Lowest Test C dose recommended?

[ssaunders]

Since my PSA is always elevated since starting TRT my doctor wants me to try lowing the dose to 50 or 75mg a week to see how my PSA/prostate response to it.

Would TRT be effective at such low doses? With 100mg a week (split into 50mg 2x a week) I'm already at the higher end of the normal range on TT and over normal with FT plus I'm starting hcg 2x week again.

[Windex]

I would split your dose into 3 - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for example. You could go down to 75mg (3x25mg).

When do you get your blood work relative to your shots? If you do a shot every Monday, then your blood work drawn on Monday before your shot is going to yield a very different result than bloodwork done on Tuesday morning.

Also don't bother doing Total Testosterone, it's not a useful metric for HRT intervention.

[Youthful55guy]

Since my PSA is always elevated since starting TRT my doctor wants me to try lowing the dose to 50 or 75mg a week to see how my PSA/prostate response to it.

Would TRT be effective at such low doses? With 100mg a week (split into 50mg 2x a week) I'm already at the higher end of the normal range on TT and over normal with FT plus I'm starting hcg 2x week again.

First off, if your labs show you are high in T, then yes I would lower the dose to get it within range. The caveat being that you did not mention when your labs were drawn relative to your last injection. That can make a big difference in the lab results. Always best to be consistent to compare one lab to another. For comparing to ranges, most docs in the know recommend testing just prior to your next scheduled injection.

I agree with Windex that you may benefit from more frequent injections, particularly if you lower your dose. The more frequent you inject the less overall T you need to feel normal. You stay within the normal range at all times (peek and nadir). I much prefer the every 3 day (E3D) protocol rather than a MWF protocol. That way the intervals between injections is always the same and you can choose any injection day to do labs. Modern day computer and phone calendars make it easy to keep track of injection days and give you alarms.

Finally, you might want to check your DHT levels. I'm willing to bet they are way out of range and may be what is driving your PSA labs to go up. I find that a relatively small dose of finasteride (1-2.5 mg/day) while on TRT is enough to keep DHT within range.

[The Deadlifting Dog]

I am prescribed 80mg/week and that works just fine

[ssaunders]

I'm doing the 2x a week injection currently just for convenience but will start the 25mg 3x next week and see how that goes.

DHT is within range for sure, even on the lower side of the range. In fact all my labs are great except PSA. Just not sure if lowering my TEST C to 75-80 grams will make a difference in PSA.

First off, if your labs show you are high in T, then yes I would lower the dose to get it within range. The caveat being that you did not mention when your labs were drawn relative to your last injection. That can make a big difference in the lab results. Always best to be consistent to compare one lab to another. For comparing to ranges, most docs in the know recommend testing just prior to your next scheduled injection.

I agree with Windex that you may benefit from more frequent injections, particularly if you lower your dose. The more frequent you inject the less overall T you need to feel normal. You stay within the normal range at all times (peek and nadir). I much prefer the every 3 day (E3D) protocol rather than a MWF protocol. That way the intervals between injections is always the same and you can choose any injection day to do labs. Modern day computer and phone calendars make it easy to keep track of injection days and give you alarms.

Finally, you might want to check your DHT levels. I'm willing to bet they are way out of range and may be what is driving your PSA labs to go up. I find that a relatively small dose of finasteride (1-2.5 mg/day) while on TRT is enough to keep DHT within range.

[Youthful55guy]

I'm doing the 2x a week injection currently just for convenience but will start the 25mg 3x next week and see how that goes.

DHT is within range for sure, even on the lower side of the range. In fact all my labs are great except PSA. Just not sure if lowering my TEST C to 75-80 grams will make a difference in PSA.

Consider too it could be a prostate infection. Happened to me recently. My PSA for over 10 years was always under 1.0. Then suddenly it shot up to over 7 and I had urination problems. I was prescribed a 40 day treatment of ciprofloxacin for a suspected prostate infection (they are very difficult to accurately diagnose). and my PSA immediately came down to slightly over 1. Still working on getting it back below 1. See the graph below.