Some men may want to consider a couple alternatives to traditional TRT. HCG only therapy can produce pretty dramatic results for those whose testes function well. The advantage is that while you are shutting down part of your HPTA ( the H and the P) you are using your own testes to increase test whereas they are shutdown during traditional TRT.
Unless, of course, you use HCG along with your Test- which seems wise. Some may prefer the easy sub Q inject of HCG over the IM inject of test. Another alternative is to use a SERM and an AI to raise endogenous test. I tried a modest dose of clomid and arimidex and raised my test by 75 ng/dl in 5 weeks.
A modest gain, to be sure, yet the dosage was only 50 mg ED Clomid and .5 ml 2Xweek arimidex. I beleive that by increasing those dosages it is possible to double my gain, perhaps more. The last alternative and maybe the most interesting one is to use test itself to raise your endogenous production!
Sounds like a contradiction and it may all be a silly idea but the notion is this: the guru Bill Roberts has several times remarked upon a curious fact- that 2 weeks of AAS use actually sensitizes the HPTA rather than suppresses it. He claims that after such a breif cycle ones HPTA is primed and ready to bounce back very quickly once test levels come down, and that the now primed HPTA will over-respond to the normal hormonal milyoo.
Yeah, I know I cannot spell milyoo. Have you tried it? Hope I am making sense here, he makes a case that once test levels are back to normal that the sensitized HPTA responds more vigorously to the normal hormone environment than it did before the cycle. So it may actually RAISE endogenous test.
An interesting idea! I dont want to overstate the case, B Rob himself has not suggested that these 2 week cycles are a substitute for TRT. I tried one of them myself. Just finished it last week. I am going to wait a week or two and then get some BW done and we shall see what, if anything happened to my pathetically inadequate T levels. Any intelligent comments appreciated.
Just a quick note for those of us on TRT/HRT. Testosterone injections have a habit of lowering T4 and T3 (thyroid)levels. Six or so months after taking HRT I started to feel slow, lethargic, and slightly depressed like before. Since I have plenty of time to do online research, I found out about the Testosterone/Thyroid connection.
I mentioned it to my doctor, she ordered blood work and my T4/T3 levels had decreased from 344 to 265 (T3) she adjusted my dosage and once again, all is well. If this applies to anybody here, please see your doctor.
[quote]GluteActivation wrote:
Looking at all the interesting available data, there is broad consensus (almost unanimous, in fact) among physicians and experts that regimens of testosterone are good for men over 40 who are showing signs of low testosterone, low libido, etc. And, testosterone injections of men in their 60’s and 70’s improves health greatly.
Does anyone here know what such a regimen would look like? This board focuses on doses and stacks geared toward bodybuilding, getting huge, getting ripped, etc. These doses, I would imagine, are higher for their short term use in bodybuilding and are much higher than what would be considered “therapeutic” for general good health.
If one went to an “anti-aging” clinic and showed they had all of the symptoms associated with low test, etc., then what would the dosing look like? And, doses of what? Is this therapy mainly testosterone? Or, do doctors use other things, too. And if they do, then what other things do they use? And how much of it?[/quote]
I use 2 packets (10 grams) of Androgel daily, along with weekly injections of 250 mg (approx) of Test Cypionate. I feel much better than on either one alone.
[quote]KNB wrote:
Just a quick note for those of us on TRT/HRT. Testosterone injections have a habit of lowering T4 and T3 (thyroid)levels. Six or so months after taking HRT I started to feel slow, lethargic, and slightly depressed like before. Since I have plenty of time to do online research, I found out about the Testosterone/Thyroid connection.
I mentioned it to my doctor, she ordered blood work and my T4/T3 levels had decreased from 344 to 265 (T3) she adjusted my dosage and once again, all is well. If this applies to anybody here, please see your doctor.
cheers[/quote]
" started to feel slow, lethargic, and slightly depressed like before"
Increased E levels can do the same thing in the same time frame and lowing E can create profound improvements.
[quote]KSman wrote:
KNB wrote:
Just a quick note for those of us on TRT/HRT. Testosterone injections have a habit of lowering T4 and T3 (thyroid)levels. Six or so months after taking HRT I started to feel slow, lethargic, and slightly depressed like before. Since I have plenty of time to do online research, I found out about the Testosterone/Thyroid connection.
I mentioned it to my doctor, she ordered blood work and my T4/T3 levels had decreased from 344 to 265 (T3) she adjusted my dosage and once again, all is well. If this applies to anybody here, please see your doctor.
cheers
" started to feel slow, lethargic, and slightly depressed like before"
Increased E levels can do the same thing in the same time frame and lowering E can create profound improvements.[/quote]
I had forgotten that. Thank you. BTW, my E level was 35 then.
[quote]KNB wrote:
Just a quick note for those of us on TRT/HRT. Testosterone injections have a habit of lowering T4 and T3 (thyroid)levels. Six or so months after taking HRT I started to feel slow, lethargic, and slightly depressed like before. Since I have plenty of time to do online research, I found out about the Testosterone/Thyroid connection.
I mentioned it to my doctor, she ordered blood work and my T4/T3 levels had decreased from 344 to 265 (T3) she adjusted my dosage and once again, all is well. If this applies to anybody here, please see your doctor.
cheers[/quote]
E also lowers thyroid function. Taking an AI will naturally correct this. T3/T4 will also lower E. Sometimes it’s better to reduce E, other times it’s better to increase thyroid function depending on other factors.
Since you already started out with normal thyroid function lowering E seems like the natural solution.