Hey guys! I’m not sure I’m on the right forum muche less then right board but I’m hoping someone can give me some advice. So I’m currently on TRT 100mg a week injection IM. labs where done my total free test was 980 once and then 890 the second time I think. I have some bad mood swings and it’s effecting my marriage. I know those numbers seem good to a lot of people but I’m afraid they may be a bit to high for me. I currently don’t work out or anything. I have a family of 5 and work a lot of hours so the time is not there.
Anyway could my test being at that level cause mood swings? Should I drop it to 75mg a week and get my levels checked a few months from now and see where I’m at? I was thinking if I could get my levels somewhere around 700 total test It may help? I’m no rocket since at this so any help would be appreciated.
I started at 80 mg/wk and after a year started having mood swings (liked to lock horns and it was affecting my marriage as well). Sleep and anxiety also. I ended up dropping to 70 and then settled on 15 mg every 2 days. I don’t know how often you inject but if I am near the top of the range it doesn’t work for me. See my recent labs below and how much better I feel. More isn’t always better. What you want to get down too was too high for me.
Here are my levels from recent labs with me taking 15 mg EOD. which is around 52.5 mg/wk. I feel very good, workouts are much better, anxiety down to zero, and sleep is very good. A little goes a long way for me but is it a little? Labs drawn at trough before the next injection.
Free T (153.5) range 47-244
Total T (513.3) range 300-890
Estrodial (33) range 0 to 48
DHEA (119) range 80 to 560
Ferritin (113) range 11 to 336
Iron (80) range 53 to 167
Hemocrit 48 (down from over 50 when I was on 80 mg/wk
Check your e2 levels. I have a bunch of supplements that absolutely wreck my estradiol and that was the only thing that ever gave me “mood swings” and they were ROUGH
Info about me first. I’m about to turn 45. I’m 6’4 235lbs and have been on TRT roughly a year or so. I go to a doctor and not a clinic. Shes never checked my estrogen but I go back next month and I’ll ask for that. I looked at my labs from March my total test was 886 and free test direct was 26.2. I inject 100mg test cyp once a week in my muscle but thinking about switching to sub q. I just know my mood can go 0 to 100 quick and I don’t like it. My energy and sex drive is great and I want to keep it that way. Also when I get my estrogen checked, what range should it be in?
seeing how your test levels are not overly high I guess I would then think the your E2 levels would be in the normal range as well. Just make sure the she orders the “E2 sensitive” test as the regular E2 test can skew results by quite a bit. You my want to google “TRT blood work” panels and have a more elaborate panel taken just to cover all bases.
Check your free levels. After a year my SHBG lowered and free shot up.
So what if his E2 is high? What does he do? Take an AI? Maybe his test is too high and he should lower the dose and increasing your injection frequency. I wouldn’t add another medication until I tried lowering the dose (unpopular here I know).
Upper level is not always the best as how many guys in their 20’s are in the upper range?
I may try to go down to 75mg a week divide and pin twice a week sub q. Give it a couple of months and see how my mood swings are and go from there? I just know something has to give. But I will have my estrogen checked and see how that is.
When you do replacement… Your body needs time to recalibrate. Let it do the job of converting the T to dht/e and etc. the more you mess with your dose the more it will cause problems.
Ive been on T for a few years now, and my first 6 months were also filled with mood changes and etc… But my body finaly got used to it and im fine now.
If your E is too high for some reason, and you belive that bro science, mess with your dose not supression… let the body handel the T lke it would natural levels of T.
Easy fix. If I’m not mistaken the research shows men given 100mg test/week gained no size and in some cases lost muscle. Up your dose to 150mg/week. Split into 3 sub q shots in the upper glute. Monday Wednesday Friday
You may or may not see a huge difference in twice a week injections vs. once a week (some do) and you may or may not see a huge difference in IM vs. sub-q. however these are variables to explore if you’re interested. Just make sure you give each change the appropriate time before passing judgment or changing protocols again.
I’ve been doing some reading and think I’m going to drop down to 75mg a week split into 3 sub q injections a week. I’ve never done sub q so any help with that too I would appreciate. My test is 100mg per ml so if I wanted to don75mg a week divided into 3 injections a week. How many units per injection would that be? And I really appreciate you helping me. I’ll give this a go for 3 months, do blood work again and see if it’s helped anything. Like I said I go back to the doctor next month and I’ll ask her to check my test levels and estrogen. My appointment will be exactly 6 days from my last muscle injection so it will tell me more. Thanks again!
If your Test vile is 100mg per ml. you would draw 25 units per injection. Now, If your injecting 3 times per week. Make sure that you are lab testing on the day you are scheduled to inject and have the sample taken right before you inject. As opposed to waiting 6 days post injection.
Are you currently doing subQ? I feel better on shallow IM not sure why but it was a big difference for me. 29 gauge EOD is not a big deal and I rarely even feel it.
All my labs haven’t came back yet other than this. This was me doing 75mg a week sub q for 2 weeks injecting 3 times a week. I think I’m going to bump it up to 80mg a week or 85. What’s your thoughts? Note, my mood swings haven’t gotten any better.
Don’t keep changing your protocol. Pick a mg/wk amount and stick with it for a few months. Permanent changes don’t happen overnight or in a couple weeks for that matter. Your body needs months to adjust to a change.
Just wanted to update and show my estrogen. I’m gonna stick to 100m a week subq divided into 3 injections a week. I’m starting a new healthy diet and back in the gym on Monday.
