Bloodwork after 3 years off

[anabolicfre4k]

Your Doctor is a fucking moron. "The gel mimics more natural testosterone" release? hahaha

Dude, switch to shots and avoid the hassle

It quite makes sense to me as well. Gel acts quickly so peak is in the morning and gradually decreases through the day - just like natural. Also variable absorbtion rate makes levels to fluctuate - just like natural.

I am not saying shots are not better option - they probably are and I will probably switch as gels are expensive and pain in the ass to apply. But now my main focus is to find out whether I actually benefit from TRT or not - be it gel/needle whatever.

 

[The Terminator]

I can imagine you are rather exception that you did not have symptoms at these levels. But if not TRT for improving libido it was worth treating such low T just because of the hidden dangers like bone density, cardiovascular risks etc..the symptoms you don't see/feel

Yeah I guess that’s true, and I did feel libido drop when my T was at that level but again whether or not that was mental idk. Good things I noticed is that it helped with muscle & strength gains and even when I eat little calories I don’t lose muscle. Bad things my hair started to thin and I started growing body hair, I am kinda medium hairy to begin with but my back and shoulders were always hairless except the little patch above my ass but I’ve started growing hair in those areas on my trt dose.

Oh hCG helps a lot with boosting my libido, mood etc. I feel a greater boost in libido when I IM hCG then I do with an extra shot of test P or ester free T. Only downside thus far is some acne, but I need to get blood work to check everything else.

 

[anabolicfre4k]

So it has already been 5th day I am rubbing the gel on myself . What I noticed is I am less prone to be stressed and anxious and thinking is somewhat more clear. Placebo or extra test? No idea. I will be checking tst next week to see what's the absorption rate for me

 

[anabolicfre4k]

Blood work after ~3 weeks using 5g Androgel 1%.

• Testosterone - 38.15 nmol/l
• SHBG - 26.8 nmol/l
• LH - 0.40 IU/l
• FSH - 1.17 IU/l
• Estradiol - 108.2 pmol/l

What the hell? I swear I am not spreading it over bread.

 

[The Terminator]

Blood work after ~3 weeks using 5g Androgel 1%.

• Testosterone - 38.15 nmol/l
• SHBG - 26.8 nmol/l
• LH - 0.40 IU/l
• FSH - 1.17 IU/l
• Estradiol - 108.2 pmol/l

What the hell? I swear I am not spreading it over bread.

Your T levels above range but it’s only been 3 weeks.

 

[anabolicfre4k]

Your T levels above range but it’s only been 3 weeks.

Is it going to be lower?

 

[The Terminator]

Is it going to be lower?

Well I’m not 100% certain on the how long it takes, one of the drs would know better but in the 1st couple weeks you’ll probably have your body’s own T still. I’m guessing this could be true in your case since the test still found detectable levels of lh/fsh. I read on some of these labs where you can order your own blood work that if you apply the gel near the area they draw blood within a certain time period it could cause false readings.

For both T and E levels I believe most drs wait 6 weeks before checking. I’d think if it stays above range in another couple weeks you and your dr can adjust dosage. Good thing

 

[anabolicfre4k]

Good point @The Terminator ! I also suspected that it could be my leftover tst + androgel so it makes sense to wait until my own tst is shutted down completely to have meaningful results. My doc also wanted me to wait 2 months for next appointment and do the bloodwork later. I will re-do bloodwork again a week before my next appointment (which is a month from now), this time I was just too curious how well I am absorbing Androgel and how it influences LH/FSH.

I started shooting 500IU HCG EOD because I am going to sperm bank to freeze a little of me in 2 weeks.

 

[The Terminator]

Good point @The Terminator ! I also suspected that it could be my leftover tst + androgel so it makes sense to wait until my own tst is shutted down completely to have meaningful results. My doc also wanted me to wait 2 months for next appointment and do the bloodwork later. I will re-do bloodwork again a week before my next appointment (which is a month from now), this time I was just too curious how well I am absorbing Androgel and how it influences LH/FSH.

I started shooting 500IU HCG EOD because I am going to sperm bank to freeze a little of me in 2 weeks.

Yea it takes a few weeks till you’re suppressed. And the positive effects you felt within the 1st couple days may have been real, I remember my 1st shot I felt increased libido within the 5-6ish hours. Libido was highest the 1st few weeks Im guessing because of the combo of the shot + my own T. I’d think you’d at least be in the top 3/4 range when your own levels drop.

Good idea on the hCG and freezing as I’ve read sperm count can decrease to basically infertility levels within ~10 or so weeks. It’s normally reversible and hCG can keep fertility on trt but freezing it now is insurance.

