Timing sucks..but did get my first shot on Monday

[Tbucket]

Tried to start HRT several mnths ago, but had a job change, no insurance for a while and not to mention a HUGE change in personal life...so here I am, back at the grind, no weight loss to speak of....BUT now that insurance has kicked in, and finally found a doc that knows what he is talking about or at least understands what I am asking for......1st visit = shot of 200 Cyp.....he wants me to come back in 2 wks to get another one and start learning how to give myself shots.....he said we "may" need to bump up the amount of each dose if I dont have the right improvement (music to my ears) but I gotta get back on track with working out and eating right and hopefully with all that life has been throwing at me, I can manage to stay focused, especially now that I have the HRT issue rolling.

As far as how do I feel, no different really physically, but mentally little edgy and feel more confident for some reason about everything...might be the placebo effect but either way, so far so good...but did have to bounce from doc to doc, co-pay to co-pay to get to this point....figured my first shot cost me 3 co-pays @ $35 a pop...ouch...I look at it as a down payment on "feeling" better.

[zaggahamma]

congrats on the good doc
what kind of blood work did you have done b4 and how'd it look
why did you look into hrt for yourself...you mentioned weight loss issues and what are your goals?
best of luck to you

[Tbucket]

Actually just went in for a yearly checkup, basic "hittin 30" and want to see how clogged the ole arteries were.....came back my test was around 285....after a month or so on the gel, increased it to 303....obviously when the doc told me the levels, I did play up the common side effects of having low Test although I dont have any of the physical problems associated with low test..although, like I said, my overall feeling does seem a little more positive....as far as weight loss, sitting at the same place I was when I posted the thread back in February, high 250's...like to be somewhere near 200 around March of next year, would be a good B-day present for myself and kids..I feel like a damn smoker trying to quit regarding eating better.....but it does help mentally a little knowing that I have the test inject's now.....for me, finding a source is damn near impossible so this is nice

[zaggahamma]

Actually just went in for a yearly checkup, basic "hittin 30" and want to see how clogged the ole arteries were.....came back my test was around 285....after a month or so on the gel, increased it to 303....obviously when the doc told me the levels, I did play up the common side effects of having low Test although I dont have any of the physical problems associated with low test..although, like I said, my overall feeling does seem a little more positive....as far as weight loss, sitting at the same place I was when I posted the thread back in February, high 250's...like to be somewhere near 200 around March of next year, would be a good B-day present for myself and kids..I feel like a damn smoker trying to quit regarding eating better.....but it does help mentally a little knowing that I have the test inject's now.....for me, finding a source is damn near impossible so this is nice

have to agree with you about finding source would be hard especially when we need it every month/day
i started around 250 pounds as well ironically but had the diet dialed in pretty good just had plateaued and the test sure ignited my metabolism and i hover around 220
thank our lucky stars we found good liberal docs
so, you say their checking test levels on 30 year old check ups these days? i knew that trt was going to be mainstream soon
there was an article in men's health that gave it a good name and that over the last several decades or nearly a century that men's average test levels are on the decline
best of luck again to you

[bombguy]

Good luck!! I got my doc to let me do self-injections right off the bat...he must have thought I knew how or something?! Anyways, we're on the same dosage but I take mine at 100mg/week. I'm craving the next shot tomorrow as I feel like utter crap as of today. I'm starting my 3rd week and at the end of the 2nd week I can tell the test is out of my system. I'm hoping my doc will bump me up to 200mg a week, I just don't feel like I have an edge yet...still kinda tired, sex drive is weak and my ambition is kinda low as well. Hopefully he'll see it my way.

[Tbucket]

Well actually when the bloodwork came back, my liver enzymes were sky high, something like 30x the normal amount....I knew what it was, I had just started drinking SHotGun before workouts and knew this was a side effect...so the doctor ordered a more in depth bloodwork, which after I quit the ShotGun, the enzymes were normal....but thats when the low test showed up.....completely by chance, but I'll take it

[Perforator]

I've been on TRT for a little over 3 yrs now. My doc gave me the first shot, ex-mother-in-law who is a nurse gave me the second and I have done the rest. My doc so far has been really great. Tbucket I'm glad you found a good doc, some I read about on here have a long way to go.

