that end, I’m targeting another 15-20 pounds of fat loss over the next 12-16 weeks. I want to walk in to surgery in November as lean as possible.
1 Like
So about 2 weeks after my last post - almost 8 weeks ago - I started a blast of 500mg Test administered as 144mg EOD. I’ve basically abandoned basic TRT at this point in favor of pursuing my strength and physique goals. I have a line I won’t cross; I have no intention of competing and plenty of other pursuits interest me more, but high doses of testosterone are well within my risk tolerance as it relates to current understanding of these drugs. So is anavar and primobolan.
Given that this is on a TRT forum, I don’t know what I’ll do with this thread, or when/if I’ll move over to the #pharma section. For now, though, I figured I would post an update on labs I had pulled recently. These are from Quest Diagnostics (much cheaper than LabCorp).
At the six-week mark (on cycle), my CBC looks like this:
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| RBC | 6.46 |
| Hb | 16.8 g/dL |
| Hct | 50.6 |
| MPV | 13.1 fL (7.5-12.5) |
| Glucose | 91 |
My hematocrit is a bit more elevated (and technically just out of range) than my last test at 49.4 in May. I started in January (pre-TRT) at 44.8. Considering I’m on 500mg of test, I am taking this is a good result, although I’m going to increase naringin from 500mg/day to 1g/day. Glucose is up from 84 in May and 79 in Jan.
Lipid Panel:
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| T. Chol | 152 |
| Triglycerides | 56 |
| HDL | 60 |
| LDL | 78 |
| T. Chol/HDL Ratio | 2.5 |
This shocked me. This is the best my lipids have ever looked - on 500mg test blast and six weeks after discontinuing a four week run of 75mg oxandrolone daily, which has a reputation for trashing lipids badly. Perfect. I’ll take it. I guess I can attribute this to eating as “cleanly” as humanly possible (<25g fat daily plus fiber, lean protein, whole grains), supplementing with 1.5g of Omega-3 (from fish oil), and taking my cardio seriously. I am totally fed up with the calorie deficit, though.
Finally, androgens:
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Testosterone, Total, MS | 1786 (250-1100 ng/dL) |
| Testosterone, Free | 476.9 (35.0-155.0 pg/mL) |
| E2, Ultrasensitive, LC/MS | 79 (< OR = 29 pg/mL) |
This was taken at EOD trough. I’m not entirely sure how to extrapolate this into a peak estimate. If I plot this dosing protocol on SteroidPlotter, it has trough at ~80% of peak. If I use that to extrapolate, I get a peak estimate of ~2140 total and ~570 free, a response of 4.2x to dose. I think that seems reasonable assuming my technique is accurate. If anyone has any thoughts here LMK. This indicates to me that either my dose response is nonlinear (response at 140mg/wk was 7.6x) and I’m a bad responder at higher doses, or the test I have is under-dosed. It was purportedly mixed at 300mg/mL, but these results would line up better with 200mg/mL. I’m going to begin dosing it as if it was mixed at the latter concentration.
As for E2, I have been pulsing arimidex between 0.125-0.25mg every other day with injections. I still don’t quite understand the importance of Test:E2 ratio, though. What would you guys think? I would like to let it rise as high as I can tolerate side effects like water bloat, nipples, and blood pressure. Any comments on ratio would also be appreciated.
Last thing I’ll mention is Mean Platelet Volume (MPV). @highpull, do you have any thoughts here? It’s above range, but not extremely so. I don’t know what the importance of this is in relation to the other CBC readings.
Otherwise, back to pulsing oxandrolone for another couple 3 week on/off cycles, and onward into my 500mg test, poverty diet cut. The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can cruise for a few months while I order some Primo and more Test for a 700/700 bulking cycle, and the sooner I can eat some ice cream.
EDIT: I should add, regarding thyroid, I’ve been using 25mcg T3 daily for nine weeks. I can absolutely notice a difference in energy, focus, and fat loss. 25mcg is technically a replacement dose, and I’m on a script of compounded slow-release due to very elevated rT3. I haven’t had that retested yet (that’s in Nov), but my TSH just came back much lower at 1.9 down from 3.7 and 2.2 in Jan and May.
1 Like
I’m glad I took the time, even just a few months, to get accustomed to TRT. I learned how to manage E2 and how my body responds to androgens. Having multiple sets of baseline labs is also nice. I also spent those several months continuing to research these drugs and refining my understanding of the risks as they relate to my risk tolerance. Given that I’m 38 and have experienced PVCs and PACs, I also did due diligence with a cardiologist and got a full workup before blasting. Well, almost a full workup. I had an echocardiogram and stress test done and wore a cardiac telemetry device for several weeks. I did not have a calcium score performed though I’m not concerned given my in range (and falling) BP and lipid profile. Speaking of BP, it’s also as good as it’s ever been at 115/65 (it will elevate slightly sometimes during the afternoon to 120/70).
Nandrolone sure is tempting, though, I gotta say.
1 Like
From my understanding, which isn’t complete, the thyroid bounces back from exogenous meds rapidly and dependably so trialing meds is relatively safe. What do your rT3 levels look like?
It’s a measure of the average size of your platelets and yours are a little larger. It’s barely high, and by itself means nothing. What is your total platelet count? This can be a sign you are making too many platelets. Larger platelets are younger, smaller ones are more likely to have been in circulation a few days.
Platelet count is only 191.
I don’t know what I would do in your situation except retest everything periodically to keep an eye on things.
1 Like
You’re good. Keep an eye on it, but doubt it’s anything.
1 Like
Thanks! That’s my current plan.