500iu eod could possibly raise T levels higher, or were you using it temporarily? I really like hCG tho, especially ovitrelle/ovidrel which is rhCG. Helps keep the testicles active on trt plus libido and mood improvements. I wish I would of started when I started trt and froze sperm but I didn’t know what hCG was and didn’t think that far ahead for sperm.

 

[anabolicfre4k]

I did bloodwork before I started taking HCG. I will stop taking HCG right after I freeze sperm so I will not skew blood work results before my appointment. Hope 1 - 1.5 weeks before next blood work is enough time to drop HCG?

I can honestly say I feel much better since starting TRT. More alive, confident, clear thinking, less anxious, libido improvements as well (especially after 2-3 weeks).

One side effect doc forgot to mention is I could possibly grow pair of balls and break-up with my GF which I did

 

[The Terminator]

I did bloodwork before I started taking HCG. I will stop taking HCG right after I freeze sperm so I will not skew blood work results before my appointment. Hope 1 - 1.5 weeks before next blood work is enough time to drop HCG?

I can honestly say I feel much better since starting TRT. More alive, confident, clear thinking, less anxious, libido improvements as well (especially after 2-3 weeks).

One side effect doc forgot to mention is I could possibly grow pair of balls and break-up with my GF which I did

Ah ok so stop before dr app permanently or start again after? hCG has half-life of ~36 hours, once the signal goes diminishes the T levels should soon drop and natural T doesn’t have a long half-life, I’ve heard 2-4 hours, something like that. Just guessing that 1.5 weeks it would likely drop. It’s probably difficult to tell since you started trt and hCG around the same time but it really does add a complete feeling, that plus as a fertility aide is why I use it all the time but lower dose, I did start @ 500iu eod because I was suppressed for a year but then gradually reduced my dose. If it were possible I’d switch to hCG only for trt to test it out but I doubt that’s a possibility with my current dr. I don’t think she’s an expert in men’s health.

Glad to hear that you are feeling better with trt. And lol it can definitely help increase the metaphoric/figurative size of your balls, maybe not the physical size but the figurative size is more important anyway lol.

 

[anabolicfre4k]

Doc recommended freezing sperm before I start TRT but I was too anxious to try it out whether it works that I decided I will get on and supplement HCG before I go to freeze it.

I can not say HCG is making me feel any better. Quite opposite I would say I sometimes feel quite bitchy, hard to explain. I once ran 1500IU E3D during cycle and I dropped it because my mood was not well. 500 IU feels quite manageable, maybe 250 IU long term would be the sweet spot but I will discuss with doc anyway what he thinks.

 

[The Terminator]

Doc recommended freezing sperm before I start TRT but I was too anxious to try it out whether it works that I decided I will get on and supplement HCG before I go to freeze it.

I can not say HCG is making me feel any better. Quite opposite I would say I sometimes feel quite bitchy, hard to explain. I once ran 1500IU E3D during cycle and I dropped it because my mood was not well. 500 IU feels quite manageable, maybe 250 IU long term would be the sweet spot but I will discuss with doc anyway what he thinks.

Yea 1500iu on top of trt is quite high unless you were trying to get a girl pregnant. I use 250-300iu 3x week. This week I’m either dropping it to 250-300 2x or 200 3x. I’ll prob just do 250 2x to save $. The hCG I don’t have a prescription and I prefer the rhCG which is more expensive. But hCG especially at higher doses can cause E levels to spike. It was easy for me to tell the difference since I started it 12 months later. Some of the changes were it added sensitivity and seman volume back to normal levels both of which slowly decreased on trt.

 

[Worf]

So it has already been 5th day I am rubbing the gel on myself . What I noticed is I am less prone to be stressed and anxious and thinking is somewhat more clear. Placebo or extra test? No idea. I will be checking tst next week to see what's the absorption rate for me

Test

Doc recommended freezing sperm before I start TRT but I was too anxious to try it out whether it works that I decided I will get on and supplement HCG before I go to freeze it.

I can not say HCG is making me feel any better. Quite opposite I would say I sometimes feel quite bitchy, hard to explain. I once ran 1500IU E3D during cycle and I dropped it because my mood was not well. 500 IU feels quite manageable, maybe 250 IU long term would be the sweet spot but I will discuss with doc anyway what he thinks.

hcg at those doses will cause aromitization

 

[anabolicfre4k]

I was at spermbank today to save something for later. Huge disappoinment. They found 7 sperms from which 6 were dead. So Androgel reliably killed my boys. Pre treatment my sperm count was 40 million!

What can I do? I honestly feel amazing being on TRT. What can I do to restore fertility so I can shot the one load that will be saved???

