Ok, Here we go again. Question(s), Rant..

[TheSpoonyBard]

Hey guys. I've posted a few other times, about my TRT protocol. I've been on a protocol since 7/3/2012. I know this is a short amount of time, but from everything I've read, I should be feeling at least a little bit better by now. I was started on Testim 1% 50mg once daily. Went back on Thursday(8/16) and got results from bw. Free T was up 4pg/ml to 30pg/ml. Total T was up to 258ng/dl from 209. Bioavailable was 82, originally 67. What a disappointment...Anyways, got to talking with the Doctor and she suggested we try IM injections of test cyp. 200mg/once monthly(really?!). So I said ok, let's try it. I am obviously not getting any real benefit from the smelly, sticky crap I'm marinating myself with right now, plus I've got 2 young girls(3 and 1 year old) to worry about getting near the transdermal glue. It's been 3 days since I got the test cyp shot in my arse cheek. Now when I was using the Testim there were days that I felt okay, and even a few where I felt like: "I'm back baby!". But test results don't lie. My gripe now is I asked her to test E2, and cortisol levels and please may I be copied on the full panel of results. She said they didn't test those things, when I was told they were doing a "full panel" of tests. WTF?! Really? SO, here I am, feeling like garbage again, no real diagnosis as to what may be causing the low T to begin with. I asked, almost begged, that I be allowed to pin myself at least every TWO weeks at home. Her response: "No. I can't do that. It's too dangerous. Unless you know a nurse that can do it, I can't let you do that." I know now I should've lied my ass off about knowing a nurse. What do you guys make of the situation. I've got a a few options rattling around in my head as of now, such as 1)get a new doctor(duh). 2)find some sharps, and test cyp from China and self-medicate, or 3)ride it out with my current protocol and hope it gets better. At this point I'm open to any and all suggestions, or advice. Sorry for the book but I just really want to feel better and get my T numbers back to normal range. Thanks for looking. -J

[Times Roman]

I know nothing about the gel, other than expensive, messy, and not very effective. I'd suggest wait a month after your first injection and reevaluate.

[steroid.com 1]

I could give you a long winded answer about her not knowing Jack shit...but I won't.

Find a new Doc who understands TRT for men...soon.

[Vettester]

It must just be me on a Sunday, but all I see is a cluster of words. I'll look at it later.

[fit2bOld]

New doctor.

[edmundo22]

Ask to do weekly SQ shots instead of IM?

[EZ E]

Is this a GP or a specialist....either way get a new doc.

[kelkel]

Enlighten her to the half-life of cypionate. Then politely ask her to instruct you in injecting (make her feel good) so she feels good about letting you self-inject. In the mean time, start doc shopping.

Oh, and find a doc with testicals....IMO

[HRTstudent]

I could give you a long winded answer about her not knowing Jack shit...but I won't.

Find a new Doc who understands TRT for men...soon.

This this this... too simple.

[HRTstudent]

Enlighten her to the half-life of cypionate. Then politely ask her to instruct you in injecting (make her feel good) so she feels good about letting you self-inject. In the mean time, start doc shopping.

Oh, and find a doc with testicals....IMO

I would save my energy, honestly.

And spend it looking for a new doc.

[TheSpoonyBard]

As always thanks for replying so promptly with good advice, gentlemen. I want to apologize for being kinda douchey and not fully reading all of the stickies. I'm just sideways with my Doc after reading everything here and needed someone to reinforce my thought process of reevaluating my TRT protocol. I also needed to know that I am not out of line for feeling like my Doctor doesn't really know what the fukk she's talking about. With that said, I've read KelKel's informative sticky regarding the appropriate steps to take to find a good TRT Doc. After years of low energy, depression, anxiety, and more recently total loss of libido I've FINALLY been diagnosed properly. And it's frustrating to have to deal with a new hurdle in the form of a doctor who seems like she enjoys dangling the carrot in front of my face, instead of doing what's necessary to get me feeling well. Sorry again, and thanks for reading. I'll continue to read, and try not to get so worked up and make dumb-fukk threads like this.