[Tbucket]

Damn, what a bunch of BS to get to the point of home injections....BUT finally got my doctor to give me a script for 10ml of cyp.....of course dosed at 200 EOW, but it has 3 refills and right now, Aetna is screwing me around...Wallgreens would fill it but Aetna would not cover it...have to go through their pharmacy, so I have to fax and wait 24 hrs......typical BS from insurance company but good thing is doing it this way, no copay

[Philly Grappler]

Damn, what a bunch of BS to get to the point of home injections....BUT finally got my doctor to give me a script for 10ml of cyp.....of course dosed at 200 EOW, but it has 3 refills and right now, Aetna is screwing me around...Wallgreens would fill it but Aetna would not cover it...have to go through their pharmacy, so I have to fax and wait 24 hrs......typical BS from insurance company but good thing is doing it this way, no copay

Aetna will cover this? I am 30 and my total test is in the 300's and a TRT clinic said that I could qualify for test replacement, but that my insurance company would probably not pay for it. He said I could always try to send in receipt for reimbursement. My regular doctor would not give the test to me because I fell within normal range, even though it is the low side of normal. I am going to see what I can do about insurance paying for it but from what the guy told me on the phone, he does not think it will happen.

[whiteowl]

tbucket...was going in every other week until i got bill for the 30 secs of time it took the nurse to do it....that was GP...when i finished with endo his assistant wanted my wife there straight away to learn how to do it....we went in twice together....after that it has been at home....my wife does "the one" (butt) on Friday morning and i do the supplemental (thigh) on Monday afternoon....
finally....you are going to be more confident....focused and all around after it once your levels get back up again....it is not a placebo but what makes a man a man....we are just walking chemical factories....best of it to you.....

[Tbucket]

Even Aetna has turned out to be "ok" to deal with, afterall, no copay, no dr's visits except every 6 months....and just went back to see him for an "adjustment" in the dosage....he doubled the dose, so now its a cc every week.

The only side effects I have noticed is a constant almost semi pump I feel in most of my body parts such as arms, shoulders and thighs...but not considering that a negative...BUT I do have one bad side effect since upping the dose.....During sex, about 10-15 secs before "finishing", I begin to get a pretty painful headache, back of the head down towards the base, that last for an hour or so.....although I have only been on this dose for 2 wks now, hoping its just a fluke thing......the funny thing is I cannot duplicate the headache by straining myself or anything, but EVERYTIME having sex, it pops up.....strange???

Oh yeah, losing some hair in the front hairline...this sux

[whiteowl]

guess the headache after instead of before is a glass half full situation....will check some of the educational threads to see if there is anything there....is the test the only script you are on? doesn't seem like it should adversely affect any other script cause you are just replacing something your body stopped making.....i get a headache like that with Cialis....??....once the test is balanced the need for C or V disappears....

[whiteowl]

T-man

This is from Anthony Roberts regarding test...."Unfortunately, this isn’t all it does…it can also interact with the 5 alpha-reductase enzyme. This interaction converts the testosterone to Dihydro-testosterone (DHT), a more androgenic form of the parent hormone. DHT has a high binding affinity to the tissues of the scalp resulting in hair loss in lots of users who suffer from male pattern baldness".....but nada on headache...yet.

[FallenWyvern]

Isn't a 10ml of 200mg/ml vial really cheap anyways? I get mine at CVS and its not expensive at all. Not sure about board rules about stating prices.

[Tbucket]

Thanks Owl......
Fallen...assuming you are talking about going thru CVS WITH a script...yeah, it was like around a 100 bux with no insurance...but they would not cover it thru a local PHx...have to use theirs....either way, it just delayed getting it, no one knows what the hell they were doing at first, but its all worked out now.......like I said, pretty good deal actually...they sent me a sharps container.......and every order I get a bunch of pins, syringes, alcohol swabs, band aids....for nuttin, not even a copay...first time EVER I have been pleased with an insurance company. Had I been thinking clearly, I would have purchased that test at Walgreens and had Aetna fill my mail order, but so far so good with what I have.

[Philly Grappler]

I am now on Test and Arimidex and have had no problem with Aetna covering the scripts, thank God. I drop it off at CVS and pick it up, paying my normal co-pay.