I’ve gone sub-Q myself with insulin pins. It works good. I inject in belly fat near belly button twice weekly. Just remember this is so important. Low E2 is a sex killer. If you are going to error, error on the higher side of E2. Too much Adex will kill a boner fast. I have an old thread on here about that very thing if you’re bored you can read up on it.
I shot sub-Q for the first time on Sunday and it was very nice. I was worried that because it’s so shallow, and that I’m using 25G, there might be leakage. But my skin appreciated the 25G so much (in comparison to my 21G) that there was not even a drop of blood. It was tough to find the exact spot to put my alcohol pad on hahaha.
The other worry I had was that I had read somewhere that shooting into fat with very low vascularity has very poor results compared to fat with a higher metabolism. And since I’m shooting into the love handles, that’s probably got to be the slowest metabolized fat on the whole body. Oh well, we’ll see how it works out.
I definitely hear what you’re saying about low E2 being a boner killer. Even though I’ve cut back to 1mg/week of adex, my body hasn’t had time to adjust yet. I guess for me it’s going to be tough. E2 at 32pg/ml was killing my boners, and yet now it’s too low and killing my boners. The sweet spot will be a careful and narrow range for me.
And yes I’d like to read your thread. What is the title or url?
Thanks!
Thanks Jdeck, I just finished reading it.
So guys, tell me what you think of this…for over a week now I’ve been at:
60mg (X2) per week Test cyp (sub-Q).
0.5mg (X2) per week adex.
So everything is cut back. Everything seems fine except the libido. That is still poor. Here’s what I’m thinking…
Since I am pinning twice weekly, and doing sub-Q (both of which apparently reduce conversion to E2), is it possible I don’t need adex anymore? Or maybe I could reduce it by half, to 0.5mg total per week?
If you recall, my E2 was at 32pg/ml back when I was doing 150mg Test cyp per week, injected once, intramuscularly, while taking 1mg adex/week…versus, 21pg/ml when I was doing 70mg test cyp (X2) and 1.5mg adex/week.
Or…
Another possibility. What if I keep the adex at .05mg(X2) but take it a day AFTER injections to let some conversion take place before the adex kicks in and keeps it from going to high?
I still have 27 days until I draw labs, so any slight adjustment right now will still have time to be reflected.
So I’ve done my last 3 injections sub-Q, and I feel like I skipped the last 3 injections. Feeling weak, tired, and deflated. This is gonna be a long 3+ more weeks till labs…
I finally got around to reading your thyroid/iodine sticky. I have to admit, I left that for later because I had read up lots on iodine and it’s relation to thyroid in the past through Dr. David Brownstein (Brownstein…was there ever a better name for an iodine specialist?). But since I hadn’t used or thought about that information in recent years, I hadn’t realized how much I forgot and how important that information is overall.
Thanks for your sticky, and I’ll do what I can to help point members to it when appropriate.
Okay, so I had my appointment today for reading the latest labs, and they are:
Total testosterone: 1282ng/dl (250-1100)
Free testosterone: 234.7 pg/ml (35-155)
PSA total: 0.75ng/ml (0.3-3.8)
Hemoglobin: 17g/dl (13.7-17.5)
Hematocrit: 48.7% (40.1-51)
Estradiol: 21pg/ml (<61)
Vitamin D: 72ng/ml (>30)
So then, the above numbers were obtained while doing 120mg testosterone weekly (divided into two 60mg doses) and 1mg arimidex weekly (divided into two 0.5mg doses).
But right after drawing for those labs, I reduced my dosage to 100mg testosterone a week (divided in two doses), and kept the arimidex the same (so my current testosterone levels are likely a little lower).
I’m happy with these numbers, and especially withe the E2 and vit D. For what it’s worth, I take about 7000iu of vit D a day and have for many years. On occasion I had bumped up my vit D dosages, but I’d end up with a constant headache which was only relieved by reducing my vit D dosages. That’s how I knew I would be too high. It’s nice to have a lab number to confirm my current dose.
