Thanks for the reply. I will try dropping AI completely for several weeks and assess. I really would like to figure out what is going on before I decide to pull the plug on TRT, as it has certainly given me some benefits.
As far as my LH and FSH numbers being on the higher end despite lower T, any idea what this might mean?
SO you need lower E2 for the wood issue, but higher FT for libido.
This is a case where ai may need to be used, if changing frequency and/or dosage doesn’t allow for optimal TRT.
Me, personally, with your original numbers, i’d try natural ways of increasing test. You had good LH to begin with, meaning your balls are working.
I’d look at things like exercise, stress, nutrition, etc. No drugs, no alcohol.
Actually, that means that his pituitary is working, but his balls are having issues if they need that much signal to produce. Not saying that he couldn’t do other things to increase his levels without being on TRT, because I think he could and should have been sent down that road first.
Correct. I’m backwards.
The best thing to do is reset. Stop taking supplements and inject 160mg/week for 12 weeks. Let your balls go offline. In 12 weeks your mind should be stronger and the fact is your balls will stop aching. Forget everything else. Bullshit nipple stuff is ridiculous, and soft morning erections are better than no erections. Stick with the protocol and bump up to 200mg at week 13. Feel good. Remember that! The rest will come back. Its all fluctuating and your sensitivity issues are not an issue. Bang your wife silly, and use your mind to orgasm too. Its not all hormone related. Ive been there. Worried that I was becoming too long lasting, when I had been suffering from PE due to stress, just a few months earlier. You are the teacher, and the student, but you’re also the guinea pig. Do this right.
Thanks for all of the suggestions guys. Some solid advice.
One other thing I forgot to mention in the OP that I’ve been dealing with since getting on TRT is body acne, mostly on my shoulders and traps. Before TRT I had pretty much perfect skin, but since starting, I’ve been getting big pimples and black heads on my body and shoulders/traps especially. Lowering my dose has not seemed to help this.
So between the sexual dissatisfaction, body acne, and fertility (or lack thereof) implications, I’m getting pretty fed up.
Idk man, I was up at 175mg when I started and it seemed to be too much for me. Resting heart rate and blood pressure shot up, gained 10lbs of water weight and generally felt agitated/anxious most of the time. I seem to respond and feel better since lowering my dose to 120mg… but I still have these persistent sides.
I think the overall consensus seems to be to drop everything but test and reassess after a couple of months. My fear in doing this is my balls dying off and loosing the ability to impregnate my wife in the future (we want to try for another kid in a year or so).
You can add HCG for fertility whenever. Nobody seems to lose the ability irreversibly from TRT.
Interesting. I guess I can experiment with removing HCG (and all other supps). I guess I just like having full balls, plus it seems to make me feel good.
What is FT?
Free Testosterone
Having full balls doenst make you feel better because clearly youve been feeling like crap. So just Dose T and leave everything out. Educate yourself and read. You dont seem to really know how this stuff works. Stop whining and start winning. Lol
Dude, did you even read my posts? I dont feel like crap- my mood, energy and focus are all better. And I’ve actually felt much better since LOWERING my T dose from 175 to 120mg/wk, so your advice to just increase my dose makes me think you in fact don’t really know how this works (or you’re not paying attention).
The issues I’m dealing with are loss of penis sensitivity during sex, weak orgasms, body acne and I’m concerned with fertility long term, since my clinic no longer offers HCG. Have you experienced or dealt with these symptoms while on TRT? If not, I will hope a poster with some experience in this realm will chime in…
When someone replies with ‘dude’ I sense the urgency like a whisper in the air. Yes I read your thread. You experienced some side effects and immediately made changes. And yes Ive experienced this kind of stuff. From feeling too much to near numb. But it all passes when you stick to a solid protocol that doesnt involve an AI. So… back to square one. Stick to T only at whatever dose your body desires, and then slowly add HC freaking G to the mix a few months down the road. This is not chemical castration, its merely a temporary shutdown of the components that creat natural T for the majority of men on TRT. So ‘Dude’ if you think high E causes sensitivity issues, you’re wrong. Its the lack of Androgens or your prostate. Take Cialis for that
I’ve had a similar experience to you with TRT that drew me to this website to try and figure it out. Made a thread a few weeks back looking for help and got some helpful ideas, and also some confusion.
I’ve never dealt with AI or HCG though.
Although I ‘feel’ good at higher dosages of T and am certainly bigger/stronger, if I go above 75mg per week my penis and libido die within 24 hours and don’t return until just before my next dose, sometimes if at all until I’m back down to 75mg. I’ve never made it the full 8 weeks after going above 75 to see if I adjust, as that is a long ass time to go without fucking, and I’m not on this shit to fuck up my sex life. I had no sexual problems prior to TRT.
I often feel best on my trough days before injection, and that’s also the point at which my libido is way hyper as fuck.
The acne is horrific for me as well. On any dosage I have it, but above 50mg of test per week it’s ugly as fuck front and back. On 200mg per week, it’s a sheet all down my back. Never let up for me after 12 months.
TRT is not the miracle drug it appears to be buddy, at least not for everyone. For most guys on here that have it dialed in, they will recommend even higher dosages as a cure all; a few will even question if you watch too much porn, have a hot enough girlfriend, or some other bro nonsense.
Nobody with it working well wants to admit it might be the testosterone. Sure it’s great to be jacked and confident as fuck, but for me and my body that means acne bad enough to frighten my wife, which I guess is fine because my cock doesn’t work anyway.
Seriously, there are so many douchebags on here who were lucky to get dialed in on test alone and now they think they know everything about TRT. It drives me nuts when I see someone asking for honest advice and the only reply is “drop everything else and try 200mg/week for 4 months until your body adjusts”. Meanwhile the other person is actively telling them that they do better with a lower dose. Some people don’t seem to get that we are all different and there is no cookie cutter approach to TRT.
All of these issues might be related to your protocol, weekly protocols are not optimal for some. It might be that the injection frequency is inappropriate, smaller more frequent injections usually resolve water retention issues.
Very true. I think most are sincerely trying to help. The problem is most of them do well with simple weekly injections of 150-200mg of testosterone and jump to the conclusion that holds true for everyone. It’s difficult to promote an approach that did not work for you personally and that also follows for those using very frequent dosing.
Thanks for the feedback. I should have clarified that I split my dosage, so I currently pin 60mg 2x per week. The water retention issues have resolved since lowering my dosage from 175 to 120mg weekly. Based on my pre-TRT labs showing low free T relative to total T, my assumption is my SHGB is on the higher side, which is why I never attempted switching to more frequent dosing.