Brand new to TRT. 39yrs old. Am I doing OK?

[crunk73]

Hey guys I have been reading and learning a lot from this site. The first thing I noticed was the amount of knowledge here. I would like to post my data and get some opinions on what I am doing and possibly a feel for the doc I am using.

1st visit = vitals , questions , blood work , etc. I informed him that I was having low libido, mild ed, tired, overweight, no motivation. His response = You're 40, 6'-1", 235, 32% bmi, probably cholesterol issues, low T I'm sure(awaiting labs). He says here's what we need to do before you have a heart attack and die in my office. I'll put you on phentermine 38mg per day to help you lose weight, letrozole 1mg every other day as an E-blocker, we will start you on hcg .2ml per day to try and get your testes working again, and b12 inj 1ml every 3 days to get your energy up. When your labs come back you will probably start TRT.

2nd visit = labs are back. totalT=317, freeT=62, total cholesterol=219, hdl cholesterol=32, triglycerides=510, glucose=108, ferritin=463. At this point its been 3 weeks, I'm feeling good, lost 14 lbs, and thinking he is going to take me off of some of this stuff and start me on test. Nope. He says donate blood to get ferritin levels down, keep taking everything(same doses), and start 75mg inj of test every 6 days. Come back in 6 weeks for lab re-evaluations. I've just taken my 3rd test shot and I feel good but not any better than the initial lift from every thing else that he put me on to begin with. Been six weeks since initial visit dropped a total of 21 lbs now. No increased libido yet. I have noticed my sack is going quick. Maybe improved results with time or dose increases if my level is still low. I don't know what to expect with any of this so all responses are welcome and would be appreciated. Do I really need to be taking everything he has me on , seems like a lot. Thanks in advance.

[Brett N]

I really don't have an answer for you outright. 3 weeks is just long enough to start feeling the test injections kick in. I am the same time frame in my TRT. I am getting some feelings of it but they are still faint and hard to tell. Morning erections are the most common sign.

The phentermine is just a get skinny quick pill and is not a long term solution. I took it too a while back, lost weight, quit taking it and gained even more back. I honestly think if he was really worried about a long term solution he would of sent you to a nutritionist or at least gave you good info. Changing your diet, exercising and portion control is how you lose weight. All about willpower.

The HCG should help your testes get back to normal size.

You will most likely get bloodwork done at the 6 week mark of TRT. This will tell you where you are at and by then you should have a good idea of how his protocol will make you feel. I don't know how he is going to know what actually helped you because he threw such a large amount of stuff at you that it would be impossible to single one out. The phentermine will most likely be the first to go.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me will come and offer some advice too. I just saw that 128 people saw the thread and nobody replied so I threw in my 2 cents. Welcome to the forum and stick around. You'll get a lot of knowledge and help here.

[crunk73]

Thanks Brett N for your 2 cents. You pretty much touched on what I was thinking about the reasons I feel better. Was it the a or b or c or d etc. or maybe the combination of any of the two, possibly a combo of any of the three. When I did start feeling better (with everything he had me before the test injections) should I maybe have said TIME OUT : I'm feeling better without the testinj so lets do this for 6 weeks and then re-evaluate whether or not I need test? I am also curious as to what some people think of the t-levels in the lab report? Are those levels consistent with levels that most docs would start TRT? Like I said in the original post anything you guys could add, share, or just advise would be helpful. For some reason I feel embarrassed to talk to anybody about this in person so your responses are appreciated. Thanks.

[Brett N]

I posted my blood test results in - **CONFIDENTIAL** BLOOD TESTING and 5 Day STEROID CLEANSE!

Make sure you also put in the ranges for each one too like Total Test - 420 Range 370-700 (these numbers are just examples)

Without the ranges, the numbers really don't mean a whole lot and nobody will be able to give you any good quality information on it.

[crunk73]

Thanks Brett N I'll do that tomorrow. I thought the ranges for each level were standard (just didn't know). I will post it in, "**CONFIDENTIAL** BLOOD TESTING and 5 Day STEROID CLEANSE! You've been a big help!

[EverettCD]

Sounds like you're on the right track, you're losing weight, that's a huge step in the right direction to a better quality of life. Personally I wouldn't want to take any weight loss meds, others may be for them but I like the idea of putting the least amount of meds in my body as possible. Do you do any type of exercise? What is your diet like? Same as Brett stated, post all your BW with ranges here & some of the more experienced guy's with give their opinion on it.

What "type" of Dr are you seeing? Primary Care Physician, Endo, Uro, TRT Clinic ??? As for your testi's disappearing it sounds like to me that you're not taking enough HCG . I need a minimum of 1000iu per week to maintain testicular size & not have any discomfort. This is the dosage that works for ME, everyone is different. Are you self administering your meds at home or do you have to go into the office for each injection?

