Switching to LowTestosterone.com

[EMW14]

I am moving in less than a week and as such will be switching to a new TRT provider. Decided to go with LowTestosterone.com after joining this forum and all the reading I've done. There are several choices that would be viable, but I'm hoping LowTestosterone.com can get things dialed in properly, as so far that has NOT been the case.

I go for my "initial" bloodwork Monday, although since I'm currently "on" it is going to show my currently "adjusted" levels. So a letter of treatment will be provided as explanation of the 'not low' T levels.

Here's hoping. This has become a very frustrating process so far. I just read the ""Top 10 Lessons Learned on TRT" thread. I'm 8 months in so far. I'm giving it another 3 and if I don't have the desired results I'm going off completely - I'll do some sort of "PCT" if I do that - and start over, since I initially did have a great result which faded away (I'm talking about impotence, here) and is now worse than ever.

[kelkel]

I'm sure things will improve for you. Remember, libido is more than just testosterone.
No doubt you've tried cialis/viagra etc?
Have you looked into Trimix?

Keep us posted with your progress please on this thread. Best of luck!

kel

[Black]

How is your diet and body fat?

[EMW14]

I have written a lengthy reply, but it is denied because I mentioned a few forbidden words for people with less that 25 posts. I am too F-ing infuriated to revise it right now, as it took fully 15 minutes to compose. I like this forum but this ROYALLY pisses me off!!!!!

[Brett N]

Next time before you post it, copy the post to your clipboard so you dont have to retype it.

You'll be happy with LowT.com. It just takes some time. I know you've heard that all before but it's true. LowT docs seem to have their crap together a little more than the general average of docs that treat low test out there.

[EMW14]

Diet and body fat are good. I'm ~200 lbs, ~11 or 12% bf (5'-10"); diet isn't perfect but generally good.

And yes, I do know that kel. Yes, I've tried the various "helpers": the C helper does zero for me except give me wicked heartburn. The V helper always works but up til recently has given me heartburn. The L helper usually works - but not always - and generally does not give me heartburn. And I've heard of trimix but it is absolutely out of the question until it's the last resort.

It is a REAL drag to need to take a pill in order to have sex with my hot and usually horny wife. And an even worse drag when the pill doesn't work!

I get that libido and impotence are more than low T - or can be. However: before I started HRT, I had unpredictable, unreliable erections. Shortly after starting HRT I was back to having morning wood pretty much every day and wife and me were back to having sex damn near every day. Which hasn't happened for a long time. She remarked one day that I hadn't been like that since my 20's (we got married when I was 29 - I'm 44 now). That improvement was the direct result of HRT and nothing else. But it faded away. I NEVER get morning wood anymore and can't get it up AT ALL without a pill. I firmly (no pun intended) believe that SOMETHING is out of whack that wasn't during the first couple of months, and until whatever that is gets figured out, I will not accept "it's just blood flow" or "it's unrelated" as an answer. Like I said, if I have to stop HRT, do some sort of PCT to get myself back to my pre HRT starting point, and start over again, knowing what I now know and monitoring the various things I now know to monitor (along with whatever else a competent, knowledgeable and concerned doc knows to monitor - hopefully the guy I'll be seeing in Philly qualifies on all counts). If I get the same kind of result I initially got, I'll make sure to get bloodwork done at that point so I'll know what "good" looks like.

Unfortunately, I wasn't educated enough - not at all, really - when I started this very frustrating process. I trusted the guy I'm going to now - who is a good guy, I just think he's over his head when things don't go according to the norm - and when things started going well I though I'd found the answer and had no reason to suspect things would change. Now I know.

[Black]

Have you ran any steroids before TRT? If so, which ones?

Was your doctor checking your estrogen levels as well?

[ppwc1985]

What Dante asked is what I was gonna ask, your test can be high, but if dr isn't treating your estrogen levels too that could be the problem. I know my sex drive is a lot better with estrogen being a little lower than normal. Others it's better a little higher, you need to find that sweet spot. I'm with lowt also and I doing 150% better than I when I started about 6 months ago. It takes time to get dialed in, but when you do you should feel better. Keep us informed, there is alit great info here.

[EMW14]

Dante, no, never ran any steroids before, zero experience with anabolics at all. Just the Test Cyp from the HRT place.

