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day one of attempting to restart

chap said:
...
As far as my 'restart' experiment, I would say it was a resounding success for me, no needles anymore, testicle size normal, sex drive and erection ability functional and normal, health good, feel good. I still would like to be superman though, but that is what got me into experimenting with AS in the first place, the desire to be above and beyond normal.

Always appreciate your updates, chap. Please remind us what your fitness level is, in particular your bodyfat % if you know (this pertains to density
of aromatization sites in fat).

Thanks,
WF
 
fitness level and recovery very good, I workout 4 or 5 times a week, still very visible six-pack, but I have a little bit of fat covering the very lowest abs

as far as acne goes, I think estrogen levels can have alot to do with acne, probably moreso than dht even. For sure dht can effect sexdrive though, I wonder if dht is skyhigh in teenagers? anyone seen any studies? I have tried taking methyl-dht before as well as proviron and didn't see any miracle results libido wise.
 
Chap, did you have a decreased libido as a result of AAS usage which led to you being shut down, or does it have more to do w/ age ? How was your libido before resorting to TRT ?
 
the methyl-dht I only tried it sporadically and saw no bad side effects from it, I did 10mg at a time


well, as for the libido question, it is hard to answer completely for sure, as I did aas for many years off and on as I was aging, so I don't know what my libido would have done as I went from 30 to 40 years old if I hadn't done any steroids...... Before I ever did any AAS and even after aas for a few times I had very very strong libido, maybe overly strong, that is why when it is not the extreme desire to have sex every day I think something is not right..... I want to return to that extreme libido I experienced when I was in my early 30's. Right now at 40 years old and on nothing at all I can have sex 3 times a week no problem, but I could also not worry too much about missing a week too, so the desire is not overwhelming for sure... but maybe completely normal for a 40 year old? I know when I was 30 I would have been crazy if I had to go without an orgasm for a whole week.
 
thought I'd update this

workout strength and recovery is really good, I still have a six-pack (pretty good for 40 years old, never even had one when I was in my 20's).

sexual function is really good, once I do get hard it stays hard quite well, much much better than when I was on test or other hrt. Libido desire is ok, no where near what it was when I was younger, but maybe that is normal?

I did a short run of cabergoline two weeks ago, which didn't help libido much at all but did make for more intense orgasms. I stopped because the benefits were not really there and the side effects were anxiousness and jittery.

I did a 20 mg nolvadex pill a few days ago as an experiment, and suprisingly my libido seemed more urgent the next day, which I didn't expect as I thought SERMs were lowering my libido when I was on them daily. Maybe there is something that needs to be experimented with, infrequent nolvadex or clomid as I wonder what the "carry-over" effect of these SERMs may be; perhaps they will 'coax' the endocrine profile in a beneficial direction?

Well, all in all I am doing great though, much better than when I was on the hrt protocals, and it is great not to be injecting anything anymore, while I was on hrt I was starting to worry about the fact that I may be on for life, so I am very glad this has worked out for me. I am not superman while natural, but I feel pretty healthy compared to what I felt like before.
 
I am having good libido results with the following new regimen:

1. LJ100 and Horny Goat Weed. I take them 5 days on and 2 days off. They stimulate the production of LH. Other products like Cordycep Mushroom extract and a quality Tribulus extract may also help. I have not tried these yet, however.

2. Barleens Flax seed oil, 1 tablespoon twice per day mixed with a quality yogurt with active cultures(I use goat yogurt). You must let it set for 5 minutes before consuming to allow the oil to bind to the protiens.

3.Tropical Traditions Virgin Cocunut Oil, 3 Tablespoons per day.

These are healthy oils, and the idea here is to provide the body with the mother material via fat/cholesterol to produce sex hormones, plus the Flax Oil provides the body with healthy prostaglandins for better cellular communication (me thinks).

I also have backed off of my weight training a bit. I now believe 1 hour of intense training can burn up most of your T (especially if you run low T to begin with) and level you deficient for a while. I started realizing this when my dick would shrivel up during these workouts and read some other evidence that supports the theory. I try to keep my sessions to half and hour now and am doing more cardio.
 
Thought I'd update again, been off hrt for months now, and it was the best decision for me. I feel really healthy, but I've also been living a really healthy lifestyle, eating very healthy and going to the gym 4 times a week.

Libido is still nowhere near what it was like when I was 30, but it is functional, orgasms and function are way better than anytime that I was on hrt.

Still looking for ways to be 30 again, but I know for me that any kind of testosterone injections are definitely not the way to go.
 
Chap,

One of these days when you are able, please get a blood check to see where you are. It would be interesting to see if you improved your "norma" test levels.
 
chap said:
fitness level and recovery very good, I workout 4 or 5 times a week, still very visible six-pack, but I have a little bit of fat covering the very lowest abs

as far as acne goes, I think estrogen levels can have alot to do with acne, probably moreso than dht even. For sure dht can effect sexdrive though, I wonder if dht is skyhigh in teenagers? anyone seen any studies? I have tried taking methyl-dht before as well as proviron and didn't see any miracle results libido wise.

