Is 100mg Test-C per week a decent dose for HRT?

[adam1973]

If this is your dose what did it bring your Free and Total Testosterone levels too? How long did it take to notice any effect?

Im on 100mg per week prescribed by my doctor as a trial to see how I feel.

Thanks!

[Gaspaco]

100-150mg is decent trt dose.

Do what dr. say, you will feel if its enough!

[JohnGalt]

that's the dose I started at in April. My doc wanted 3 months before BW so I'll get it drawn next month to know where I'm riding at.

As for the effects, between week 1 and 2 I could feel so slight improvements. by about week 6 the improvement was much better and every week or so everything's getting better.

There's a great sticky post in this section on what/when to expect results for HRT, check it out so far it's been about right on cue

[LowT Mike]

Thats a higher than average starting dose. Traditionally the well trained doc uses a formula like this. .8mg/kg body weight. Start low go slow!

[adam1973]

Thats a higher than average starting dose. Traditionally the well trained doc uses a formula like this. .8mg/kg body weight. Start low go slow!

My doc originally wanted me to come in once a month for a shot of 300mg. I told him I wanted to self administer weekly at a lower dose to avoid any ups and downs. He said ok to the self administration but wanted me to be at 50mg/week. I protested the dose he said ok to the 100mg/week. That was last Friday.

[bass]

my X clinic started me at 200 mgs ew, then I changed it based on what I have learned here and other places, I did many different size dose and the best one that makes me feel great is 60mgs twice a week (120 ew)

[38onTRT]

+2 what bass said.. I feel best at 100-120 EW SPLIT every 3.5 days...

[HRTstudent]

I think its smart for men to consider going from once a week injects to twice a week injects before upping the dose.

with that said, 100mg is a fair starting dose in that it's likely "enough" but probably it is more along the lines that it is convenient. it's easy to get someone started injecting (who probably never did so before) by telling them to inject half a CC per week. a lot less people are going to fail that math...

last I heard Dr. Crisler was starting to begin new patients around 80mg per week.

[adam1973]

I think its smart for men to consider going from once a week injects to twice a week injects before upping the dose.

with that said, 100mg is a fair starting dose in that it's likely "enough" but probably it is more along the lines that it is convenient. it's easy to get someone started injecting (who probably never did so before) by telling them to inject half a CC per week. a lot less people are going to fail that math...

last I heard Dr. Crisler was starting to begin new patients around 80mg per week.

Well for me its easy because each bottle of the 200mg Depo Test-C only contains 1mL of the drug. So I can only get two doses out of a bottle. Plus the Dr's assistant showed me exactly how much to draw into the syringe as well as where in the butt to shoot.

My main concern is that my Doc wants to see me back in 8 weeks (with no blood tests) to see how I feel. If I tell him I feel great and he does a blood test and my testosterone levels are the same as pre-treatment that he will cut me off. My previous test showed a dismal 280 for total testosterone and free testosterone was also very low.

[Bio-Active]

100 EW will put most within normal range. Very good starting dose IMO

[adam1973]

100 EW will put most within normal range. Very good starting dose IMO

Whats normal range? 500? 600?

Im hoping for 800

[Bio-Active]

Whats normal range? 500? 600?

Im hoping for 800

Depends on the ref ranges but for most it's between 300-900 ng/dl

[adam1973]

Depends on the ref ranges but for most it's between 300-900 ng/dl

I think the reference range Quest has is between 250-1050. So, if after 2 months of being on testosterone replacement , my labs come back with 300 what then?

Again my last test showed 286 for TT

[Bio-Active]

I think the reference range Quest has is between 250-1050. So, if after 2 months of being on testosterone replacement, my labs come back with 300 what then?

Depends on the dr and how you feel but I am guessing at that dose you will be higher than that

[adam1973]

Depends on the dr and how you feel but I am guessing at that dose you will be higher than that

I sure hope so. I really want this to work. My symptoms are the typical fatigued, depressed, sex drive low, sleep issues, testicles are small, sad, .....

The thing about my sex drive is sometimes its non-existent and other times its high or normal.

Ive had several Blood tests to check my testosterone and they have all varied 198, 345, 320, 450, 286 are some of the numbers and in that order. I was on clomid for several months and that brought my Total T to 650 and also brought up my free T. But after 3 months it stopped working and I was back down to 345.

[brazey]

The upper 3rd of the lab range is a good place to be.

[Bio-Active]

We're you consistently running your jabs within 2 hrs of waking?

[adam1973]

We're you consistently running your jabs within 2 hrs of waking?

I dont understand your question

[adam1973]

We're you consistently running your jabs within 2 hrs of waking?

Oh you meant the blood draw. Yes except the 198 that one was taking at around noon.

[Bio-Active]

Sorry I meant labs

[100%]

Thats a higher than average starting dose. Traditionally the well trained doc uses a formula like this. .8mg/kg body weight. Start low go slow!

Total weight or LBM?

[redhawk01]

When I was at 100mgs per week, my total t was mid 700's, started kicking in around 5 weeks. Now that I'm off TRT, I'm natural mid 500's. Still wish I was at 700+. Felt better all around.