 

[The Terminator]

If you want to stay on trt hCG is the easiest thing to help, that doesn’t work there are others to add, but takes 2-3 months for sperm to develop and idk if you’ll get quite the number you had if you continue trt.

 

[anabolicfre4k]

hcg is the easiest thing to help

I started injecting 500IU EOD 2.5 weeks prior the visit thinking my sperm count will be over the roof. The HCG was a month past an expiration date maybe that was the case? Or should I increase the dosage and wait longer before next visit?

I will definitely discuss my options with the doc but would like to know your opinion too.

 

[The Terminator]

I started injecting 500IU EOD 2.5 weeks prior the visit thinking my sperm count will be over the roof. The HCG was a month past an expiration date maybe that was the case? Or should I increase the dosage and wait longer before next visit?

I will definitely discuss my options with the doc but would like to know your opinion too.

I’m assuming you had the powder, was it already mixed for a long time when it expired? I would think 1 month expired wouldn’t make it completely unusable unless it was mixed for longer than a month or left outside of a refrigerator.

How far into trt were you when you started hCG? I read that sperm count can drop or almost go down to zero in ~10 weeks. Anyway if you were already at or near azoospermia levels when you started hCG it would take around 2-3 months to increase count since that’s about how long it takes for them to mature etc. I’ll paste a study that talks about hCG, hCG with trt and how to recover sperm in those who have used aas. It mentioned that those that started hCG at the beginning of trt maintained only a 7% drop in ITT (intertesticular testosterone) at 250iu eod and a 26% increase in ITT with 500iu eod. ITT is important for spermatogenesis and those that don’t use hCG have a 94% decrease. Study also mentions what can help if hCG alone might isn’t enough.

Indications for the use of human chorionic gonadotropic hormone for the management of infertility in hypogonadal men

 

[anabolicfre4k]

I’m assuming you had the powder, was it already mixed for a long time when it expired? I would think 1 month expired wouldn’t make it completely unusable unless it was mixed for longer than a month or left outside of a refrigerator.

How far into trt were you when you started hCG? I read that sperm count can drop or almost go down to zero in ~10 weeks. Anyway if you were already at or near azoospermia levels when you started hCG it would take around 2-3 months to increase count since that’s about how long it takes for them to mature etc. I’ll paste a study that talks about hCG, hCG with trt and how to recover sperm in those who have used aas. It mentioned that those that started hCG at the beginning of trt maintained only a 7% drop in ITT (intertesticular testosterone) at 250iu eod and a 26% increase in ITT with 500iu eod. ITT is important for spermatogenesis and those that don’t use hCG have a 94% decrease. Study also mentions what can help if hCG alone might isn’t enough.

Indications for the use of human chorionic gonadotropic hormone for the management of infertility in hypogonadal men

Thanks for the study I am going to read it. I had been on TRT for ~3 weeks when I started shooting the hCG. I started TRT on 14th December 2018 and hCG started early January.

The hCG was powdered and I reconstituted it in bacteriostatic water and stored in refrigerator. Can not guarantee where it was stored before I bought it.

You should see the spermbank's doc's face when she was about to tell me the news. She couldn't believey sperm count was 40mil back in November. I went to the spermbank thinking "ok since I am on TRT for more than month, I will probably be a little suppressed". When she told me my semen is cristal clear and only one soldier left on battlefield dragging his 6 dead brothers I couldn't help but started laughing....

 

[The Terminator]

Thanks for the study I am going to read it. I had been on TRT for ~3 weeks when I started shooting the hCG. I started TRT on 14th December 2018 and hCG started early January.

The hCG was powdered and I reconstituted it in bacteriostatic water and stored in refrigerator. Can not guarantee where it was stored before I bought it.

You should see the spermbank's doc's face when she was about to tell me the news. She couldn't believey sperm count was 40mil back in November. I went to the spermbank thinking "ok since I am on TRT for more than month, I will probably be a little suppressed". When she told me my semen is cristal clear and only one soldier left on battlefield dragging his 6 dead brothers I couldn't help but started laughing....

lol sorry that is kinda funny, but you should be able to get it going in time. I know that study said trt can lead to azoospermia within 10 weeks but damn 4-5 weeks is enough to be left with 1 sperm. The study had dosages based on what time frame someone’s trying to get pregnant. 500iu eod seems a good place to start for spermatogenisis especially if 6-12 month time frame, study says to take clomifene 25mg daily. Might want to consult dr re that tho.

In powder form it should be less fragile, and isn’t required to be refrigerated in powder form. A pregnancy test should tell you if it’s gone completely bad. I personally prefer ovitrelle over powder, at least “feels” wise it feels like it’s stronger. Pretty sure I’ve already mentioned how I prefer that in this thread.