Hey, just joined here trying to learn more and wanted to throw out a question and see if anyone had advice.
Started trt on 150mg/wk test-c split twice a week about 6 months ago. After about 3 months labs came back at 1250TT (240-950), 362FT (47-244), SHBG 25 (13.3-89.5), and E2 54 (0-56).
I started having some ED issues a couple months in that cialis fixed, but wanted to resolve the issue. I was concerned about E2 being high because I read way too much online about E2 causing issues at my level. I dropped to 120mg split into twice a week and my E2 dropped to 51 a month later. About this time the cialis wasn’t working as much, and my libido started dropping too. I just lost all interest in sex. I panicked and started taking .25mg anastrozole with each test dose to get me working again. I’m in the gym a lot and have a lot of muscle but I’m still sitting at 22% BF (down from about 30%). I figured since I was fat I was aromatizing more than most people and needed the AI. Seemed to help some at first but libido started fading again. It seemed like I felt the best right before my next test injection. Follow up labs after dropping to 120mg and adding AI had everything about the same but E2 dropped to 27. Unfortunately I didn’t really feel a lot better. I started feeling worse with my overall mood too. To make things more complicated I started on hcg at 1000iu/week for mostly cosmetic reasons, but read that keeping natural function of my own system could be better for overall health. I told the Doc my wife misses my big balls so they set me up on novarel. Doc was a chick by the way so that was a fun conversation.
Most of what I’ve read online from others with more experience was with my high free test and lower SHBG I should be dropping my dose to help keep my E2 where my body is happier. Part of my problem is I’m chasing gains in the gym and losing fat. It’s made me reluctant to drop test dosage. Now I’m reading that the small difference in test won’t make a huge difference in the gym unless I’m doing an actual cycle.
So…as I’m typing this it sounds even more retarded but I’ve been in a panic. Over the last 3 weeks I’ve cut out the AI and dropped to 100mg a week for Test, and staying on the hcg. I’m hoping this is a more sensible approach and going to try to ride it out a couple months, get new labs, and see how I feel. I was feeling pretty off this morning and took .25mg anastrozole and within 3 hours or so my mood picked way up. Way more productive at work and feel like I could take life by the hair and skull fuck it. I obviously don’t really know where to go from here now.
I get I’ve been all over the place on this and totally recognize I need to settle into a protocol and give myself time to stabilize. I’m planning on doing that at my current 100mg a week, no AI, and 1000iu hcg a week. My hope is after a couple months the E2 issue will work itself out. I just figured I’d reach out and see if that would be going in the right direction finally or if I’m way off. I know that’s a lot of info but wanted to throw out as much as I could in case it made a difference.
If it matters I’m 47. Diet is mostly high protein with a few shit meals here and there. Lift pretty heavy and cardio 3 times a week.