Arimidex Question

**ZenFitness** · 04-13-2013, 07:43 AM

I posted this in another thread but don't want to hijack that particular conversation.

I have a new TRT doc and went to him for the first time a week ago. He seems to be great but one detail is bothering me. I have not had my E2 checked in five months and it was at 21 last time it was checked (and 25 the month before that). My new doc thinks I may be exhibiting elevated E2 sides without weight gain (according to his notes). He put me on 1/2 mg Arimidex every day for three weeks and then wants blood work at that time.

Is it odd to do this without BW first? I certainly don't want to crater my E2, and from reading here it seems like this is a high Arimidex dose.

**austinite** · 04-13-2013, 07:48 AM

It's unfortunately not uncommon. But I wouldn't stay with a doc that prescribes blindly. Has he even seen your previous blood work?

Do you have your blood work with ranges? What's your TRT protocol?

**ZenFitness** · 04-13-2013, 08:09 AM

I had blood work a few weeks back at my old doc and am 794 (range 348 - 1197). Free test is 22.63 (5 - 21) at 2.85% free (1.5 - 4.2%). Unfortunately my old doc did not test E2 even though I asked for it.

The new doc has seen all my blood work back to May of last year when I started.

Protocol is 100 mg test self-injects once a week IM (no HCG at this time). I actually switched to the new doc b/c he is the only one in the DFW area who will do HCG. He was also great in the office... the Arimidex is just making me nervous and I'm thinking about dropping it.

The main things I complained about to the new doc was that I need physical stimulation for erections and that they tend to be slower to come around. A couple of months ago this was not so much an issue, and I'm on 5 mg of Cialis 1x a day (been on it for six months). At 37 years old, this seems a bit young to be having this issue.

Would anyone recommend dropping the Arimidex? My thought is to figure out how long it stays in your system and then go get baseline blood work first, but if there is nothing wrong with taking it three weeks prior to blood work then I can be okay with that. I'm just a bit nervous about crushing my E2.

**austinite** · 04-13-2013, 08:15 AM

How long were you on TRT when this bloodwork was pulled? It's time to get blood work again. This time done right. If a doctor refuses panels you request, simply fire him/her. They work for you, not the other way around.

I would ask your doc for the following panels posted in kelkel's sticky thread:

• Total Testosterone
• Bioavailable Testosterone (AKA “Free and Loosely Bound”)
• Free Testosterone (if Bioavailable T is unavailable)
• SHBG
• Estradiol (specify “sensitive” assay for males)
• LH
• FSH
• Prolactin
• Cortisol
• Thyroid Panel
• CBC
• Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
• Lipid Profile
• PSA (age dependent)
• IGF-1, IGFBP-3 (if HGH therapy is being considered)
• Vitamin D
• DHEA-S

Thyroid panel is crucial and could help identify the root cause here. (That's the goal here)

Also, please take a moment to read this sticky thread from gdevine on the importance of hCG, prenenolone and DHEA.

Finally, consider subQ injections, and splitting that 100mg to 50mg twice weekly.

**ZenFitness** · 04-13-2013, 08:24 AM

Thanks for the reply. I had testopel a year ago for several months and then started self-injects last September. I've been steady with 100 mg IM every week.

I've had many of those tests over the past year... my old doc simply focuses on the testosterone and PSA levels at this point (not my choice, of course... one of the reasons I'm shopping docs right now). I will be hitting my GP soon and will test some of those others as a normal yearly physical (thyroid, Vitamin D, etc.). My last thyroid tests (last year) are here:

http://forums.steroid.com/hormone-re...ml#post6030669

At any rate, I'm mostly interested to find out if folks think cutting the Arimidex and running blood work first is a better choice, or if having the Arimidex pre-blood work is normal.

**steroid.com 1** · 04-13-2013, 08:59 AM

This is simple; any Physician who puts you on .5mg of an AI ED for three weeks before he tests blood work doesn't have an F'n clue as to what he/she is doing.

AI's are very powerful antagonists and this will drop your E2 serum levels directly into the tank!

Wait till you see how you feel when that happens...and oh yea, think you have erection problems now, wait till you see what happens when you take that extreme dosage.

My advise, don't take it and call LowTestosterone.com right now if you live in the DFW area.

Get the proper care.

**ZenFitness** · 04-13-2013, 09:16 AM

Thanks GD... I figured as much and wanted to bounce it off the folks here.

**steroid.com 1** · 04-13-2013, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by ZenFitness

Thanks GD... I figured as much and wanted to bounce it off the folks here.

No problem man, but you knew the dosage wasn't right but to get confiirmation is always a good thing.

LowT is so close to you and you can't beat their pricing...give them a call and get the right care brother.

**ZenFitness** · 04-13-2013, 09:52 AM

Just left their after-hours service a message for a call back. For some reason they always looked a little gimmicky to me, but having someone who knows what they are talking about vouch for them makes me interested. I will be checking them out ASAP.

Right now I subjectively feel like I'm 50 - 75% of the way on what I really need... hopefully this will bridge the gap.

Thanks again!

**HRTstudent** · 04-13-2013, 07:06 PM

.5mg of of arimidex is a lot, even for me who I have yet to see someone (on the boards) who aromatizes as readily as I do...