[HRTstudent]

I also needed to know that I am not out of line for feeling like my Doctor doesn't really know what the fukk she's talking about.

A doctor who knows about male TRT enough to treat it is the exception, far from the norm.

10 years ago testosterone cypionate once a month was standard... that should tell you a lot about how "young" TRT really is.

[TheSpoonyBard]

**Update 9/16/12
So on Thursday 9/13 I had my one month follow up appt with my Doc regarding how well(or not) the once monthly Test cyp worked for me. I can tell you guys that it did nothing for me at all. By the third week after being dosed I was feeling worse than ever. The bad news is that I went to the lab for BW and it seems they couldn't find the orders for the test, so no BW numbers until this coming week to let me know just how low or high my T levels were by the very last day of week 4. The good news is 1)She gave me a referral to a urologist. 2)She upped my monthly dose to 200mg test cyp twice monthly. A little better IMO. But the best part is that she gave me the mid month dose and the pins to administer at home! Finally. I just wanted some opinions on this latest visit. I think this is progress. 200mgX2 times a month...whatcha think?

[Vettester]

I think it's a terrible protocol to manage your hormones. Sorry, I'm not trying to throw stones at ya or anything, but when I see a doctor doing this stuff, I just want to scream!

However, since you can now do it yourself. Start pinning at least 1x per week.

[oldschoolfitness]

new dr bro. best of luck!! after seeing what a pain in the rear some guys go through im so thankful for my doc.

[Brazensol]

I know it has been said several times but cannot stress enough that you need a new doc. I would break that 200mg/every other week into 100mg/once a week. Unfortunately this will still leave you on a 2 week stretch from the doctors injection. Only real answer (short of educating her and good luck with that) is get a new doc.

[TheSpoonyBard]

I think it's a terrible protocol to manage your hormones. Sorry, I'm not trying to throw stones at ya or anything, but when I see a doctor doing this stuff, I just want to scream!

However, since you can now do it yourself. Start pinning at least 1x per week.

No worries man, it's great feedback and that's just what I needed. Thank you. I'm hoping the urologist is much more current on TRT and has a set of balls too. I will defenitely take you guys' advice on the breaking the test cyp into 100mg weekly. The only small hurdle as of now is that she pinned me with the 200mg dose at her office already, so I'm going to have to ride out the 2 week dose first. For some reason my wife is all jazzed up about getting to administer my dose this month, lol! I'm no needle phobic by a long shot but is the size of the pin she gave me normal? They're 22Gx1.5", 3cc capacity. Sorry for all the dummy questions.

[gbrice75]

No worries man, it's great feedback and that's just what I needed. Thank you. I'm hoping the urologist is much more current on TRT and has a set of balls too. I will defenitely take you guys' advice on the breaking the test cyp into 100mg weekly. The only small hurdle as of now is that she pinned me with the 200mg dose at her office already, so I'm going to have to ride out the 2 week dose first. For some reason my wife is all jazzed up about getting to administer my dose this month, lol! I'm no needle phobic by a long shot but is the size of the pin she gave me normal? They're 22Gx1.5", 3cc capacity. Sorry for all the dummy questions.

Where are you pinning? The gauge sounds about right (i've used 21 and 23g). As for length, depending on how lean you are 1" might be fine. For instance, I pin my quads and never use larger than 1". If I were to pin my flabby ass however, I'd go with the 1.5's for sure.

[redhawk01]

I use 18g to draw and a 25gx1" to pin, delts and quads. Split that 100mg into 2x50mg , 3.5 days apart,for more stable test level. That's my protocol anyways. I do Bw in 10 days, to see my progress so far. Good luck

[TheSpoonyBard]

Where are you pinning? The gauge sounds about right (i've used 21 and 23g). As for length, depending on how lean you are 1" might be fine. For instance, I pin my quads and never use larger than 1". If I were to pin my flabby ass however, I'd go with the 1.5's for sure.

Ha ha! Yeah, I'm pinning my flabby ass cheek, so it seems like the 1.5's are in order. I like the idea of every 3 days, but she only gave me 4 "setups".