Blood work back and first appointment on Thursday

**schon** · 03-26-2013, 04:12 PM

What should I be expecting from my first appointment with a lowtestosterone.com doctor?

I'm a 31 year old male in the 20-25% body fat range.

My blood work came back with a 214ng/dL total, and a 5.3 pg/mL free, with luteinizing hormone of a 2.6.

Is there a "standard" starting dosage for trt? I'm pretty sure I will be prescribed some type of injectable test, is cypionate the gold standard for trt? I'm hoping to only have to inject 2x a week.

I guess I'm just gun shy about this whole thing, and I want to be assured that I get properly treated. I'd been suffering from what I thought low T for years before my GP finally agreed to run a test panel (two years ago), where my test came back at a 246, which my GP told me was "normal". So now I've scheduled an appointment with a lowT.com doctor because I wasn't getting anywhere with my GP, and I really want to get this done correctly.

Any tips, reassurances or things I should require from the doctor, or be on the look out for?

I appreciate any and all feedback, thanks everyone.

**HRTstudent** · 03-26-2013, 04:19 PM

A standard starting dose is 100mg per week injectable.

Quite frankly, if a doctor starts someone at 200mg they either don't know what they are doing or they are running a pill mill type clinic just trying to make bigger profits.

What else to expect... I would say get a feel for the doctor, do they listen? Do they care about your quality of life and not just numbers? That's a big deal and a real difference between "standard" docs and doctors who treat for well being.

Let them know you're worried as well. A good doctor should have good answers to your questions and worries!

**schon** · 03-26-2013, 05:07 PM

Thanks HRTstudent, I'm really looking forward to having a "normal" hormonal profile, my quality of life has been pretty shitty the last few years. I will make sure to be quite vocal about my concerns.

***system admin*** · 03-26-2013, 05:40 PM

You will be in great hands sir! Talk to the doctor about your concerns and issues and he will be able to get you on the right track. Call us or keep us posted on how it goes and welcome to the Club!

Bc

**Rusty11** · 03-26-2013, 05:49 PM

After your visit, I'd like to hear about your experience and the protocol that was prescribed. Thanks and good luck!

**schon** · 03-26-2013, 06:02 PM

I appreciate the support guys. I will post about my appointment and dosing protocol when I get back from the doctor. Is that something you guys would want me to post here or in a new thread?

**kelkel** · 03-26-2013, 06:23 PM

You can post it here. LowT was developed to help people just like us. Finding docs who are educated in HRT is really not an easy task on your own, hence the numerous threads here detailing the trials and tribulations of members receiving poor care by doc's who don't know HRT.

Their methodologies at LowT are based on those of the top docs in the industry. You'll be fine.

**schon** · 03-28-2013, 07:04 PM

Ok, just got back from my appointment. Everything went well, and I am feeling a lot better about my HRT in general. I was surprised to learn about the extreme amount of symptoms that can be related to low t. I met with a nurse and a PA, and they covered all of my questions and were very supportive and empathetic regarding the problems I've been having.

I was started on 200mg of test once a week, with 250 iu of hcg twice a week, the first dose 3 days after my test injection, and the second 3 more days later. I will also be supplementing with a prescription of DHEA.

In reference to HRTstudent's comment about 200mg being too high to start off with the PA said that because my test levels were so low it was warranted. Does anyone have thoughts on this?

Overall everything went really well and I am quite satisfied. I will be going in for more bloodwork 3-4 weeks from my first injection, unless I start to get signs of gyno, then they will rush some bloodwork and prescribe some arimidex .

I should be receiving my prescriptions in the mail the early part of next week. Any tips or words of wisdom from those experienced with taking trt?

Thanks for reading everyone.

EDIT: They are shooting to bring my total test up to between 800-1200, and my free test around 25-30. But are more concerned with the resolution of my symptoms and issues than the actual numbers on my bloodwork.

