What can I expect from TRT clinic?

[Test Monsterone]

I went to a male health clinic here in Western Pennsylvania on Friday. I went through a brief questionnaire, got my blood pressure taken, and within minutes I was given the option of getting on TRT. I went in with blood work already that I had done a week prior. My total test was 461, and they agreed to prescribe me TRT.

For $200/month I was told I would get testosterone injections or creme, HCG , and blood work once a month or so. I could have gone through with it at that point but I told them I wanted to think about it (as I'm only 32) and also since I brought my own blood work and the consultation fee included blood work, I decided to get my blood work again next Friday and see where it is at that point. If it is still low, I think I'm going to go through with the TRT.

My questions:
They suggested creme instead of shots because it's easier to achieve more stable levels. What do you recommend?

Im assuming they will prescribe Cypionate , anything else I should consider?

The guy I talked to told me they will try to get me to 700-800 total testosterone, but the way I see it - if I'm taking exogenous hormones and paying all that money, I at least want to be in the high normal range, say around 1000-1200. How likely will I be able to get this and how will injections vs creme affect levels?

I assume creme is an everyday thing - seems like more of a hassle than pinning twice a week. Am I correct?

Are there any other services I should expect such as ancillaries, Viagra/Cialis, etc? Forgot to ask these questions.


Thanks for your replies!

[Youthful55guy]

Im assuming they will prescribe Cypionate , anything else I should consider?

Cypionate is fine.

The guy I talked to told me they will try to get me to 700-800 total testosterone , but the way I see it - if I'm taking exogenous hormones and paying all that money, I at least want to be in the high normal range, say around 1000-1200. How likely will I be able to get this and how will injections vs creme affect levels?

More is not always better.

I assume creme is an everyday thing - seems like more of a hassle than pinning twice a week. Am I correct?

yes

[Youthful55guy]

Sorry, missed part of my post:

For $200/month

T-cyp is not very expensive at all. A 1 year supply at most local pharmacies, even without insurance (I have no coverage) is only about $155.

It's the HCG that pushes the price up. A 1 year supply at ~1000 IU per week is about $680, but you can get by with half that.

I don't have a script for anastrozole because I don't actually "need" it. With a T dose of only 40-50 mg E3D, there is little excess conversion to E. However, I like to use very small doses to keep me in the 50th to 75th percentile of my range instead of the upper end. I use 0.5 mg/week using the daily eye dropper method. I obtain a well known name brand through alternative sources for about $1.27 per 1 mg tablet. This equates to about $0.63 per week or $33 per year.

So my total program is about $867 per year without insurance. I'm certain you could obtain comparable pricing, or possibly lower if you shop around, if you had a script to obtain the meds yourself.

Oh, one-piece 28G insulin syringes (the actual topic of this thread) are about $0.24 each delivered to your door.


My questions:
They suggested creme instead of shots because it's easier to achieve more stable levels. What do you recommend?

Injections, when done properly, provide more predictable T levels. Topicals (cream or gel) have variable absorption and can change, even within the same person, over time. I'd say go with injections, but TRT clinics have you by the balls (pun intended) because they usually will not prescribe self-injections (this is how they make their money). Therefore, they cannot put you on a modern day protocol. Read this thread for a primer in best practices: https://forums.steroid.com/hormone-r...rting-trt.html

[Test Monsterone]

Sorry, missed part of my post:

For $200/month

T-cyp is not very expensive at all. A 1 year supply at most local pharmacies, even without insurance (I have no coverage) is only about $155.

It's the HCG that pushes the price up. A 1 year supply at ~1000 IU per week is about $680, but you can get by with half that.

I don't have a script for anastrozole because I don't actually "need" it. With a T dose of only 40-50 mg E3D, there is little excess conversion to E. However, I like to use very small doses to keep me in the 50th to 75th percentile of my range instead of the upper end. I use 0.5 mg/week using the daily eye dropper method. I obtain a well known name brand through alternative sources for about $1.27 per 1 mg tablet. This equates to about $0.63 per week or $33 per year.

So my total program is about $867 per year without insurance. I'm certain you could obtain comparable pricing, or possibly lower if you shop around, if you had a script to obtain the meds yourself.

Oh, one-piece 28G insulin syringes (the actual topic of this thread) are about $0.24 each delivered to your door.


My questions:
They suggested creme instead of shots because it's easier to achieve more stable levels. What do you recommend?

Injections, when done properly, provide more predictable T levels. Topicals (cream or gel) have variable absorption and can change, even within the same person, over time. I'd say go with injections, but TRT clinics have you by the balls (pun intended) because they usually will not prescribe self-injections (this is how they make their money). Therefore, they cannot put you on a modern day protocol. Read this thread for a primer in best practices: https://forums.steroid.com/hormone-r...rting-trt.html

Thanks for your reply. I'm guessing they will provide the testosterone and HCG for $200/mo? It does seem pretty expensive to me since I can get a 3 month cycle of test, HCG, and Arimidex for around $200 at 250mg / week. The only positive to this is that at least they will be doing regular blood work, which when I did on my own was around $225. I think even with blood work I would come out cheaper if I did it on my own, but being that I have never taken exogenous testosterone, I think it would be a good idea to go with a clinic first.

