Went from T-injections to Androgel. Balls came back a bit in size, Libido better.

Greetings,
I started with a baseline T of 160. I tried Testim and we did not get along, tried the patch, than shots.
.5ml injections of T-Enanthate twice weekly had my T up to 1486 (<1100) and 414.6 (<155) free (blood taken at lowest point in weekly cycle.)
I felt great in an Andro sort of way but E was triple digit, I was puffy and my balls shrank like hell.
My next doc gave me Arimidex and asked me to try Gel as it may be better for me than testim was. I tried 5mg daily and I felt pretty good but had symptoms of lowish T in the evenings but felt even better than shots in some ways.
I tested my blood 2 weeks into gel treatment. I skipped my morning dose and tested over 24hrs after last gel dose. It was 230 (>250) with free of 46.7 (>35) but I felt pretty good anyway. I was likely 700 or better on days when I took the medication. MY BALLS GOT A BIT CLOSER TO THE SIZE THEY WERE. Perhaps the lack of sky high T got the brain to balls radio working again.

Any thoughts?

If I didn't feel bad, Could it be better for my natural production if I stayed with the gel/lower T levels occasionally? permanently?

Here are the two blood tests.



.5ml t-enanthatate 2xW (blood taken day before 2xW shot)


FSH [L] < 0.7 mIU/mL 1.6-8.0


LH [L < 0.2 mIU/mL 1.5-9.3


ESTRADIOL [H] 102 pg/ml


HCG TOTAL QN <2 mIU/mL <5


PSA TOTAL 1.3 ng/mL <=4


HEMOGLOBIN [H] 6.0%


TESTOSTERONE TOTAL [H] 1486 ng/dL 250-1100


TESTOSTERONE FREE [H] 414.6 pg/mL 35-155

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.0 Androgel (blood taken before meds that day)


FSH [L] < 0.7 mIU/mL 1.6-8.0



LH [L < 0.2 mIU/mL 1.5-9.3



ESTRADIOL [H] 61 pg/ml



HCG TOTAL QN <2 mIU/mL <5



PSA TOTAL



HEMOGLOBIN [H] 6.0%



TESTOSTERONE TOTAL [H] 230 ng/dL 250-1100



TESTOSTERONE FREE [H] 46.7 pg/mL 35-155

Thanks,
TG

That's sort of interesting...going from injections back to gel and thinking it might be better. Some guys here do think less can be better for TRT. I went from gel to injections only recently. I don't feel as good from the injections as I did on the gel, but I figure some more fine tuning is needed before a decision to switch back should be made. In fact, the endo yesterday offered to put me back on gel, but I told him let's experiment a bit first.

As background, the endo had me on 200mg. test. cyp. every two weeks. My mid-point blood work had total test. at 861 (280-800 range) and free test at only 16.7 (8.7-55 range). It seems clear to me that I must be aromatizing a bunch of that test. on a two week injection schedule. No wonder I don't feel as good as I did on the gel. We are going to try weekly injections at a lower level and see how I feel. Something like a little over 300mg./mo. divided into four injections.

The hard thing about this is that experimenting takes a long time to find a sweet spot, or so it seems to me. Endo won't see me again for three months, so that will be the next experiment point and summer will be half gone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sirupate

As background, the endo had me on 200mg. test. cyp. every two weeks. My mid-point blood work had total test. at 861 (280-800 range) and free test at only 16.7 (8.7-55 range). It seems clear to me that I must be aromatizing a bunch of that test. on a two week injection schedule. No wonder I don't feel as good as I did on the gel. We are going to try weekly injections at a lower level and see how I feel. Something like a little over 300mg./mo. divided into four injections.

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Are you self injecting? If possible you should split you injection into 100 mg weekly instead of 200/eow. It would provide more stable levels and and prevent the aromatization of the larger dose of T into E.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TGraham

If I didn't feel bad, Could it be better for my natural production if I stayed with the gel/lower T levels occasionally? permanently?

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With the introduction of an external source of T whether it be gel or IM injections your body will slowly stop producing its own T.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ratt

Are you self injecting? If possible you should split you injection into 100 mg weekly instead of 200/eow. It would provide more stable levels and and prevent the aromatization of the larger dose of T into E.

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Self-injecting...yes. And yes, I am hoping that more frequent injections will lower the conversion to E2. Initial dose will be more like 80mg./wk. After BW on that, we'll see what level the doctor recommends.

OP - Are you and were you taking hCG as part of your protocol? I can only surmise not since your balls were shrinking. Your assessment is probably correct: the reason the boys are probably coming back now is that your T dose is at a lower ratio. Either way, you will still need hCG for a lot of important reasons that you should research here on the site.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gdevine

OP - Are you and were you taking hCG as part of your protocol? I can only surmise not since your balls were shrinking.

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gd,
No HCG yet. I have an appointment with another endo next week. I am hoping to get it from him.

Some men like the gels better because they convert to dht more than shots and dht is a very androgenic hormone responsible for libido,body hair,deepening of voice and overall well being.