TCG does TRT: Sayonara soy boys.

willizm

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As many guys on here will tell you, your GP may or may not be for prescribing TRT.

Getting a full male hormone panel done @ quest labs / Ulta Labs and finding a clinic that handles treatment for low T may be a better route
I was able to find a family medicine/internal medicine doc as a pcp that is versed in Trt. My friend referred me to him and he’s been very helpful and willing to let me do my own injections. I’d suggest trying to talk to guys on Trt for who they see or find a pcp that looks swole af. They know what’s up.
How long have some of you been on TRT wether it’s injections or gel? Any side effects? Is this something you now do the rest of your life?
Sorry getting to this thread way late so I’m sure these questions have been answered.
I’ve been doing it only 6 months and the only side effects I’ve had were some acne when I first started cypionate and you’re balls do shrink. Other side effects that I don’t think are really a problem is a raging sex drive, assertiveness, confidence, getting swole, and having a thick chub at almost any hour of the day. Sex can boarder on war crime but I’ve learned to back off a little bit so as to not cause premature vagina failure with my wife. Good times.
 

frank

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How long have some of you been on TRT wether it’s injections or gel? Any side effects? Is this something you now do the rest of your life?
Sorry getting to this thread way late so I’m sure these questions have been answered.
just over 6 months of injections, some acne on my back / shoulders is all I have had so far, nothing else, which isnt all that bad.

Other than that seeing the same effects that willizm willizm is seeing, which can both be a pro and con lol.
 

1quick

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How long have some of you been on TRT wether it’s injections or gel? Any side effects? Is this something you now do the rest of your life?
Sorry getting to this thread way late so I’m sure these questions have been answered.
I’ve been on since 2017 I stopped for a bit in 2021 felt like shit and got back on, side effects are dependent on the person and dose, I did 300mg/week for almost a year, it brought my good cholesterol down and my bad cholesterol up but just eating better and adding in more cardio put it back inline, it can increase your red blood cell count and you may need to donate blood to bring it back down, you will be sterile while on it for the most part, there’s things you can take to counter act but if you want to make a baby you will most likely have to come off for a while, that’s pretty much it and the sex drive/boners hopefully your wife likes sex alot
IMG_0793.gif
 
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MrMezger996

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I’ve been on since 2017 I stopped for a bit in 2021 felt like shit and got back on, side effects are dependent on the person and dose, I did 300mg/week for almost a year, it brought my good cholesterol down and my bad cholesterol up but just eating better and adding in more cardio put it back inline, it can increase your red blood cell count and you may need to donate blood to bring it back down, you will be sterile while on it for the most part, there’s things you can take to counter act but if you want to make a baby you will most likely have to come off for a while, that’s pretty much it and the sex drive/boners hopefully your wife likes sex alot View attachment 170956
We don’t plan on having children so the sterile thing doesn’t bother me.
 

willizm

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Is this something you all plan on being on for years? I have read there are cardiovascular/ stroke risks….. have you consulted your GP before starting?
I did a calcium heart score and regularly test my blood pressure. Unless you are already unhealthy or running a significant body building dose I don’t think it’s as much of a risk as folks think.
 

1quick

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Is this something you all plan on being on for years? I have read there are cardiovascular/ stroke risks….. have you consulted your GP before starting?
There’s a cardiovascular risk associated with low testosterone also and from what I’ve read (so take that with a grain of salt) it’s a greater risk from low t than from trt
 

frank

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Best to get blood done before, right after and then on a regular basis to make if an issue does come up it could be corrected asap.

I get my blood work completed at my trt clinic where they draw in the office which is convenient, usually do this at a weigh in, hear back in a few days and any changes are needed.
 
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rocco

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My GP prescribes mine. I’ve been on it for a while now, maybe 10 years? I’ll give myself a break from time to time and skip a month here and there. Insurance covers it and a 10ml vial of injectable cyp costs me $15. When I want to feel like more of a man, I’ll bump up the dosage like I’m doing now, and do a little mini cycle. The positives of TRT far outweigh the negatives, and I don’t believe there are any negatives.

If you worry about your health enough to start TRT, you hopefully are active enough with cardio, weight training and trying to eat somewhat healthy.

If you want to do TRT, eat fast food everyday, go out drinking and sit around on the couch, then I think TRT is a waste of time for that type of guy.
 