Do you think I could talk them down to $150/month? Not sure if this can be negotiated. I looked at all the TRT clinics in my area and they all advertise their starting prices at $200/month for TRT.

Also, I don't have health insurance, so this is one of the main reasons I'm going through a clinic and not an Endo (apart from the fact that no endo would prescribe me TRT at my total T levels of 461).

[Youthful55guy]

Thanks for your reply. I'm guessing they will provide the testosterone and HCG for $200/mo? It does seem pretty expensive to me since I can get a 3 month cycle of test, HCG, and Arimidex for around $200 at 250mg / week. The only positive to this is that at least they will be doing regular blood work, which when I did on my own was around $225. I think even with blood work I would come out cheaper if I did it on my own, but being that I have never taken exogenous testosterone, I think it would be a good idea to go with a clinic first.

Do you think I could talk them down to $150/month? Not sure if this can be negotiated. I looked at all the TRT clinics in my area and they all advertise their starting prices at $200/month for TRT.

Also, I don't have health insurance, so this is one of the main reasons I'm going through a clinic and not an Endo (apart from the fact that no endo would prescribe me TRT at my total T levels of 461).

The basic problem with TRT clinics is that they will not prescribe T to go, or at least the one I went to for my first 3 months many years ago. Those weekly trips into the clinic become burdensome after a while and weekly injections never worked for me. I always crashed before the next injection. Also, you have a rube awakening when you want to go on a 10 day vacation to Europe (or wherever) and realize that you'll feel like $#!t 5 days into it.

[Test Monsterone]

They seemed to say they’ll prescribe T off the bat and I could choose between injections or gel. Also they said I can do my own injections; I don't need to be there.

[Country23030]

Generally, poor service.

[Test Monsterone]

Ok I went back and spoke to the main doctor (an older guy) and he seemed to say he wouldn't be able to prescribe me TRT. I think they got scared cause I was asking too many questions, just trying to inform myself. Got another round of blood work done during the visit, only for testosterone and PSA, and if it's still really low I'm going to start looking into doing my own TRT. Already know what to keep an eye on, and I'll be doing ~100 mg/week of Test E/C. Should be able to keep things in order.

[Chrisp83TRT]

So they accepted you and then they didn’t? Seems a tad unprofessional.
The thing with creams is it can be a pain in the ass and you may not get stable levels. Temp of skin, co fact with another person , making sure the dose is precise ... a lot of things have to be thought out to the T and you have to apply it daily.
Good luck on your search for a doctor that is worth seeing

[Test Monsterone]

So they accepted you and then they didn’t? Seems a tad unprofessional.
The thing with creams is it can be a pain in the ass and you may not get stable levels. Temp of skin, co fact with another person , making sure the dose is precise ... a lot of things have to be thought out to the T and you have to apply it daily.
Good luck on your search for a doctor that is worth seeing

Yes, at first I believe I spoke to a younger guy, probably a physician's assistant. He basically listened to my symptoms, looked at my blood work, and then started writing out the "plans" they have. One is 1-year/$2400 for Test + HCG + bloods, the other was 2 years $4000 or something like that. They would have started me on it that day if I opted to, but instead I decided to come back a week later and have my blood work taken (again) and see how that looks. And when I went in the second time for the blood work is when I spoke to the older doc, who seemed annoyed at finding out they were going to put me on right away. He remarked "I'm going to have to talk to so-and-so..."

About the gel, yeah, the first time I went there the younger guy wanted and suggested I take the gel, but I said I'd rather do the biweekly injections. Although on vacations I think gel would be a lot more convenient.

If my levels come back low again I'm either going to order some stuff online from some reputable source or go with a guy who reportedly gets quality stuff at the gym. I'll start out at 100mg/week of Test Cyp + 250mcg HCG EOD. I'll have some Arimidex on hand just in case, but don't think I will need it at that dose. Then 6 weeks into it I'll get bloods again and see what I need to adjust. I honestly feel like I could do a more thorough job doing it myself than what most of these TRT clinics do. The guy taking my blood last time almost tore out my vein, the injection site was still bleeding after 2 hours. When I asked him a question he said he was new there smh.

[Test Monsterone]

Got the total T and PSA from my blood work done on Friday. Total T is 471, PSA 0.7. Exactly the same values as 2 weeks prior to the test. Both were taken at 9:30 AM, the first one on Monday. The only thing I did different was I didn't train for a week before the second test.

My next test I'm checking cortisol, SHBG, and estradiol... anyone let me know what other things I should check if you see this. Already did cholesterol, thyroid, RBC, liver enzymes.