That said, I’m still struggling with the libido issue and moreso the terrible acne. I mentioned all this to the doctor and he prescribed a few things…
For acne he suspects too much DHT conversion. So he’s prescribed Proscar (finasteride), 1.25mg a day (or a quarter of a 5mg tablet) every day.
He also wants me to back off slightly on the arimidex. So instead of 1mg per week, it will be .75 mg a week. He said that arimidex itself, aside from it’s anti-aromatase mechanism, has properties than can cause libido problems.
I mentioned that my trial with clomid was a complete disaster and that I’d like to try nolvadex. He said sure, and wrote a script for that too, at half of a 20mg pill, twice weekly. So that’ll be 20mg a week.
What are your opinions on the numbers, his thoughts, the prescriptions, and dosages? Is this the right course of action and if so, are the dosages correct? Will the proscar further complicate things or even make the libido problem worse? Thank you!
Oh and btw, labs were drawn on 3rd day after last injection (@ twice weekly injections)
An interesting turn of events.
Before posting the numbers, let me post the regime going into it…
-
70mg test cyp, twice weekly for a total of 140mg/week
-
0.7mg adex twice weekly for a total of 1.4mg/week
The results:
Total testosterone 1407 (250-1100)
Free testosterone 229.1 (35-155)
Estradiol 31 (<61)
Hemoglobin 16.9 (13.7-17.5)
Hematocrit 50.9 (40.1-51%)
PSA 0.59 (0.0-3.9)
Now here’s the rub…these numbers are way different than results from an almost identical regime from 7 months ago. The primary difference was, back then I was shooting IM, and for this recent one, I was shooting SQ. Here is the regime and results from 7 months ago (you may also notice I was taking slightly more adex in the older regime):
-
70mg test cyp, twice weekly for a total of 140mg
-
0.5mg adex 3 times weekly for a total of 1.5mg/week
Results:
Total testosterone 1601 ng/dl (250-1100)
Free testosterone 333.8 pg/ml (35-155)
Estradiol 21 pg/ml (<61)
Hemoglobin 17 g/dl (13.7-17.5)
Hematocrit 49.8% (40.1-51%)
There is one other caveat that I’d like to throw in and ask if it could have affected things…
Recently I’ve taken a second job. So I’m working 7 days a week. The job also happens to be incredibly physically demanding. Could this greatly increased demand on my body “consume” or otherwise affect my testosterone numbers like this, and would it also explain the rise in E2? Because I don’t see how such a small reduction in adex could explain such a dramatic rise in E2.
The only other difference would be the switching from IM to SQ.
Thank you all in advance…
A while back you had said,
“There is a need to prevent damage to the testes for various reasons. You can use hCG or a SERM. The intent is to not create a lot of T, the injections are most cost effective measure for that. So testicular stimulation should be at a lower level. SERMs are foreign chemicals. hCG is a natural hormone and you were swimming in it for a few months before birth. Less is more.”
I still haven’t been able to get HCG, however I have an open script to nolvadex. You mentioned taking 10mg ED or 20 EOD.
I’ve been conservative and taking 10mg three times a week for a couple months, and have since lowered it to 5mg three times a week. The part that is not conservative is the fact that I’ve been taking it for months. Is there a reason not to be on it long term? I do anticipate being able to get HCG fairly soon, but I want to preserve the testes in the meantime…or is long term a big no-no?
Gtron
How are your prostate issues? Any prostate enlargement?
None. Since being on TRT I’ve come to realize something…
Everyone responds to DHT differently. I’ve always had good hair…to the point that my friends always bust my balls about it (as most of them have lost most their hair by now). TRT didn’t change that. Nor did it affect my prostate.
However, it DID cause deep and painful acne. For which I am now taking finasteride to keep under control. I tried scaling it back recently to try and get off of it, but the acne re-appeared.