A few weeks on TRT...

[-_-]

Hi all,

I started on TRT recently with an 'anti-aging' doctor who wanted me to go on 12 week on, 8 week off cycles of 250mg sust every week. After realising this was, to put it politely, retarded, I went back to my normal GP who is happy to work with me to get me to where I should be. Only problem is, said GP doesn't really know a whole lot about TRT, so I'm after some advice.

I started out at the following levels:

Total T: 13.8nm/L (range 11 - 40)
Oestradiol: <37 pmol/L (undetectable, reference range 55 - 165).
SHBG: 30 (reference 10-70)
FSH: 4 U/L (reference < 10)
LH: 1 U/L (reference < 9)

After about 8 weeks on sust 250, my levels are currently as follows, 7 days post-injection:

Total T: 34.1
Oestradiol: 247
SHBG: 21
FSH: 2 U/L
LH: <1 U/L

My GP is suggesting to halve this current dosage (bringing it to 125mg/week). Does this sound about right, given the above numbers? I'm a little concerned that dropping it to the point that the estrogen is good (what is good vs in range with estrogen, by the way?) will end up with the T being too low.

Thanks in advance.

[GotNoBlueMilk]

Couple thiings on this. It looks like you were not given the sensative estrogen test, based on the range quoted. That looks like the female estrogen test. Despite that, your followup bloodwork has E2 at 247! You need an AI. That is how E2 is controlled, not by lowering T. You use the correct amount of T to keep T bloodlevels where you want it, and keep E2 down with an AI.

If you do an AI your T levels are going to go up more, so cutting back on the amount of T you inject is probably something to consider. 250mg/week is a high end dose for HRT.

[steroid.com 1]

Another "Doctor" blindly administering a TRT protocol. The OP's E2 is through the roof and he's probably feeling all of the bad sides. None of the Test he's taking is doing him any good at all.

You need to find another Doc who understands TRT protocols and get you fixed. Even if you have to travel pay the money to get the correct care.

[kelkel]

You will soon find this redundant here, but go to the below site and learn it. Find a doc that will follow those guidelines. Real good advice above, now run with it. Above guys are well versed in this topic and would direct you there also, just like they did for me...Welcome and good luck.


http://www.allthingsmale.com/publications.html

[-_-]

Thanks guys. I have a few more questions, but have to leave for work, so I'll post most of them later. I have a quick one though for the time being. I was planning on going on a small cut in a couple of weeks. Would that be wise considering my current E levels, or should I wait until I have this under control first?

[-_-]

In my GP's defense, she offered to give me a referral to someone else because she freely admits that she's not particularly knowledgable regarding TRT. I chose to stick with her because she's been my doc since I was a child, and my last experience with someone supposedly more knowledgable didn't work out very well. She's happy to treat symptoms and not numbers, but it might just take a little longer than optimal.

As for the need of an AI and her recommendation of decreasing my dosage of test... she merely suggested I try halving it; it's not a command and I'm permitted to mess around with the dosage myself to see what feels good; in fact that's exactly what she suggested I do, but to use 125mg/week as a starting point.

What I'm curious about now is.. will the rate of aromatization decrease with the decreased testosterone, or will it remain directly proportional?

Should I grab some formestane temporarily?

Any help would be appreciated.

[nobloat]

your doc is a she, thats the problem

[steroid.com 1]

In my GP's defense, she offered to give me a referral to someone else because she freely admits that she's not particularly knowledgable regarding TRT. I chose to stick with her because she's been my doc since I was a child, and my last experience with someone supposedly more knowledgable didn't work out very well. She's happy to treat symptoms and not numbers, but it might just take a little longer than optimal.

As for the need of an AI and her recommendation of decreasing my dosage of test... she merely suggested I try halving it; it's not a command and I'm permitted to mess around with the dosage myself to see what feels good; in fact that's exactly what she suggested I do, but to use 125mg/week as a starting point.

What I'm curious about now is.. will the rate of aromatization decrease with the decreased testosterone, or will it remain directly proportional?

Should I grab some formestane temporarily?

Any help would be appreciated.

More the later then the former. You need an anastrozole in proportion to the amount of test you are injecting.

Starting rule of thumb is 1 mg of AI per 100 mg of test.

Sorry, this is just how it goes there are no short cuts in managing E2.

[flatscat]

Hey G, just curious as to what you mean by starting rule of thumb? If one is on 200/week do you think 2mg's is appropriate?

[-_-]

your doc is a she, thats the problem

I was expecting that. She's better than the last male GP I spoke to about it, if nothing else. He treated me like a criminal for being on testosterone injections and couldn't understand why I wasn't on patches.

More the later then the former. You need an anastrozole in proportion to the amount of test you are injecting.

Starting rule of thumb is 1 mg of AI per 100 mg of test.

Sorry, this is just how it goes there are no short cuts in managing E2.

Thanks mate, much appreciated. I've got some formestane coming and I'll see how I go with that. I think it's likely I'll be able to get her to prescribe me some arimidex the next time I see her, but that won't be for a while.

I just noticed that in my original posts I didn't mention my free test levels, after treatment. They're 1006 pmol/L with a reference range of 240-740. I thought perhaps the aromatization rate might drop once that was back within 'normal' range.

[steroid.com 1]

Hey G, just curious as to what you mean by starting rule of thumb? If one is on 200/week do you think 2mg's is appropriate?

Yea, that's pretty much it Flats. My Doc, a TRT specialist, Crisler (and others) pretty much agree that starting out (meaning a start-up protocol) the ratio is 1 mg of anastrozole to 100 mg of Test. My first BW at 120 mg of test and 1 mg of AI per week had my E2 at 22.6...pretty damn skippy!

[zaggahamma]

Yea, that's pretty much it Flats. My Doc, a TRT specialist, Crisler (and others) pretty much agree that starting out (meaning a start-up protocol) the ratio is 1 mg of anastrozole to 100 mg of Test. My first BW at 120 mg of test and 1 mg of AI per week had my E2 at 22.6...pretty damn skippy!

new ink idea...maybe cross the back??????? peanut optional