Please see my excel document. I recently got bloods via the GP (I am from the UK) but they forgot to add testosterone (again…). I have switched to Sub q due to my HB and RBC being above range and Drs saying they will stop my prescription if it continues to go up. My HB has gone down on my most recent bloods but my FSH and LH have gone up. The drs forgot to do my Test which is annoying but since my FSH and LH are going up (only happened before when on HCG but im off this since January) and not down, does this mean the Sub q has no effect?
To note, im experiencing ED, very low libido, inability to maintain an erection with cialis 10mg. I am on 60mg Test / week (previously 90mg but i had very high test)
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It would be interesting to see testosterone. FSH and LH levels do not look like those of someone taking testosterone. I do not even check those on guys taking testosterone. Waste of money.
They should agree to retest you and get testosterone levels.
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I rechecked my previous bloods (from April 2023) and LH and FSH were <0.1 until I changed to Sub Q causing low T symptoms and increased LH and FSH.
I am unsure why my prolactin increased though
It certainly looks that way. It takes longer for the test to circulate and get into your system from SQ injections, esp using a thick oil. It’s likely going to take much longer on SQ for build up
It’s all about mitigating risk, there’s more risk with low-T than with a slight elevation in hematocrit.
The cut off ranges for hematocrit for men on TRT are arbitrary. For men on replacement therapy, 54% is the cutoff where blood donation and or dosage reductions are recommend in guidelines.
In the UK they do not do therapeutic blood removal via the NHS and it’s costly private. I have signed up for blood donation but on their website they say they don’t take TRT patients blood.
Hmm, so sub q will not work on me or it’s the T itself / ester? I use Cyp
Do they give an explanation as to why not?
Ridiculous!
There’s no good reason, only ignorance.
It’s not getting into your bloodstream if your LH and FSH has anything to say about it. I recall other members noticing a drastic reduction in T after switching to SubQ.
I think a lot of what’s being discussed above has been talked about previously but not on laptop to find links.
If I recall it should be within a day or two difference of using IM and once you reach a steady state I would have thought most people are not likely to notice that short a time scale (using longer esters?)
The laws have recently changed as it used to be a big no on anyone using any type of injection (out of a surgery setting) From a look at the link below it seems to be a case by case issue. It states they would want more information from you (maybe they read these forums and see how many of us want “that extra boost, just this once”)…
(sorry link takes to main page then you have to look under each letter/subject)
https://my.blood.co.uk/your-account/eligibility/health/
Yeah your labs don’t make sense (to my non professional eye) saying FSH and LH high but also showing free test high. Or am I wrong in how I’m reading that?
This I am sure @readalot has mentioned in posts before, the amount of test your body will use from the injection will be pretty similar whether its done I.M or SC, what will be measurably different is the rate your body “gets to the ester” and breaks it down (see @swoops39 point about time for it to circulate) but the overall amount your body uses, over a set amount of time is pretty much the same, you are just likely to get lower high’s and higher lows (Area under curve?) So in theory a more steady state.
Everyone’s different of course (although judging by how people say they respond on the forums you’d think we were all different species) and I may be totally wrong on the above but I think there are more in depth posts to be found on these points and if time will look later.
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Just to update I repeated my test myself (only test as it’s expensive to add additions). It came back at 15.5 which is on the lower end of the reference ranges. I read somewhere on this form that Cyp has some evidence of not being subq optimal but I not sure if that was antidotal
Excellent and thoughtful summary. Well done.
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The enanthate will cleave off 1-2 days faster, other than that, there’s not much of a difference.
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Are you taking something for sleeping? Something like melatonin can also increase your prolactin for example…
On and off yes, but I have been taking this for years. I also take finasteride which can mask PSA
Did too for 15years, but i wont touch it again. Its a hormone too, and a strong one…
A study out of Boston University looking at how Finasteride affects the conversion of chemicals in the brain that decreases 6 other neural steroids in the brain!
So going on HRT/TRT and trying to optimize hormones and then taking finasteride is the opposite of what one is trying to achieve on hormone therapy.
Thank you, I will look further into it. I am quite a vein individual so I know that early blading will impact my quality of life greatly, so I need to weigh the pros and cons of my actions.
I get lower levels on subq. Not really drastic but by a few hundred TT trough reading.
Also depends maybe I was going shallow IM. (1/2 inch needle to glute, which still shows great efficacy in my case)
What’s a “hormone too?” Melatonin or finerastide? If melatonin, and you took it for 15 years and stopped, what was the reason? Curious, I have bad insomnia, been taking for at least 5 years. I have read good things about it, but want to be as enlightened as possible.