Regarding estrogen, yes, that's been a constant science project. Anastrozole at 0.5 mg 2x/wk had e level around 20 or so with sex ED still a major issue. Stopped that and switched to zinc tablets to seebwhat that would do. E level rose to 34, no change in performance. Tried Tamoxifen. Same result. Now I'm trying 0.5 mg anastrozole 1x/wk to see what that will do.

Free test has never been checked, that is one of the things that will be on the bw tomorrow, so we'll see what this doc says when I see him. Hopefully he can get things sorted out. Since test level (total serum) is around 850 and e level can be anywhere between 18 and 34 with no change in function I suspect too much is bounnd? I guess we'll see soon enough.

[Schwarzenegger]

Dante, no, never ran any steroids before, zero experience with anabolics at all. Just the Test Cyp from the HRT place.

Regarding estrogen, yes, that's been a constant science project. Anastrozole at 0.5 mg 2x/wk had e level around 20 or so with sex ED still a major issue. Stopped that and switched to zinc tablets to seebwhat that would do. E level rose to 34, no change in performance. Tried Tamoxifen. Same result. Now I'm trying 0.5 mg anastrozole 1x/wk to see what that will do.

Free test has never been checked, that is one of the things that will be on the bw tomorrow, so we'll see what this doc says when I see him. Hopefully he can get things sorted out. Since test level (total serum) is around 850 and e level can be anywhere between 18 and 34 with no change in function I suspect too much is bounnd? I guess we'll see soon enough.

The psychological aspect is as important as the physiological one.

Have u had stress in ur life during the time that uve had Ed? Job/wife/family stress?

[EMW14]

Yes, I'm aware of the mental aspect as well. This is an issue that has been developing over years, getting slowly and progressively worse. The worst part of the mental aspect is the fear that it won't work. Then, when it doesn't, it confirms the fear. So next time it isn't a 'fear' that it won't work but a certainty. It's a self fulfilling prophecy that makes a body wonder "WTF is wrong with me???" Which, in turn, makes the problem worse.

When I first started on HRT I could screw like a 29 year old. The Sarge was at attention every morning. Life was grand. My wife and I could do it every day, and twice on Sundays. No other changes whatsoever. Obviously, it was the Testosterone that was making this possible. With that, the mental issue pretty much went away. Every reason to be 100% confident, not only will it work, but it will be strong! And then, it faded away. And is now worse than ever. I never took one of those pills I'm not allowed to mention until a couple months AFTER I started HRT! So the Test fixed the problem in the first place. What happened since then ??? I have no idea, and niether does this doc I've been seeing. I suspect some hormone level or another has changed since then as a result of the elevated test level. But I have no idea which one or how to fix it. I suspect SHBG possibly, and maybe free test is low because of that. Free test is in the panel for which blood was just drawn, so we'll see soon enough. If this doesn't get sorted outbin short order, like 3 months, I'm going to take a break from HRT, do a post cycle therapy as if I just finished a steroid cycle, and start over again, this time taking comprehensive bloodwork when things ARE working like they should, assuming that happens again.

That's my plan, anyway.

[sfgiantsfan55]

had your cholesterol levels checked? that's another big ED cause as is diabetes...

[EMW14]

Cholesterol is perfect. Blood sugar is a question which will be answered Fri, as I have a dr appt specifically to get that checked out. Regardless of what that result is, however, it still does not explain why when I first started getting HRT I god morning wood every day and after a pretty short time that stopped and ED became worse than ever.

[Metalject]

Cholesterol is perfect. Blood sugar is a question which will be answered Fri, as I have a dr appt specifically to get that checked out. Regardless of what that result is, however, it still does not explain why when I first started getting HRT I god morning wood every day and after a pretty short time that stopped and ED became worse than ever.

Morning erections, in my opinion, aren't something I would use to gauge the success of your TRT. I wouldn't even put it on the table. If you're not having issues when you're awake that's all that really matters. I've never been one who has morning wood all the time, not when I was younger or now on TRT but I've always had a good sex drive and no ED problems.

[EMW14]

Well, I am having MAJOR ED, which is the primary thing that drove me to TRT. And as I have stated repeatedly, right after starting TRT, that went almost COMPLETELY away. Let me repeat that: AFTER STARTING TRT MY ED - IMPOTENCE - WENT AWAY ALMOST COMPLETELY!!! So while I understand that ED isn't JUST about low testosterone, in my case it sure seemed to be all about that when testosterone cured it. What has happened since then I surely don't know, and no one - doctors included - seem to be willing to adress that.

