My experience, First 6 months on TRT
Everybody on this board has been a fantastic help so far, so I'm hoping I can start sharing some of my own information to help others along. I see a lot of threads from guys getting ready to start, so I thought I'd share my personal experiences as a newbie myself.
History: I started TRT in January 2014. Pre trt I had been suffering the typical low T symptoms for several years and finally decided toward the end of 2013 that maybe it wasn't just "normal aging" and started doing some research and then went to my doctor. 3 different blood draws from Oct to Dec all had my total T at 200 or less. All other blood panels were good so no underlying cause could be identified. Agreed to start TRT.
January: started Axiron at two pumps per day. I felt an almost immediate jump in libido and an improvement in general energy and mood. I hated applying gel everyday and I was also worried about cross exposure to my kids, so I requested a switch to injections after just a few weeks on the Axiron.
Feb: started test cyp at 200mg/week. High dose, I know, but my primary Dr. Doesn't have much experience with trt and neither did I. I stayed at this dose for 8 weeks.
April: I was referred to a Urologist for ongoing trt care, and my dose was backed down to 100mg/week when a blood test showed my total T over 1600 at 200mg/wk. This is the dose I've stayed at since then.
What I've experienced so far:
libido: crazy spike at first, settled down a bit now, but my "normal" libido is now much higher than pre trt.
energy: overall I feel much "clearer" and generally more alert and in tune throughout the day. I still have up days and down, but I feel it is now at normal human levels and no longer zombie like levels of lethargy.
Body hair: steadily increasing, I was never very hairy before and that is quickly changing. Mostly new hair on my stomach and chest, and hair on my lower legs that had thinned out in my early 30's has come back. Not sure if I like the hair or not, but its there.
Testicle size: so far...no noticeable change. I know this may come in the future, but nothing yet. I am not on HCG btw.
Weight gain: I've always stayed pretty lean, and at 5'9" I weighed 175 pre-trt. I now weigh 197. I was up to 205, but I had lost my abs and was looking a little too soft for my liking so I adjusted my diet accordingly. I was following a clean bulking diet up to that time. I do train pretty hard and from what I understand my weight gain may be above average. I gained the most during the first 8 weeks when I was at 200mg/wk dose.
Strength: I'm no superman, but relatively speaking its gone way up. I've lifted regularly since I was a teen, I've just never been able to get very big. I literally spent 5 or 6 years maintaining a max bench press of 260...1 rep. I can now do 315 for 4-6 reps. All other major lifts have gone up similarly. For me, this is a big change.
Acne: this has been the one major negative side effect. I've always been acne prone, and since starting trt its gotten way worse on my back and shoulders. Thankfully my face stays pretty clear. I tried Austinites protocol and it helped, but not enough. I recently started a very low dose of Accutane so hopefully that will do the trick. I know Accutane takes longer at lower doses, but I'm willing to be patient if it avoids the negative sides of higher dose Accutane.
Overall: I feel like a whole new person from what I was a year ago. Its taken some adjustment, but I'm very happy to have started trt and see no reason to ever look back. Hopefully this helps someone trying to make a decision.
O
