So I am kind of confused as to why my T levels are so high now. My urologist called to tell me my latest levels and my T level was 1041 and Free was 255. I’ve never been that high. My last test was back in May and I was in the low 300’s. I have been doing 1ml a week since May and can’t believe how high it is. I started taking 5htp at the start of last week and had my T level check on last Thursday. I doubt this is why, but can’t think of anything else that might have helped it. Any ideas???
[quote]ActionJ wrote:
So I am kind of confused as to why my T levels are so high now. My urologist called to tell me my latest levels and my T level was 1041 and Free was 255. I’ve never been that high. My last test was back in May and I was in the low 300’s. I have been doing 1ml a week since May and can’t believe how high it is. I started taking 5htp at the start of last week and had my T level check on last Thursday. I doubt this is why, but can’t think of anything else that might have helped it. Any ideas???
Thanks
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You are dosing 1ml a week, and I assume that is 200mg of test. That’s twice what the normal dose is for TRT. It would be no surprise that your levels are that high. How much were you taking prior to your test in May, and for how long? Timing and frequency of your injections relative to when you are tested can make a big difference as well.
[quote]ActionJ wrote:
Also, I don’t feal that much different than when it was in the 300’s.
[/quote]
After being on TRT myself for a couple of years, and reading the experiences of others here and on other sites, I’m starting to conclude that the T, by itself, is not what we are looking for.
Yes, it is important to male health, that cannot be denied. But to expect estered exogenous T to take the place of natural T, and not to cause problems of its own, is unrealistic.
You are right DooRight, I am starting to figure out that there is more to it than just injecting T. Before my last test in May, I was doing .5ml twice a week, so the same dosage, but I broke it up. I am now going to space out my dosages for every two weeks and see how that goes.
5HTP has been shown to have beneficial effects on increasing the hormone Leptin. Leptin is released by visceral adipose cells, and directly messages with the Hypothalamus to up-regulate cortisol and testosterone. There are cases of guys on TRT slowly being able to ween off T entirely by improving the biologic markers that are responsible for triggering low sex hormones (ie. fixing their metabolisms). It is true that exogenous T suppress the HPTA, but as long as you are NOT dosing to levels that AAS users inject, the HPTA can come back online on its own. The body has incredible healing capacity!
What I would do is KEEP taking the 5HTP, then get your doctor to draw for morning fasting Leptin, Adiponectin (another adipose hormone, and is related to insulin resistance) and fasting Cortisol. If L, A and C come back as in a strong upper range, lower your exogenous testosterone dosage slightly, and have it rechecked every 6 weeks. Contrary to what most guys on this forum think, the HPTA can start to kick out LH even while exogenous T is present (again, as long as its not supra-physiologic T). This can show up by having labs coming back on the high end or slightly above the high end of the normal range. I might be wrong in your case, but your high T lab could potentially be a good thing. If you’re doing 200mg per week, it could be slightly too much, but you’re not THAT far above where you want to be…