Trying to Come Off TRT - Worth It?

Pharma TRT
1

Hey guys, I’d just like to sound out some opinions of people more experienced than me on my situation.

I’m 38, started on TRT age 32, total T at the time was 220. UK doc put me on gels initially with bad results, so I ended up self-medicating, 145mg test cyp split into 2x weekly doses, 0.25mg adex E3D, 250IU HCG 1x week (staves off aching testicles which I get without it). Total T is now around 900-1000, all other bloods good at time of last check 6 months ago.

I usually feel great, energy good, strong motivation, sex drive fine. Before I started, had classic low T symptoms. My life before/after TRT was quite the turnaround.

However - I’m pretty sure the worst of it was caused by me crashing my T by cutting out basically all fats from my diet for weeks - I was cutting at the time, and impatient (foolish).

Before that point in my life, I’d felt “ok” (my T was around 350-400 when tested in my late 20s), functional if not amazing (although I had nothing to compare it to back then, this is just in hindsight compared to how I felt after going on TRT - however I felt back then was just my normal).

Why am I considering coming off? Hassle of pinning myself twice a week for the rest of my life, hassle of having to get grey market meds delivered from the Internet, and thinking about having kids soon (although I know it’s potentially possible to recover fertility whilst on TRT by greatly increasing HCG?).

I know trying to restart may not work, and I’d be going back best case to just feeling “ok” vs how I feel now. But I’d be free of the meds for the rest of my life, and wouldn’t have to worry about fertility.

What do you think - is it worth giving it a shot? Or is the cost/benefit not there?

Many thanks

2

Well, worst case scenario the restart doesn’t work and you have to go back to TRT right? Now you know your dosage and protocol, personally I’d give it a shot.

3

This isn’t very realistic, everyone is on some type of medication by a certain age as our body’s wind down into retirement. I don’t know anyone who is at least 50 years old and not on some type of medication.

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4

I understand your concerns, especially obtaining testosterone. When I was competing in weightlifting, we had a policy of never starting a cycle without having everything on hand to finish it, did not need the anxiety worrying about running out.

I think PitchBlack is right, but so is systemlord. You’re doing great, you will not be happy going down to your previous levels, if you even get back to those.

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5

I vote you try a restart. Then if you have to go back on trt you will be more confident in knowing you tried. Less worries

6

I inject every day to feel great. I also brush my teeth, shower, drive to work, fuck my girlfriend and a bunch of other shit every day because it needs to be done. Just don’t think about it. With all the shit you have to do in life everyday injecting is basically nothing. To feel better you’d be surprised what I’d be willing to do. If injecting is that much of a hassle then you likely didn’t feel THAT bad to begin with.

If you need a legit prescription with zero hassles ever and are willing to pay $150/month (includes 220mg/week of legit compound pharmacy T to do what you want with, syringes, etc all shipped to your door) email me (in bio) and I’ll hook you up with my doc. They are as laid back as it gets.

I couldn’t imagine ever coming off TRT. If some Walking Dead shit went down I’d figure out a way to get it. It’s changed every aspect of my life positively in a big way plus I look a gazillion times better than I did before. Different strokes…

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7

Glad to see I’m not the only one that thinks about shit like that :joy:

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8

Many thanks for the opinions all - a mixed bag!

My main concern with just “giving it a go and seeing what happens” would be potentially feeling like utter crap for a few months if it didn’t work. But as commenters have pointed out, that’s probably the only way to put the question to bed in my mind - just give it a go, and make my apologies to the Mrs if I’m a nightmare for a while.

If I could get off, and still feel even halfway decent, it’d be worth it in my book. I guess the question is a bit more open for me than some others because I can’t be certain the worst of my low T symptoms weren’t self-inflicted.

Do we yet have any info if people have lived til any grand old ages whilst on TRT? Any longevity concerns from being on it (all else being equal)?

9

The way to look at is you are working towards feeling optimal for the rest of your life. You really only have to get it right once and you’re set.

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10

If you want to pin less Test Cyp you could inject once a week or every other week even. I believe its a 10 day half life? You could also get away with less it seems, your total T is above average for TRT, a mild cycle.

11

Here is what I think about TrT and you might not hear this much from other guys.

TRT should be thought of as Preventative medicine. Testosterone is what causes us to be healthy and live a healthy life. We are talking about protecting and optimizing the brain, heart, bones, organs, lipids, insulin and so much more.

Men who have low t end up having all types of issues like depression, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, bone density issues, lack of muscle, insulin issues and so much more.

My doc posted a study and here is a snippet of the study below in quotes.

