HRT-Need high doses of T to stay in normal range

[entechterry]

Hi Guys,
Just wanted to check and see if anyone has any advice on my very odd situation.
I've been on HRT for two years and have had ups and downs. Sorry for the lenghtly post...
For some reason my T goes up for just a few months then drops back down to an unsatisfactory level.

Started in July 2011 with initial blood work of:
T=179
FT-5
E-25
also had an MRI to rule out any pituatary issues such as cancer
cant remember the other numbers off the top of my head (such as FSH or LH) but the doctor had no issues with any of the numbers.

So started on 80mg for 4-5 weeks, only brought me to 245 or so, to make a long story short after 1 year of all this waiting I finally got up to around 750 (with the addition of HCG , 500mg 1xew). After another month or 2, i'm was back down in the 400's again.

I change doctors and end up self injecting:
2x week at what i thought was 130mg. What i screwed up on was I took the 130mg and converted it to 1.3cc, so i was actually doubleing my dose to 260mg unknowingly.

I stayed like this for 6-7 months not knowing and my T came in around 900-1050 over the months, but it did drop to about 775 one of the tests but they thought I was already maxed out and would not increase my dose. That was ok with me because I told them I felt good so I didn't want to increase my dose.
Then they switched pharmacy's and all of a sudden I run out of T about halfway thru my month. This is when we discovered what I had been doing regarding my dose. During this time when I was actually doing 260mg 2xew everyone was happy, I felt good and they thought everything was going well. Also, we kept E under control, I'm sensitive to the anastol they gave me and have it at about .25mg the day after my weekly shot.

Now I scared them when they found out the dose I was giving myself. They cut me back to the 130mg 2xew, and after 2 months of this my T is at about 475.
Everyone is afraid of the amount of the dose, but doesnt' the amount in the blood really give you the indicaction of how well this is working??
I would think that some guys might metabolize T differently than others?? Maybe absorbation is an issue with my body??
Any ideas guys?? I feel like I'm sinking so quickly I don't know what to do...
thanks,

[kelkel]

Wow. Interesting read. Edit that monster and break it into paragraphs so members can have an easier time assessing all of this. You'll get more responses that way.

So currently you are on 130mg twice per week, right? Even this is a very high end dosage. There are people that are hyper-metabolizers and just plain need more T than others. I don't know if that's your case or not.

Can you post up your BW with ranges?
When was your BW pulled relative to your injection?
Have your E2 panels been sensitive assays?
What's your stats? Ht, Wgt, BF% approx?

Clear up your exact current protocol for us so we're all clear:

Example: Test 130mg twice per week. Mon & Thursday
Adex .25 mg 1 day after each injection
HCG 250 IU's twice per week

Thanks and welcome!

kel

[entechterry]

Hey Kel....Thanks for the input!
I'll go back and edit the post.
Currently I'm:
5' 10", 222 lbs., probably 31.5 BMI from last test at doc's office

As of last blood work I was on 4 weeks of:
130mg Test Cyp. 2x week, Thur & Sun
.25 of Adex 1 day after Thur injection
HCG 500iu 3x week, M-W-F

Blood work came back at:
Total T = 483
Free T = 13.6
Estradiol = 30.4 (not sure what sensitive assays are?)

Currently doc wanted to see whats up and took me off the HCG and has me on:
260mg each Thursday.
.25 Adex on Friday
retest blood in another few weeks
They want me to come in twice a week for the 130mg, but its just too difficult to go to the doctor twice a week and they are scared to let me self inject due to the confusion on the dose last year.

As my T has decreased I'm having all the typical symptoms I had in the past, don't want to get out of bed or go to work, tired all the time, the worst is all my joints are hurting again, loss of muscle mass, and major muscle weakness.

I have never heard of the "hyper-metabolizers" but this is where I would place myself. Everyone (docs) are shocked on the dose I'm at and say that I should be up in the 1000's if I'm taking that much. One clinic said at the 260mg 2x week dose I should have been in the 2000's range. I seem to respond to changes for a couple of months then my T starts droping again.

Thanks you guys for your input!!

[kelkel]

Once per week injections at that dose are even worse when it comes to controlling estrogen. And a sensitive assay is specific to males. Now, hyper-metabolizers or excreters are pretty rare I believe and it just means it passes through your system very rapidly. What the cause is needs to be found and corrected if possible. How's your liver values btw? At 260mg twice per week I'd think you'd be more in the 3-4K range for testosterone actually.

Another thought is that by going back to once per week injections you actually make it worse if in fact your are a hyper-excreter. Multiple shots would be the way to go then monitor your Free and bio T. I don't really want to run off at the mouth too much here. I'm hoping one of the lowT Doc's will log in and dig into this for you as well.

[EverettCD]

Entechterry, any updates to your situation? You're situation is interesting, I hope for your sake your Dr. gets you squared away soon.

[entechterry]

Entechterry, any updates to your situation? You're situation is interesting, I hope for your sake your Dr. gets you squared away soon.

Hi EverettCD,
No luck....so far my current T doctor at a center has pretty much fired me and told me to go find an endo because they will not give anything over a total of 300mg per week. They said they are not able to help me and I need to go find someone who will....never had someone making money off of me tell me to go away....oh, and she warned me they will want me to crash completely off of T so they can start over.

So, after once a week of 260mg for 5 weeks
Blood work came back at:
Total T = 475
Free T = 14.6
Estradiol = 22

Thanks!!
terry

[BuzzardMarinePumper]

Hey have you received any treatment by a Dr. to regulate your Test levels to a comfrontable level and get your E2 up any ? Not really that low ? But I am courious as to you condition and wonder if higher E2 would make you feel better ? Since all people are different as far as proper range of Test could some people feel better with higher E2 ?

[VegasBody]

So he's actually 260 mg per week only once
That is 1.3 cc that is not that much that would put me in a 1000 range