So how long did you use the Tamox/Clomid for ? What doses ? How long have you been off the drugs? Long thread so i skimmed through but I think you said you didn't know your T level before starting and don't know it now, is that correct ?
 
well, last time I was natural I tested and my testosterone was in the very bottom of the normal range.

Before embarking on this restart regimen, my testosterone was virtually zero, my LH and FSH tested out as undetectable. I

haven't tested since restarting, but all indications are good, lean, muscular, great exercise recovery, mood good, testicle size good, etc.

best way to find out my day by day protocal is in that thread, won't take too long to read if you just skip the posts and just read my own posts... basically a one month clomid/nolva protocal starting high, tapering, dropping the clomid after 14 days, and tapering the nolva to the end of the month.
 
chap said:
well, last time I was natural I tested and my testosterone was in the very bottom of the normal range.

Before embarking on this restart regimen, my testosterone was virtually zero, my LH and FSH tested out as undetectable. I

haven't tested since restarting, but all indications are good, lean, muscular, great exercise recovery, mood good, testicle size good, etc.

best way to find out my day by day protocal is in that thread, won't take too long to read if you just skip the posts and just read my own posts... basically a one month clomid/nolva protocal starting high, tapering, dropping the clomid after 14 days, and tapering the nolva to the end of the month.

I would love to see what your T level is as I live a great life with a T level under 400. The only reason I ever found out I had low T was because I got gyno from taking propecia and it grew back after surgery to remove it. At that time my T was 190 (tested 3 times) but at 5 foot 8 I weighed 195 lbs and could bench 300 for about 3-4 reps. I also could have sex many times per day, my GF at the time thought it was a joke when i told her about the low T.

Anyhow i went through all the HCG,Tamox, Clomid protocol for over a year. Everytime I stopped my T went back down but it did stay a little higher than the 190 getting up to a wopping 378 !!!!! From my experience it took about 4 weeks after stopping the drugs completely for it to crash. The only thing I really noticed different with my T at 900 vs 190 was facial and body hair growth, mopre with the higher T.

The point I was trying to make is I wonder if there are people like me (and maybe you) who do not need normal levels of T to be fit and feel well. That is why i would love to see your TOTAL T level, my free T has always been in the normal range even when total T was at 190. Doc says total is a more important #
 
Hello,

I don't mean to hijack your thread, Chap, but I have a similar question here.

I'm 22 years old and was on TRT for a year to deal with exercise-induced male secondary hypogonadism. After quarreling with my endo for several sessions, he finally admitted in January that my case is not irreversible and I won't need to be on TRT indefinitely. Since taking my last shot in February, I have lost a lot of strength and my libido is only so-so, but I feel MUCH better off of therapy than I did on.

I recently had a set of labs done and my doctor told me that all the levels were normal, except for Free T, which was still a bit low.

How can I boost up my free T? I've increased my dietary fats to 35% of my calories and I have tried tribulus supplements a couple of times.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

- Ken
 
keninottawa said:
Hello,

I don't mean to hijack your thread, Chap, but I have a similar question here.

I'm 22 years old and was on TRT for a year to deal with exercise-induced male secondary hypogonadism. After quarreling with my endo for several sessions, he finally admitted in January that my case is not irreversible and I won't need to be on TRT indefinitely. Since taking my last shot in February, I have lost a lot of strength and my libido is only so-so, but I feel MUCH better off of therapy than I did on.

I recently had a set of labs done and my doctor told me that all the levels were normal, except for Free T, which was still a bit low.

How can I boost up my free T? I've increased my dietary fats to 35% of my calories and I have tried tribulus supplements a couple of times.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

- Ken
Ken post your test results with the ranges and units what Dr.'s call normal sucks to many of them do not remembe there math from collage. If your levels are in the mid to upper end of the labs range then we can call this normal also if your Estradiol is on the high side this can keep Free T down.
 
keninottawa said:
PMgamer, thanks.

What can I do to reduce Estradiol?
I must worn you that if you did not have it tested and don't know where it is trying this can bring you down to low and this is just as bad as being to high.

There are OTC supplements the one that worked dam good for me was Indolplex/DIM.
http://www.ritecare.com/prodsheets/PHY-15336.html
I like this because you can cut the tables in parts. I started on one Tablet a day and in less then a week I got morning wood. So for me this was a big deal have not had wood in over 30 yrs. I am 62 I have found this if my wood stops it means my e2 is to low. So I stop the DIM until wood comes back I then go back on it but cut the dose in half. I keep doing this until I find the best dose. Yet I found I needed to re-adjust this after a blood test would come back a little on the high side. For me it is dam hard to get a dose down so you need to keep an eye on your wood to not go to low and do have testing done every 4 to 6 weeks to keep on top of this.

The other is a scrip for Arimidex start with 1/4 of a one mg. pill every 3 days when wood start and your libido comes up keep an on the wood same thing works on staying in the zone as using DIM.
 
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