30 day break from Androgel

[vish6969]

Hello

If you are not familiar with my situation- i was on androgel and it was going very good. I felt good with a very good sx drive!

I started using a DHT gel,, and within a week or two i had lost all benefits of Androgel.

My hypothesis is that the DHT gel caused my androgen receptors to down regulate. DHT is a much stronger androgen than testosterone and on the Andractim website it says:

"After continued use of topical DHT, the androgen receptors begin to down-regulate. This make the DHT less effective over time. To combat this you take breaks to allow the androgen receptors to up-regulate back to normal. Then you can begin another growth cycle"

Which confirms my suspicion that this stupid gel screwed me up!



I am off Androgel for 14 days now.

Would 30 days be enough for my androgen receptors to up regulate? Or should I wait 60days?

I threw the DHT gel into the garbage.


Thank you kindly,

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Hello

If you are not familiar with my situation- i was on androgel and it was going very good. I felt good with a very good sx drive!

I started using a DHT gel,, and within a week or two i had lost all benefits of Androgel.

My hypothesis is that the DHT gel caused my androgen receptors to down regulate. DHT is a much stronger androgen than testosterone and on the Andractim website it says:

"After continued use of topical DHT, the androgen receptors begin to down-regulate. This make the DHT less effective over time. To combat this you take breaks to allow the androgen receptors to up-regulate back to normal. Then you can begin another growth cycle"

Which confirms my suspicion that this stupid gel screwed me up!

I am off Androgel for 14 days now.

Would 30 days be enough for my androgen receptors to up regulate? Or should I wait 60days?

I threw the DHT gel into the garbage.


Thank you kindly,

There is NO, NADA, ZIP, NONE such information that Andractim (DHT) causes a down regulation of the AR. The quote you mis-attribute to the Andractim website is found only within the website for Penile Enlargement - Penis Exercises And Andractim Plan .

4. After using the andractim and penis exercises system for 6 -8 weeks, you should discontinue use of both for a short while. Take a break for 2 -4 weeks. This serves two purposes:

One is to let the penile androgen receptors become sensitive to the topical DHT again. After continued use of topical DHT, the androgen receptors begin to down-regulate. This make the DHT less effective over time. To combat this you take breaks to allow the androgen receptors to up-regulate back to normal. Then you can begin another growth cycle.

 

[vish6969]

There is NO, NADA, ZIP, NONE such information that Andractim (DHT) causes a down regulation of the AR. The quote you mis-attribute to the Andractim website is found only within the website for Penile Enlargement - Penis Exercises And Andractim Plan .

Busted?

My evidence is that i was doing great on Androgel and crashed shortly after Andractim use.

If I felt v. good on Androgel for two month and then shortly after introducinng Andractim I crash. It is logical to conclude Andractim was the cause of the crash.

 

[vish6969]

There is NO, NADA, ZIP, NONE such information that Andractim (DHT) causes a down regulation of the AR. The quote you mis-attribute to the Andractim website is found only within the website for Penile Enlargement - Penis Exercises And Andractim Plan .

My evidence is that is caused me to lose all benefits of Androgel. That is evidence to me.

 

[vish6969]

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

 

[biceps72]

Hello

If you are not familiar with my situation- i was on androgel and it was going very good. I felt good with a very good sx drive!

I started using a DHT gel,, and within a week or two i had lost all benefits of Androgel.

My hypothesis is that the DHT gel caused my androgen receptors to down regulate. DHT is a much stronger androgen than testosterone and on the Andractim website it says:

"After continued use of topical DHT, the androgen receptors begin to down-regulate. This make the DHT less effective over time. To combat this you take breaks to allow the androgen receptors to up-regulate back to normal. Then you can begin another growth cycle"

Which confirms my suspicion that this stupid gel screwed me up!



I am off Androgel for 14 days now.

Would 30 days be enough for my androgen receptors to up regulate? Or should I wait 60days?

I threw the DHT gel into the garbage.


Thank you kindly,

I don't have an answer but you can be your own "lab rat"-- basically all of us are our own lab rat. We experiment with testosterone dose/frequency, E2 dose/frequency, diet/ training regimend etc.

Experiment-- use "hoe you fee"l as the only metric because that is the only one that counts provided you have no other health issues!

good luck dude!

 

[Structure]

I have one possible explanation for how Andractim can cause these kinds of problems. Whether or not this is what happened to you is a matter of debate.