Aircal

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I am hoping it helps me cope and reach some goals. August will be 3 years of pretty steady gym work. I was over 300lbs when I started. First year went light. Was basically learning proper techniques. Plus dealing with any day the gym might get closed and we had to wear masks in there full time.
Last year was more about building muscle to help burn the fat. With added protein and no real adjustment to a better diet I reached personal bests in dead lift squat and bench. I was also up to 322.
Since May with a semi better diet I'm down to 310. About a pound a week. But still increasing strength.
That being said I'm tired. Always. I work a scheduled 5 day 10 hour week. Most Friday nights I go to bed by 12 and dont wake until after 11. And might nap in the afternoon.
This last Saturday i was up by 8:30. That's better. Also would love to gain some muscle to speed up the weight loss. Then maybe it's time to chase the wife around again...lol
 
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FrenchLicker

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Alrighty - Here comes the novel:

Background - Was a high school "athlete" sat around 5'11 and 230-240 with numbers of benching just under 300, squatting and deadlifts over 405. Ended up gaining a ton of weight in college and hit 340, somehow got married, lazy, and divorced. During the divorce ran into the gym like it was my job and went from 340 down to 260 by eating sub 1500 calories a day and surviving on 4 monsters a day. Started eating right and trying to put on strength and sat around 280 benching 315, squatting 315, and deadlifting close to 500.

It was around 2018 (30 yr) where I started to burn out and feel overly sluggish and the gym just wasn't feeling right anymore. Read online about "brain fog" and talking to a therapist about my life path, decided to have my PCP check my test levels. July of 2018 I was around 180 (I think this is nanograms/deciliter reference range was 350-900). PCP thinks this is ok, and wants to retest in a few weeks. Next test was just over 200 and I was for sure that I was a candidate. PCP thinks that the "diet" of sub 1200 calories and caffeine abuse crashed the endocrine system. I believe when you're under producing its classified as hypogonadism.

Got a referral to a urologist and had the numbers checked again and put on a dosage of 150mg a week - Injection on Tuesdays and bloods on Saturdays (but blood tests every 6 months). After the first injection, I felt a bit "energized" but believe that it was 100% placebo and didnt buy it. Fast forward to the next morning and the morning wood was something of legend. Wasn't the normal morning routine, was like I was a teenager again and ready to go at the slightest moment. One of the symptoms of low test that I was told was the lack of "performance" which I didn't exhibit but rather everything was enhanced. It was truly like performance enhancement right out the gate. The sleep that I had experienced week 2 of injections was intense. I slept for 6ish hours due to work stressors but ended up feeling like I had gotten 10+ hours.

Cue the first month check up after running on 150mg shots, my levels crested over 900 and was "out of reference range" so I got dialed back. The dialing it back was a godsend as with the "high dosage" I found I was turned on by weird shit, and remember watching an ad for oreos and popping wood like I was freshman seeing his first pair of tits. Doc reduced my dosage to 100mg week and that seemed to be the sweet spot of sitting around 750-850 levels. I was told people do not respond the same and some people need higher dosages to hit reference levels.

Protocol remains the same - Pull and then Pin quads. Just the dosage has been tweaked over time to keep me close to top of the range.

Now the fun part - When sitting around 900-1000 early on, I was able to eat between 5k-8k calories daily and sat at 280 and got stronger and stronger. I didn't keep my eating in check and ballooned back up to my current 315 in pursuit of the 405 bench, you know, eat big get big. My 315 bench went to 385 within 3ish months of starting. This wasn't my reason to start, but one hell of a benefit. Pre Covid I hit 425 raw bench and 290 on a seated military press. Performance in the bedroom was heightened - felt like it was lasting longer and stronger.

Now the bad part - Per my PCP the increased test levels have "advanced my hair aging" and I am starting to thin a little on the top (not something I am terribly vain about, I am a goon to begin with). The jewels shrank to about 1/3 of their size, not going to lie, I didn't notice much change other than some pain the first few weeks, but there was one day during my shower that I was washing and was very confused. This was a huge psychological hit and honestly took way too long to come to terms with the change. PCP and Urologist both claim that it potentially limits you ability to have kids. Weekly injections are pretty annoying as is the 1ml vials and keeping stocked up on supplies. (pro tip - with insurance the syringes typically are not priced per quantity but per pick up, local pharmacist hooked me up with 50 quantity for the price I was paying for 8). I did have a lapse once in the 4ish year cycle were I was off for about 2 weeks (stupid change in insurance) and went to feeling like absolute dogshit and my sleep suffered.

Post Covid - I have stayed on my current protocol and am starting to trim back down with appropriate diet. Have also cut caffeine down to nearly zero over that time.

