I supplement 100-200mg elemental iron daily, along with vitamin C and L-lysine for better absorption. L-lysine will make a drastic difference when trying to get ferritin levels up vs taking iron without it (I read several studies showing this).
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You are correct but you have to watch your HCT it will help it go up if you have problems with it, so will Vitamin Bās
Shit dude, Iām sorry to hear about your trials and tribulations. Have you ever tried more that 220 a week, in any kind of injection schedule? Could the carrier oil be causing and issues? Maybe the ester? Have you tried Test E?
Funny you mention SHBG. Earlier in the year I was 16:8 IF and SHBG was 38. I havenāt been IF in a few months and SHBG is 27 now. I was 16:8 IF for pretty much all my blood work except for this most recent one. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.
Yea man you need to start at ground zero and see if you can get things right, my sex drive is so high I literally am beating on my wifeās door or the heading to the bathroom 3x per day.
It is almost too much lol
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Vitamin Bs will increase HTC?
I take a B complex and 300mg B6 daily to try to reduce top of range prolactin naturally.
So B vitamins arenāt good for HTC?
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It can compound the issue yes, but if you donāt have an issue then you donāt have to worry about it.
Yours is 47, literally perfect. I wouldnāt even consider worrying about it until it went over 50, and even then there is no need to discontinue T until it gets over 55.
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Who knows. My only guess is SHBG related. I have lowish SHBG myselfā¦ always around 19-25.
I am prescribed 150mg per week, but for awhile was only using about 100mg per week, so I stockpiled a bit. Iāve always wanted to try a real cycle, like maybe 300mg a week to see if I get ANY libido, but then Iād have to worry about e2 sides Iād think, and of course, I cant stay on that forever even if I did.
Itās just frustrating having to rely on Viagra and almost faking the sex part of a relationship. I havenāt felt much sex drive since I was 20 and now Iām 41.
I have messed around with wellbutrin and buspar. Buspar helped, but itās always short lived. Also tried caber and selegiline with no luck.
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Phew - thank you.
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I have seen more people here with SHBG issues than I have every really seen, I have been pondering as to why.
Out of all of our clients I can count on my hands the people that have serious low SHBG issues and never feel positive effects from TRT. All but 1 were able to eventually work it out, but 1 guy we literally tried everything, I mean everything, and he said he never felt positive on TRT to this day. We have known him for 10 years. He started having this problem long before anyone really understood that low SHBG was problem.
The only thing we didnāt do, which I wish we could go back and try, is HCG mono therapy.
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My SHBG is usually around 19-25, and I consider that low. Itās not bad, but would you consider that low?
The only protocol I felt good (mentally sharp, energy, etc. BUT still no sex drive) was eod at 30mg test cyp, where TT was around 750 and e2 49. I may go back that route and play around with dosages to see if I can get something triggering libido. Living like this is hell. It affects relationships immensely.
Yea its low but I donāt know if its so low that you wonāt see a rise in sex drive. His was like 9 or 10 on good days.
I would try 100mg E5D, it is a simple protocol and will actually probably drop you in right around 750, if not stay on the schedule and titrate down until you feel good.
Edit: If your not on HCG I would crank it up, that can help increase E2 and in turn SHBG
Thanks for the help.
I did run hcg at one point and didnāt like how I felt on it. It was from one of the known online vendors though, so who knows.
I tried 100mg e5d with no luck unfortunitey.
You mentioned titrating downā¦ Do you mean from my current protocol of 220mg/week once?
Yea thats what is driving your SHBG, large doses. TC is really good at lowering SHBG, for some this is beneficial for some it is not.
When you said you tried something with no luck how long are we talking?
I ran 100mg e5d for a little over a month.
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Yea thats not really enough time to really know. A lot of guys over think this stuff, because they are anxious. I get it too, you want to feel better, but patience is key.
I would say 10-12 weeks minimum per protocol and you can only change one thing at a time using a process of elimination to get where you need to go.
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Hereās a question that Iāve never had someone seem to give an answer to:
Should the benefits from TRT all occur at the same time? For instance, should I feel the mental clarity, positive mood AND sex drive all at once? Or do some of those benefits occur alone, at different levels of T and E?
I can get my mental clarity and mood really good at a EOD protocol, but no sex drive. If sex drive IS indeed test related, shouldnāt it occur with those other benefits? Iām trying to figure out if libido just isnāt Test related for me.
Hope this makes sense?
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No sex drive usually comes first. All the other stuff comes much later.
I have seen it take 6 months for guys to feel good on TRT.
But I wonder, is this because it took this long? Or because it took them that long to recognize and understand the benefits?
I would argue the latter, it is different for guys that have cycled before. They jump on TRT and feel better almost instantly, because they know what to look for. For a guy that has never been on T, it is a learning process and unfortunately at first the only way they can tell it is working is through side effects, so they tend to change dosing so frequently until they get some sort of side effect to know that it is working.
A good TRT program isnāt going to have side effects, so you really are just going to feel normal, instead of feeling like you have low T.
So thats what I mean by you maybe are not waiting long enough, but now that you have been on a while and you know what you are looking for, it might be a good idea to skip injecting for a couple weeks, devise a plan, and start over. Then do not change the dosing schedule for at least 3 months, you can titrate the dosages, but donāt change the schedule.
Then when you have exhausted all variations of dosage on that schedule, if it is still not working then change.
Hope that makes sense.
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I consider this borderline mid-low, Iām about the same and respond very strongly to TRT, then again my TSH is <1.0 hovering between 0.6-0.9 where your TSH has been seen as high as 3.6-5.4.
I would expect to see your SHBG increase on thyroid medicine, probably to the mid 30ās or higher.
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My TSH was 2.9 at once, but not as high as you listed. I think you have me confused.
And the 2.9 was somewhat of an outlier. Other tests showed it more low.
I spoke to my DR. who specializes in thyroid and he says my labs are fine.
Systemlord, are you back on TRT? How you feeling lately?
Bro you still not feeling well? Damn man. I hope it turns around for you.
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