[EMW14]

I have just today, after submitting prior bloodwork and a letter stating I'm receiving treatment, so that my T levels are explained, been turned away by the LowTestosterone doctor after he took one look at my new bloodwork. My T level did come back higher than it had been: 1297ng/dL. HOWEVER, I specifically asked the 'salesman' at LowTestosterone what T level they shoot for, and he told me 1200. So, 97 over that doesn't seem too far out of the ballpark. I've paid, jumped through all the hoops, provided all the documentation, taken time off work because the doctor isn't available on Fridays, my weekday off, drove an hour each way, that's 2 hours round trip, AND THE DOCTOR DISMISSED ME OUT OF HAND!!!!! I am absolutely INFURIATED!! I spent quite a bit of time setting this up before moving from out west back to the east coast so that it would be a smooth transition and it has been nothing but F-ed UP!!!!!

This has been an incredibly frustrating experience since I started it and so far none of the several TRT "specialists" can get things sorted out satisfactorily OR they have absolutely NO IDEA how to provide adequate customer service. I am at the end of my rope, and I am almost certainly going to buy what I need from 'alternate sources' and begin to experiment on my own. At least I won't have a million hoops to jump through and fewer people to cause frustration and anger! Maybe I'll actually stumble on a working solution!!!

[hawk14dl]

If you're turned down by low t, they refund the initial 199.

I don't know who you talked to, but no low t Drs ain for 1200. Normal target is 700-900.

What day was your last pin, what day was the blood test, and what was the size of your injection?

[EMW14]

I talked to Robert at LowTestosterone dot com!! I don't think he's a doc but he is the rep at LowTestosterone dot com I've spoken to multiple times while getting this set ip. Your blanket statement of 700 to 900 is incorrect according to the guy who represents LowTestosterone dot com on the phone.

My last injection was the same as it's been for about 6 months, 180 mg plus 500iu of HCG. This happened once before, where my T level spiked to 1400 but dropped back down to 868 on the subsequent blood test WITH NO CHANGES WHATSOEVER. I suspect inconsistent potency in the supply. There really is no other explanation.

[hawk14dl]

And fyi, I am a patient that uses low t. I went through the same phone calls, dr appt, blood work etc that you are.

I am very pleased with everything so far. I believe you probably can get this ironed out with them. Try talking to them, try not to lose your cool. They are understanding people. They're policy limits clients to over 30 years old, after some pleading they managed to get me signed up. Don't give up, the drs in their network know their stuff

[hawk14dl]

The timing of the blood test compared to the injection makes a difference.

For instance, if you take your 180mg Monday morning, then take your blood test on Tuesday, you'll be at peak serum levels. 1300 is completely possible after taking a single 180mg shot.

However on thev same scenario, if you take the blood work on Thursday, you'll be more likely to come in around 800.

Theoretically, if you took your blood work 6 days past injection, you could likely come in at the 500 range.

This is the peak and Valley that's mentioned so often around here.

You would have more stable levels, if you took 90mg 2x a week.
Most around here so 2x a week injections.

Also, blood work is usually done about 48 hours post injection. On 180mg, your serum levels will be very high. After a 90mg injection, you would likely fall into the 800 range.

The low t reps are not drs. they are simply sale reps. If he told you a target serum level, he shouldn't have. That will be completely up to the dr. The low t staff does nothing after you're set up with a dr, other then take your money and refill your rx and supplies.

[ppwc1985]

I'm with lowt too and my dr shoots for 7-800 which is where I'm sitting. You most likely took your blood test at wrong time. You should have did it morning of or day before next injection.

[EMW14]

My blood was drawn 6 days post injection. I usually have it drawn 7 days post but figured 1 day wouldn't make all that much difference. In any case, it's a moot point. Following my dr appt during which I was refused treatment I spoke w the same rep I've been talking to all qlong at LowT dot com and was told I could retrieve by bloodwork from my account and once I did they'd close my account and refund my money.

So that's the end of that. I'm going to obtain supplies from alternate sources and take care of it on my own if necessary. Meanwhile I had a dr appt with a local guy who seems to be very much on the ball. We shall see. Either he will help me or like I said, I'll do it on my own. I'm fed up with the struggle, the guesses and the experiments. I can guess and experiment on my own just as well as anyone else.