T Replacement Injections. Does It Get Consistent?

Pharma TRT
1

Ok, I’ve had this problem for a while. I thought I was depressed but I didn’t know why. I didn’t want to tell anyone because I didn’t want to explain why I was depressed because I didn’t even know why I was. Well, about a month ago, I saw a new doc and brought up to him how I am always stressed out, kind of depressed, foggy mind, etc. He said sounds like low T. Be honest, I’ve heard of Testosterone but I just thought it was a manly thing to say. I didn’t think you could stick a dip stick in someone and check their T levels. I am medically illiterate.

Well, the results came back and he said I’m kind of low. The old scale they used to use, I am low. The new scale for the new lab, I’m low end of normal. But I’m exhibiting all the symptoms of low T so they will treat the symptoms and me and not the number.

They gave me an injection. For about 5 days, I felt like a miracle. I felt amazing. I was happy. I was social (I’m very quiet normally.) I felt like a new person. Well after about 5 days, it wore off. I waited the full 7 days and went back to the doctor for another one. I’m on day 2 and still feel nothing and I guess I know now “hormonal.” I feel like a drug addict. I’m searching for that same “high” I had the first time. I had the last injection Thursday around 4 PM. It’s now Saturday. Been pretty much 2 days now.

I’m thinking if it’s going to be this way going forward where I have 3-4 days where my hormones are OK and 3-4 days where they’re low, that sucks. How are other’s experiences? As injections keep being injected, does it level out where I’m pretty normal all the time?

I am trying other things too on top of the injections. I think my diet has been partially to blame. I’ve been on weight watchers. About 6 months ago, I switched to the shake diet. I think both of those were bad for my T levels. I am trying to eat more steak and eggs and anything with high Protein. I am also taking a few mutivitamins and other supplements a book I read on testosterone suggested I take. Trying to get out in the sun more. There are also more things in my personal life with my wife and other things with my personal self I have changed up to hopefully fix this part of my life. Also, try to work out my abs and go to the gym. Also I always wore briefs. Lately switched to nothing afraid it’s doing damage down there.

A month ago, I didn’t know I had to watch this. Knew nothing about it. Now that I know there’s a cure for this depressed mood I’ve been in for a while now, I am obsessed with changing whatever in my life to fix this problem.

Also, is there a way to ween off the T injections and just get my body to produce it normal? I’m afraid these T injections are going to make my body dependent where it will just start thinking it’s getting it, why produce it. So, after my body decides it’s no use producing it and I start weening off of it, will by body recover or am I doomed to having to use T injections for life?

2

TRT is for life. You were not producing enough T, it’s not going to magically shoot up on its own.

It’s unlikely that you felt anything from the actual T from the first injection. It takes time for it to build up and your body to respond.

3

Welcome to the forum. There’s a lot of knowledgeable member that will help you.
I know the basics that you’ll need to include. Please read the stickies:
“About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman”
Especially the one for new guys.

In summary:
-What are your labs? Please post those with your values with normal ranges according to the lab. Basically everything you got, Total T, Free T, E2, Thyroid Panel, CBC, etc.
-What are they injecting you with? Dosage? Prescribed frequency?
-Also post your profile from #11 on the new guy stickie.
“Advice for New Guys”

Once you post that, the forum geniuses will be better equipped to help you.

Also, what I’ve read, it takes weeks/months before you really feel an improvement too.

4

I had a similar experience when I started TRT. I think there are two variables to consider -

1 - Once you start Testosterone injections, lots of other things in your body change. It takes time for them to balance out.

2 - Finding the proper dose and frequency is important, and it takes time. Most people do better with small doses and injections every three days. The reasoning behind this is because there are fewer unpleasant side effects to small doses and the ill effects of Low T are never experienced when injecting every three or four days.

It took me about five injections at the dose that works for me until things leveled out. It felt like it took forever, but that’s behind me now.

As for your body being dependent: as long as you are receiving injections, your body will adjust and may ‘shut down’ it’s own production. If you stop injections, your body will return to normal functioning over a period of time. BUT - it wasn’t producing much to begin with, so what good is that?

My only personal advice is TRT is not a replacement for things that can lower your T levels, like poor sleep, bad diet, high body-fat and stress. BUT - remember that if you’re truly hypogonadal then these items can often be SYMPTOMS and fixing them means that treatment is working.

5

I’ve been prescribed Testosterone CYP and I inject 0.5 ML once a week. About your other questions, I’m not sure. With my “Total T, Free T…,” he showed me that stuff in the doc office. But I far from have a photographic memory and they didn’t give it to me on a paper.

About the comment where they doubt I’m noticing anything from the first injection, I have a hard time believing that. (I get what you are saying but at the same time I lived it…) I was the most energized I can ever remember in my adult life. I had insomnia for over 3 days. But even not sleeping, I was wide awake all day. And, I was being super social which is totally not me. It was the first time I felt alive ever. I don’t think it was the placebo affect. I didn’t stay awake for 3 days because I thought I was getting something but it hadn’t built up yet.

6

Ask your doctor for your lab results. Ether they have a patient portal online that you can get or they can mail the results to you. Post the results.

7

The reason why I also mentioned whether I am going to be dependent on it now is I’m wondering sort of if I’m jumping to the injections too quickly. I think I’ve found that I’ve been doing a lot of things wrong in life that affected my testosterone. Be super honest, before my first doctor appointment, I just thought “testosterone” was a manly thing to say or you had it but it couldn’t be measured and everyone just had it. I don’t know. I am medically illiterate. Never thought about it. But then my doc mentioned it and then measured my amount and that’s when I started looking into it.