Would recommend everyone to get their numbers checked and regularly have bloods done, been a life changer for the better in my situation.
 

willizm

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Some updates from me. After moving to provider supervised regimen I had my Total Test, Free Test, and estradiol. My PCP had prescribed Test Cypionate 200mg/ml and wanted me to dose at .7ml/7 days and was fine if I wanted to inject more frequently so I have been doing .4ml/4 days which equates to 80ml per injection or about 140ml per week if you do the math.

Here are my labs after 4 weeks on this dosage. During that time I had minor acne in the very beginning likely from adjusting from Enanthate to Cypionate. My overall symptoms were starting to persist with me feeling a little less sexual drive, less confident, less assertive, lower overall performance in the gym. Not flat by any means, but far from optimal feeling I was when I was on higher concentration of enanthate.

1689870636908.png



The first thing my Dr asked me was "how do you feel" which is a great sign that he's not so concerned about the lab reference range and checking the box of being in the middle as he is concerned about my overall symptoms. I told him about my symptoms albeit not as extreme as they were last year are starting to creep back in and it's effecting me being on the lower dose.

He reviewed the labs and considering my blood pressure is in check and other health markers are good he is willing to bump me up about 50% from where I was. As long as my estradiol stays in check and I don't start having other side effects come up over the next couple months we may cruise at this dosage. So i'll be doing about 120mg/4 day injection cycles which works out to be about 210mg per week. I'll be going in for full lab work and follow up with him in 2 months. Once we are dialed in on dosage he will see me ever 6 months after that.
 
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N20GT

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So it sounds like most of you guys injecting testosterone are not taking anything to keep your sperm count up and balls working? Your balls don't have to shrink, pretty sure it's rather common for docs to prescribe test + a fertility drug (like clomiphene, which keeps balls working and also increases test on its own), then an androgen inhibitor (which normally isn't needed for small doses of test).
 
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1quick

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So it sounds like most of you guys injecting testosterone are not taking anything to keep your sperm count up and balls working? Your balls don't have to shrink, pretty sure it's rather common for docs to prescribe test + a fertility drug (like clomiphene, which keeps balls working and also increases test on its own), then an androgen inhibitor (which normally isn't needed for small doses of test).
I have hcg, but I believe they quit prescribing that, I don’t want my sperm count up I’ve always used trt as male birth control, and I have arimidex prescribed but don’t need it at normal trt doses
 
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willizm

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So it sounds like most of you guys injecting testosterone are not taking anything to keep your sperm count up and balls working? Your balls don't have to shrink, pretty sure it's rather common for docs to prescribe test + a fertility drug (like clomiphene, which keeps balls working and also increases test on its own), then an androgen inhibitor (which normally isn't needed for small doses of test).
To me it’s a non issue. I’ve had a vasectomy after my 3rd son was born so I don’t need that function. I find that most people that are doing this are similarly in their 40’s with kids and no desire to have more so it’s not a consideration for many in the same boat.
 
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FrenchLicker

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So it sounds like most of you guys injecting testosterone are not taking anything to keep your sperm count up and balls working? Your balls don't have to shrink, pretty sure it's rather common for docs to prescribe test + a fertility drug (like clomiphene, which keeps balls working and also increases test on its own), then an androgen inhibitor (which normally isn't needed for small doses of test).

I forgot to include that during the initial consult clomid was offered as an oral option and would allow fertility to be optimal. I read some vision side effects and quickly said no.

There was no hcg offered as well as I was able to get into the groove without too high a dose.

If I were to be closer to 200mg/week, I’d then monitor other values much more closely.
 

Caleb515

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Have a consultation with a clinic tomorrow morning.

I did my own blood sample maybe 6 months - 1 year ago and my free testosterone was low-normal, but I did not have anything else checked at the time.

Without getting in to too many details I’m feeling the worst I’ve felt in a lot of ways, mentally and physically. I started taking some medication which has only made my problems worse so I’m using my bro-science knowledge to hopefully self diagnose.
 

willizm

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Have a consultation with a clinic tomorrow morning.

I did my own blood sample maybe 6 months - 1 year ago and my free testosterone was low-normal, but I did not have anything else checked at the time.

Without getting in to too many details I’m feeling the worst I’ve felt in a lot of ways, mentally and physically. I started taking some medication which has only made my problems worse so I’m using my bro-science knowledge to hopefully self diagnose.
You’d be suprised how many people see huge improvements on TRT even if their free test is in the low range of normal. The symptoms of low T dont just magically start once you hit 1 point below the normal reference range. If you respond well to trt then you know it’s something you can adjust to get to an optimal hormonal balance to at least feel your best.