Good luck

[johnhenry]

HRT - hope it's ok to ask a question here - I get a bit confused with the terminology - would that be 80mg test/wk or 80mg t-cyp x 72% = 58mg of actual T? J.
I noted a comment todat that good trt docs start at 0.8mg/kg body wt. For me that would be 77 x 0.8 = 62mgT/wk. I have started at 70 mgT/wk so pretty close.

[SEOINAGE]

for me a twice a week dose made a significant difference over once a week. Currently on eod and I kind of like it, although blood work wasn't quite favorable so might change things.

As for 100 mg a week, everyone is so completely different. 100 mg a week had me at a total t lvl of just over 200. I had to get a new doctor because he only wanted to bump up to 120, and I was feeling absolutely awful. So someone like me may need 200 mg to have the same levels as say someone on even 60 mg. That really is how different it can be. I've seen blood work with someone on 80 mg be much higher than my 200.

Just something to keep in mind because it's really hard to use others as reference.

Edit: Maybe I should add my situation seems rare enough, so don't go automatically assuming you are the same without some blood work and trial and error. I kind of took some things into my own hands, and although I don't regret it, just want to make sure others exercise caution.

[ZenFitness]

I am and have always been 100 mg/wk. Took me about 3 weeks to feel good when I started TRT, although I did pellets initially.

At 100 mg/wk I have landed around 800 in between injections and 630ish the day before my next injection.

I just switched to 50 mg/2Xwk last month and have my first blood test tomorrow FWIW.

[adam1973]

Thanks everyone for all the replies and feedback.
One thing I didn't mention to you, or my PCP, is that I am still taking the HCG prescribed to me by the HRT clinic doctor. The HRT doc gave me a script for 500 IU of hcg to inject MWF.

From what I've researched the typical dose of HCG while taking Test-C is about 250 IU. So I have lowered my HCG dose from 500 to 250 IU 3 times a week. The reason I'm continuing the hcg because Im worried my PCP will cut me off of the test-c after the 2 months is up. so I want to avoid testicular shut down if I am cut off.

I also have a ton of clomid on hand.

Does this seem reasonable? How about my HCG dose is it ok?

[phaedo]

HRT - hope it's ok to ask a question here - I get a bit confused with the terminology - would that be 80mg test/wk or 80mg t-cyp x 72% = 58mg of actual T? J.
I noted a comment todat that good trt docs start at 0.8mg/kg body wt. For me that would be 77 x 0.8 = 62mgT/wk. I have started at 70 mgT/wk so pretty close.

When someone says "80 mg of testosterone per week" they're referring to the total weight of the testosterone molecule AND the ester. So, they're injecting 80 mg of the solution as prescribed by the physician and as found in the medication. You're "right" in the sense that 80 mg is not 80 mg of pure testosterone, however, since the ester is the same all around (cypionate is cypionate), the ratio is the same and is a moot point to calculate "actual T."

I've tried all sorts of dosing and frequency. When I was not on hCG , a 100 mg of testosterone per week put my peak as 860 ng/dL and trough as 690 ng/dL.

[bigdippin]

My doc started me on 120 mg 1x per week. My initial BW can back with a total testosterone at 79 ng/dl. Said it was one of the lowest he has ever seen. I was dealing with the symptoms for around 7 years before I finally got checked out. During that time, I gained alot of weight. After 6 weeks on 120 mg per week, my levels rose to 367 ng/dl. Another 4 weeks and I was in the mid 450's. Still have a long way to go until I get to where I want, but I feel 150% better than before I started.

[adam1973]

My doc started me on 120 mg 1x per week. My initial BW can back with a total testosterone at 79 ng/dl. Said it was one of the lowest he has ever seen. I was dealing with the symptoms for around 7 years before I finally got checked out. During that time, I gained alot of weight. After 6 weeks on 120 mg per week, my levels rose to 367 ng/dl. Another 4 weeks and I was in the mid 450's. Still have a long way to go until I get to where I want, but I feel 150% better than before I started.

That sounds like a horror story. Sorry man.

[bigdippin]

Its all good. I'm just happy I finally got it check and am on my way to "being normal" again. Having no insurance sucks. Its not cheap but worth every penny IMO.

[HRTstudent]

Well for me its easy because each bottle of the 200mg Depo Test-C only contains 1mL of the drug. So I can only get two doses out of a bottle. Plus the Dr's assistant showed me exactly how much to draw into the syringe as well as where in the butt to shoot.

My main concern is that my Doc wants to see me back in 8 weeks (with no blood tests) to see how I feel. If I tell him I feel great and he does a blood test and my testosterone levels are the same as pre-treatment that he will cut me off. My previous test showed a dismal 280 for total testosterone and free testosterone was also very low.

you won't have the same T levels as before now that you're on 100mg of T per week. you can take that to the bank. even a fast metabolizer doing 1 shot per week would probably have a trough in the 300-400's. but that doesn't mean that person is "living" at a t level of 400... it means the lowest they ever get is 400 and that represents a minority of their time.