they can get painful i’m told as small as raisins and there is some other hormonal production from them that causes some people issues with depression. I would not know I’ve never not used it. I was just making sure you knew about fertility issues.
I’m thinking the acne might clear up as soon as you get your balance between estrogen and testosterone in order. Those kind of cysts don’t go away quickly. From my youth though I do remember the sun just killed them. what you’re looking for is your skin to become less oily and new ones will slow down. I have no idea how fast that change takes place
You need to inject twice a week and if it turns out that you need anastrozole, take at time of injections. Try to always do injecting ~halfway between injections to eliminate lab changes driven by lab timing changes. You are a fast T metabolizer, so this is more of a requirement for you than for most guys.
Please present future labs in a better fashion and lab ranges should be shown with the results.
Routine labs:
TT
FT
E2
CBC
hematocrit
AST/ALT
PSA
- DRE once a year
Find 25mg DHEA on the vitamin shelves.
RBC, hematocrit [HTC] and hemoglobin will increase with TRT, need to track. A few guys have TRT lead to blood that is too thick.
Post more info as per 1st sticky.
Thyroid is more than TSH. See below re oral body temperatures. Using iodized salt is very important for the whole family.
This is the basic boiler plate…
Please read the stickies found here: About the T Replacement Category - #2 by KSman
- advice for new guys - need more info about you
- things that damage your hormones
- protocol for injections
- finding a TRT doc
Evaluate your overall thyroid function by checking oral body temperatures as per the thyroid basics sticky. Thyroid hormone fT3 is what gets the job done and it regulates mitochondrial activity, the source of ATP which is the universal currency of cellular energy. This is part of the body’s temperature control loop. This can get messed up if you are iodine deficient. In many countries, you need to be using iodized salt. Other countries add iodine to dairy or bread.
KSman is simply a regular member on this site. Nothing more other than highly active.
I can be a bit abrupt in my replies and recommendations. I have a lot of ground to cover as this forum has become much more active in the last two years. I can’t follow threads that go deep over time. You need to respond to all of my points and requests as soon as possible before you fall off of my radar. The worse problems are guys who ignore issues re thyroid, body temperatures, history of iodized salt. Please do not piss people off saying that lab results are normal, we need lab number and ranges.
The value that you get out of this process and forum depends on your effort and performance. The bulk of your learning is reading/studying the suggested stickies.
Thank you sir I will get to reading stickies immediately. Your time is greatly appreciated and I will get current labs done so I can post them. The soonest I can get them done will be Tuesday and I’m sure will take lab a couple days to process. I will look for the DHEA tonight at Walgreens. And I’m going to read deeply into the iodized salt issue. A year ago my family switched to the pink himilayan salt. We haven’t used iodized in that long. Should I also look into IR supplements or is that dependent on body temp in morning and through day as per sticky. I also looked and I take rainbow light Mens one multivitamin that contains 200mg of selenium. I read in one of the stickies about taking this as well. But not sure on proper dosage required.
So far in reading I’m a bit confused on if I should attempt a HPTA restart at my age or to continue on with TRT as a long term solution, or completely stop what I’m doing and go back to square one and let system go back to where I started before TRT. There’s a lot of information that I’m still trying to understand. What has me concerned is I am noticing the boys aren’t as big as used to be and I don’t produce as much semen while there is also some achiness starting to become more frequent down there. I apologize for my ignorance but I just don’t want to damage my body. I’m sure the next step is to get current labs which I’ll post asap and more to forum standards.
Your symptoms are the reason for HCG. If that is bothering you and it would me. You need HCG. HCG keeps the boys working. Even though you do not not want more kids. We tend to feel best when our testicles are up and running. When we take testosterone shots, our body tells our boys we dont need them to be working so hard. So they shut off. Off is ok for some guys. Most of us miss them. The protocol for HCG is 250mgs every other day. It sounds like you need it
KSman is someone to listen to
Thank you so much Verne. Your help is also appreciated and I’m taking every word KSman is saying to heart as I see he’s very knowledgeable and recommended in this forum. I’m also full of questions now and trying not to chap his ass with too many at once. Lol. But yea I’m ok with a slight reduction in the boys just not too much, in fact any less than where I’m at now is gonna be too much. The achiness is really bothering me though.
My testicles began to itch/aching 3 months into TRT, they no longer ach anymore and their size is about half what they used to be. I’m not on HCG nor do I require an AI, however the semen quality and volume is improving with time, penile sensitivity and erections are increasing by the week. I’m going to request it from my endo next time I see her. I hear that some don’t do well with HCG while others do well with it and some never get rid of the ach without HCG. It’s going to take you some time to assimilate all the information, we all go to start somewhere.
KSman I have updated my initial history and have literally been reading for hours and hours now. I’ve also made several updates on some of the other posts I made as well that were responses to others questions. I have to say though I’m a bit confused. so now I’m questioning my doctors knowledge on TRT. Should I step back and get inline with the injection protocol and see what labs look like over time? And if so you stated to find DHEA. Are you meaning to take this with the injection protocol and as a long term supplement? Before I started TRT, my DHEA-S =146 ~ 82-455 UG/DL. Or should I wait until I can get current labs done and post results? I’m still trying to read stickies. and comprehend on the injection protocol as well. T+HCG+AI. Thank you again for your time sir. It is greatly appreciated.
As far as your cystic back acne, I can give you a sample of one. I had the exact same thing happening and I tried fiddling with this and that, but in the end what stopped the acne for me was finasteride. Apparently my skin doesn’t like DHT. And TRT will increase your DHT.
But I would also warn you that some people have very negative and sometimes permanent problems when they go on finasteride. Read up on it and decide for yourself. For me I was extremely nervous but ended up trying it and it works. I also tried coming off of it and the acne returned, so for me the effects aren’t likely permanent.
Thank you for the recommendation. I’ll do some research on that.
So up to current my temps have been consistently 98.5-98.6. That’s 2 days, 3 separate times from first thing in morning to laying down for bed. I will keep monitoring occasionally for future reference. I started on 25mg DHEA, and went ahead and picked up some kelp supplements that list 300mcg of iodine. Started last night with 2 pills then from this morning for 7 days was going to take 3. Then just take 1 a day from there out as a supplement with my daily vitamin. Any input is appreciated. Figured this was ok since from what I’ve read in the forum I’m not showing any signs of thyroid issues unless I’m missing something which is totally possible with all the information that’s available here. Thanks again.
I’ve searched and compared and compiled a list since I couldn’t find a direct answer searching through other posts and stickies. Please forgive me if I sound like an idiot but I’m just trying to learn more about this so I can take better care of myself and figure out what is going on with me. I’m going to request my Dr. put in an order for bloodwork. Of these labs which do I need and which do I not. It’s been a month since my last bloodwork that I posted earlier and it seems like there are panels that I’m wondering if I should get checked. I just want to make sure I have all the info needed as per the new guy sticky. And also I changed my dosing some so I want to monitor that as well. I’m going to also ask him if he’ll write a script for hcg.
If you get some time or a chance @KSman could you take a gander and give me your thoughts. Much appreciated. Peace, Love, and Taco Sauce.
Mexi Mike
LH/FSH
CBC
TT
FT or bio-T
Prolactin
DHT
PSA
E2
DHEA-S
Hemoglobin
Hematocrit
RBC
SHBG
AST/ALT
PSA
TSH
Ft3
Ft4
CMP
Reverse T3
Thyroid antibodies
Four iron labs
Saliva adrenal cortisol
B12 and folate
Vitamin D3
Sex hormones