**Trific** · 03-28-2013, 07:44 PM

I like most of what they told you, I don't agree that because your test was so low that you need more than most. Since you can lower your dose later on if warranted, so be it, don't think I'd irritate them and argue about the dose when it's not known what you will need.

May as well study the HCG sticky so you know all about putting in the bac water when you get it.

**schon** · 03-28-2013, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by Trific

May as well study the HCG sticky so you know all about putting in the bac water when you get it.

Will do, thanks.

EDIT: In regards to your comment about the dosage, I agree. Is weight a factor when choosing dosage? Because I weighed in at a quite stout 265.

**Rusty11** · 03-28-2013, 09:00 PM

schon...thanks for the update. I'm glad things are looking up.

**Trific** · 03-28-2013, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by schon

In regards to your comment about the dosage, I agree. Is weight a factor when choosing dosage? Because I weighed in at a quite stout 265.

From the reading I've done, no, weight is not a reliable guide on how much someone would need.

**Vettester** · 03-28-2013, 09:26 PM

Did you say 3 or 4 weeks for your first follow ups? 6 weeks is usually the "norm", which is adequate time to know how your body is fully responding to therapy. So, are you saying the 200mg is being front loaded? With HCG in the picture, I don't quite get the need for that dosage, but I guess that's for you and your doc to decide.

What was your E2 sensitive score? I don't think I saw it posted, but may have overlooked.

**schon** · 03-28-2013, 10:13 PM

I never got my E2 checked, it will be on my next set of bloodwork. And yes, the PA told me 3-4 weeks. Perhaps it is earlier because I don't have an estradiol baseline? As for the 200mg test dose, they told me one injection a week of 200mg. The more i read on the board though, the more I see 2x weekly injections. Would splitting my dose into two reduce my chances for large amounts of aromatization? And would that effect how the hcg doses are "scheduled".

I'm most likely going to just do everything they way it was prescribed and see how it all falls out, then tweak as we get it figured out.

**schon** · 04-02-2013, 12:51 AM

Just got an email saying that my prescription was submitted to the low T pharmacy. Does anyone have experience with turnaround and shipping times?

**BigSpanky** · 04-02-2013, 05:34 AM

Mine only took 3 business days.

**schon** · 04-02-2013, 04:17 PM

Wow, just got all my stuff in, that shipping was retardedly fast. Reconstituted my hcg , and pinned 200mg of test. Absolutely everything I needed shipped. I got a large syringe for the hcg reconstitution, two bags of insulin syringes, about 20 23 gauge syringes, with 25 gauge pinning needles, even really nice alcohol pads.

I honestly can't believe how smooth everything has gone.

**riotz0r** · 04-02-2013, 04:39 PM

Where did you pin at and how was it?

**schon** · 04-02-2013, 04:48 PM

Test went in on the side of my right quad. Absolutely zero pain on insertion. I had to apply a good amount of pressure on the plunger to get the oil to flow through the 25 gauge needle, so that took longer than I expected. And afterwards it felt like someone had punched me in the quad for about an hour or so. Total volume injected was 1 mL, and aside from an almost imperceptible ache in my leg I can't tell that I injected at all.

Way easier than expected.

**schon** · 04-03-2013, 11:42 PM

Unexpected twist, foam rolling my quad almost made me vomit. Won't be doing that again.

**bigt405** · 04-04-2013, 01:06 PM

It should get better as time goes on. The first few pins left some soreness for a few days,but I guess the muscles get used to it because I do not have any soreness the next days.

**Moparman** · 04-04-2013, 02:31 PM

Foam rolling?? Wth is that?

**schon** · 04-04-2013, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by Moparman

Foam rolling?? Wth is that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYS_Yme2_M0

It's a recovery technique that I mainly use for warming up before my workouts. More benefits than static stretching with no appreciable strength loss.

It's not usually a pleasant experience, but rolling over my injection site was like getting punched in the face.