Beginning TRT - an update

[johnhenry]

Have begun TRT after being somewhat hesitant to start – I am 58, weigh 170lb, and in okay shape. I have spent a fair
bit of time reading here to understand what is involved, esp from GD, Bass, Vett, HRT, Kel and others as well as the
stickies. Fellows, your contributions are invaluable – thank you. Not being able to sleep well, and the lack of libido & EQ
has triggered the green light. Total T has been in the 400 – 350 range (350 now) for the last 7 months. Took the second
of 0.4ml of 50mg/ml T prop (which will be EOD = 70mgT/wk.) I inject 0.2ml into each love handle - which are not all
that easy to see, as I am quite lean. Using 0.2 ml of 50iu/0.1 ml hcg nasal spray daily, but will switch to Corion/ Novarel 875iu/wk. Will test in 6 weeks from now. Baseline total T (June 8) is 354 ng/dL and free T is 50 pg/ml, so the
T’s are about half what they ought to be. Will monitor E2. March 15 blood test was 30 pg/ml & June 8 was 23pg/ml. It
peaked at 40, after which I have been taking the well known product at 0.2 gm/wk – a very low dose just to take the top off it. Have been taking 5000iu/d Vit D - level is now 56 ng/ml (Ref range 50 – 90 LEF) & also taking 50mg zinc/d.
May then consider DHEA/preg . So, I am on the way guys. I guess I will get used to the routine. I hope good sleep and libido/ EQ arrive soon. Will keep y’all posted.. J. Feel free to comment/ advise.

[Trific]

Looks like you studied well...Good Luck!

[sfgiantsfan55]

good luck to you. ive also been on hrt for maybe 2 months. I started with a level around 150....now up around 330 at 190mg q10days. Im 42. MD says at my age a normal reading should be around 500 for most guys my age. Wishing theyd up me faster. after first two injections of 150 test cyp I felt nothing... then bumped to 180 and felt awesome for about 2 weeks. Now seems back down where I was. MD says the lull is most likely due to my natural test resources slowing down b/c of the injections. Either way, wishing I felt like I did a few weeks back. Just want to get into that normal range and at least see if that makes a difference.

[HRTstudent]

best of luck to you.

what made you go with T propionate?

[johnhenry]

[QUOTE=HRTstudent;6576346]best of luck to you.

what made you go with T propionate?

The compounding pharmacy here does T prop but not the others - not sure why. They have the TD gels too, but I'm not so keen on the messiness of them. I like how you can measure exactly so you know where you are going. The prop doesn't sting to any uncomfortable extent. It's only 50mg/ml, so going 0.4ml EOD to start with. J.

[Vettester]

I'm also curious with your decision on the prop? It would be quite difficult IMO to manage a protocol successfully with that ester, but maybe there's other factors here that I'm not seeing.

Definitely dump the nasal HCG and switch to the injections..

[johnhenry]

I'm also curious with your decision on the prop? It would be quite difficult IMO to manage a protocol successfully with that ester, but maybe there's other factors here that I'm not seeing.

Definitely dump the nasal HCG and switch to the injections..

Thanks for your comments Vett - as I mentioned above, my local compounding pharmacy here in oz only supplies T injectible in the form of T prop - so with its shorter half life I am doing EOD - and as Bass suggests, half in two locations. That means .02 ml of 50mg/ml in each side = 70mg T/wk. Do you think cyp is easier being slower to release?They also only do the nasal spray rather than the injectible hcg. I will see if they can bring an injectible onto their range. J.

[HRTstudent]

I'm also curious with your decision on the prop? It would be quite difficult IMO to manage a protocol successfully with that ester, but maybe there's other factors here that I'm not seeing.

Definitely dump the nasal HCG and switch to the injections..

Thanks for your comments Vett - as I mentioned above, my local compounding pharmacy here in oz only supplies T injectible in the form of T prop - so with its shorter half life I am doing EOD - and as Bass suggests, half in two locations. That means .02 ml of 50mg/ml in each side = 70mg T/wk. Do you think cyp is easier being slower to release?They also only do the nasal spray rather than the injectible hcg. I will see if they can bring an injectible onto their range. J.

really the only thing that might make things more difficult, if you could call it that, would be that you would want to inject more frequently. but still, there is still some time-release effect of the propionate ester that wouldn't necessarily warrant every day injections.

keep in mind, testosterone gels have no time-release other than the rate of absorption through the skin, and many millions of men do fine on this. they do need to apply daily though because of the more rapid rise and fall of testosterone.

[Trific]

You are pinning eod and half the dose in two spots = 7 pins per week....if that doesn't tire you from pinning I think you might very well do fine....

safemeds4all.com/product-details/ovidac-5000-iu-ml-freeze-dried-powdered-hcg-injection/442.html

[johnhenry]

Thanks HRT - the compounding pharmacy does do gels as well as the prop - I just went with the injectible because I saw so many comments re poor absorption, and I don't like the gooey stuff on me either. Anyway, all is subject to review as I proceed.

[johnhenry]

3.5 x 2 = average of 7 pins/wk. But you are right, would not want to do any more . Thank you for the link above.

[GSXRvi6]

good luck to you. ive also been on hrt for maybe 2 months. I started with a level around 150....now up around 330 at 190mg q10days. Im 42. MD says at my age a normal reading should be around 500 for most guys my age. Wishing theyd up me faster. after first two injections of 150 test cyp I felt nothing... then bumped to 180 and felt awesome for about 2 weeks. Now seems back down where I was. MD says the lull is most likely due to my natural test resources slowing down b/c of the injections. Either way, wishing I felt like I did a few weeks back. Just want to get into that normal range and at least see if that makes a difference.

How often do you inject? I read online that the active life of cypionate is one week. My T was coming up slow till I started doing multiple small injections per week and it shot up like a rocket, working on getting it back down now.

[johnhenry]

How often do you inject? I read online that the active life of cypionate is one week. My T was coming up slow till I started doing multiple small injections per week and it shot up like a rocket, working on getting it back down now.

Propionate: Chemical Structure C3H6O2.
Also referred to as Carboxyethane; hydroacrylic acid; Methylacetic acid; Ethylformic acid; Ethanecarboxylic acid; metacetonic acid; pseudoacetic acid; Propionic Acid. Propionate esters will slow the release of a steroid for several days. To keep blood levels from fluctuating greatly, propionate compounds are usually injected from every day to three times weekly - a google search will tell you...



I inect EOD. J.