“New study from Haider et al. (2020) on long-term use of testosterone to improve glycemic control and lower insulin resistance. Over 30% of the patients in this study had full remission of diabetes.”

I might be wrong, but this study might end up showing men are at risk for diabetes if they do not have healthy levels of T.

You live in a world filled with toxins that are eating away at your body. Hormones help fight that.

This includes Vitamin D, Melatonin, Pregnanalone, Test, Estrogen, and etc.

Then you have another study that showed woman who have breast cancer have low levels of estrogen. My wife is on hormones because she has PCOS, now she’s protected from diabetes and breast cancer. The secondary benefits are nice, but the primary benefits were to protect her from some serious illnesses.

I hope this makes sense and others reading this short post realize T is a very important hormone. Without T we are at risk. With just one hormone we can protect ourselves from many negative outcomes in life.

To me thats an easy decision to make.

Pinning twice a week to avoid all of this is nothing. Shit I brush my teeth twice a day to avoid cavities.

I suggest you take the time to learn more about the benefits I listed above. there are many.

Regards to your desire to have kids. Many men will tell you that HCG works just fine. I believe men who are fertile before trt are fertile after they start hcg. If you have fertility issues pre trt, then you might not have any luck starting HCG. You do not need to be on HCG full-time to stay fertile. You only need to start HCG a couple months before you want to try and have kids. Then stop. Ten years later you can start it again. This works and there are plenty of examples out there. Plenty of men who have done this numerous times and have had several children on HCG while on TRT.

Next and if you realize how important hormones are, I would find a doctor to prescribe you the meds. After realizing all the benefits above, I can’t see how one cannot justify a couple or few thousand a year to have a doctor give me legal scripts for my hormones. You’ll also get some guidance if you pick the right doctor.

The cost for a doctor is much lower than having to pay tens of thousands to battle cancer and spend $$$ on other illnesses and pharmaceuticals because your body is deficient in hormones. Someone in their 20’s should have around 1k Total and 20 something free t. My father is 75 and his free t is 15 and his total is 550ish.

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12

There are several men ive run into that have been on TRT for decades. There is nothing wrong with this. I think jay cambell has been on it a long time and dr. jeffery rutherbucsch has been on T for decades. Hes in his 70s I think.

13

You can try to come off, but in my opinion if you feel dialed in dont mess with that. Its not worthy. Two injections per week? For me brushing my teeth is bigger hustle than injections and I inject every day

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14

Hello

It’s definetely worth a try. I have seen some people who have been running B&C cycles in their 20’s recover. Having said that, I think these guys had very high levels to begin with. The best results I’ve seen are 500-something-something ng/dl. They probably had much higher levels than that before touching steroids, though.

I am 31 (anabolic steroid-induced hypogonadism) and have given a restart an honest attempt before. I was not a “clomid” unicorn, and it didn’t work very well. But at least I can say that I’ve tried. My levels before I started were mediocre; not great, but not bad either. For me, it’s TRT for life. A guy with diabetes needs his insulin – I need my testosterone.

You are 38. Starting from age 30, your natural testosterone will decline by 1% per year. If you initially had a level of 350-400, a perfect restart will give you 8% less than that. See if you can get your hands on enclomiphene citrate (which will not boost your SHBG levels like Clomid does). EC monotherapy is a viable option for many men, assuming the hypogonadism is secondary.

Irreversible infertility from TRT doesn’t happen. A guy over at ExcelMale in his 50’s who’d been on testosterone since he was 24 managed to get a normal sperm count in less than a year using HCG and HMG. I’ve also heard of people who were infertile before TRT who still managed to have kids after HCG and HMG treatment.

15

Many thanks again for all the replies, you’ve all given me much food for thought, on both sides of the equation. Sorry I do not have time to respond to each reply individually.

I’m leaning towards “try it and see”, but still somewhat fearful of some months of potentially feeling awful. I got bunk gear once, only realised my T had gone to zero after a couple of weeks of being an exhausted, emotional mess - not keen to go back there again! But to be off it and feeling even just “ok” would be a good outcome for me, weighing my personal pro’s and con’s.

That said, path of least resistance is to just keep going for at least the short term, and I think when I’m ready to have kids in a year or two will give me a strong enough additional reason to try a restart.

Great community on here, very supportive.

16

I have my 4th kid on the way right now. Conceived a year and a half into TRT. No HCG

17

Congratulations pal! I should get my boys tested, see where I’m starting from.

18

There are long term studies of both treated and untreated low-T men, the treated men lived a higher quality of life and lived longer.

19

My dad has been on androgel for about 20 years now. He’s 80 and looks 65.

It’s like he’s aging slowly. All his buddies are dying coming down with age-related illness.