Starting TRT, Have Some Concerns

200mg T/cyp per week is insane, read the stickies.

  1. What is hematocrit now?

  2. Probably will make this worse unless some other factor can be ID’d and managed.

  3. Do things to increase HDL [high potency B-vit complex with trace elements and iodine, fish oil, nuts, flax seed meal/oil, anti-oxidants, natural source vit-E, 5000iu Vit-D3, increase T, keep E2 in lower 20’s], you may need to donate blood or equiv, 25mg DHEA

  4. Total cholesterol of 180 is idea, do not go after low levels

  5. see thyroid basics sticky

Low T and hypo thyroid can make one fat and make fat loss impossible. Get T up, E2 down, fT3 and fT4 mid range and you should be able to go from catabolic to anabolic.

canned info here:

You really need to consider that you have a thyroid problem. The ranges are statistical norms and there are pathologies within those norms. The problem is that docs think that the norms imply normal health and do not look deeper.

You need LH/FSH to determine is your testes are failing [primary hypogonadism] or your pituitary is not delivering LH/FSH [secondary].
You need E2 to see if that is the problem.
In your situation, one needs to test for prolactin to see if that is elevate or high, which can reduce LH and FSH. If prolactin is up, a MRI is performed to see if a pituitary adenoma is the cause.

Right now, you know you have a problem, but that is the symptom, you need a diagnosis that identifies the cause and then you deal with the cause or start TRT.

Your total cholesterol is pathologically low. Are there dietary extremes to explain this? This 140 number will be undermining your who spectrum of steroid hormones, probably vit-D as well. Some simply have low cholesterol. Don’t believe it when someone tells you that your cholesterol is healthy.

here is my canned contribution:


This is standard advice maintained here:

There is a huge amount of knowledge in the stickies. Please study these. Start with the advice for new guys sticky.

There is a lot to read there, so read carefully. There are suggestions for things that are root causes of low testosterone [T]. Low T is a symptom, not a root cause itself. But low T itself is a root cause of many of the symptoms one experiences. Note that other things cause the same spectrum of symptoms, so do not have T tunnel vision. Many docs are guilty of that and they only treat the symptom [low T] and do not attempt to find the real problem. If you go to a clinic that specializes in low T, you will get T tunnel vision for sure.

Post info about yourself as suggested in the above sticky. We need labs, almost all of your labs, not just hormones. We also need the lab ranges.

We see a very high number of thyroid issues in the population of guys that show up here. So there is a strong focus on that. Most people are iodine deficient to some degree. Your history of iodine intake from iodized salt and vitamins that list iodine is important. If you become iodine deficient, the RDA [recommended daily allowance] is inadequate for recovery of iodine stores. Please see the thyroid basics sticky for more information.

You do not want to suffer from subclinical hypothyroidism or get Rx thyroid meds to treat iodine deficiency.

If you are injecting T or contemplating that, read the protocol for injections sticky.

There are stickies for finding a TRT doc, estradiol [E2] and lab work.

Do not place your history or treatment details in the stickies! That belongs in your thread. Keep all of your posts in your thread so we can have a clear picture of your situation and needs.