Increase HCG dose while lowering TEST dose to restore testicular size

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with hypoganism (secondary) due to low LH and FSH. I ran a trial of clomid for about 6 months and levels were up in the 725 range but never felt any better. I then moved to London and was started on Testogel for 9 months but never brought my TT levels above 300.

Finally I am seeing a private doctor and am currently on 125 mg Test Enanthate every week split into 2 injections every 3.5 days. I did this for one month (without HCG) and my level of TT was at 975, 48 hours after my injection. Unfortunately I still don't feel any positive results fro the TRT.

I was able to get HCG and am now starting to incorporate that into my protocol. I have noticed that my testicles are definitely much smaller than before starting TRT. Keep in mind it was 9 months of Testogel and one month of Test Enanthate. My doctor is suggesting 450 iu HCG twice a week.

1 - Won't this bring my levels up too high? Also wouldn't this be better split 300 M, W, F?

2 - Is there any way to increase Test E for a short while (maybe 100 mg/week) and increase the HCG dosage in order to restore testicular size? Then maybe after a while I can increase the T again and then drop the HCG down to a lower level.

3 - If so what do you think would be a good protocol for increasing the HCG and lowering test, to restore testicular size, and how long should I run it for?

After, do you guys think 250iu M, W, F would be sufficient?

Thanks for the help!

There's not a lot published on the effects of HCG on serum T that I can find. Here's one study that did look at it:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15713727

They found that doses in the range of 500 IU per week had no appreciable effect on serum T in men normal male volunteers that had been previously treated with 200 mg weekly of T-eth. When the dose was increased to 875 or 1750 IU per week, there was an increase in serum T of about 18 nmol/L (~520 ng/dL). There was no statistical difference between the 875 or 1750 IU per week doses in T response. Other data in the paper indicate that doses of about 1000 IU per week are optimal to bring intratesticular testosterone (ITT) back to normal levels in these same men that were suppressed with 200 mg/wk T.

My take away from the study is that doses of about 1000 IU per week of HCG are optimal for maintaining testicular function, and you can expect about a 500 ng/dL bump in T as a result.

Regarding your situation, you tested T at near to it's peak levels at 48 hours post-injection and it was near to the top of the range, so it means that you've dialed in the dose to approximately what it should be to keep you in range for Total T until your next dose. What we don't know is your Free T levels or your SHBG levels. These are more important than Total T in determining how you "feel". I strongly suggest you add these tests to your next set of labs. I'd also add in Estradiol IF YOU CAN GET THE CORRECT MALE/SENSITIVE TEST. If you cannot get the male sensitive test, I do not recommend testing for E because the normal E lab will tell you are too high, even if you are low. The test was designed for women and should never be administered to men. Bad information is worse than none at all.

So, my recommendation is that you layer in HCG at about 300 IU MWF but don't change the T dose. Then in about 6 weeks run the labs again and you will be able to compare back to your first set of labs to see what effect HCG is having on your T levels. If it send you out of range, then I would consider cutting the T dose. However, if you muck with the T dose at the same time you introduce HCG, you will not be able to isolate which variable is influencing you T labs. With TRT, it's always best to change one variable at a time and do it slowly and wait about 6 weeks between changes to measure the effects. It takes that long for your body to come to a new equilibrium.