A lot of the literature on anastrozole uses higher doses because it's often done on obese men who are not on TRT. Something about being on TRT (and certainly being obese) changes the landscape dramatically, and a "little" arimidex goes a long way.

**MickeyKnox** · 04-13-2013, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by HRTstudent

.5mg of of arimidex is a lot, even for me who I have yet to see someone (on the boards) who aromatizes as readily as I do...

A lot of the literature on anastrozole uses higher doses because it's often done on obese men who are not on TRT. Something about being on TRT (and certainly being obese) changes the landscape dramatically, and a "little" arimidex goes a long way.

I realize the following information is not TRT, but just wanted to comment on this portion,

500mg/wk Test E
80mg/day Tbol

Currently 2mg/day Adex. Hoping to reduce back to 1mg/day shortly.

**steroid.com 1** · 04-13-2013, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by HRTstudent

.5mg of of arimidex is a lot, even for me who I have yet to see someone (on the boards) who aromatizes as readily as I do...

A lot of the literature on anastrozole uses higher doses because it's often done on obese men who are not on TRT. Something about being on TRT (and certainly being obese) changes the landscape dramatically, and a "little" arimidex goes a long way.

Yea, it's called increase in resting metabolic rate!!!

**HRTstudent** · 04-14-2013, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by gdevine

Yea, it's called increase in resting metabolic rate!!!

While that may be true, I believe it is more than that. Even the obese members that we see post on forums (who are on TRT) do not take 1mg of arimidex per day, which is common in the literature.

**ZenFitness** · 04-15-2013, 08:44 AM

Talk to my doc briefly on the phone this morning. He said that at times guys with E2 in the 20s/30s can still have estrogenic effects. He takes 1/2 mg Arimidex daily himself.

His suggestion was to stay on it and do the bloodwork as planned and listen to my body. If I start to experience sexual dysfunction, then I should know that the E2 is too low.

On a side note, my nipples are slightly sore after coming off the Arimidex (Friday was my last dose). I'm debating about giving it a shot.

**largerthannormal** · 04-15-2013, 10:03 AM

yes its tough to tell without actually checking since high and low serum levels have the same symptoms so any recommendation is bogus by anyone.

On a side note being anabolic most "assume" high estrogen if experiencing symptoms( of course we know this isnt always true) so the way he probably likes to test is administer a low dose AI then draw and TEST and adjust( i wouldnt recomend this unless you know its high previously)

Im not sure on the strength / half life or Arimedex but ive seen alot of recent tests on stane and even in non anabolic patients on a low dose ED it didnt crash E and was well within recommended levels.

This isnt my suggestion just probably what hes thinking.

**ZenFitness** · 04-15-2013, 02:45 PM

Thanks for the note - good to know!

My old doc can get me in for a blood draw tomorrow for estradiol levels... one of the reasons I went to this new doc in the first place (the old doc didn't remember to do my estradiol on my last blood draw in March - it was kind of the last straw as they are difficult to work with).

**HRTstudent** · 04-15-2013, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by ZenFitness

Talk to my doc briefly on the phone this morning. He said that at times guys with E2 in the 20s/30s can still have estrogenic effects. He takes 1/2 mg Arimidex daily himself.

His suggestion was to stay on it and do the bloodwork as planned and listen to my body. If I start to experience sexual dysfunction, then I should know that the E2 is too low.

On a side note, my nipples are slightly sore after coming off the Arimidex (Friday was my last dose). I'm debating about giving it a shot.

Yes, do listen to your body. Not everyone needs or should have the same numbers! The only thing we can say for certain is that we don't want one's E2 to be excessively too low nor too high. In those cases, we know there are definite adverse effects.

**VTX1800** · 04-15-2013, 03:13 PM

My doc started me blind on .5 mg anastrozole MWF. My estradiol was at 12 when I was on androgel . After speaking with Gdevine I decided to take .5mg twice a week 24hrs after injection. 6 weeks went by and my estradiol was at 23.8. I've been on 200mg/ml per week for the past 6 weeks, 250iu hcg mwf and clomid 25mg everyday. I feel SO much better now than I did when my E was at 12.
Still goes to show at 200 mg/ml of cyp a week my estrogen nearly doubled while taking anastrozole .5mg twice a week.

**ZenFitness** · 04-15-2013, 03:33 PM

Thanks HRT and VTX, I appreciate both your inputs!

VTX, was your estradiol at 12 after blindly doing the anastrozole (which is actually what I have, generic arimidex )? My estradiol was at 11 last summer on pellets (about a month after insertion), 21-25 in the fall (after being on 100mg/wk injections for a couple of months), and ??? now (5 months later).

I've noticed my erections much are slower to happen and need physical stimulation to get them going for the past two months (on 5 mg daily Cialis and with no Cialis... virtually identical either way). I first thought it was tobacco use (I picked back up on a bad smokeless tobacco habit late last summer that I have since quit as of two months ago), but now being off tobacco for two months I'm thinking E2 is probably the culprit. I had similar symptoms last summer when my estradiol was at 11 although they are worse this time around. That said, the E2 could be high. Hopefully will know by the end of the week or so.