[crunk73]

Thanks for your input EverettCD. As far as the weight loss help - they are supposed to be short term to curb hunger. I have adjusted my diet (which was horrible) meat, bread, potatoes, most everything fried, a lot of drive through, high carbohydrate intake as well. 0 exercise except for what I would get at work , prior to the last month I just didn't have the energy to do much. My diet now consists of mostly all baked or grilled lean meats or fish , vegetables , and fruit. I have recently started to lift weights again (1st time in 15 years). The doctor is a general medical doctor specializing in hormone replacement. I self administer everything strictly according to prescriptions. Hey EverettCD a quick question for you I am taking .2 ml of HCG per day x 7days = 1.4 ml per week and you are taking 1000iu per week, do you know how to compare our doses? and as I posted earlier I'll post complete blood work tomorrow in "**CONFIDENTIAL** BLOOD TESTING and 5 Day STEROID CLEANSE!" Thanks again every response helps me and I do appreciate it.

[crunk73]

Just posted my labs in : **CONFIDENTIAL** BLOOD TESTING and 5 Day STEROID CLEANSE!

[whatguy]

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[Vettester]

Crunk, welcome to AR.

I'm a little concerned with your physician's plan of treatment, especially the direction taken after the 1st visit.

What I see: He's prescribing 1mg/eod of Letro. What I don't see is any E2 sensitive results to support that decision. Probably a good chance that your E2 is elevated, but labs will tell for sure. Letro isn't what I'd call a estrogen blocker, it is basically the Armageddon of AI's for estrogen control, better known as a suicide inhibitor. That protocol will tank your E2, and you need a sufficient amount of estrogen for a variety of reasons (immune, cardiovascular, nails/hair, emotional & sexual well being ... The list goes on ...). Even if your E2 is up there, taking a AI that can be steadily managed is the route to go, which is why the majority of guys will lean on a small dose of Arimidex .

What I see is that you got prescribed HCG right out of the gate to help testicular function. Did he run LH/FSH to verify that your diagnosis is secondary? If not, then IMO it's complete speculation without knowing what condition the pituitary is in.

Ferritin ... Although your level isn't extreme, is he taking any steps to make sure you don't have hemochromatosis? I had ferritin in the 1,400 range at one point, and I have a carrier gene for hemo. It's a subject I am very up to speed on, and it's something you need to investigate a little further. The iron overload ends up causing havoc with the organs, and can take a toll on the endocrine system. You NEED a comprehensive thyroid panel without doubt. the correlation between iron/ferritin, hypogonadism & thyroid conditions, primarily hypothyroidism, is uncanny. If you go crashing your E2, you will just leave yourself open for a whole myriad of potential problems.

We need your free test (or SHBG if you have it?), DHEA and any adrenal related assays, Prolactin, a and CBC's, metabolic panels. I saw something noted about your labs, maybe in another section? Please post everything here in this thread.

Lastly, on your HCG dosage of ED, or call it 1.4ml/wk. Can you tell us what amount is in your vial? Might say something like 5,000iu? And with that, can you tell us how much bac water is being added for the reconstitution? We are here to help, and I don't want you to feel that I'm bagging on you, BUT, I'm kind of stickler about knowing what the heck I'm taking, and how much of it I'm taking. Again, glad you joined, and PLEASE spend a few hours just reviewing the stickies at our forum.

[EverettCD]

Thanks for your input EverettCD. As far as the weight loss help - they are supposed to be short term to curb hunger. I have adjusted my diet (which was horrible) meat, bread, potatoes, most everything fried, a lot of drive through, high carbohydrate intake as well. 0 exercise except for what I would get at work , prior to the last month I just didn't have the energy to do much. My diet now consists of mostly all baked or grilled lean meats or fish , vegetables , and fruit. I have recently started to lift weights again (1st time in 15 years). The doctor is a general medical doctor specializing in hormone replacement. I self administer everything strictly according to prescriptions. Hey EverettCD a quick question for you I am taking .2 ml of HCG per day x 7days = 1.4 ml per week and you are taking 1000iu per week, do you know how to compare our doses? and as I posted earlier I'll post complete blood work tomorrow in "**CONFIDENTIAL** BLOOD TESTING and 5 Day STEROID CLEANSE!" Thanks again every response helps me and I do appreciate it.

Good job cleaning up your diet. A year or so ago I gave my diet a major overhaul, no sugar, no processed foods, minimal grains (brown rice is about it these days), if it comes pre made or has ingredients that look like they're from a chemistry lab it's not in my diet. Lean meat, fresh vegetables & fruit is 98% of my diet. Every once in a blue moon I will eat some pizza or a desert that has sugar in it but it's rare. A lot of my friends & family that are still stuck the modern trash diet don't believe me when I say that I don't miss sugar, bread, fast food & all the other poison I used to put in my body. My diet change has made a very noticeable difference in my quality of life without a doubt.

As for your HCG dosage question I can't answer without knowing what concentration your HCG is. Look on the vial, how many IU's does it state it contains? How many ML's of Bacteriostatic water do you reconstitute it with? For example the compounding pharmacy I purchase my HCG from sends me a 5000IU vial of HCG & I reconstitute it with 5ML of Bacteriostatic water. I inject 500IU of HCG two times per week (every 3.5 days, the day prior to my test injections). This gives me 1000IU of HCG per week.


Edit: I just read Vettester's post. He beat me to the punch.