Hey all. I don’t post here much, but 6 years ago you all talked me out of my first cycle and coached me on breaking my plateau.
Well, 6 years later I’m still doing great in the gym and don’t feel any real need for a cycle. However, I got some labs done due to fatigue, low libido and midsection fat and I’m not liking them.
Here’s my current labs at 43yo, followed by what they were at 37yo.
Testosterone, Total = 290.8 ng/dl (714 at 37yo)
Free testosterone calculation = 5.68 pg/ml (30.5 at 37yo)
SHBG = 33.4 nmol/l (?)
Sensitive Estradiol = 21.24 pg/ml (33.5 at 37yo)
For those of you with experience, would TRT help enough to be worth while?
TRT was quite literally life changing for me. I had no idea just how damaged I had become until I started healing from it.
But I couldn’t imagine being in a situation where I had to debate if it was worth it or not. At the time it was offered to me, things were so terrible that there was no debate about that. It was a lifeline. If I COULD have lived a real life without having to depend on some sort of medical intervention for the rest of my life, I would have picked THAT alternative instead. But this was necessary.
If you don’t mind me asking, what age did you start? The biggest problem I have at the moment is fatigue. I make it to the gym 3 to 6 days per week, but otherwise mostly a couch potato. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to do anything, like I’m trying to trudge through mud or something.
Please post lab ranges. If this is standard labcorp then yes you are at the lower end of the spectrum. Still, you didn’t test Fsh/Lh which is necessary for a diagnoses when you take the other lab draws you posted. Do I think you would benefit from TRT? Yup, but I’m no doc.
I’ve been on TRT for 6 months. 100 mg (total) of test cypionate weekly. Feel good. Improved libido, training recovery, and mood. No issues whatsoever…so far. Worth it…for me. I’m 43 years old.
Competed in powerlifting and Olympic lifting from 15 to age 30. I was never enhanced and always on the high-normal end of T levels until passed 40. My highest natural bodyweight was 198 lbs as an Olympic lifter. Height: 67 inches. And I was mid-teen bodyfat at that point.
But we age and the body just isn’t doing it anymore. I have one testicle that is a dud plus plenty of head injuries you could reasonably say are the precipitating causes. I’m still sub-20% bodyfat and train hard, eat well.
3 months in on 120mg weekly (I split the dose, inject twice weekly) and my total T was >1300 and Free T: 64 (roughly triple upper end on the reference range for that lab). My hemoglobin/hematocrit was elevated enough the Provider recommended blood donation. Backed down to 100 mg total weekly, and total T is in the 600’s, free T 32 (which is still above reference).
Wanted to screw everything in sight on 120 mg, lol. 100 mg is more like I’m in my 30’s again vs 20’s.
I’m 52 and been on trt for 2 years (125mg test-c/week). My total test was 464 on the 300-1100 scale. I forget the rest off hand. Feel much better. I have a good weight room in my shed and lift at least 3 days/week and try to stretch at least 5 days/week. Decent diet, but not great. It’s worth considering.
No you should focus on making it to the gym, then comitting to a diet then trt. You can blast 1g gear and if you aren’t eating or training, it wont do shit unless tren. If tren and do that, it will kill you.
I started TRT at 27 and my test levels were in the bottom 10% of the reference range.
Docs said I didn’t need it. Technically they were right.
But the private clinic I paid gave me a Rx and for the first time in my life I realized what it felt like to not have low T.
It was worth it for me.
If you feel a notable difference when taking it - it is probably worthwhile for you as well.
Guessing at your lab results (not knowing the reference ranges), I’d say you’re within reason to go on TRT so long as you’re content with pinning 1-2x weekly for the rest of your life.
Not advice, just sharing my experience in relation to yours.
Just to play devils advocate and to share my experience of TRT… and its been a huge waste of time. I started with natural 150 ng/dl, and now hovers around 800 ng/dl. Not only do i feel zero improvements, I actually felt better before. Its done nothing, and i mean absolutely nothing for me.