Andractim is a strong DHT formulation. DHT binds more strongly to the androgen receptor. When you use Andractim, your body compensates by producing less T (search for studies on Andractim; virtually of them mention this). Depending on how much Andractim you use, you can quickly shut down all endogenous T production. This also lowers your E2 levels, since you need T to make E2. These changes in T and E2 can cause some changes to your libido. From what I've read, men need some E2 for a healthy libido, but I can't say what effect having an abnormal balance of DHT to T will have. It doesn't sound like a good idea though.

A quick question for you: Do you have 5-alpha-reductase deficiency? Do you have a genetic mutation that has resulted in insufficient 5-alpha-reductase concentrations? If not, then why are you using Andractim? This is a great way to throw a wrench in your endocrine balance. Very few people should be using it. Throw that shit away.

I've heard of a few people with post-finasteride syndrome that get some improvements from using DHT, but exactly why this is I cannot say (post-finasteride syndrome is not well understood). However, I can offer you this advice: If you do need to use Andractim, then you must do the following:

• Buy an accurate sub-gram scale. You can buy a scale that more-or-less accurate to .01 g for less than 50 bucks.
• Carefully weigh out the amount of gel you are going to use. Since Andractim is a 2.5% gel, that means every 1.0 g contains 25 mg of DHT. You will probably only want to use one-quarter to one-half of this. Thus, start off by using 0.25 g of gel per day.
• Check your plasma DHT after two weeks. If it is out of range, then reduce your DHT until it is in range.
• If your T is still suppressing, then you are probably still using too much DHT.
• (This is very rare) If you have a bizarre physiology (and some of us do) that requires you to keep your DHT at supraphysiological levels despite the fact that it suppresses your LH, then you are going to have to consider HCG supplementation. Virtually no one will need to do this except for people with odd genetic anomalies. If this is you, then I'm sure that your doctor can give you more appropriate advice than some guy on the Internet can, and you should listen to him.

BTW: Andractim ain't gonna make your ding-dang grow. If that's why you bought it, then you've been swindled.

 

[vish6969]

Hey thank you for your indepth response

You might be right. Perhap this is not about down regulation but how DHT caused T/E2 imbalance.

I was useing the DHT as an extra libido boost but it backfired and worked the opposite way I intended. I have thrown that crap into the garbage where it belong

I am going to take a 30day break from Androgel and i think in that time i will be able to start fresh WITH NO DHT GEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whether it is down regulation or some sort of imbalance Andractim caused it. And even when I stop Andractim (and continued Androgel) it did no resolve.

So I am confident stopping all treatment for a month or two and goingback to just Androgel is what i need to do

If you werre me, would you take 30 or 60 day break before starting fresh on Androgel again?


Thanks bro

I have one possible explanation for how Andractim can cause these kinds of problems. Whether or not this is what happened to you is a matter of debate.

Andractim is a strong DHT formulation. DHT binds more strongly to the androgen receptor. When you use Andractim, your body compensates by producing less T (search for studies on Andractim; virtually of them mention this). Depending on how much Andractim you use, you can quickly shut down all endogenous T production. This also lowers your E2 levels, since you need T to make E2. These changes in T and E2 can cause some changes to your libido. From what I've read, men need some E2 for a healthy libido, but I can't say what effect having an abnormal balance of DHT to T will have. It doesn't sound like a good idea though.

A quick question for you: Do you have 5-alpha-reductase deficiency? Do you have a genetic mutation that has resulted in insufficient 5-alpha-reductase concentrations? If not, then why are you using Andractim? This is a great way to throw a wrench in your endocrine balance. Very few people should be using it. Throw that shit away.

I've heard of a few people with post-finasteride syndrome that get some improvements from using DHT, but exactly why this is I cannot say (post-finasteride syndrome is not well understood). However, I can offer you this advice: If you do need to use Andractim, then you must do the following:

• Buy an accurate sub-gram scale. You can buy a scale that more-or-less accurate to .01 g for less than 50 bucks.
• Carefully weigh out the amount of gel you are going to use. Since Andractim is a 2.5% gel, that means every 1.0 g contains 25 mg of DHT. You will probably only want to use one-quarter to one-half of this. Thus, start off by using 0.25 g of gel per day.
• Check your plasma DHT after two weeks. If it is out of range, then reduce your DHT until it is in range.
• If your T is still suppressing, then you are probably still using too much DHT.
• (This is very rare) If you have a bizarre physiology (and some of us do) that requires you to keep your DHT at supraphysiological levels despite the fact that it suppresses your LH, then you are going to have to consider HCG supplementation. Virtually no one will need to do this except for people with odd genetic anomalies. If this is you, then I'm sure that your doctor can give you more appropriate advice than some guy on the Internet can, and you should listen to him.