So, the results come back and I’m low. But I would say it’s been low because I’ve been on weight watchers diet for years, then start of the new year, I went on the shake diet just drinking shakes. My diet probably sucked for testosterone levels. I also probably drink a little more than I should (I don’t consider myself an alcoholic.) But be super honest,I was drinking most of the time because of my low T. I didn’t know why I felt the way I did and if I had a 6 pack, it usually numbed it temporarily. But, I’ve been doing things wrong for a long time which maybe if I reversed it, my T levels may come back to normal on its own.

But seeing I’m going on T injections, I’ll never know. I keep questioning this. I could try it on my own by following all the greatest advice without injections to get it to normal and it may work and it may not and I may throw a year or more away of my life again.

8

I do not see where you have even given your age!

Age:
Height:
Weight:
Waist size:

Please read these stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman

  • advice for new guys
  • things that damage your hormones
  • protocol for injections
  • finding a TRT doc

You need steady T levels. Inject 50mg [.25ml] twice a week.
get #29 1/2" 0.5ml insulin syringes, ~$14 at Walmart/Sam’s Relion house brand, no Rx required in many jurisdictions. Inject upper leg outer muscle groups IM or SC anywhere on upper leg. Try belly fat if problems with SC on leg.

Need your pre and post TRT lab work with ranges. There are other issues depending on your age.

9

Age: 36
Height: 5’9
Weight: 188 lbs
Waste Size: 36

About how much T I am injecting, I am doing what my doc prescribed. So far, even though I’ve only seen him once, I trust him. I checked out his reviews on doc websites and he has very high ratings.

10

You will not get better guidance on your hormone health than here. You can trust your doc; but do you understand enough to grant that trust? In this game, being passive and trusting/liking your doctor is typically a road to ruin. If you do not want to play the game here, I don’t know what you were expecting to gain.

11

Ok, so I have numbers now…

Free Testosterone range for my lab of normal is 8.7-25.1
Total Testosterone range for my lab of normal is 348.0-1197.0

6/17/16
Free Testosterone (Direct) 7.0 pg/mL
Testosterone, Total, LC/MS 293.5 ng/dL

8/18/16
Free Testosterone (Direct) 13.9 pg/mL
Testosterone, Total, LC/MS 574.8 ng/dL

So, as you can see, after using injections for about 2 months, my T levels are up. But, I’m still the low end of normal. I asked my doc and he said I’m in the normal range so they’re not going to increase it. I am still “hormonal” if you ask me. I still don’t feel right. I had that “high” right after my first injection" and then sunk back down and barely feel any better than before I started it. My personal life between the sheets during that high I was amazing… Now I’m back to my old self as a minute man… I’m not sure what to do.

12

What about E2?

Your T levels are still way too low on TRT.

Still think your doc is great?

13

I don’t see E2 on the paperwork anywhere.

14

Theres been a men’s clinic in the area that advertises on the radio quite a bit. I’ve scheduled an appointment with them next week.

15

Try changing from cypionate to enathate, better yet if your insurance coverage get the pellets, if you just want normal levels i dont want blood test i may or may not want my levels higher. The pellets are most consistent but you are at docs every two three months instead of six, my gp recommend pellets. Fuck topical solutions, too expensive.

16

Well, in reference to the comment trt is for life… just finished my appt with the endocrinologist. They said my previous t levels (before I started trt injections) were fine. I had the levels checked for my first time at night and night levels are always lower. Then I had my post the levels in the morning and they’re always higher in the morning. She said she can’t say if it’s helping or not and seeing I’m not noticing any benefit, she told me to stop taking the injections and they’re going to retest in 4 months. I just want to figure this out but I guess the answer is at least 4 months out. Probably 6 months at the earliest.

17

Have you followed any of my prior advice and suggestions?

We really need all of your lab work, with ranges. Your TT and FT labs are not very useful. Low T is the symptom and not the cause of your issues and weight gain.

When you inject only once a week, TT and FT levels change a lot. Then lab results are more a factor of when you do the lab work and the results really are then quite useless.

Read the stickies and ask questions based on your reading and your life/health issues.

18

Ok, seeing I have now been taken off of trt injections, trying to look at my lab work is irrelevant. I’ve already posted everything I know. Does anyone have any supplement suggestions that I can buy off the counter to get me by the next 4 months? My theory now is if I can fix this myself without any doctor scripts, that’s the absolute best outcome. Proper nutrition and exercise making my hormone levels normal is the best option by far. Maybe I’ll get to the 4 months and feel amazing and say forget sticking myself with trt injections for life because I’ve figured out the magical diet and routine.

19

Take it from me supplements r not going to raise ur test anywhere enough to where u feel better. You can improve ur workouts, big compound lifts, and improve sleep. But if you still feel bad, go and get blood work. If u r in the low range then decide what u want to do. If u want to fix the problem then go through the clinic route. But u gotta remember it’s for life. I’m only 30 and I debated this for 6 months because I knew that I would have to be able to do this for the rest of my life. Would this effect my health? Would I be fertile? Would I be ok poking myself every day almost? I saw an endo and he gave me a crap protocol of once every 2 weeks, no AI and no Hcg. I decided to go on my own and go to a clinic… I now have my blood work done every month, or more of I need to. I’m feeling better then ever. A little more expensive but I feel like I have complete control on dosage and test

20

So, it’s been months since I’ve posted here. My personal doc refereed me to a specialist. She took me off of TRT and gave me 6 months to let my levels go back to normal and then retested me twice. First time, she said they were a little low and retested. Second time, they came back normal. So, her last letter is everything is normal and no need to do anything further. But, I’ll admit, I still know things are off. I feel slightly “hormonal” all the time and emotional which isn’t right. I’ve been on the paleo “caveman” diet trying to eat all natural healthy stuff and still trying to make it to the gym 3 days a week. But, I guess I’m on my own now. So, anyone have any suggestions how to boost my T levels naturally?