Results after varicocele embolization

[Youthful55guy]

Thanks so much for yall's help through all of this. I was just wondering, would I really set myself back that much if I did one cycle per year during summer time with Tren + Test? I got such amazing results when I did it last year and I felt amazing all day every day. Also, is there another less extreme androgen I can use that will yield similar results? That with proper PCT can get me right back to where I started? I'm just caught in the middle, of course I want to feel normal again with TRT however, I would def. like to lift a lot more and feel that surge of strength and definition Tren + Test yields over summertime. I was thinking of doing this for a few more years before I go on TRT.

I wish you luck in your endeavors, but I do not provide advice on the use of anabolic steroids or non-medically necessary use of testosterone. You said you felt "amazing all day", well yeah, it was artificial. I doubt you know what normal feels like anymore. It's one of the harsh realities of using anabolic steroids and/or high doses of T. Guys loos sight of what normal feels like. Then when I/we give advice on TRT and they don't feel the same, they discount our advice.

Like I said before, you've got to choose your goal. Do you really want to feel normal, or do you want to look buff? At your age, you have a long time to go in life chasing that steroid high. I hope you find it.

[Brosef]

I wish you luck in your endeavors, but I do not provide advice on the use of anabolic steroids or non-medically necessary use of testosterone. You said you felt "amazing all day", well yeah, it was artificial. I doubt you know what normal feels like anymore. It's one of the harsh realities of using anabolic steroids and/or high doses of T. Guys loos sight of what normal feels like. Then when I/we give advice on TRT and they don't feel the same, they discount our advice.

Like I said before, you've got to choose your goal. Do you really want to feel normal, or do you want to look buff? At your age, you have a long time to go in life chasing that steroid high. I hope you find it.

@Youthful55Guy I’ve thought about this long and hard and I’ve decided that I just need to go for the long term sustainable goal of feeling normal again. I went to a Men’s Clinic here in town and got more labwork... the doctor wants me to try JUST hCG alone and see if it kickstarts my testicles to start producing more testosterone. He thinks since they’ve been impaired from the varicocele they may need a little help getting them started again. Does this seem like it could work? I got two 5,000 iu vials of powder + 1cc of sodium chloride. Should I try this for a few weeks and if it doesn’t help then introduce Test-E (low dose) to my protocol?

Btw here are my lab results :

LH : 4.3 (1.7-8.6)
FSH : 2.2 (1.5-12.4)
Total Test : 377 (264-916)
Free Test : 8.1 (8.7-25.1)

[Youthful55guy]

@Youthful55Guy I’ve thought about this long and hard and I’ve decided that I just need to go for the long term sustainable goal of feeling normal again. I went to a Men’s Clinic here in town and got more labwork... the doctor wants me to try JUST hCG alone and see if it kickstarts my testicles to start producing more testosterone. He thinks since they’ve been impaired from the varicocele they may need a little help getting them started again. Does this seem like it could work? I got two 5,000 iu vials of powder + 1cc of sodium chloride. Should I try this for a few weeks and if it doesn’t help then introduce Test-E (low dose) to my protocol?

Btw here are my lab results :

LH : 4.3 (1.7-8.6)
FSH : 2.2 (1.5-12.4)
Total Test : 377 (264-916)
Free Test : 8.1 (8.7-25.1)

Glad to hear you're not going down the anabolic hormone route to try to feel "normal". It's not a judgment on the use of anabolic hormones for guys that have short term goals of adding mass/look buff, but it's a dead end road for sustainability.


I'm not a big supporter of HCG only protocols. I've never tired one, but posts I've read from guys that have do not sound all that encouraging. In your case though, your doc's theory of kick starting the testicles might have some merit, I just don't have a lot of experience in primary hypogonadism. At the very least, I don't think it will hurt or screw you up worse in the long term. From what I know about testicular response to HCG, you're going to need at least 1000 IU per week to get the testicles to a near normal range in T production. More may be necessary, it's just an unknown for me. I personally use 1000 IU per week on top of my standard TRT protocol of 40 to 50 mg T-cyp per week. This keeps my total and free T within range (though on the high side) and side effects (of the high end T) are manageable in a long-term sustainable protocol. This also keeps my testicles at full size and ejaculate volume normal.


Looking at your labs, your LH and FSH look to be within normal, but keep in mind it takes several labs to draw that kind of conclusion. These hormones are highly episodic and you need to make sure you are obtaining the blood samples at the same time each lab, and first thing in the AM (preferably, fist appointment when they open the lab doors).

Your Total T is within range, but nothing to brag about. I'm more concerned about your Free T. You might want to consider getting your SHBG levels tested. That may be what's making you feel bad even though your Total T and gonadotropins are within range. There is a small percent of the population (5% to 10% of men by best estimates) that are genetically programmed to add an extra sugar molecule to the SHBG protein, which more than doubles it's half life. This effectively pushes your SHBG up because it is being metabolized and excreted at a slower rate.

SHBG sucks up T and only slowly releases it to free T. SHBG bound T cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, so you may have normal levels of Total T, but your brain is starved for free T. This is why you feel like $#^t with high SHBG. Also, since the T is bound, it is protected from liver metabolism and pushes your Total T labs artificially high. This is why Total T labs are not a good indicator of male health. If your SHBG is high, there are effective treatments, but it's difficult to get doctors to prescribe them because they involve the use of very low doses of certain synthetic anabolic hormones. Not at doses that will have much (if any) of an anabolic effect, but they are EXTREMELY effective at suppressing SHBG production so you don't need much. I believe I wrote a thread on SHBG control, but I don't have a link handy. You may want to do a search on the topic if your labs come back high.