BTW: Andractim ain't gonna make your ding-dang grow. If that's why you bought it, then you've been swindled.

 

[vish6969]

I don't have an answer but you can be your own "lab rat"-- basically all of us are our own lab rat. We experiment with testosterone dose/frequency, E2 dose/frequency, diet/ training regimend etc.

Experiment-- use "hoe you fee"l as the only metric because that is the only one that counts provided you have no other health issues!

good luck dude!

Thank you!

 

[Structure]

Hey thank you for your indepth response

You might be right. Perhap this is not about down regulation but how DHT caused T/E2 imbalance.

I was useing the DHT as an extra libido boost but it backfired and worked the opposite way I intended. I have thrown that crap into the garbage where it belong

I am going to take a 30day break from Androgel and i think in that time i will be able to start fresh WITH NO DHT GEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whether it is down regulation or some sort of imbalance Andractim caused it. And even when I stop Andractim (and continued Androgel) it did no resolve.

So I am confident stopping all treatment for a month or two and goingback to just Androgel is what i need to do

If you werre me, would you take 30 or 60 day break before starting fresh on Androgel again?


Thanks bro

The decision to take a break from Androgel could be a poor one, depending on why you are on Androgel to begin with. If you are truly hypogonadal, then you should definitely not be taking a break from it; it is just going to make you feel like shit. If you don't really need to be on T to begin with, then taking a break from it might help you realize that you felt better without it. What was your diagnosis? What are your labs like? Unless you have a legitimate hormone imbalance, using T is just going to cause problems for you.

 

[vish6969]

The decision to take a break from Androgel could be a poor one, depending on why you are on Androgel to begin with. If you are truly hypogonadal, then you should definitely not be taking a break from it; it is just going to make you feel like shit. If you don't really need to be on T to begin with, then taking a break from it might help you realize that you felt better without it. What was your diagnosis? What are your labs like? Unless you have a legitimate hormone imbalance, using T is just going to cause problems for you.

I am hypogonadal. Very low natural test. I need to use Androgel.

i do feel like shit. 2.5 week off androgel.

I was doing very well on Androgel alone. Especially sx drive. Andractim ruined everything. Even when I stop andractim my s drive was gone and did not return.

I believe i made good decision to take a break considering i was doing v well before Andractim.

Humor me for a minute, if you wanted to start fresh with androgel (and undo things thrown out of wack from andractim) would you take a 30 day break or 60 daybreak?

 

[Structure]

I am hypogonadal. Very low natural test. I need to use Androgel.

i do feel like shit. 2.5 week off androgel.

I was doing very well on Androgel alone. Especially sx drive. Andractim ruined everything. Even when I stop andractim my s drive was gone and did not return.

I believe i made good decision to take a break considering i was doing v well before Andractim.

Humor me for a minute, if you wanted to start fresh with androgel (and undo things thrown out of wack from andractim) would you take a 30 day break or 60 daybreak?

If you were hypogonadal, then you should go back on T gel. There is no need for a break --- doing so isn't going to benefit anything. The sooner you go back on the better. If you are hell-bent on waiting for either 30 or 60 days, then go with 30. But better still would be to just go back on T tomorrow morning. Andractim doesn't down-regulate the AR; the problems it caused you were not brought about by down-regulation of the AR.

 

[vish6969]

If you were hypogonadal, then you should go back on T gel. There is no need for a break --- doing so isn't going to benefit anything. The sooner you go back on the better. If you are hell-bent on waiting for either 30 or 60 days, then go with 30. But better still would be to just go back on T tomorrow morning. Andractim doesn't down-regulate the AR; the problems it caused you were not brought about by down-regulation of the AR.

I am hell bent :drooling:

Only 10 more days now aneway.

Andractim realy scrwed me up. even when i stoppd it and kept only taking androgel.

Thats y i took a break. To try to start fresh again with only androgel.

 

[Structure]

I am hell bent :drooling:

Only 10 more days now aneway.

Andractim realy scrwed me up. even when i stoppd it and kept only taking androgel.

Thats y i took a break. To try to start fresh again with only androgel.

I'm sure you'll feel better soon. Once you start again, just be patient, and get some blood tests after a couple of weeks to make sure everything is back in balance.

 

[vish6969]

I'm sure you'll feel better soon. Once you start again, just be patient, and get some blood tests after a couple of weeks to make sure everything is back in balance.

Thx bro, i rly appreciate ur replies :tiphat