It’s a stupid idea. It’s more expensive, more finicky, just as permanent and in no way safer. You can always take the HCG when you want to be fertile and you’ll be as fertile as you would have been otherwise.
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If your doctor works for a big LA hospital, than he is hogtied by guidelines that prevent you from exceeding 800 ng/dL which is why the dosage is conservative, these guidelines were created out of ignorance at a time when knowledge was lacking.
This doctor will likely stop your TRT if your levels gets 800> which is standard procedure, you will need levels 800> to ever have enough Free T and this doctor will never optimize your levels. Go ahead and ask this doctor at which point levels are too high.
Titles mean nothing, it doesn’t provide any guarantees. I have seen so many men come in here saying their endo is “Head of Urology” and it turns out they are the most clueless.
None of the experienced TRT doctors are doing loading doses anymore, it’s counterproductive and this is something that was done long ago and hints your doctor stopped learning new things a long time ago.
I also think you’ll be fine. What you are doing is a good start. Once weekly injections are what about 85% of the guys on TRT do. I also think you’ll end up needing a higher dose, most take 150-200mg/week, so if you do need to go up, hopefully your doctor will go along.
I’ve heard of some recommending a “loading” dose, but have no personal experience with it. Not going to hurt. I would have just given you 150mg/week to start and gone up from there. TRT will bring SHBG down over time.
Regarding hCG, you can wait until you’re ready to start a family and add it to your protocol, or drop test and go with hCG mono until the goal is accomplished. Given your history, it might not be a bad idea to find out what your fertility status is.
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I rather not jump to a private TRT clinic which doesn’t accept insurance when I can be under the care of a Urologist and have insurance cover the vast majority (they already authorized). Seems finding a Urologist willing to prescribe T alone is a bit of a battle.
He said he was going to focus on raising Free T as thats the one thats very low.
I would think it’s better to start here, no? I’m not sure if TRT clinics are acting on my best interests.
You’re going to need at least 1000-1200 Total T to get your Free T to the optimal ranges, this is in your best interest.
I’m not usually wrong about these things, I’ve always been spot-on when calling it. I have a select few key words I look for when reading members posts, when I hear “loading dose” problems ALWAYS follows and I see these members return asking for help.
You’ll just have self discover for yourself. You’re right about most TRT clinics, most are a shame and selling the same package deal to everyone. There are good clinics out there, good private TRT doctors are all over LA.
Research and read reviews.
With your documented history, you may be OK. You’ll have to see how it plays out in the long run. Remember to get follow-up labs pulled at the very last second, just before you are due for your next injection. Good luck and keep us posted.
I honestly can’t find any that accept insurance and I just can’t fathom paying 100% out of pocket for something that seems to be medically necessary and my insurance even approves.
If you happen to know any providers, would be highly appreciated.
Well most of the educated TRT doctors refuse to take insurance, they couldn’t do their job if they did because they would be force to follow restrictive guidelines that would prevent them from optimising their patients.
The choices are go with insurance and be suboptimal and not feel your best or pay someone who has experience in TRT do to things correctly, it’s only your quality of life that’s at stake.
There is no way your Free T will be good enough <800, your Free T is below range at almost 500.
Well this is fucking depressing.
So what should I aim for? Someone willing to do 300 m/g a week? 400? 500?
Relax. There is no reliable way to predict what dose will be right, and it will change anyway over time. Very few need over 200 mg.
At least you’ll know what to do if this sernero plays out the way I think it will, at least you’ll have a plan B and take the appropriate action. Usually 100mg gets about mid-range or slightly above mid-range levels, about where you are now, you’ll probably need somewhere around 160-200mg is a good estimate (1000-1200 ng/dL).
Hi again,
I have my updated labs from the day I started injections (before I took first obviously).
This one was a bit earlier in the day and the reference values are different. The results are a bit different and higher, though still very much low (albeit low range).
Can anyone comment on the numbers? I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing here with the TRT commitment. Thank you.
Yes.
Thanks. Normal for labs to alter that much within a week or so?
I wouldn’t want my Free T near empty, I want to feel optimal. You keep mention your numbers, connect your numbers to how you feel, if you feel like crap your numbers are low, then committing should be easy.
A symptom of low testosterone is indecisiveness, I notice since stopping TRT I am less confident and unable to make decisions, I seem unable to take action.
I see a lot of this on all the TRT forums.
You’re doing the right thing brotha. It’s a commitment, especially at first. But once you start to feel better, you’ll realize that even questioning whether or not to start TRT was crazy. Like systemlord was talking about. You want to get that free T up. It’s the most important part. Stay away from AI and HCG. You’ll put your system through an endless rollercoaster. I had high E2 before I even started, changed my diet, started taking vitamins, & that brought my E2 down to solid levels. Freeze your sperm or plan to get HCG when you want to have kids. Most don’t have trouble even after being on TRT for awhile. I personally went and froze some just in case.
My free T was a 6 (9.0- 30) so it was completely tanked. I hear you about wanting to keep everything under insurance. I tried to do that. It didn’t work out for me. I started with my primary dr, but switched over to private. I wanted to be optimized. That doesn’t mean it won’t work out for you though. You’re doctor may be good. Who knows. What matters is that your symptoms get better. TRT is about symptom resolution. Forget everything else.
By the way, I was on klonopin for years. I was also on methadone for years. Those drugs can fuck your system up permanently. My PCP says he believes that’s why my T was so low. I dealt with low t symptoms since I stopped taking all that shit 6 years ago. I just had no idea that’s what I was going through. I’m so glad I found this forum and finally got my blood work done earlier in the year. I finally found some answers when that blood work came back. Things have gotten much better since then.
Different labs, equipment, ranges, plus, levels fluctuate even daily, which is why insurance companies often require multiple tests and blood drawn early in the morning (when test is higher) in their attempts to deny coverage.
Just thought I’d give an update for week 2.
Additional labs showed Vitamin D very low as well (15, range: 30-100) so that could explain things too.
Doctor is recommending to do once a week Xyosted shots which come in 75mg doses. Apparently insurance approved it too. Anyone have experience with this?
Bumping.
A lot of people have, it’s testosterone enanthate. The only difference is the delivery method, which is an autoject pump. Oh, also, there is another difference, the price. Any idea what the cost is? Amazing that an insurance company approved this, especially when a conventional IM injection would have to be much cheaper.
I doubt you’ll be very happy with 75mg weekly dosing. They also have 100mg pens. Still, likely not enough, but hopefully it will be for you. Remember, follow-up blood work, do it the day of injection, before the injection.